An update on confidence in local policing

Report: 6
Date: 8 June 2009
By: T/Deputy Commissioner on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides an update on confidence in local policing covering:

• Current MPS performance and national comparisons.
• The drivers of confidence.
• Borough variations.
• Diversity and equality.
• MPS strategy in delivering the Home Office confidence target.
• Partnership issues.

A. Recommendation

That members note the update on improving public confidence in policing.

B. Supporting information

Current MPS performance and national comparisons

1. In April 2009, the Home Office implemented the proposal outlined in the Green Paper “From the neighbourhood to the national: policing our communities together” introducing a new single top-down performance measure for all police forces in England and Wales. The measure is based on the Public Service Agreement indicator to assess how police and local authorities are working together to deal with crime and anti-social behaviour.

2. The new “single public confidence measure” is obtained from the Home Office’s British Crime Survey [BCS] - a long established continuous survey conducted face-to-face in people’s homes across England and Wales. The survey captures approximately 50,000 respondents each year including 3,000 London residents.

3. The specific BCS question for this new confidence measure is: “It is the responsibility of the police and local council working in partnership to deal with anti-social behaviour and crime in your local area. So how much would you agree or disagree that the police and local council are dealing with the anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in this area?”

4. The Home Office has set out intentionally stretching targets for the new measure that, if met, would raise public confidence at a national level to 60% by 2012. For the MPS, the target is to achieve 59.4% by the end of March 2012 with an interim target of 55.4% by the end of March 2011.

5. MPS performance is 48.2% for the rolling year to December 2008 placing the MPS 1st within our Most Similar Group [MSG] and 15th compared to all forces in England and Wales. The MPS’ MSG comprises Greater Manchester, West Midlands and West Yorkshire.

6. In addition to the new confidence measure, the Home Secretary, will also take note of performance against the similar BCS question that asks whether the public are confident that the police alone “are dealing with the things that matter locally”. MPS performance is 53.6% for the rolling year to December 2008 placing the MPS 2nd in our MSG and 18th compared to all forces in England and Wales.

7. Prior to April 2009, confidence in policing was measured via the percentage of respondents answering ‘strongly agree’ or ‘tend to agree’ to the BCS question: “Taking everything into account how good a job do you think the police IN THIS AREA are doing?”. Performance for the 12 months to December 2008 is 54.8%, similar to the 2007/08 out-turn of 55.2%. The result places the MPS first in our MSG and 15th compared to all forces in England and Wales.

The drivers of confidence

8. At the 5 February MPA Strategic and Operational Policing Committee meeting, the MPS presented a model of the drivers of confidence for the old (“good job”) confidence measure. The model was informed by complex statistical analysis of the MPS’ own Public Attitude Survey [PAS] undertaken by the MPS’ Strategy, Research and Analysis Unit [SRAU].

9. The four main drivers identified are described below and illustrated in the graphic at Appendix 1:

• Effectiveness in dealing with crime – perceptions of how well the police:
  • respond to emergencies
  • tackle and prevent crime
  • support victims and witnesses
  • provide a visible presence
  • police public events.
• Engagement with the community – views that the police are:
  • committed to, and engaged with, the community
  • actively listen, understand and deal with local concerns
  • reliable.
• Fair treatment – people feel that the police are:
  • fair and treat them with respect regardless of who they are or the reason for contact
  • helpful, friendly and approachable.
• Alleviating Local ASB – people perceive that there has been a decrease in local disorder and anti-social behaviour e.g. noisy / nuisance neighbours, teenagers hanging around, drinking in the street and vandalism.

10. Following the advent of the new measure, SRAU has undertaken further statistical analyses to identify the key drivers of the new measure of confidence and any differences compared to the old confidence measure. Results indicate the key drivers are the same for both measures.

11. Consultation with other interested parties, including Louise Casey, HM Government's Neighbourhood Crime and Justice Advisor, HO and the National Police Improvement Agency indicates a broad alignment in the research findings.

12. The SRAU is actively planning further analyses and research including an examination of Stop and Search to assess its impact on the Fair Treatment driver. SRAU is also leading work to communicate the new confidence model to borough leads through a range of seminars.

Borough variations

13. The MPS carries out the Public Attitude Survey [PAS] - a continuous survey of London residents, reported quarterly, that mirrors the BCS methodology. Capturing circa 600 respondents per borough per year (20,000 respondents across London), the survey is significantly larger than the BCS facilitating analyses at an actionable, borough level. The PAS also duplicates key questions featured in the BCS – including those relating to public confidence.

14. On both the old and new measures of confidence, 2008/09 PAS data indicates considerable variation between individual boroughs.

15. The SRAU is actively researching the veracity of the data and explanations for the wide variations to determine if the differences are attributable to individual or other borough characteristics.

16. The Market Research agency employed to conduct the fieldwork for the PAS has excellent quality assurance procedures and is quality assurance accredited. The agency calls 10 percent of those interviewed to ensure the results are genuine. The MPS is able to listen to these calls and hear feedback about the interview and interviewer, which aids survey improvement. Additionally, several boroughs have had all respondents called to check that the interview took place. All reports produced by the company are also quality checked by the SRAU ensuring the correct data is reported and published.

17. To further explore the variances between boroughs, SRAU is conducting in-depth research to explore the actions and activities boroughs are undertaking locally in an attempt to improve local confidence.

18. A series of interviews with officers and staff across individual boroughs has been carried out to highlight current practice in areas such as partnership working, data sharing, community relations and the Policing Pledge. This research uses the SRAU driver model to examine interventions, promising work practices and any challenges the boroughs have identified and consciously attempted to address.

19. The study focuses on eight London boroughs from across the confidence performance spectrum as measured by the PAS:

• Brent
• Wandsworth
• Hammersmith and Fulham
• Camden
• Hounslow
• Tower Hamlets
• Islington
• Sutton

20. The research is due to be completed at the end of May, when each borough will receive a tailored report detailing key findings and implications for improving confidence. A collective report summarising the overall findings of the research and highlighting best practice will also be produced.

Diversity and equality

21. TP Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate is host to the Performance Development Monitoring Unit - the MPS’ central point for work on diversity issues.

22. The MPS Diversity Board has established a performance framework to monitor differential outcomes across equality groups, including drivers and overall levels of public confidence.

23. To illustrate, both gender (April, 2009) and Ethnicity (July 2008) have been explored. In both cases, there was generally no difference in agreement as to whether that police in the area does a good job. Although, BME groups were less likely to agree that police would treat them with respect if they had contact.

24. SRAU is currently in the process of conducting additional analysis on PAS data to further explore the differences between ethnic groups – particularly with respect to the new confidence question.

25. A recent paper (5 May) to the Diversity Board explored perceptions of confidence amongst disabled respondents. Results for the 2008 calendar year show that around 8% of PAS respondents (1,644) state that they have a disability. This is lower than estimates of the proportion of disabled people in London (between 10-17%) observed in other studies.

26. Results show that levels of public confidence in the police are lower for disabled compared to non-disabled people - 59% of disabled respondents compared to 64% of non-disabled respondents considered that the police in their area were doing a good or an excellent job - a statistically significant difference .

27. The analysis suggests that the lower level of confidence of disabled people in 2008 was driven by lower levels of satisfaction in community engagement and in the information that is received about local policing activities.

28. Previous analysis for the 12 months ending September 2007 showed that there was no difference in levels of confidence between these two groups. Whilst non-disabled respondents’ confidence in the police has increased over this period, levels of confidence amongst disabled people appear to have remained unchanged.

29. TP is currently investigating the situation with a view to gaining a thorough understanding of the underlying issues and proposing practical options to improve performance in this area.

30. Within TP, a series of Equality and Diversity performance meetings were held with all Borough Commanders in November/December 2008. These allowed public confidence related diversity issues to be examined at a borough level. The meetings also provided an opportunity to identify good practice, for example Boroughs approaches to engaging with disabled people and providing training and awareness to staff.

31. The MPA is currently undertaking an inquiry into race and faith issues related to employment in the MPS. The MPS supports the inquiry which seeks to establish what more can be done to achieve cultural change, facilitate the development of a police service that promotes open dialogue on diversity issues and provides a safe working environment for all officers and staff. Achieving these internal aims should help strengthen our communities’ confidence in the MPS. We await the final recommendations of the inquiry which are due to be presented to the Full Authority in June.

MPS actions to improve public confidence

32. The drive to improve confidence is led by the Deputy Commissioner through the Confidence and Pride Board and T/AC Rose Fitzpatrick who leads the Presence Board. Informed by our own research and modelling activity, developed in conjunction with the London School of Economics, we are currently in the process of developing a practical, cross-business group, action plan. Items under consideration, which the research indicates will have a positive impact on the overall level of public confidence, include:

• Communications and messages from Boroughs - specific, clear, consistent messages about local issues and the effective resolution of these.
• Effective engagement with partners - to reflect the lifestyle of local communities.
• Local community concerns - everything from critical incidents to major investigations to tasking and setting priorities being connected to the concerns of the local community.
• School engagement – with an emphasis on engagement on issues such as treatment, fairness and perception.
• Key Individual Networks (KINs) - fundamental review of the scope and diversity of the people involved and their ability to influence the wider community.
• CT Prevent - pilots have shown perceptions of local police can be markedly improved through focused positive engagement.
• Integrated Borough Operations – ensuring staff have up-to-date information/ intelligence about callers asking for help.
• Partnership working - sustainable improvement in confidence requires partners working effectively together with mutual understanding of confidence drivers.

33. Our knowledge and understanding of the relative impact of these activities will be enhanced following completion of the SRAU’s study of localised interventions and working practices across the sample of eight London boroughs.

Partnership issues

34. The new confidence measure – with the emphasis on partnership working between the Police and Local Councils highlights the need for effective partnership work.

35. On May 13, the Home Office wrote to local authority (LA) Chief Executives on their role in delivering improvements in confidence. The letter specifically asked for the LA to support Police activity. Practical strategies such as the crime and disorder Councillor Call for Action and Safer Streets Website were highlighted of value for confidence.

36. A programme of work is already underway within the MPS to inform the way we manage, support and deliver partnership work across the organisation. It has provided tools and guidance and developed a best practice network, which should assist the MPS to provide a coordinated, consistent approach to partnership governance and finances, whilst managing partnership performance and risks, based on good practice. This work, which forms part of the Developing Resource Management Programme, is due to complete at the end of May 2009.

37. More needs to be done with Local Councils and the GLA to leverage sustainable improvements in confidence through a collaborative approach.

Next steps

38. As described above plans are now being developed with business groups to improve confidence. The MPS Confidence and Pride Board will approve the plans, ensuring that activities are both aligned to the drivers of confidence and coordinated to manage any interdependencies to achieve the best impact. Learning from the research into good practice by boroughs and partnership working will feed into this planning process.

C. Race and equality impact

The report has detailed differences between disabled and non-disabled respondents. Analysis suggests that lower levels of satisfaction in community engagement and levels of received information about policing drove this result. TP is currently investigating the situation with a view to gaining a thorough understanding of the underlying issues and proposing practical options to improve performance in this area.

D. Financial implications

The identification and delivery of improvement initiatives will be dealt with as part of the Service’s approved business planning and decision making processes.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Gerwyn Williams, David Dibble & Paul Dawson, Strategy & Improvement Department and DAC Jarman, Territorial Policing, MPS

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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