You are in:

Warning: This is archived material and may be out of date. The Metropolitan Police Authority has been replaced by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC).

See the MOPC website for further information.

Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 25 March 2010 at Chamber, City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London, SE1 2AA.

Present

Members

  • Kit Malthouse (Chairman)
  • Tony Arbour
  • Jennette Arnold
  • John Biggs
  • Reshard Auladin (Vice Chairman)
  • Christopher Boothman
  • Victoria Borwick
  • Valerie Brasse
  • Cindy Butts
  • James Cleverly
  • Dee Doocey
  • Toby Harris
  • Kirsten Hearn
  • Jenny Jones
  • Clive Lawton
  • Joanne McCartney
  • Caroline Pidgeon
  • Graham Speed
  • Richard Tracey.

MPA officers

  • Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
  • Jane Harwood (Assistant Chief Executive)
  • Bob Atkins (Treasurer)

MPS officers

  • Tim Godwin (Deputy Commissioner)
  • Anne McMeel (Director of Resources).

79. Apologies for absence and announcements

(Agenda item 1)

79.1 Apologies for absence were received from Faith Boardman, Neil Johnson and Steve O’Connell and Sir Paul Stephenson (Commissioner)

80. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

80.1 Toby Harris declared a personal interest in agenda item 5 ‘Commissioner’s Report’ in relation to his role as Chair of the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody.

81. Minutes: 25 February 2010

(Agenda item 3)

81.1 Members considered the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 25 February 2010.

Resolved – That the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 25 February 2010 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

82. Chairman’s and Vice Chairman’s update

(Agenda item 4)

82.1 The Chairman informed the Authority of a number of meetings/events that he had attended since the last meeting of the Authority including:

  • Meetings with the Chief Crown Prosecutor; the Chief Executive of Victim Support; Race Independent Advisory Group and the Muslim Advisory Forum.
    • A meeting with members of Parliament in relation to dangerous dogs
    • An appearance at the Home Affairs Select Committee
    • Chairing the London Serious Youth Violence Board.

82.2 The Chairman also reminded members that the HMIC had released the inspection report of the Authority which had stated that the Authority was performing adequately and drew members’ attention to the statement made by the Inspectorate which said:

“The Metropolitan Police Authority has started to make some significant changes over the last two years and is well on its way to making further improvements. Members and senior officers of the Authority are clearly committed and work well with the Commissioner and his team to ensure that policing in London continues to improve and deliver an effective police service. The Authority is aware of its areas for improvement and knows that it needs to do more to improve its scrutiny and oversight of all the functions of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), for example, Human Resources. The Authority also needs to take some hard decisions to make the service more efficient and provide good value for money for London residents”.

82.3 The Chairman added that while the overall markings indicated that the MPA was performing adequately the HMIC were referring to the MPA as a model of how a police authority should operate and had particularly commended Metforward.

82.4 Members noted the outcome of the HMIC inspection members sought clarification on how the recommendations in the report would be taken forward. The Chief Executive confirmed that there were no recommendations in the report but an action plan would be drawn up from the recommendations emerging from the themed overview.

82.5 The Chairman agreed with members that the action plan needed to take specific account of the areas where the Authority had scored relatively low in order to seek an improvement and ensure that the police authority was value for money. He also agreed with members that it was important that where strengths were highlighted it was important to maintain these. The Chief Executive confirmed that the Authority had not undertaken a formal costing of the MPA input into the inspection and did not have details of the HMIC cost of the inspection, but would have thought that these are available.

Resolved - That the report be received.

83. Commissioner’s Report

(Agenda item 5)

Performance issues

83.1 The Deputy Commissioner presented a report summarising the progress of the MPS against the objectives in the Policing London 2009-2012 Business Plan. The report covered the periods January and February 2010. The data and the indicators in the tables reflected the financial year to date for the period April to January in 2009/10, with the intention to highlight progress against corporate targets and which identify key operational activities that deliver a safer city for all London’s communities.

83.2 As it was close of the performance year end the Deputy Commissioner took the opportunity to discuss the key points around performance for the year. These included:

  • Knife crime - In comparison with the same period last year knife crime was slightly down. The Deputy Commissioner added that there was a slight increase in offences of robbery which had impacted on knife crime figures. He added that there was still a concern relating to the definitions around knife crime and stated that 11% of knife crime was intimation.
  • Gun crime remained a challenge. An increase in gun/gang related crimes early this year had seen specific operations put in place to disrupt this increased activity with levels subsequently decreasing. The Deputy Commissioner added that the MPS remained focused on this issue and that of disrupting the supply of weapons.
  • Homicide - The Deputy Commissioner stated considerable effort had been made in the tackling of knife and gun crime, particularly around the increase in young people and others being murdered. He stated that this had seen an overall fall in homicide and that whilst he was aware things could change quickly, the year-end figures could see a considerable reduction. He added that homicide was at a ten year low, however, he stated that it was important to maintain this decline and that that there was much more to be done.
  • A further challenge for the MPS was tackling the increase in rape which the Deputy Commissioner stated could see a year-end increase of 30% in terms of recorded incidents. He confirmed that the MPS had now received Baroness Stern’s review, which the MPS were assessing and which he felt would initiate further debate around rape and possibly a different way of looking this crime. He reminded members of the considerable amount of work that the MPS had undertaken in tackling the increases in rape incidents including placing Sapphire Operational Units within SCD which gave greater consistency in terms of recording and working to increase confidence in victims reporting the crime. In acknowledging the challenges for the MPS, he added that the MPS was working with the Crown Prosecution Service in a different way and through the London Criminal Justice Board work was being undertaken by a specific charging team in relation to rape looking at how to improve the conviction rates for rape.
  • The Deputy Commissioner reported that burglary by the performance year end was expected to see an overall 3% increase, however, following such initiatives as Operation Bumblebee there had been a downward trend. He reiterated his concerns that arrested burglars who were given bail continued to offend and that this was an issue that needed to be addressed with partners.
  • The Deputy Commissioner reported that there was a decline in the number of road fatalities reporting that there had been 161, 16 less than the same period last year. The Deputy Commissioner whilst pleased with the decline acknowledged that any fatality was regrettable and that the focus was on a greater reduction. He added that the MPS were also keeping under review the issue of pedal cyclist safety. He stated that safety on the roads was important and confirmed that the MPS had an education programme which involved heavy goods vehicle drivers and cyclists.
  • A 30% rise in homophobic crime was a concern. The Deputy Commissioner stated that the increase could be as result of greater confidence in reporting, but he also acknowledged that this was an under reported offence. The MPS are working closely with partners around both reporting and safety and are using intelligence to see who is committing this crime. The MPs were also concerned about an increase in crime involving people with disabilities. He added that it was important that MPS made sure that training was in place in order to be able to respond to this concern.
  • The Deputy Commissioner was pleased to inform the Authority that the MPS had received an HMIC report card and that this had been positive, with the MPS being one of the few awarded ‘outstanding’ in relation to work against organised crime. He added that he was aware that in two areas the MPS were deemed ‘fair’; local policing and confidence. The Deputy Commissioner stated that in terms of confidence the MPS were questioning some of the figures used e.g. the population figures did not take account of tourist and commuters. The Deputy Commissioner also added that value for money was a priority for the MPS, but in its evaluation the HMIC report did not recognise the additional costs of London e.g. high property prices and the impact of London weighting on salaries.

Issues raised by members

83.3 Members had submitted a number of questions in advance of the meeting.

Cross borough Policing

83.4 The Deputy Commissioner was asked to comment on whether it was possible to arrange for joint policing when one borough appears to be generating problems in an adjacent borough. An example was given that as part of the late night economy people cross Kingston Bridge in order to pick up cheaper taxis and therefore this becomes an issue for Richmond as the neighbouring borough. The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that cross border policing was now in place.

Blair Peach

83.5 It was confirmed that the Commissioner remained committed to publishing the report into the investigation of the death of Blair Peach. He added that the report, which had been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, was subject to a request from the CPS for further information, but he expected a response soon.

Corruption case

83.6 The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that of the ten officers in Enfield who had been suspended in February 2009 for alleged corruption eight remained suspended with two on restricted duties. He clarified that the six suspended in June 2009 were the same officers who had had the suspension removed but were re-suspended following further evidence.

Theft of metal

83.7 Members asked for the Deputy Commissioner to comment on the increased reports that due to the recent economic climate there seemed to have been an increase in metal theft. Members asked if this was a situation that is reflected across all London boroughs, and what measures had been put in place to tackle such theft. The Deputy Commissioner stated that figures showed that this crime had in fact been decreasing since 2007, although there had been some high profile incidents since then. He confirmed that the MPS do regularly visit metal dealers regarding stolen metal.

Anti social behaviour

83.8 The Deputy Commissioner was asked if the MPS has the capacity to monitor and track cases of anti-social behaviour. He stated that following the recent tragic incident in Leicestershire, the MPS had reviewed its process with dealing with victims of anti social behaviour. He confirmed that new technology allows the identification of a repeat caller and can inform a dispatcher that this could also be a repeat victim. He added that command control complex staff now received training to identify people who are vulnerable in terms of making the decision as to the response to them. He added that of the 636 safer neighbourhood teams approximately 500 have as a high priority anti social behaviour and therefore they were monitoring hot spots and individuals, as well as victims.

83.9 Members drew the Deputy Commissioner’s attention to the recent HMIC report card which suggested that anti social behaviour was not prioritised and that IT systems could not easily identify repeat victims of anti social behaviour. The Deputy Commissioner acknowledged that these references were made in the HMIC report card but they were reporting on the situation quite a while ago and that following the events in Leicestershire the MPS had undertaken work to review and improve in these areas. He added that one of the key changes had been the training of computer aided despatch room staff and that the challenges were in terms of the volumes for example different addresses and telephone/mobile phone. In response to members’ that a further challenge was to ensure that staff could distinguish that a call could also be a hate crime call, he confirmed that as well as training staff taking such calls now had to complete mandatory fields on systems which would identify if it was a vulnerable person.

83.10 Members asked the Deputy Commissioner to comment on the possibility of improving inter-agency intelligence gathering around anti social behaviour. The Deputy Commissioner agreed that there was always scope for sharing best practice and for there to be a pan London approach. He also informed members of the work of the Anti-Social Behaviour Board, which had been looking at patterns across London and that had shared information, particularly around such events as Halloween and bonfire night. He agreed to provide members with more information on the work of the Board.

83.11 The Chairman added that he agreed that there was a varied level of integration between local authorities and the police and that there was a need for shared picture of a borough in terms of crime and community safety.

83.12 The Deputy Commissioner was asked to also comment on the reference made in the HMIC report card about ‘borough commanders and senior managers experiencing undue turnover’ and the effects this has on the community. The Deputy Commissioner stated that there was now an expectation that borough commanders would be in place for a minimum of three years and only in exceptional circumstantiate they would be moved. He added that there were currently no tenure requirements for other members of the SMT, but the MPS are looking at the HMIC findings in relation to this matter. In response to members he added that borough commander should be attending their Police Community Consultation Forums.

Deaths in custody

83.13 Following the death in custody of Paul Coker in August 2005 on which an inquest has recently concluded, members drew attention to the fact that the inquest had identified issues around police training, failures of communication between the FME and police officers and about the passing on of information around the change in shifts. It was asked if the MPS were satisfied that those issues have now been adequately addressed in terms of custody arrangements.

83.14 The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that the MPS were currently assessing the recommendations, but confirmed that some had already been put into place, including since 2005 a new computer custody system called the National Strategic Information System (NSPIS) as well as reviewing training for custody and dedicated detention officers. He added that forensic medical officers were now required to input their finding onto NSPIS when they have undertaken a review of a person in custody. Emergency life training had been developed to recognise acute behavioural disorder. He confirmed that Project Herald was being rolled out and that officers were being replaced by dedicated detection officers, plus the introduction of some 200 nurses into custody centres. The Deputy Commissioner added in response to members that he would make sure the issue of varying shift changes for nurses and that of other custody staff was considered as part of the roll out of custody nurses.

83.15 In relation to the death of Bhindi Dhanji on 17 March 2010, who according to press reports had absconded from Southwark Crown Court prior to being sentenced and was subsequently found hanged members asked if the MPS were satisfied that policing arrangements at Courts are sufficient to prevent absconding. What difference does it make if a case is being brought by another police force (in this case the City of London Police)? In this case, had any concerns about suicide risk being expressed and, if so, had they been adequately passed on?

83.16 In relation the death of Bhindi Dhanji, the Deputy Commissioner said that it is the courts who are responsible for the security for person appearing before it and that at this stage as this case was currently under investigation it would be inappropriate o make any further comment.

Overtime budget

83.17 Members asked the Deputy Commissioner how confident was he that the overtime budget would not be exceeded this year, excluding overtime for major operations.

83.18 The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that excluding major events, current predictions suggested that the overspend would be around £400,000 although he stressed that this was not yet confirmed. Members asked for a breakdown of overtime figures, including by borough and that in future information relating to unforeseen expenditure be presented in a separate line of a table and not as text or footnotes.

ACPO drivers

83.19 Members reminded the Deputy Commissioner that it was agreed in October to review the provision of drivers for ACPO officers. Members asked what progress had been made, and when did he expect to be able to report back to the Authority The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that he anticipated that it would be considered by the MPS Management Board and then presented to the Authority by May. (Secretary’s note: Following the rescheduling of the HR and Remuneration Sub-Committee this information was now expected in June).

Dangerous/status dogs/cruelty to dogs

83.20 Following the seizure of over 1,000 dangerous dogs and the increase in the use of dogs in crime, members asked the Deputy Commissioner if the current resources of the Dogs Unit were sufficient. The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that the Dogs Unit comprises one sergeant, five constables and two members of police staff, but added that they are not the only ones dealing with dangerous dogs. He added that a key function of the unit is to raise awareness, provide advice and work with safer, neighbourhood teams. There were no plans to increase the units numbers but this would be kept under review.

83.21 Members were provided with information about an incident of cruelty to a dog in south London. The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that the police worked with the RSPCA on such matters and these acts often impact on the community and are taken seriously. He agreed to provide members with investigation details of the specific case mentioned.

Other questions

Report from Baroness Stern

83.22 The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that the report from Baroness Stern made recommendations that nurses should be involved in supporting rape victims, particularly where specimens needed to be taken, but added that since 2000/01 the MPS had had cover for sexual referrals centres with health partners and that samples were taken by medical staff.

Olympic Route Network

83.23 Members noted that a number of organisations had concerns about the Olympic Route Network and asked if the MPS had a view on how they felt this would work or any particular issues they may have. The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that at this stage discussion was ongoing between a number of organisations and the Olympic Organisation Committee and he added that most of the issues would be for Transport for London to pursue.

Rape

83.24 As previously mentioned at Authority meetings the increase in rape is likely to include an increase in victims having the confidence to report incidents. Members asked if the MPS were confident if this was the case and the Deputy Commissioner stated that it was always hard to say if confidence was the key factor in the increase. He added that the ‘havens process’ was designed to allow victims to come forward even if they did not want the police to be involved, but at this stage the impact of improved confidence remained an assumption.

Budget overspend

83.25 Members sought clarification on the outturn forecast which in one paper was referred to as £7.2m and another as £10.3. The MPS Director of Resources confirmed that the figures in the London Policing Business Plan are reported at period 9, the Commissioner’s report is reported at period 10. She added that as reported at the last Finance and Resources Committee there was an anticipated downward trend on this figure as the year progresses.

Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA)

83.26  Members remained concerned that the MPS did not seem to be getting as much monies as this Act allows. The Deputy Commissioner agreed that MPS were equally as concerned and that discussions were continuing with the Home Office on how to change the way POCA monies were dispersed.

Resource Flexibility

83.27 Members asked if there was flexibility for a borough commander to, on a temporary basis, resource a specific problem within a borough. The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that the borough commander can decide to focus on specific issues, but safer neighbourhoods teams were excluded from that, with the exception of significant incidents, such as the Olympics. Borough commanders have access to central assets if it was felt necessary.

Road safety/cycle theft

83.28 Members asked that following the budget reduction, were the MPS confident that they could maintain road safety work. The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that the budget was now set and that the MPS were keen to maintain the downward trend of fatalities, working with Transport for London and other partners. The Deputy Commissioner noted members’ concerns that there was an increase in cycle theft, which was an under reported crime and he confirmed that the MPS were looking an operation to prevent this crime.

G20

83.29 The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that the MPS would not be contesting the ruling on the operation to remove G20 protestors from a property as part of the policing of G20 demonstrations and agreed to discuss this matter further with a member outside the meeting.

Data bases

83.30 Arising from the discussion on the removal of G20 protestors from a property members noted that forward intelligence officers had made ‘best endeavours’ to recover all copies of videos and other information relating to this operation. However, members were concerned that, as there were several data bases, were the MPS confident that all information had been either retrieved or removed and was there a policy on what information should be on a data base and removal of information. The Deputy Commissioner stated that there were a number of data bases and that having one universal policy may not be lawful. He suggested that it might be useful to meet with members to discuss issues around data bases.

BME officers

83.31 Members raised concerns at the low numbers of BME and female police officers and asked the Deputy Commissioner to comment on possible different approaches to improving these numbers. The Deputy Commissioner stated that one of the challenges the MPS has is the speed of turn over when most police officers have a 30 year career. Consequently it takes some time for new recruits to come through the ranks. He added that if the MPS were to recruit at an active population demography of 33% from BME backgrounds, then that would only equate to 300 BME officers joining the MPS, which had at present 33,000 police officers. He confirmed that a target of one fifth would be recruited from BME and at present the MPS were slightly below that target at 16%. He added that the MPS were actively looking a different ways of recruiting and acknowledged that there was a confidence and trust issue. He also spoke about the importance of recruitment, retention and progression. The Chairman added that many of the issues would form part of the outcomes of the Race and Faith Inquiry.

83.32 Those issues that the Acting Commissioner undertook to report back on to members have been circulated in the form of an addendum report and are appended to these minutes at Appendix 1.

Resolved – That the report be received.

84. Civil Liberties Panel-public order policing

(Agenda item 6)

84.1 Members received a report that outlined the findings of the Civil Liberties Panel into public order policing following the G20 protests in April 2009.

84.2 Members welcomed the report and it its recommendations and congratulated Victoria Borwick and her fellow panel members for their work . A number of points were made and these included:

  • As outlined in the report it is important that officers are equipped to facilitate peaceful protest
  • Members highlighted the importance of not only releasing good news stories but also bad news too and for there to an awareness of the ‘citizen journalist’.
  • Members highlighted the importance of the Authority having a clear indication from the MPS on the implementation process of taking forward the Panel’s recommendations.
  • The Panel’s report indicates the nature of protesting is changing and will continue to change and it is important that MPS public order training reflects those changes, including a less confrontational approach to public order policing.
  • Care was needed before an event not inadvertently to create a situation by predicting that there may be trouble.
  • As indicated by the Panel there were issues around what did supervision mean in the context of public order policing and how it was disappointing that the Panel could find no record of disciplinary action taken.

84.3 The Deputy Commissioner also thanked the Panel for their report and confirmed that the MPS would be looking at the recommendations of the report from the Panel and added that an initial response would be made back to the Panel and then to the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee.

Resolved - That

  1. The report be received; and
  2. The MPS consider the recommendations of the Panel and provide the Panel with its initial comments, the response and monitoring of the recommendations would then be undertaken by the Strategic and Operational Committee.

85. Policing London Business Plan

(Agenda item 7)

85.1 A report was considered that provided members with a final update on the Policing London Business Plan 2010-13 and notably revisions to the text under corporate objectives, amendments to revenue and capital budget, adjustments to the headline indicators and targets and the inclusion of statutory appendices, including a Value for Money Statement.

85.2 It was noted that the report had not been circulated within the statutory five working days and the Chairman, with agreement of other members, accepted the report on the grounds of urgency. The reasons for urgency were that the Authority was required to publish the Plan by 31 March 2010.

85.3 With the agreement of other members the Chairman also accepted an addendum report that provided members with proposed revised recommendations in respect of the Plan to reflect discussions at the recently held joint meeting of the Strategic and Operational Policing and Finance and Resources Committees and to clarify the performance monitoring framework.

85.4 Members were disappointed that there was limited time for them to fully consider the Plan before it needed to be published. A number of members suggested that there should be more consideration of different or additional key performance indicators and that the Plan should be supported by an equality impact assessment which should also be shared with members.

85.5 The Chairman, in noting members’ concerns, reminded them that the Authority had a statutory obligation to publish the Plan by 31 March 2010 and failure to do so could have budgetary implications. However, in view of members’ comments he suggested changes be forwarded to officers for inclusion into the Plan and with a final version circulated to members.

Resolved – That

  1. the Policing London Business Plan 2010-13 and budget (capital and revenue) as required by statute, be re circulated to members for final comment and input on KPIs;
  2. the new themed performance framework be brought to the April meeting of the full Authority for approval;
  3. the changes the draft Policing London business Plan 2010-13 as agreed by the joint Strategic and Operational Policing and Finance and Recourses Committee be noted; and
  4. the revised Capital Programme detailed project as outlined in exempt Appendix 2 be noted; and
  5. the Capital Programme prudential indicators and statement of minimum revenue provision be agreed.

86. Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Investment Strategy

(Agenda item 8)

86.1 A report was received that set out the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Investment Strategy recommended for 2010/11.

86.2 Members were informed that the Strategy had been considered by both the Finance and Resources Committee and the Resources and Productivity Sub-Committee and in line with CIPFA’s revised Treasury Management Code of Practice.

Resolved - That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Improvement Strategy 2010/11 as set out in the report be approved.

87. Appointment of an independent members

(Agenda item 9)

87.1 Following the resignation of an independent member, members were asked to appoint two members to a selection panel and to agree the composition and membership of the appointment panel to fill this vacancy.

Resolved – That

  1. Clive Lawton and Kirsten Hearn be appointed to the Selection Panel
  2. the Chief Executive seek expressions of interest from members to be appointed to the Appointments Panel.

88. Reports from committees

(Agenda item 10)

88.1 The Authority received a report outlining key issues that had been considered at recent Authority Committee meetings. The report covered the following meetings:

  • Strategic and Operational Policing Committee – 4 March 2010
  • Communities, Equalities and People Committee – 11 March 2010

88.2 Regarding the report from the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee, it was noted that the Drugs Strategy was not approved.

Resolved – That the reports from Committees be noted.

89. Action taken under delegated authority

(Agenda 11)

89.1 Members received a report that outlined action taken under delegated authority by the Chief Executive on the grounds of urgency.

Resolved - That the report be received.

90. Any other urgent business

(Agenda item 9)

90.1 There were no items of urgent business

The meeting closed at 12.10 pm

Addendum to the Commissioner’s report

Report by the Deputy Commissioner

This report follows up on the actions and commitments made verbally by the Deputy Commissioner at the Full Authority meeting on 25 March 2010.

1. The Deputy Commissioner committed to provide an update to Members on the following issues:

  •  Inter-agency working on Anti-Social Behaviour.
  •  What MPS changes have resulted following the inquest into the death of Paul Coker.
  • MPS to provide a breakdown of the overtime figures, including by BOCU, and for information relating to unforeseen expenditure to be shown in a separate line of the table rather than in text below.
  •  Cycle thefts.
  • G20 squatters and the illegal raid.
  • MPS databases

Inter-agency working on Anti-Social Behaviour

2. A briefing note has been provided as requested.

Have the MPS implemented changes following the inquest into the death of Paul Coker (particularly regarding communication failures at shift changeover)

3. The importance of a proper handover between shifts and matters to be considered is covered during the custody officer’s initial training and during the Inspector’s operational skills course.  The training has been regularly updated and in 2006 was reviewed to ensure that it accommodated the recommendations of the Safer Detention Guidance published jointly by ACPO, Centrex (now NPIA) and the Home Office.  The subject of handover is also covered comprehensively during Custody Nurse Practitioner training.  Specific instructions are also included in the Custody Standard Operating Procedures.

4. The custody computer system (NSPIS) includes an entry by the custody officer detailing the handover.  NSPIS was installed at Greenwich in February 2007 and is now used throughout the MPS.

5. Custody nursing teams are currently deployed on five BOCUs, operating a 12 hour shift pattern.  These do not coincide with the shift patterns of other custody staff.  The nurse’s handover involves detailed healthcare information, some of which is not required by other custody staff.  Similarly, the custody officer handover contains information not relevant to healthcare professionals (HCP).

6. However, the HCP is available to contribute relevant information to the custody staff handover and the custody staff are available to provide information at the HCP handover.  This ensures that only relevant information is provided, saves time and is a significant benefit over the reliance on written records in those custody suites without nurses.

7. The majority of the recommendations arising from the Paul Coker inquest have already been implemented.  The remainder are being progressed under the MPS safer detention governance.

MPS to provide a breakdown of the overtime figures, including by BOCU, and for information relating to unforeseen expenditure be shown in a separate line of the table rather than in text below

8. The Director of Resources has provided information to Dee Doocey and offered to meet to discuss further.

Cycle thefts

9. The Deputy Commissioner has offered to meet with Jenny Jones to discuss further.

G20 squatters and the illegal raid.

10. The Deputy Commissioner has offered to meet with Jenny Jones to discuss further.

MPS databases

11. The Deputy Commissioner has offered to meet with Jenny Jones to discuss further.

Report Author: Brett Dalby, Strategic Relationships, MPS

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback