Estate Management 
The purpose of Estates & Building Services Department is to
ensure the functions and services are effectively provided and
developed in an efficient and strategic manner to support the force
within prevailing policies and budgetary provision.
Core Functions
- Support and develop the Force Estates Strategy.
- Maintain a complete and accurate record of force property
holdings and associated legal documentation.
- Manage and control procedures for property holding related
income and expenditure.
- Manage and control allocation of force housing stock.
- Manage capital and revenue building projects.
- Manage and maintain condition of buildings and associated
facilities.
Formulate and develop a strategic energy management plan.
- Undertake force liaison role for selected corporate
contracts.
Customers
our key customers are wide ranging, depending upon the service
concerned, and vary from the Police Authority and Chief Officers to
divisions and departments for strategic, operational and
administrative support matters.
Resources
The Estates & Building Services Department consists of three
areas of service provision:-
Strategic/Department - project management and
core support tasks - Head of Estates, Capital Projects Manager, PFI
Contracts Manager and Administrative Manager.
Energy Management - Part-time Clerical
Assistant
Building Services - Building Services Manager,
Mechanical and Electrical Officer, two Surveyors and an
Administrative Assistant.
Resourcing at the strategic/department/project management level
of the department is strongly influenced by involvement in any
current major and minor capital building schemes that create
critical priority work over prolonged periods of time to achieve
force objectives. Inevitably the presence of such projects has and
will result in high workloads that require continuous assessment of
priorities and restrict progress in some other areas.
In respect of repairs and maintenance of the estate, annual
surveys take place to identify and prioritise needs over the
following five-year period to ensure buildings can fully support
operational services but actual work undertaken can be strongly
influenced by budgetary allocation. Environmental context - in
order to fulfill the purpose as a central service provider, the
Estates & Building Services Department seeks not only to
positively plan and programme to achieve core functions but to also
have the ability to respond to reactive operational demands subject
to policy and financial restraints.In respect of major and minor
capital building schemes, recognition of the strategic implications
in the longer term is essential for both operational and budgetary
reasons and procedures must identify and translate the former into
the policing plan. Estate matters are often restricted by
financial, legal, town planning and programme restraints with the
result that immediate operational demands are inhibited by those
influences; a factor that emphasises the importance of forward
planning and identification of changing needs.
Quality of Service - Building Services undertakes annual surveys
and monitors the contractor service provision delivered through
annual customer satisfaction surveys. Performance indicators have
been developed to enable anlaysis of the service level provided by
the department.Performance indicators will be developed in
connection with accommodation and energy related matters. The
benchmarks introduced by the Audit Commission in the 'Action
Stations' Report and now managed by the National Property Managers'
Group will be used for this purpose.Corporate contract providers
will be required to provide performance indicators to support their
agreements with the force.
Corporate Plan Priorities - The provision of adequate flexible
and suitably located accommodation with appropriate services and
facilities management to support operational policing through
changing needs forms the main basis of the core purpose for the
department.The department seeks to meet the purpose and core
functions for its customers through efficient and best value
methods of resourcing, procurement and service provision.The
department has more specific roles in supporting the force in the
objectives of tackling criminality, reassurance and modernisation
within the context of the corporate plan.