Complaints management information

Report: 7
Date: 13 March 2008
By: Acting Assistant Commissioner of Operational Services on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report includes data for the 12 months to January 2008. It focuses on the key changes or exceptions within the data, as trends are slow to change. The majority of figures used are based on 12-month rolling averages, which ensure that the trends are less affected by natural variation.

Workload

There has been a decrease of 4% in the number of public complaint allegations being recorded over the past 12 months from a monthly rolling average of 748 to 719.

The number of conduct matter allegations recorded over the same period shows a similar reduction in the monthly average has reduced by 5% to 90 per month on average.

Timeliness

The average number of days to complete a public complaint investigation remains below the threshold of 90-days. It has remained at a similar level since December 2005 but reduced again to 71 days in January 2008.

The percentage of public complaint cases over 120-days old has reduced significantly over the past two months and stood at 9% at the end of January.

The average number of days to complete an investigation into a conduct matter continues to improve and it also remains below the threshold of 90-days. It reduced by 13%, from a peak of 83 days in October 2006 to 72 days in January 2008.

The percentage of conduct matters over 120-days was 27% at the end of January 2008 and is now closer to the 12-month low achieved in October 2007 of 26%.

The average number of days between the decision and the holding of a misconduct hearing or final disposal has risen above the threshold of 100-days and, at 104 days in January 2008.

A. Recommendations

That members note the report and the illustration of trends in the report and the Borough performance information contained in Appendices 1 and 2.

B. Supporting information

1. Appendix 1 contains data relating to Borough or Operational Command Unit performance.
2. Appendix 2 contains diversity information in respect of the Borough or Operational Command Units.
3. Appendix 3 contains the ‘results analysis’ for Kingston following support under the Professional Standards Support Program (PSSP).

MPS/DPS Performance

Allegations Recorded

4. Chart 1 Allegations Recorded Public Complaints & Conduct Matters – 12 Month Rolling Average (see appendix 4) illustrates both the ‘actual’ number of allegations recorded each month together with the 12-month rolling averages. The rolling average smoothes out natural variation evident in the actual figures and is more indicative of the trends involved. Due to the process of recording allegations, it is possible that the latest ‘actual’ monthly figure for January may be between 10% and 15% too low.

5. These rolling averages contain data for 24 months in total and cover the two periods February 2006 to January 2007 and February 2007 to January 2008.

6. There has been a 4% reduction in the number of public complaint allegations recorded over the past 12 months from a monthly average of 748 to 719.

7. Over the 12 months to January 2008, the average number of conduct matter allegations recorded each month has stabilised at 90. This is 5% lower than the previous rolling 12-month average (95 allegations).

8. Failure in Duty allegations have risen steadily. At the end of 2005/06 such allegations had risen by over 1000 and represented 38% of all allegations recorded in comparison to 27% in both 2003/04 and 2004/05. At the end of 2006/07 such allegations represented 38% of the total. For the current financial year to date, failure in duty allegations account for 36% of all allegations.

9. Incivility allegations have also risen in numerical terms since the inception of the IPCC in April 2004, but reduced as a proportion of all allegations from 22% of the total in 2003/04 to 18% at the end of 2006/07. For the current financial year to date, incivility allegations account for 19% of all allegations.

10. Oppressive Behaviour allegations that had previously risen significantly due to public order situations now appear to be on the decline as a proportion of the overall total. In 2004/05 they represented 38%, which reduced to 29% in 2005/06. This has carried through to the end of 2006/07 when they were 28% of the total. They are at a similar level of 28% for the current financial year to date.

11. The table 1 (see appendix 4) illustrates the ‘actual’ number of public complaints recorded, against the MPS, over the period February 2007 to January 2008 converted to a per 100 officers figure. It is also broken down by allegation sub-type, and split into quarterly periods.

12. The table 2 (see appendix 4) illustrates the numbers of allegations, per 100 officers, by type and whether a period is above the MPS period average in which case the figures will be in both blue and bold text. The MPS total number of allegations, per 100 officers, over the 12-month period is also shown for comparison.

13. Although there are allegation types that appear above the period averages they are not significantly so and do not indicate any immediate causes for concern.

Timeliness - Public Complaints

Chart 2 (see appendix 4) shows the average days taken to complete full investigation & all other results (12 Month Rolling Average)

Meeting Target - Investigating complaints within the 90-day threshold (71 days)

14. The average number of days to complete a public complaint was 71 days in January 2008. Overall, the number of days has remained at a similar level since December 2005 and below the threshold of 90 days.

Meeting Target - A month on month reduction in the average number of days to complete an investigation (1% decrease on the previous month)

15. There was a reduction of 1% in the average number of days taken to complete an investigation in January 2008 (72 to 71 days).

16. This target must be balanced against the risk that excessive speed will reduce quality and thus frustrate any gain by encouraging the dissatisfaction of the complainant and subsequent appeal to the IPCC.

17. The work being undertaken by DPS in respect of the changes to legislation brought about by the Taylor Review will afford another opportunity to review these practices. Current information suggests that the legislation will not now receive Royal Assent until Spring 2008 and the implementation throughout forces will be through negotiation between the Home Office and ACPO in the summer of 2008.

Chart 3 (see appendix 4) shows the Average Days Taken to Submit Dispensation Requests to the IPCC (12 Month Rolling Average)

Missing Target - Submitting requests for Dispensations to the IPCC within a 60 day target (63 days)

18. Between December 2006 and August 2007, the average number of days taken to submit a dispensation request to the IPCC has remained fairly static but has since declined to 63 days. If the downward trend continues it would be reasonable to expect the target of 60 days would have been met by the end of 2008.

Chart 4 (see appendix 4) show the average Days Taken to achieve a Local Resolution by Type – Desktop (Local) and Management (DPS) (12 Month Rolling Average)

Meeting target - Average days taken to achieve a Local Resolution within a 60 day Target (52 days)

19. Since the last report we have been able to break down the timeliness of Local Resolutions into those carried out by a Borough or Operational Command Unit (Desktop) or those undertaken by management (DPS).

20. Since December 2006, the average number of days taken to achieve a local resolution by B/OCU remains fairly static varying between a maximum of 52 days and a minimum of 49 days. This is currently within the 60-day target.

21. Presently, we are building up the data for those Local Resolutions carried out by DPS so we only have the figure for January, which is 91 days. It should be noted that in the vast majority of cases, such issues dealt with by DPS will have already have unsuccessful attempts made by the B/OCU to resolve them and they will already be in access of the 60-day target when DPS receive them.

22. Analysis of local resolutions reveals that, in the 12-months to January 2008, Boroughs themselves have achieved 55% of the local resolutions, the remaining 45% were by DPS staff. The proportion of local resolutions undertaken by DPS has decreased, when compared to the previous 12 months, where it was previously 57%.

Chart 5 (see appendix 4) shows the percentage of cases over 120-days* old – Public Complaints / Conduct Matters (actual data month end)

Meeting expectation - A reduction in the percentage of public complaint cases over 120-days* old (1% decrease on the previous month)

23. DPS continue to make efforts to reduce the percentage of public complaint cases over 120-days* old. It remained fairly static varying between 21% in December 2006 and 24% in September 2007. Since October 2007, it has reduced significantly and at the end of January 2008, stood at 9% (73 of 781 cases).

* The management information reports are now in place to report on the 90-day target and thus will appear in the next MPA PSCC report.

Conduct Matters

Chart 6 (see appendix 4) shows the average days taken to complete an investigation (12 Month Rolling Average)

Meeting target - The average number of days to complete an investigation (72 against a 90 threshold)

24. The average number of days to complete a conduct matter investigation, illustrated above, remains below the threshold of 90-days. It reduced by 6%, from 77 days in February 2007 to 72 in January 2008.

Meeting target - A reduction in the percentage of conduct matter cases over 120-days* old (2% decrease on the previous month)

25. Conduct Matters over 120-days* has decreased to 27% in January 2008 (29 of 107 cases).

26. Cases that are the responsibility of DPS Borough Support have been illustrated on the chart, which shows that 25% of cases (20 cases) that they are responsible for are over 120-days old.

* The management information reports are now in place to report on the 90-day target and thus will appear in the next MPA PSCC report.

Misconduct

Chart 7 (see appendix 4) shows Misconduct – Average number of days from decision to hearing or final disposal (12 Month Rolling Average)

Missing Target - Average days to reach Misconduct decisions (104 against 100 threshold)

27. The average number of days between the decision to hold a misconduct hearing or reach a final disposal has risen above the threshold of 100-days and was at 104 days in January 2008. This is due to a smaller number of cases passing through the system in recent months many of which have had IPCC involvement where the decision-making has been protracted.

External Partners – CPS Decision making

Chart 8 ( see appendix 4) show the average number of days from report to receipt of decision from CPS (12 Month Rolling Average)

28. The chart above, illustrates the timeliness of the CPS decision-making in respect of the Specialist Investigation work, such as Deaths Following Police Contact and Discharge of Police Firearms and the more routine complaint and conduct investigations of the Borough Support Units.

External Partners – IPCC Decision making

Chart 9 (see appendix 4) shows the average number of days from report submission to receipt of decision from IPCC (12 Month Rolling Average)

29. The chart above reveals the average time taken for the IPCC to reach decisions in dispensation and discontinuance cases.

Number of appeals made to the IPCC by type and outcome(12 Month Rolling Average)


30. The chart above shows the ‘average’ number of appeals made to the IPCC where a decision has been received from the Commission within the last 12 months. It illustrates the type of appeal being made and the validity of that appeal as determined by the IPCC.

31. The following table illustrates the ‘actual’ number of appeals made to the IPCC where a decision has been received from the Commission within the 12 months to the end of December 2007 compared to the previous 12 months.

‘Actual’ number of appeals made to the IPCC where a decision has been received from the Commission within the 12 months to the end of December 2007 compared to the previous 12 months.

32. The number of appeals, receiving a decision by the IPCC in the last 12 months, has increased by 37% compared to the previous 12 months and the proportion that the Commission have upheld has risen from 16% of the total to 27% at the end of December 2007.

33. Upheld appeals have increased in respect of all categories but more so in respect of the ‘local resolution’ and ‘outcome of an investigation’. The term ‘upheld’ means that the IPCC have agreed with the complainants challenge to an MPS decision.

34. Further analysis has been conducted comparing appeal data from 2006 and 2007. The analysis revealed the following: -

35. It was not possible to establish the exact cause of the rises in appeal but potential contributory factors are; starting from a zero base in April 2004, marketing of the complaints system, increased familiarity with the processes by all involved, timing of appeals differing according to case outcome i.e. appeals relating to the ‘outcome of an investigation’ would take longer to appear in the system than those for ‘non-recording’ and finally the outsourcing of decisions to IPCC regional offices.

36. The types of appeal lodged are broadly similar in each year but there has been a slight decline in the proportion made against ‘non-recording’ and a corresponding increase in those against the ‘outcome of an investigation’.

37. There has been an increase in the number and proportion of ‘upheld’ appeals across all appeal categories particularly relating to the ‘outcome of an investigation’.

38. In respect of ‘upheld’ appeals in ‘outcome of an investigation’ cases, the majority for which a ‘reinvestigation’ is required do not result in a variation of the result originally arrived at by the MPS.

39. In respect of ‘upheld’ appeals in ‘non-recording’ cases, the majority are eventually resulted as either unsubstantiated or a discontinuance or dispensation is applied for. This is similar to what occurs in ‘upheld’ appeals relating to the ‘local resolution’ process.

Outcome Trends

Chart 11 ( see appendix 4) shows Public Complaints Finalised allegation by result (12 Month Rolling Average)

40. The average percentage of local resolutions stands at 32% for January 2008 and is the same as in January 2007. This remains considerably below the aspirational target of 50%. Whilst the proportions of the other outcomes affect this figure, it is likely to remain low until BOCUs are able to take on more responsibility for the resolution of their own complaints and undertake lower level investigations.

41. There are however tensions between the desire to see more issues being dealt with locally e.g. Local Resolutions and the scrutiny DPS is under to improve timeliness. DPS investigators losing close control over a complaint being investigated/resolved on borough can adversely impact on their timeliness and the inclination is for them to recall the file and deal with it themselves.

42. The proportional increases in Dispensation applications and unsubstantiated allegations seem to be as a result of the reduction in those allegations previously not recorded as a complaint under the Police reform Act 2002.

Borough (BOCU) / Operational Command Unit (OCU) Performance – Public Complaints: Allegations and People.

43. At each PSCC, members will be presented with a comparative analysis of public complaint data relating to groups of BOCUs in relation to MPS professional standards matters.

44. Like boroughs have been grouped together based on demographics and volume crime. Both of these factors are likely to affect complaints. By using these five family groups and converting ‘actual’ numbers of complaints recorded into a ‘per 100 officers’ figure enables more accurate comparisons to be made.

45. There is a further exception to this in what DPS have called Group 6, which consists of TP non-Borough based units and non-TP Operational Command Units.

46. The ‘actual’ figures appear in the Borough Support Management Information (BSMI) report, which is made available to the MPA as a separate document and which could be circulated to members if required by MPA officers.

47. This information provides a benchmark against which the Authority will be able to judge DPS’s Professional Standards Support Programme (PSSP) in the future by looking for variations in performance from this report to the next occasion the same family group appears.

48. The ‘results analysis’ for Kingston, having been a borough chosen a year ago to receive additional support under the PSSP, appears in Appendix 3.

49. Variations in performance of each of the boroughs when compared to their peers are highlighted in both blue and bold text. Variations could be for any number of reasons such as a particular operation/initiative being run on the borough or environmental factors such as the number of licensed premises, entertainment venues or shopping centres. The demographics in relation to both the resident and transient population and the length of service and experience of the officers concerned will also be relevant factors. Because a Borough or Command Unit is different from their peers does not automatically mean that they are worse.

50. It should be noted that, once the ‘per 100 officers’ element is introduced to the data, some of the numbers are small which makes it difficult to draw any significant conclusions from them.

51. The Professional Standards Support Program (PSSP) incorporates a ‘tasking’ and ‘review’ process whereby information in relation to public complaints, conduct matters, civil actions and accident claims are assessed in order to ascertain what intervention activities are most appropriate to assist the boroughs with. The borough requiring the most assistance will have a ‘profile’ compiled on it based on all the information previously mentioned but in greater detail by drilling down into the data to establish the exact nature and likely cause of the variation.

52. The Prevention & Organisational Learning Command (POL) will then work with the borough in question, through the PSSP process, to define an action plan that may bring the BOCU closer to the average of similar boroughs in their group.

53. The group of boroughs under focus for this period are from Group 2. The data and associated analysis is presented in Appendix 1.

C. Race and equality impact

Appendix 2 includes MPS data in respect of diversity relating to both complainants and officers that is compared against the family of Boroughs or Operational Command Units in focus.

D. Financial implications

None

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author(s):  Michael Clark, Higher Performance Analyst, MPS and Hamish Campbell, Detective Chief Superintendent, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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