Minutes - draft

These minutes are draft and are to be agreed.

Minutes of the meeting of the Communities, Equalities and People Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 8 July 2010 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, Westminster, London SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Cindy Butts (chair)
• Reshard Auladin
• Faith Boardman
• Chris Boothman
• Victoria Borwick
• Valerie Brasse
• Clive Lawton

MPA officers

• Jane Harwood (Deputy Chief Executive)
• Alan Johnson
• Natasha Plummer

MPS officers

• Martin Tiplady
• Sam Faulkner
• Rod Jarman
• Tamsin Heritage
• Chris Jarrett
• Mike McAndrew
• Denise Milani
• Gabrielle Nelson
• Sue Rich
• Anthea Richards
• Darren Williams

1. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

1.1. Apologies for absence were received from Kirsten Hearn.

2. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

2.1. There were no declarations of interest.

3. Minutes and Acton Sheet: Communities, Equalities and People Committee 17 May 2010

(Agenda item 3)

3.1. The minutes of the meeting held on 17 May 2010 were agreed as a correct record.

4. Appointments to sub-committees

(Agenda item 4)

Resolved that:

1. members note the appointments of Cindy Butts as Chair, and Victoria Borwick as Vice Chair, of CEP Committee made by the Authority on 24 June 2010; and
2. members confirm the membership of the Equalities and Diversity, Community Engagement & Citizen Focus, and Human Resources & Remuneration Sub-Committees.

5. Met Volunteer Programme

(Agenda item 5)

5.1. Sue Rich introduced the report, highlighting that new targets have been set for 2013 to achieve a minimum of 60 volunteers per team, with 75 per team the high level aspiration. To support this process, the management of poor performance has been identified as a priority and remedial action will be taken by the central team where necessary.

5.2. 2012 is becoming the major focus of the work stream. Currently work is in progress to meet all Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) and Met Volunteer Programme (MVP) managers on their boroughs to identify the skills gaps. Other directorates are also being contacted to raise their awareness about the resource that volunteers can provide. It is not yet entirely clear exactly what roles and projects will form part of the 2012 programme, but progress is being made in a number of areas.

5.3. Equality and diversity are key issues and census data will be used to ensure borough volunteer teams reflect local diversity. The need to address the gender balance, for example, has already been identified and work will be conducted to encourage more male volunteers to give their time.

5.4. The MPS advised the committee that there had been a concern about the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which had formally declared that it was opposed to volunteering in certain public sector organisations. However, Volunteering England had now reached agreement with the TUC and a new joint Charter containing 10 principles was signed off in December 2009.

5.5. The MPS advised the committee of some of the risks associated with the scheme. The MVP was introduced in 2001 and at that time there was no associated performance management framework, although in 2005 the scheme was integrated into the MPS forward planning process. However, to date the MVP performance management framework is not integrated into the mainstream information technology systems although work is in progress to improve that situation. The target to achieve 75 volunteers per borough by the end of 2013 presents a further challenge in that the management of a greater number of volunteers, will require a greater degree of formal administrative support for each manager. In addition, a number of directorates are keen to be involved, but the management structure requires a band D manager be in place to manage the volunteers, which may be difficult to achieve in the current financial climate and this could be a barrier to expansion of the scheme.

5.6. Members challenged the need to maintain such a low ratio of volunteers to managers and raised concerns about the flat structure of the MVP, suggesting that the MPS should consider developing the MVP hierarchy to include volunteer team leaders. Members felt that there should also be appropriate emphasis on rewarding volunteers and opportunities for formal recognition of their contribution.

ACTION: MPS to provide further information including:

1. the current and target numbers of volunteers in each borough
2. information about the reasons why volunteers leave the programme, details of the hours they work, and the movement between volunteering and MSCs

5.7. A member asked whether any thought had been given to adopting an area or cluster approach to reduce management resource requirements. In addition, it was suggested that large companies, which would quite likely welcome the opportunity to be associated with the MPS brand, be approached to see whether they would be willing to support the MVP, which could provide a valuable source of skilled professionals at limited cost. This could be particularly beneficial to the specialist areas that require analytical, information technology and other professional skills. New graduates who may be finding it difficult to secure employment at the moment should also be targeted through university career advisory services as volunteer work would be beneficial to them also.

5.8. The MPS commented on the method for calculating the figures for active volunteers, which was in the region of 1,300 at the end of May 2010. The average contribution has now gone up to 7.5 hours per month from 6.5 at the end of the financial year and that average figure has become the target. The 40-hour maximum rule was brought in to ensure fairness, so that the aim is to achieve an average contribution of at least 10 hours by the end of 2013.

5.9. The MPS advised that work is ongoing with regard to engaging with large corporate businesses to bring the extra skills and business functionality needed. The MVP is also promoted through universities (11 at present) as well as Job Centre Plus and the Personal Best programme. In response to the question about volunteers leaving the programme the exact attrition rates are unknown, although the rate of people joining exceeds the rate of those leaving and where possible an exit interview is conducted to ascertain the reasons for leaving.

5.10. The MPS further advised that there are a range of external factors which present huge challenges. For example, the police staff trade unions constantly challenge the programme as to whether or not it exists to provide a source of cheap labour for the MPS. These challenges will increase over the next few months as police jobs become more precious and volunteer numbers increase. Challenges also come from regulatory bodies such as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Health and Safety Executive as to whether volunteers are employees and whether any benefits given, such as travel to work, are taxable benefits or whether the rules of the working time directive apply.

5.11. The Chair acknowledged the comments about the challenges but wanted to be assured that where volunteers are working at the coalface they are supported in the event that they are under pressure. A member provided information about meetings held recently on this issue.

Resolved that: The report be noted.

6. Safeguarding Adults - Overview and Update Report

(Agenda item 6)

6.1. The MPS introduced the report and noted that in their view 720 reports and 490 crimes in a city the size and diversification of London represented under-reporting on a large scale. Safeguarding adults has no statutory background like Every Child Matters for child safeguarding matters, so there is no mechanism to make local authorities engage with this area of work. Therefore, across London there are potentially 32 different ways of dealing with this. A large percentage of those reports and crimes come to the MPS via third party reporting systems and one of the consequences of this is that the information recorded is often not as comprehensive as would be the case with direct reports to the MPS. The MPS highlighted the paucity of data in regards to ethnicity and sexual orientation, which meant that the true picture of safeguarding within these particular communities was unclear. However, a new referral form is currently being piloted with Haringey and Kensington and Chelsea Safeguarding Adults teams to ensure relevant data is collected. The MPS clarified that mental health data is captured under the disability heading.

6.2. Members raised a number of further points including the concern that local authorities lack the necessary resources to properly support and monitor the increasing number of home carers. In addition, members commented on the different definitions of ‘vulnerable adult’ and noted the fact that given the ageing population profile in the UK this area would become increasingly difficult to manage. Further queries were raised as to how Safer Neighbourhoods teams, whom it was felt ought to be able to identify the vulnerable within their communities, were involved in this area of work.

ACTION: MPS to provide further information on how boroughs differentially are dealing with these issues and also on rates of repeat victimisation.

6.3. The MPS advised that this is a complex issue. Many groups within the sphere of safeguarding dislike being referred to as vulnerable and do not wish to be included on any lists, so the Metropolitan Police Service uses the terminology Safeguarding Adults at Risk. Bespoke advice is given to Safer Neighbourhoods teams and allegations are being carefully reviewed to ensure that the chance of a Pilkington-type situation in London is minimised. In addition, things are improving with regard to better engaging local authorities through local safeguarding boards, but there are challenges in getting partners to come to yet another meeting. The committee was informed that there is a growing trend in London of males killing their relatives. In 2009/10 there were eight such offences, the year before seven, the year before that two. In those eight killings last year drug and alcohol dependency by the suspect was a significant factor and probably seven of those eight would be defined as a Safeguarding Adult suspect. Information is being provided to support groups, community centres and doctors’ surgeries explaining the mechanism to report crime to the police and spelling out what constitutes a crime within the familial and/or caring situation. It seems that many people within the safeguarding arena do not understand that a crime has been committed against them. A lot of work is being done with the Association of Chief Police Officers and experts within the city around associated financial crime that is even more unreported, so as to develop guidance on how to recognise fraud in this context.

6.4. Cindy Butts queried whether there was scope to begin to raise it at a borough level and get people considering it, and thinking about whether or not they can make improvements. Jane Harwood informed the committee this was being taken forward through a number of different channels.

ACTION: MPA officers provide a briefing note detailing the Authority’s mechanisms and processes for ensuring effective oversight of the work related to safeguarding adults.

Resolved that: The report be noted.

7. Detective Capacity and Capability

(Agenda item 7)

7.1. Martin Tiplady introduced the report to the committee and noted that there had been some reproduction issues with some of the appendices. Over a ten-year period there has been an increase of approximately 7,300 officers and 50% of that has been detective growth. However, the development of experience and investigative skills within the detective ranks has been a challenge and as the number of detectives has grown, the relative experience level of detectives in boroughs has decreased. The report discusses the creation of the foundation programme for investigative skills and explores the issue of whether rotating officers to translate their experience in the specialisms back into territorial policing is a viable option.

7.2. The MPS informed the committee that the primary training and development business group for new detectives is within territorial policing. However, over time there has been a migration of experienced detectives away from territorial policing (TP) into the specialisms, where they tend to spend the remainder of their career. Within TP the workforce is relatively immature in terms of skills and experience, because the specialist units draw the bulk of their staff from the group of detectives with five years’ or more service and this is unsustainable given that new detectives need supervision and mentoring from experienced officers to develop their skills and capabilities. The Detective Career Management Programme Board was set up to deal with all matters relating to detectives and there are a number of ongoing work streams. Professionalising the detective career pathway lies at the heart of the Board’s work and the numbers of new detectives coming through the system has been increased, as has the capacity of the crime academy to provide training. In addition, the detective rotation process has been introduced to ensure an even distribution of skill and experience across the organisation. The detective resilience programme is another large work stream, which is very closely linked with the TP development programme. This programme is considering the reasons why officers may not wish to join the detective career path and is trying to define detective requirements. There is now a more coordinated approach to managing change in the organisation with a number of programmes ongoing.

7.3. Members queried the optimum number of detectives required for the organisation and whether the models used were helpful in coming to an agreement on this. Members also asked whether it was possible to draw a direct correlation between the increased number of detectives and improved sanction detection rates, for example. Martin Tiplady advised that defining the optimum number is a fine art and the organisation is highly dependent on the managers providing relevant information. In addition, such an analysis would measure workload, but would not account for the exigencies of the Service, particularly in relation to counterterrorism work, for example. It is also very difficult to correlate increased detective capacity with increased sanction detection rates. However, the MPS informed the committee that there is work underway considering workloads, crime levels and other measures to develop a formula to effectively allocate detective resources. The MPS added that the real issue that has driven the increase in detective numbers over the last 10 years has been the increasing amount of legislation on investigative procedures, which has changed the way that cases are produced and prosecutions conducted. Policing style borough by borough is also significantly different depending upon the crime types that are prevalent in that area. It is, therefore, very hard to have a standard formula for 32 different boroughs.

7.4. The MPS further commented that one of the things that differentiates the more specialist units from TP detective requirements is the management of high volume case loads versus the management of very high risk issues, which gets lost within TP because of the greater volume of cases. As a result, there is a heavier distribution curve towards the more senior levels within the specialisms than would be expected within TP and the more senior level officers are not being rotated because that would remove the higher level experience away from where it is needed.

7.5. Members commented that the rotation process did not appear to provide a proactive approach to increasing BME representation amongst detectives within specialist units. The MPS advised that the programme was not intended to address that issue, because it aims to move officers away from the specialisms back into mainstream units and TP. However, slow, but steady progress is being made in recruiting BME detectives into specialisms as detailed in appendix 5.

7.6. Members requested that the equality impact assessment be completed and noted that there would likely be some particular issues with regard to BME representation amongst detective resources and male/female ratios within particular MPS units and the potential impact on service delivery.

Resolved that:

1. The report be noted; and
2. The committee receives an evaluation report in January 2011.

8. Projected Progression of Black and Minority Ethnic Groups and Women Amongst Police Officers and Police Staff During the Next Ten Years

(Agenda item 8)

8.1. The Chair proposed that item 7 be deferred to the September meeting of the committee on the basis that the Race and Faith Inquiry report had just been launched and there were a number of areas of overlap with the committee’s report and recommendations, which should be reflected in any report to the committee.

8.2. The MPS noted the proposal and advised that there would be insufficient time between the launch of the Race and Faith Inquiry report and the submission dates for the September meeting to enable the MPS to give relevant matters appropriate consideration. He therefore requested that the updated report, which would reflect any further amendments members might wish to include, be deferred to the November meeting of the committee.

Resolved that:

1. the report be deferred to the meeting of this committee on 4 November 2010; and
2. any members who would wish to do so attend a meeting with Martin Tiplady on 21 July 2010 to discuss the Race and Faith Inquiry report. Arrangements could be made for individual meetings if preferred.

9. Annual Report of the Communities, Equalities and People Committee

(Agenda item 9)

Resolved that:

1. the annual report be noted; and
2. the ongoing work of the committee in relation to independent advisory groups also be noted.

10. Review of Terms of Reference, Committee Work Plan and Equality Objectives for 2010/11

(Agenda item 10)

10.1. Natasha Plummer introduced the report and advised members that the review had been undertaken because it is good practice to do so annually and to try and resolve some of the issues that have arisen in light of experience of the new committee structure over the last 18 months. The report also provided a draft work plan and identified the equalities objectives for the forthcoming year, which all committees are required to have in place.

10.2. Members were broadly in agreement with the proposals, but noted the references to holding some responsibilities in conjunction with the Strategic and Operational Committee, which they believed was unnecessary.

Resolved that:

1. the amended terms of reference, including proposed amendments to the terms of reference to the Community Engagement and Citizen Focus sub-committee as discussed at its meeting on 21 June 2010, be approved with the removal of the references to “in conjunction with the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee” under points 5f and 5g of the parent committee’s terms of reference; and
2. the proposed 2010/11 work programme be approved; and
3. the proposed equalities objectives for the Committee be approved.

11. Report for the Approval of the Proposed 2010/11 work plan and co–opted member for the Community Engagement and Citizen Focus Sub-Committee

(Agenda item 11)

11.1. Natasha Plummer introduced the report and advised that although unusual to have a sub-committee develop its work programme before the parent committee had done so, this had been done on this occasion for the sake of expediency given that the next meeting of the sub-committee would not take place until October 2010.

Resolved that:

1. the 2010/11 work programme for the Community Engagement and Citizen Focus (CECF) sub-committee be approved; and
2. the co-option of Richard Hunt from the London Communities Policing Partnership (LCP2) to the sub-committee membership be approved.

12. Reports from Sub-committees, Domestic and Sexual Violence Board and Hate Crime Forum

(Agenda item 12)

Resolved that: The report be noted.

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