Multi-year support to the FCDO and the Royal Montserrat Police Service (RMPS), working in partnership on a complex change programme in an Overseas Territory.
The Royal Montserrat Police Service set out to modernise its operations, strengthen public confidence, and build specialist capabilities across safeguarding, maritime policing, financial investigation and intelligence. This work took place within the particular context of Montserrat, a close-knit community where strong local ties bring both real strengths and considerations to be carefully managed.
Since May 2021, Salterton has worked in partnership with RMPS, providing strategic advisors, specialist trainers and mentors to support the Commissioner. Alongside this, the Safeguarding Unit and its multi-agency arrangements have been shaped by direct input from the Montserrat community.
The Royal Montserrat Police Service (RMPS) has strengthened its leadership, built new capabilities to better serve the people of Montserrat, and restructured its operations. As part of this work, specialist subject matter experts were deployed to the island to work alongside RMPS, providing advice, mentoring and practical support to help build sustainable capability within the service.
This work took place in a unique environment. As a small island community, Montserrat has close social ties, where people often know each other well. While this brings many strengths, it can sometimes make it harder for individuals to come forward and speak about safeguarding risks and vulnerabilities. There were also areas of policing developed for the first time on the island, including specialist investigative skills and safeguarding services.
At the same time, practical challenges such as the realities of building and procurement on an island needed to be carefully managed. Above all, it was essential that this work be carried out in a way that built trust with the community and reflected its needs.
Our approach was to work in partnership with RMPS and the wider Montserrat community rather than applying a one-size-fits-all solution.
Specialist advisors supported the Commissioner’s priorities, working alongside RMPS officers to build skills, share knowledge, and strengthen systems. A strong emphasis was placed on mentoring and leaving lasting capability within the organisation.
The Safeguarding Unit has been designed as more than just a building. It is a service shaped around the needs of the community - bringing together agencies, ensuring the safe and secure handling of information, and creating a welcoming, trauma-informed environment for those seeking support. Community views were an essential part of this process, including feedback gathered directly from residents.
Delivering this work on an island created a strong sense of partnership and shared purpose. Montserrat’s close-knit community and committed public servants brought valuable local knowledge, relationships, and dedication to improving public services.
Working together allowed for open conversations about how best to strengthen services, particularly in sensitive areas such as safeguarding. This included building confidence in new approaches, supporting staff as they developed specialist skills, and adapting ways of working to reflect both professional standards and local context.
The programme continues to benefit from close collaboration with local suppliers and partners, with ongoing engagement helping to navigate practical considerations such as delivery timelines, identifying local businesses and experts to future-proof the concept. Throughout, the focus remained on working alongside people, building trust, and ensuring that changes were sustainable and owned locally.
The programme was built on working closely with RMPS officers and the wider Montserrat community, with a strong emphasis on sharing knowledge, building confidence, and supporting long-term development.
Advisors were selected for their operational experience and their ability to work alongside colleagues, mentoring and supporting both supervisors and trainees as new approaches were introduced. There was a clear focus on developing skills and leadership locally to sustain improvements over time.
Positive role models were an important part of this approach. Female advisors worked in visible leadership, training, and mentoring roles, supporting the continued development of women in policing and encouraging a more inclusive culture.
Strong relationships were established across Montserrat, including with community and voluntary organisations, as well as legal and financial organisations. This helped ensure that new ideas were shaped collaboratively and supported by a broad network of partners.
Ongoing engagement with local suppliers, women-led providers and charities ensured that the work remains rooted in the community and responsive to local needs.
Working in partnership with RMPS, the programme supported a range of important developments to strengthen services and build long-term capability on the island.
This included strengthening professional standards and accountability, establishing a Safeguarding Unit to support vulnerable people, and developing a new economic crime investigation capability. The programme also enhanced emergency response arrangements and supported the design of a multi-agency control room.
Alongside these developments, new training in police regulations was delivered, intelligence capability was introduced through a Crime Stoppers partnership, and skills were built across a range of policing areas to support sustainable, locally owned services.
User testing and then roll out of the upgraded Overseas Territories Regional Criminal Intelligence System (OTRCIS) which includes practically training, coaching and mentoring of all staff within the police service and other agencies of a British Overseas Territory (BOTs) to enhance organisational capability and capacity of business activity/service delivery moving from paper-based processes to a digitalised platform.
Multi Agency Major Incident Training was delivered by Salterton Associates in Montserrat between 30 October and 3 November 2023. The programme comprised blended learning, with some didactic delivery of new knowledge and a large proportion of participant centred group and individual work. It was based on Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles (JESIP) but also incorporated the principles of the UK National Risk Register and the emergency planning principles of the UK Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
Partner with Salterton to drive meaningful change.
