Like many other forces in England and Wales, Humberside Police are working hard to protect officer numbers while dealing with uncertain funding and demand that is becoming ever more complex.
While Humberside has long been a high-performing force, it was facing a major funding gap at a time when it was trying to implement its ambitious strategic vision for 2026/27. Over 9 weeks, Leapwise helped leaders identify realistic, cashable options to make meaningful changes that would increase efficiency and productivity, all while ensuring the force could continue its invaluable work for the public.
The Challenge
In total, Humberside Police faced a hefty £5.5m savings requirement. This came in the context of challenging budget assumptions, pay pressures, and lower staff turnover, which (while reflecting positive workforce sentiment) made existing savings targets increasingly challenging to achieve.
Leapwise were commissioned to help the force address this growing fiscal challenge by clarifying the force’s strategic direction and identifying realistic savings opportunities aligned to its financial objectives.
Our Approach
We engaged with Humberside over nine weeks, taking three key steps:
- Vision and objective setting – we interviewed senior leaders and conducted workshops to identify priorities, test ideas for the new force vision, and build leadership alignment. We developed vision documents for Humberside Police which served as the reference point for budget and operating decisions.
- Opportunity development – we ran over 30 individual workshops across the force, which identified more than 60 opportunities for improvement. We categorised these opportunities by their maturity, applying ‘discounting’ logic to demonstrate where there were the most realistic savings and productivity gains to be made.
- Portfolio and governance design – we brought together existing savings programmes to improve decision-making and performance across the force.
Results
In the end, our work across the project exceeded the force’s initial target. Working with leaders in Humberside, we identified more than £8m of likely savings options (based on a conservative discounted estimate) and a further £16m of non-discounted opportunities.
Alongside this, we also:
- Delivered a ‘Vision on a Page’ to provide clear objectives to support the goals of the new Chief Constable
- Provided a clear framework (through discounting methodology) that would incentivise identified opportunities being pulled through to delivery
- Set out a clear plan to deliver savings at pace while working on major structural changes over a longer period
Crucially, our report made clear that each week of delay in pursuing these savings targets would cost around £100,000. We used this insight to help link the long-term strategy for Humberside Police to day-to-day financial pressure and build the case for change.
“We wouldn’t have been able to get this far, this fast, without this support. I feel confident in the plan we have to develop our operating model and adapt to financial pressures.”
Chris Todd, Chief Constable
What other public sector organisations can learn from this
We know many organisations across policing, justice, and public safety are under pressure to meet savings targets. This project demonstrates a viable pathway to finding efficiencies by working with staff to identify areas where improvements can be made.
If you want to learn more about how Leapwise can help you deliver savings by improving productivity in your organisation, speak to our team by clicking the button below.