MPA Community Engagement Mapping Exercise

Report: 5
Date: 15 January 2009
By: Chief Executive

Summary

This report outlines draft terms of reference for a project which aims to map the MPA’s community engagement activity and invites Members to comment on the objectives of the project.

A. Recommendation

Those Members consider the proposals outlined in the terms of reference and provide feedback on whether it is fit for purpose.

B. Supporting information

1. The MPA has long recognised the importance of community engagement and the positive impact it can have on the services delivered by the Metropolitan Police Service. The MPA fulfils its statutory responsibility to ensure effective community engagement in many ways, but it is not always as systematic as it might be.

2. The MPA/S Community Engagement Strategy is due to end in March 2009, and it is therefore timely that the MPA maps out its community engagement activity, with a view to evaluating whether it is meeting its statutory responsibilities and its strategic priority to “transform community engagement to help Londoners secure more responsive policing”.

3. The draft terms of reference for a mapping exercise are attached at appendix one. The project aims to identify whether there is a shared understanding across the MPA of community engagement, to assess what activity is currently undertaken and whether there are any gaps. Members are invited to comment on the objectives outlined in the terms of reference and make any suggestions for improvement or amendment as appropriate.

C. Race and equality impact

Understanding the diverse nature of London is crucial to ensuring effective community engagement. The project will consider how the MPA’s mechanisms reflect this.

D. Financial implications

The project will be carried out within existing MPA resources.

E. Background papers

• MPA/S Community Engagement Strategy 2006/09
• MPA Engagement and Partnership Unit Facts Sheet No 1

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Siobhan Coldwell and Hamera Asfa Davey, Oversight and Review Unit, MPA

For information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Mapping community engagement across the MPA

Draft terms of reference

1. Introduction

1.1 The Police and Justice Act 2006 placed a duty on all police authorities:

• to make arrangements for obtaining the views of the community on policing the force area: and,
• the cooperation of the community in preventing crime.

1.2 The MPA strategic priority pertaining to community engagement builds on this mandatory duty. The MPA not only seeks to obtain the views of Londoners but aims to ‘transform community engagement to help Londoners secure more responsive policing.’

1.3 The following Draft Terms of Reference outlines:

• the community engagement work the MPA undertakes;
• the justification for a MPA community engagement mapping exercise at this time; and finally,
• proposals on how the proposed mapping exercise could be undertaken.

2. Background

2.1. A crucial part of the MPA’s role as a police authority is to listen and engage with Londoners. This community engagement [1] is undertaken via both general and specialist activities, some of which are outlined below. In order to deliver its community engagement strategic priority the MPA has developed in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) a corporate Community Engagement Strategy 2006 -2009 [2] ‘…to increase and enhance Londoners say in how their city is policed. [3] ’ The implementation of the strategy is supported through the MPA’s monitoring and scrutiny work, the specialist support of its Engagement and Partnerships Unit and by the work of the MPS and their partners.

2.2 In addition, there are a number of consultation duties which require the MPA and MPS to undertake community engagement, these include:

• Understanding community views on policing - making arrangements, in consultation with the Commissioner, for obtaining the views of Londoners about matters concerning their policing [4]
• Consultation on police objectives – ensuring that in the development of annual policing objectives, the MPA has regard to issues raised in local consultative arrangements; that separate consultative arrangements are put in place by the MPA for each London Borough in consultation with its respective local authority. [5]
• Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP) – to ensure that local people’s views on crime and disorder reduction priorities are included in the development of local crime and disorder Strategic Assessment and in the planning and implementing the crime and disorder partnership plan. [6]
• Local Strategic Partnerships and Local Area Agreements (LAA)– Police Authorities have a legal duty to co-operate in determining LAA targets and have regards to those targets linking LAA targets, Policing Plan targets and CDRP’s [7]

2.3 A number of community engagement activities undertaken by the MPA have both internally and more importantly externally been recognised as examples of good practice. Comprehensive engagement programmes such as those which informed the development of the ‘Counter Terrorism: The London Debate’ report; the ‘Seen and Heard: young people, policing and crime’ report and ‘Disabled People and the Police: a new relationship?’ report are all examples of where the MPA has sought to ‘transform community engagement’. For all three programmes of work the MPA endeavoured to not only ensure that Londoners had a multiple number of opportunities to participate but that those directly impacted on by these policing issues were actively encouraged to take part.

2.4 As stated earlier the term community engagement can cover a range of activities and the current methods deployed by the MPA highlight this:

• information provision via the MPA Internet website, the recently launched MPA e-zine and the annual Local Policing Summaries;
• consultation both direct (face to face focus groups) and indirect (via the annual policing priorities on line survey); and,
• engagement, whether short term (the MPA youth scrutiny reference group) or long term via the annually funded Community Police Engagement Groups (CPEGs). CPEGs are the primary local groups to enable the MPA and MPS community engagement programme.

3. Why a MPA community engagement mapping exercise is required at this time

3.1 The programmes of work listed above demonstrate that the MPA is committed to listening to, engaging with and responding to Londoners. However, in moving forward with the strategic priority to ‘transform community engagement’ the MPA needs to ensure that its processes are effective, elicit useful information and allow for a proper dialogue with Londoners. In addition, whilst the activities listed above address a number of different needs, from those Londoners who simply require information to those who are keen to be more actively involved, across the organisation there is no clear understanding of the extent of current or planned MPA activity. Neither is it clear whether there are gaps in the approaches that the MPA has adopted to date.

3.2 The MPA also needs to determine whether there is a shared corporate understanding of the term ‘community engagement’. Internally it is often used interchangeably with the term consultation and in some instances the term community engagement has also used to describe communication and information provision. A better understanding of how these definitions are used by MPA officers undertaking community engagement activities would also help the MPA as a whole to determine gaps in current provision.

3.3 At a meeting of the Communities, Equalities and People (CEP) Committee in December 2008, Members were keen that community engagement activities undertaken by the MPA added value to MPS community engagement activities, rather than replicate work being undertaken by the MPS. It was also reiterated that the MPA had a twofold duty in regards to community engagement, that whilst the MPA had a statutory duty to undertake community engagement it also had a responsibility to the Metropolitan Police Service, for ‘ensuring the MPS actually do engage Londoners in as open and constructive way as possible and ensuring effective ways are in place to increase Londoners awareness and understanding of policing issues’

3.4 The combined MPA and MPS community engagement strategy [8] will be reviewed in 2009. Assessing the impact of this strategy and how it has been used internally and externally by the MPS to determine next steps will be an essential part of the review. The community engagement mapping exercise can support this review by informing the new strategy; it can provide information on what the strategy should focus on, what it should include and as importantly what it should exclude.

3.5 Finally, the mapping exercise is timely. Not only must the MPA consider the implications of the Policing Green Paper but in 2009 the MPA will be reviewed as part of the Police Authority inspections. It is likely that both the new legislation and the inspection will highlight areas of MPA practice that need further development. By undertaking the mapping exercise at this time we will be better informed to respond to recommendations arising from the inspection and the legislative changes.

4. Objectives

4.1 The community engagement mapping project will focus on the following key issues:

• is there a common understanding across the organisation of the terms ‘information provision’; ‘consultation’ and ‘community engagement’?
• what information provision; consultation and engagement are the MPA undertaking or planning to undertake?
• How these activities contribute to the MPA corporate priority to ‘transform community engagement’ and to meeting its statutory duties;
• how the MPA uses the information it gather from members of the public, how it feeds back to those communities who have been involved in the community engagement opportunities and how it assesses the impact on policing of the suggestions/advice and recommendations made by Londoners;
• How the various community engagement activities undertaken by the MPA, support members to meet the requirements of their role
• identifying gaps in the MPA community engagement activities and how it might improve its work to bridge those gaps

4.2 As stated above in 2009 the MPA and MPS community engagement strategy will be revised. Information from the mapping exercise will be used to inform future discussions with the MPS on the development of the new strategy for 2009-11.

5. Key exclusions

5.1 The mapping exercise will consider the community engagement activities of MPA units. As such the mapping exercise will only review MPA internally generated information and will not include:

• information directly from MPA supported Community and Police Engagement Groups (CPEGs) or any of the other MPA funded community volunteers;
• information or commentary on MPS community engagement mechanisms.

6. Methodology

6.1 A mapping exercise is the most effective method of collating the information outlined in the objectives above. A mapping exercise will allow the MPA to build a textual and visual picture of what is being undertaken and by whom. By plotting this information the MPA will also be able to determine what additional activities are required and again by whom.

6.2 As part of the mapping exercise the following tasks will be undertaken:

• all MPA units will be initially contacted by email. The email will outline the objectives of the mapping exercise and the role that units are expected to play in it. This invitation to take part will also include a copy of the terms of reference;
• face to face interviews will be requested with each Unit Manager and at least one member of staff from the unit;
• in addition to the face to face interviews each unit manager will be given an opportunity to invite the interviewers to unit meetings, thereby allowing all officers within the unit to take part in the exercise. Unit managers can agree to either the face to face interview option or a meeting between the interviewer and their unit;
• prior to the face-to-face interviews or attendance at unit meetings, staff taking part will be advised to think about what community engagement activities are being undertaken by their unit and what gaps exist in the MPA’s community engagement programme of work;
• interviews will also be conducted with Members. It is expected that members from the Communities, Equalities and People committee will be asked to take part; however, an open invitation will be given to all Members. Members will be asked for their preferred method of engagement in the mapping process;
• particular questions staff and members will be asked, include:
  • how the information collated by units is used corporately by the MPA;
  • what information provision the MPS should provide to Londoners and what types of consultation and engagement work it should be undertaking;
  • whether the various community engagement activities undertaken by the MPA enable members to perform their statutory duties; and finally,
  • what information the revised MPA and MPS community engagement strategy should include.

7. Resources

7.1 Interviewers will either conduct face-to-face interviews or attend unit meetings. Should all units agree to take part; 13 interviews will be carried out. Due to the small number of interviews required, it is possible for one MPA officer to conduct all 13. However, each interview will produce information that will need to be written up and analysed. Therefore it may be useful for two officers to conduct the interviews. This will also ensure that the project can be conducted swiftly.

7.2 Planning and Performance staff will be requested to provide support with the development of an interview prompt sheet in order to ensure that consistent information is gathered from all 13 interviews.

7.3 It may also be useful to involve the Planning and Performance Unit in the analysis of the findings to ensure that the information collated is of use.

8. Timescales

8.1 Once the draft Terms of Reference have been commented on and agreed by the CE&P Committee it is expected that:

• Officers to work on the mapping exercise will be identified by appropriate line managers mid/to late January
• An interview template will be produced late January
• All MPA units will be informed of the mapping exercise late January
• Interviews conducted/unit meetings attended February
• Findings analysed and report produced end of March

9. Deliverables

9.1 A visual and written representation of the community engagement undertaken by the MPA will be produced;

9.2 A gap analysis, outlining what staff feel the MPA should be doing in regards to community engagement will be produced and an identification of ways forward;

9.3 An assessment of whether the MPA is meeting with its strategic community engagement priority;

9.4 Information on what should be included in the revised MPA and MPS community engagement strategy.

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