Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Human Resources Committee held on Thursday, 20 January 2005 at 10.00am at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Rachel Whittaker (Chair)
• Jennette Arnold (Deputy Chair)
• Anthony Arbour
• Kirsten Hearn
• Aneeta Prem (items 1- 11)
• John Roberts

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Ken Hunt (Deputy Treasurer)
• Alan Johnson (Head of Human Resources and Professional Standards)
• Ruth Hastings Iqball (Committee Section)

MPS officers

• Claire Appleby (Director, HR Services)
• Paul Daly (Director of Exchequer Services)
• Chris Haselden (Head of Strategic Management)
• Shabir Hussain (Commander, Training and Development)
• Paul Madge (Acting Director, People Development)
• Denise Milani (Director, Development and Organisational Improvement Team)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of HR)

Also present: Esme Crowther (Employment Tribunal Unit) (item 18), David Hamilton (Director, Legal Services (item 19) and Chief Superintendent Charles Phelps (Head of Career Management and Retention Unit) (item 12 and 13).

43. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Peter Herbert, Damian Hockney and Abdal Ullah (members).

44. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations of interest were received.

45. Minutes of the Human Resources Committee – 11 November 2004

(Agenda item 3)

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2004.

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2004 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

46. Minutes of the Remuneration Sub Committee - 18 October

(Agenda item 4)

The Committee noted the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2004.

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2004 be noted.

47. Minutes of the Police Pension Forfeiture Sub Committee - 25 November 2004

(Agenda item 5)

The Committee noted the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2004.

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2004 be noted.

48. Chair’s, Members’, Clerk’s and MPS update (oral report)

(Agenda item 6)

The Director of HR reported that:

• Gordon Davison had returned to the Home Office; his place as Acting Director of People Development had been taken by Paul Madge
• Ian Wardrop would be retiring in March 2005 as Assistant Director Pay and Benefits; Kevin Courtney had been recruited to replace him and his job had been retitled Compensation and Benefits Manager.
• The Human Resources Conference in December had been attended by 200 MPS HR staff, Alan Johnson and Rachel Whittaker
• A flexible working toolkit for managers had been published.
• HR policies were continuing to be reviewed, refined and rewritten in lay terms under the supervision of Claire Appleby
• the MPS recruitment website had received a recruitment award for best on line campaign
• Police recruitment targets of 7% for black and minority recruits and 19% female recruits were being met. New targets would be discussed at the next meeting

The Director of HR concluded by noting that although other Committees would receive reports on Operational Bracknell (the MPS response to the Tsunami disaster), he wished to inform the Committee that the MPS’s Occupational Health team were offering assistance to police staff and officers both in the call centre and abroad. Aneeta Prem, lead member for Operation Bracknell, stated that police officers and police staff had been impressed with the support offered.

The Clerk informed members that the MPA had appointed Laurence Gouldbourne as Head of Race and Diversity and would shortly be appointing a Deputy Treasurer. The Authority had also appointed a number of Assistant Commissioners and the Deputy Commissioner, but the results would not be formally announced until next week.

Resolved - That the oral reports be received.

49. MPS HR strategy

(Agenda item 7)

The existing People Strategy expired at the end of 2004, and a new Human Resource (HR) Strategy was being prepared to follow it. Members questioned its consistency with other items on the agenda and commented on some of the language used. They also felt it did not reflect the views of the Morris Inquiry. The Director of HR stated that it was intended to be a high level document and had been written before the Morris Inquiry reported and invited members to provide any written changes. He added that the strategy would be followed by an action plan with timescales. HR managers had already been consulted about the strategy, and this would be followed by consultation with staff organisations.

Resolved - That the report be noted, subject to any written comments from members.

50. HR business and performance plan 2005/06

(Agenda item 8)

Members received a report informing them of the work undertaken in planning HR activity and priorities for 2005/06, and containing a first draft of the HR business and performance plan. Further reports, revised in the light of comments received, would come to the next two meetings of the Human Resources Committee. . The proposed actions arising from the HR strategy – the subject of the previous item – would be incorporated into the business plan.

Members felt the report was inconsistent with the Morris Inquiry recommendations. In relation to the Inquiry, the Director of HR said the fairness at work procedure would be reviewed. In response to other queries raised by members, they were informed an update on exit interviews had been included in previous recruitment and retention reports and a summary report would come to the next meeting. As the result of a successful recruitment campaign for the Special Constabulary 200 candidates were awaiting vetting. . Members requested a report on progress towards civilianisation. Hearing tests were made available to officers on duty at the Notting Hill carnival as the MPA and MPS had a duty of care to officers. To promote graduate recruitment, contact was being made with several universities and details would be included in future reports on recruitment and retention. At the last meeting of the HR Committee (item 6), members were concerned by the continuing disproportionality in the National Recruitment Standards (NRS) selection process. The MPS had written to the Home Office and a response would be chased.

Resolved - That the report be noted and a briefing paper be prepared on the HR aspects of the Notting Hill Carnival including the actual and opportunity costs of the hearing tests.

51. MetHR overview

(Agenda item 9)

A report was received providing an overview of the MetHR system, how MetHR was being developed and how Community Race Relations (CRR) training was recorded on MetHR. Members were informed that MetHR was a sophisticated tool that required training and awareness of data management to be used effectively. The Chair noted that the Planning Performance and Review Committee had suggested the need for a strategy for data management within the MPS, and that this report highlighted similar issues. Members were informed that a report on how MetHR data quality could be improved and what needed to be done, going to the MPS’s Management Board, would come to the next HR Committee meeting. Members felt that MPS managers would be more appreciative of MetHR if it could be linked to the payroll, a matter that was difficult in the current circumstances.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

52. Human resources evaluation process

(Agenda item 10)

A report was received providing an overview of the role of the HR Evaluation Unit, together with a summary of the key findings under each of the areas. The Chair agreed to speak to the Head of Planning and Performance outside the meeting to see if the team could discuss with the MPS how information concerning OCUs could be reported to the HR Committee.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

53. Human resources business plan 2004/05 – objective 3

(Agenda item 11)

The report was received providing an update on the supporting activities for objective 3 of the HR Business Plan 2004/05 'Embed improved quality in the activity undertaken within the HR Directorate and corporate HR function'.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

54. Career pathways in the MPS

(Agenda item 12)

To support the White Paper, ‘Building Communities, Beating Crime’, the MPS was developing a range of career pathways for officers and police staff. The most advanced pathways were for investigation (mainly police officers) and analysts (mainly police staff). HR was developing an IT-based guide to pathways, to assist individuals in managing and developing their own careers in the MPS.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

55. Police and police staff promotion

(Agenda item 13)

Members received a report outlining the processes for promotion for police officers and police staff in the MPS. All processes are monitored and subject to strict rules to ensure fairness, validity and reliability.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

56. Exclusion of the press and public

(Agenda item 14)

A resolution was put to exclude the press and public from the meeting during items 15 to 19 as they were likely to disclose exempt information as described in Schedule 12(a) (1), (11) and (12) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Resolved – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during discussion of agenda items 15 to 19.

57. Exempt minutes of the Human Resources Committee – 11 November 2004

(Agenda item 15)

The Committee considered the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2004.

Resolved - That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2004 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

58. Exempt minutes of the Remuneration Sub Committee - 18 October

(Agenda item 16)

The Committee noted the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2004.

Resolved - That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2004 be noted.

59. Exempt minutes of the Police Pension Forfeiture Sub Committee - 25 November 2004

(Agenda item 17)

The Committee noted the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2004.

Resolved - That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2004 be noted.

60. Employment tribunals and the fairness at work procedure

(Agenda item 18)

The first part of the report was the regular six monthly report to the HR Committee containing management information and performance analysis on employment tribunal claims brought against the Commissioner, the second part was a similar analysis on the Fairness at Work Procedure.

It was suggested that the Chair speak to the Head of Planning and Performance outside the meeting to see if the team could look at how the information in the report could be produced in a more user friendly manner, with particular emphasis on areas such as disproportionality. It was agreed that the fairness at work procedure would be discussed further at the forthcoming workshop for members on the recommendations of the Morris Inquiry.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

61. Civil service benevolent fund

(Agenda item 19)

A report was received that considered the implications of the Metropolitan Police Service remaining as an Associated Organisation of the Civil Service Benevolent Fund.

Resolved - That the Metropolitan Police Service ends its status as an Associated Organisation of the Civil Service Benevolent Fund and the resultant funds that otherwise, would have been paid to the CSBF be diverted to the Metropolitan Police own benevolent fund.

The meeting ended at 12:15 p.m.

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