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Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 28 October 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

  • Len Duvall (Chair)
  • Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
  • Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
  • Tony Arbour
  • Jennette Arnold
  • Richard Barnes
  • Lynne Featherstone
  • Nicky Gavron
  • Toby Harris
  • Kirsten Hearn
  • Peter Herbert
  • Damian Hockney
  • Elizabeth Howlett
  • Jenny Jones
  • Karim Murji
  • Bob Neill
  • Aneeta Prem
  • Murad Qureshi
  • John Roberts
  • Richard Sumray
  • Graham Tope
  • Abdal Ullah
  • Rachel Whittaker

MPA officers

  • Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
  • Peter Martin (Treasurer)
  • David Riddle (Deputy Clerk and Solicitor)
  • Simon Vile (Head of Secretariat)

MPS officers

  • Sir Ian Blair (Deputy Commissioner)
  • Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
  • Steve House (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)
  • Ailsa Beaton (Director of Information)

53. Apologies for absence and other announcements

(Agenda item 1)

The Chair announced that Sir Ian Blair had been appointed as the next Commissioner and congratulated him on behalf of the Authority.

An apology for absence was received from the Commissioner.

Jennette Arnold presented a petition on behalf of 110 residents of Islington requesting action against the anti-social behaviour of a resident of St Thomas’s Road, N4. They requested the Chair of the MPA to encourage the Deputy Commissioner to intervene and bring about a speedy and effective resolution of this problem.

54. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

None received.

55. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Cindy Butts asked for two amendments to the minutes of the last meeting. In item 43 it was not appropriate to describe African-Caribbean communities as ‘Trident communities’. She also asked that the resolution in item 44 be amended to read ‘That the knife crime initiative should be rolled out across the remaining 29 London boroughs, subject to the evaluation of the three pilot boroughs demonstrating success.’

Resolved – That the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 28 October 2004 be confirmed and signed as a correct record, subject to the above amendments.

56. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 4)

The Authority received the minutes of the following Committees:

Resolved – That the minutes of Committees be noted.

57. 2005/06 budget submission

(Agenda item 7)

In introducing this item, the Chair commented on the size of the budget submission. The volume of paper was mainly driven by the GLA requirements but he suggested that this should be reviewed. He queried, for instance, the need for separate MPA and MPS equalities budget submissions.

The Chair also made it clear that a 17.4% precept increase was not acceptable. He understood that the MPS had already made difficult decisions in getting to the current budget submission but there would be a need to make more difficult choices when the Authority returned to the budget in December. Therefore, the budget could only go forward at this stage on the clear understanding that there would be a rigorous review following the grant settlement.

The Treasurer then introduced the budget report and highlighted the key issues and underlying assumptions in the draft budget submission.

There was general agreement that a 17.4% precept increase was out of the question and that at this stage the MPA could only forward the budget submission to the Mayor, rather than approve it. Similarly it was only possible at this stage to note that Step Change option D was the MPS’s preferred approach.

There was concern that funding pressures should not lead to the Step Change programme being reduced to the Safer Neighbourhoods programme, as there would be demands and expectations across the Service.

Richard Sumray emphasised the, as yet unrealised, need to link budget and strategic planning decisions. This was particularly important when budget reduction decisions had to be made, because such decisions could only be taken in the context of strategic priorities. Richard Sumray suggested that an urgent covering report was needed to accompany the budget submission. Graham Tope commented that Finance Committee had agreed that next year there would be a joint meeting of the Finance and Planning, Performance and Review Committees at the appropriate time.

Rachel Whittaker expressed disappointment that police staff medium-term pay provision had not been included in the budget submission. Jenny Jones suggested that a road safety team in every borough would cost £3.5m but would save far more.

Kirsten Hearn commented on the adequacy of the equalities submission. The inclusion of the Special Operations budget in this submission was inappropriate. There was a need for clarity about what funding directly progressed equalities and fairness.

After discussion, it was

Resolved –

  1. To confirm the MPA’s direct budget (paragraph 5 of the report and Appendix A)
  2. To note the approach underlying Step Change option D (paragraphs 6-8 of the report) and that this is the MPS’s preferred option
  3. To forward the 2005/06 budget submission to the Mayor, on the basis that it will be subject to review in December
  4. That work should continue to identify options for reducing the budget so that they are available for consideration following the announcement of the grant settlement (paragraph 12 of the report)
  5. To note the provisional advice on the robustness of the estimates (Appendix B).

At this point the Chair left the meeting and Reshard Auladin took the Chair.

58. Chair’s, Members’ and Clerk’s update

(Agenda item 5)

There were no updates.

59. Commissioner’s update

(Agenda item 6)

DAC House introduced the written performance report and referred to other topical issues.

Members welcomed the continued good performance, whilst noting the 5.4% rise in violent crime. More analysis was needed to understand what lay behind this increase. Richard Sumray asked if future reports could also include the detection rate for sanctioned detections only, as this would show more mixed performance. Cindy Butts said that more work was needed to get out the message to communities that gun crime was falling.

In reply to a member’s suggestion, the Clerk confirmed that the MPA were in active discussion with the Mayor’s office about having an edition of the Londoner devoted to MPS successes in tackling crime.

The Director of Resources reported on successes for the MPS at the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply annual awards. Steve Atherton, Director of Procurement Services won ‘Professional of the Year’ and Procurement Services won ‘Most Improved Purchasing Operation’. Finance Services were also runners up in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers and National Audit Office ‘Building Public Trust’ awards. The Authority congratulated all those concerned for these awards.

60. MPA corporate strategy

(Agenda item 8)

The Authority considered the draft corporate strategy which had been amended following consultation.

Toby Harris commented that Priority 1 © should also be about facilitating the transparency of the MPS.

Resolved –

  1. To approve this version of the corporate strategy for implementation.
  2. That this strategy be discussed at one of the regular Member level meetings between the MPA and the ALG.
  3. That the Co-ordination & Policing Committee be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the action plan.

61. MPA lead member roles

(Agenda item 9)

The Authority considered a report by the Clerk on the appointment of lead members. Several were agreed at the meeting, which are included in the list of lead members attached as an appendix to these minutes.

Resolved –

  1. That lead member appointments for 2004/05 be agreed as shown in the appendix to these minutes.
  2. At this point Len Duvall returned to the meeting and retook the Chair.

62. MPA/MPS sponsorship and use of logo

(Agenda item 10)

This item was placed on the agenda at the request of Tony Arbour, as provided for by Standing Order 1.7.

In response to this item, the Director of Resources said that he had replied to Tony Arbour in September agreeing that a review of processes and procedures was necessary. This review had been jointly sponsored by the Resources Department and the Department of Public Affairs and would be carried out by a Chief Superintendent.

Resolved – That this matter be further considered on completion of the review.

63. Stop and Search

(Agenda item 11)

The Authority considered reports by the Clerk and the Commissioner on action to progress the recommendations of the Stop and Search Scrutiny report.

Lynne Featherstone, the Chair of the MPA’s member panel, reported on their first meeting. The panel would be receiving a presentation from the MPS and would be considering their policy in greater detail at that stage. However, she flagged up the panel’s concern that one of the scrutiny’s key findings, about tackling disproportionality, was not made explicit in the MPS’s vision.

DAC Howlett commented that the report before the Authority was about the process and structure put in place to respond to the scrutiny recommendations. There had been a number of steering group meetings and the MPA was represented on the advisory group.

Abdal Ullah expressed disappointment that the stop and search forum set up in Tower Hamlets had not been able to meet for some three months because the MPS analyst supporting the group had been transferred to other duties. DAC Howlett said that she would look into this.

In reply to members’ questions, it was confirmed that the MPS was on course for a Recommendation 61 launch on 17 November.

Karim Murji indicated that he was interested in joining the members’ panel.

Resolved - That the reports be noted.

64. Mobile information strategy

(Agenda item 12)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner outlining the MPS position in relation to the national mobile information strategy.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

65. Review of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary

(Agenda item 13)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner reviewing the current position of the Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC).

Members paid tribute to the excellent work and commitment of special constables. There were, however, significant variations between boroughs in terms of the numbers of special constables recruited and the kinds of duties that they were asked to undertake. It was felt that there should be an MPS-wide standard of what they could expect from the role. The report did not draw out the links with the step change programme, but they should be integral to providing community reassurance. More needed to be made of Bexley’s success in recruiting special constables, particularly by rolling out the local training pilot across the MPS if successful.

Members also suggested that it might be appropriate to explore some form of recompense for special constables, such as honoraria or Council Tax relief.

Resolved –

  1. That the report be noted; and
  2. That John Roberts be appointed as lead member for the MSC

66. Dispersal of groups and the removal of persons under 16 years (part 4, section 30 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003) – progress report

(Agenda item 14)

It was agreed to defer consideration of this report to the next meeting of the Authority. At that time it would be helpful for the report to include some further information, such as more information about the crack house closures referred to in the appendix and whether there is information about borough approaches to dealing with people excluded from the designated areas.

67. Action taken under delegated authority

(Agenda item 15)

Members received a report that gave details of action taken by the Clerk under delegated authority on the grounds of urgency.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

The meeting closed at 1p.m.

Lead member roles 2004/05

Full Authority/Co-ordination & Policing Committee

  • National & International functions: Toby Harris, with support from Reshard Auladin in relation to Muslim community issues and anti-terrorism work in particular
  • Forensic services: Reshard Auladin
  • Business consultation: Reshard Auladin
  • Police reform: Reshard Auladin (with Len Duvall and Toby Harris as appropriate)
  • Public order policing: Rachel Whittaker
  • Policing of sporting events, including football: Richard Sumray
  • Road safety: Jenny Jones
  • Trafficking in women: Jenny Jones and Elizabeth Howlett
  • Transport Operations Command Unit: Kirsten Hearn, Jenny Jones and Murad Qureshi
  • Drugs: Richard Sumray
  • Metropolitan Special Constabulary: John Roberts

Community Engagement Committee (formerly Consultation Committee)

  • Independent Custody Visiting: Aneeta Prem
  • Community Police Consultative Groups: that the panel of members addressing funding issues should act as leads when required (Abdal Ullah, Aneeta Prem and John Roberts)

Corporate Governance Committee

No lead members appointed – all areas will be covered as part of the committee’s work programme

Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board

  • Faith groups: Cindy Butts to co-ordinate with support from Aneeta Prem, Reshard Auladin and Abdal Ullah in relation to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Muslim communities
  • Youth issues: Abdal Ullah
  • Women’s issues: Cindy Butts
  • Sexual orientation: Kirsten Hearn
  • Forced marriages: Aneeta Prem
  • Stop and search: Lynne Featherstone
  • Recommendation 61: John Roberts
  • Equalities Standard: Kirsten Hearn if no other volunteer
  • Hate Crimes: Peter Herbert

Finance Committee

  • IS/IT: Reshard Auladin
  • Estates issues: Murad Qureshi

Human Resources Committee

No lead members appointed – all areas will be covered as part of the committee’s work programme

Planning, Performance and Review Committee

  • Criminal Justice System: Richard Sumray & Reshard Auladin
  • Quality of response: Lynne Featherstone
  • Child Protection: Richard Sumray

Professional Standards and Complaints Committee

No lead members appointed – all areas will be covered as part of the committee’s work programme

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