FOI Police Officer Promotion Process (0459-2024/25)
Request
Please, can I make a Freedom of Information request for the following detail, which are questions relating to your Police Officer Promotion Process. I would like to specifically know about: i) PC to Sgt, ii) Sgt to Insp and iii) Insp to Chief Insp. If the time constraints on FOI work start to be a factor, then please concentrate on information relating to Sgt to Insp processes.
Q1. What reasonable adjustment do you offer for officers that might suffer cognitive impairment through disability, who would be disadvantaged in comparison with their peers in assessment or test formats, be it through ability to retain or process information?
Q2. It is noted that preparation for interviews and assessments within the Police is highly competitive with much preparatory work at home often required. What reasonable adjustments do you offer for those officers that might be incapable to prepare for tests outside of working hours, either due to health or caring responsibilities?
Q3. Do you offer a bespoke reasonable adjustment where candidates exhibiting the issues detailed in point 2 are given a reduced area to have to prepare/research for, i.e. provided a more restrictive scope of questions prior to the assessment or given an approximate of crime types, if a crime scenario is reviewed – being told a question relates to Group 2 Crimes, rather than the officer have to try and revise all crime areas (the result being the candidate has less areas to revise in comparison with peers without the disadvantage faced)?
Q4. Do you offer assessment of ability through observation in role, i.e. a candidate acts or temps within a rank and a judgement is made on whether they are competent to be promoted?
Q5. Would you consider use of the above (promotion through assessment of ability through observation in role) as a bespoke reasonable adjustment?
Q6. Does your Force utilise the NPPF, whereby officers who pass a selection sift have a temporary promotion (12 months) and a work-based assessment leading to a professional qualification in police management – with promotion taking place after this 4th step?
Q7. Where you have an Assessment Centre as part of your Promotion Process, what criteria governs scenarios or question setting?
Q8. Would you set a question within an Assessment Centre where a course would be required to answer it to a competent standard, i.e. a question on Public Order Tactics or Child Interviewing? If not, please confirm the reasons why, i.e. lack of fairness to other candidates or financial implications on training workforce in the course, etc. If yes, please explain under what circumstances this would be deemed proportionate, i.e. majority of staff would have undertaken the course, etc.
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that some of the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the following information to you.
Q1. All reasonable adjustments are put in place on an individual basis and after discussion with the candidate.
Q2. Nothing formal is in place for this, but candidates are supported with interview preparation through our Talent Development and Positive Action teams. We also offer support to candidates through our Coaching and Mentoring Academy. We offer 8 hours of revision time for National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF) exams and discounted revision packages which a range of different learning methods included in these.
Q3. Using the College of Policing’s Competency and Values Framework (CVF), all candidates are provided with the relevant CVF area on the day of the assessment and this is made clear throughout the process. Guidance on suggested reading material is also provided.
Q4. No. Suitability is assessed through Performance Development Review.
Q5. The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) covers recorded information held by a public authority. The Act does not cover information that is in someone’s head or requires opinion or judgement. The authority does not need to create new information or find the answer to a question from staff who may happen to know it. Based on the above, I do not believe your question meets the FOI criteria and is exempt under Section 8(1)(c) of the Act.
Q6. Yes.
Q7. The College of Policing’s CVF is used, together with an operational lead/subject matter expert. All assessment material is tested with current substantive officers in role.
Q8. As with Q5, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) covers recorded information held by a public authority. The Act does not cover information that is in someone’s head or requires opinion or judgement. The request you have submitted does not ask for specific information, instead, it asks for explanations and reasons why. Based on the above, I do not believe your question meets the FOI criteria and is exempt under Section 8(1)(c) of the Act.
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.