Meanwhile a report today tells us that currently,for every 8 hours on duty,the average officer will spend almost 7 of them inside a police station.

having been a Police officer for 8 years i can confirm that there is far too much red tape and paperwork (a lot of which is duplication) but to say 7 out of 8 hours are spent in the nick is rubbish!
I worked response for 5yrs before joining the dog section and the majority of my shifts were spent out and about....not eating doughnuts either like somebody kindly mentioned 
Likewise.... Spent 9 years on GPD at various stations then Trafpol for the remainder of my service including Crash Investigation, Firearms, Bikes, and other assorted specialist areas I am not at liberty to discuss.
My tongue was firmly in my cheek when I agreed wth the 1 hour on the street per shift. Whilst there are no doubt a proportion of keyboard warriors in the Police Service (bit like OOF....) the majority of the rank and file put in the hours on the streets and getting calls taking them from pillar to post and back again.
Dunno about being a dog handler down your way but in my area, they are really ran ragged, especially on lates/nights with calls all over the county, blue lighting it the majority of the time....
As to the original post - ACPO - I have no comment to make other than they do a lot of good in that forces speak to each other at the highest level etc. However, beware of biased media reporting, as always....