Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Corporate Governance Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 2 December 2010 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, Westminster, London SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Toby Harris (Chair)
• John Biggs
• Valarie Brasse

Co-opted members: Richard Stephenson (Director, Group Health, Safety and Environment, Transport for London)

MPA officers

• Bob Atkins (Treasurer)
• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
• Alan Johnson (Policy Officer)
• Julie Norgrove (Director, Audit Risk and Assurance)
• John Crompton (Committee officer, Treasury Team)

MPS officers

• Mark Broom (Directorate of Professional Standards)
• Richard Clarke (Director of Strategy and Improvement)
• Paul Daly (Director of Exchequer Services)
• Nick Kettle (Head of Safety and Health, Risk Management Team)
• Anne McMeel (Director of Resources)

Also in attendance: Les Kidner (District Auditor) and Martin Searle (Senior Audit Manager, Audit Commission). Philip Turner, Turner Townsend Consultancy attended for consideration of agenda item 14

19. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Linda Duncan, Joanne McCartney and Caroline Pidgeon.

20. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were received.

21. Minutes of the Corporate Governance Committee (part 1) – 13 September 2010

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the Corporate Governance Committee held on 13 September 2010 (Part 1) be signed and agreed as a correct record.

22. Audit Commission Annual Letter 2009/2010

(Agenda item 4)

22.1 The annual audit letter for 2009/10 from the District Auditor was submitted.

22.2 In introducing the letter the District Auditor advised that there had already been a discussion of its contents with the MPA and MPS at a senior level. The District Auditor concluded by announcing that this was the last meeting of the Committee he would be attending. The Chair extended best wishes to Mr Kidner for the future on behalf of the Committee.

22.3 In reply to a question from a members on how the MPS corporate risk register could be enhanced as it related to bringing about change at an operational level ,the Director of Audit, Risk and Assurance advised that in developing the audit plan for the coming year discussions would be held with each business group and this would include an examination of their risk register.

Resolved – That the letter be forwarded to the full Authority for consideration at the meeting on 27 January 2011

23. Directorate of Audit, Risk and Assurance (DARA) quarterly progress report

(Agenda item 5)

23.1 A report was submitted which summarised the work carried out by the Directorate of Audit, Risk and Assurance in the third quarter of 2010/11 and the key areas of work planned for the final quarter.

23.2 In reply to a question from a member on the audit reporting process the Director of Audit, Risk and Assurance stated that the emphasis in future would be increasingly about agreeing management actions to address issues which a DARA report had identified rather than making recommendations.

Resolved – That

1. The work undertaken by the Directorate of Audit Risk and Assurance and the progress made in achieving the 2010/11 plan be noted; and
2. the current evaluation of the adequacy and effectiveness of internal control in the MPS be noted.

24. Outstanding High Risk DARA Recommendations

(Agenda item 6)

24.1 This report updated members in relation to the outstanding high-risk MPA Directorate of Audit, Risk and Assurance (DARA) recommendations as at 28 October 2010.

24.2 In response to a question on progress on recommendation 5 the Head of Safety and Health,. Risk Management Team confirmed that Metair had gone live on 9 November –the go live date for THR.

24.3 The Director of Resources referred to the fact that many of these recommendations had been made some time ago and progress had sometimes been slower than was ideal. Moving forward, the approach taken would be that recommendations would be not be accepted if they could not be implemented and within a reasonable time scale.

Resolved – That the status of all outstanding high risk recommendations made by the Directorate of Audit, Risk and Assurance in relation to MPS control systems be noted.

25. Directorate of Audit, Risk and Assurance Strategy

(Agenda item 7)

25.1 A report was submitted which set out the proposed strategy for the Directorate of Audit Risk and Assurance for the period 2011 to 2014. The new strategy reflects the emphasis on moving towards a risked based approach and reviewing and advising on areas of high risk/cost to the MPA and MPS. The approach also recognises the significant levels of change which is taking place within the MPS and the increased demand for greater efficiency and value for money.

Resolved – That the Directorate of Audit Risk and Assurance strategy for 2011 to 2014 be approved.

26. MPA/MPS Anti-Fraud Strategy

(Agenda item 8)

26.1 A report was submitted which informed members of the anti- fraud activity taking place within the MPA and MPS and of the jointly developed anti-fraud strategy which provides a strategic framework to manage the risk of internal fraud. The supporting implementation plan set out the current and planned activity.

26.2 In welcoming the report the Chair observed that the approach taken was a good example of collaborative working.

Resolved –That approval be given to the anti-fraud strategy and the planned approach to managing the risk of fraud in the MPA and MPS in 2011 – 2014 be endorsed.

27. MPA Risk management update

(Agenda item 9)

27.1 This report summarised the development of the MPA risk management process. It included the MPA corporate risk register together with a more detailed assessment of the key financial risks. The financial risk analysis will also be reported to the Finance and Resources Committee.

27.2 In response to points raised concerning the arrangements surrounding the legislative proposals for police authorities the Chief Executive advised that the Policing and Social Responsibility Bill had been published and the MPA had established a Transition Board which was due to hold its first meeting on 6 December. Corporate governance and risk issues would be part of the remit of the Board.

Resolved – That the MPA risk register and financial risk assessment be noted.

28. MPS Corporate Governance Framework update

(Agenda item 10)

28.1 This report provided a progress update on work areas relating to the Metropolitan Police Service corporate governance framework.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

29. Annual Governance Statement Quarterly update

(Agenda item 11)

29.1 The Authority is required to include an Annual Governance Statement in its financial statements. The Annual Governance Statement includes details of governance arrangements, highlighting how effectively they are being deployed and identifying significant governance issues and actions being taken to address them. A report was submitted which provided an update on progress in addressing the significant governance issues which had included in the statement of accounts for 2009/10.

Resolved – That the progress in addressing the significant governance issues included in the 2009/10 Annual Governance Statement for the MPA be noted.

30. Implementing International Financial reporting Standards

(Agenda item 12)

30.1 This report provided the Committee with a quarterly progress update on the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards within the MPA/MPS.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

31. Health and Safety Performance report

(Agenda item 13)

31.1 This report provided an overview of Health and Safety Performance.

31.2 A revised version of Appendix 1 was tabled.

31.3 Richard Stephenson pointed out said that there appeared to have been some confusion regarding the request which had been made at the last meeting. This had been for information on the traffic accident study rather than on training which had been provided.

31.4 The Head of Safety and Health. Risk Management Team apologised for the misunderstanding and confirmed that information on the traffic accidents study would be reported to the next meeting. In reply to a question from a member he also undertook to provide some information at the next meeting on the take up of the new “one-click” system concerning the symptoms of possible suicides referred to in paragraph 32 of the report.

31.5 The Head of Safety and Health Risk Management Team referred to the section of the report concerning the Lord Young Review and said that a definition of what was covered by the term “a heroic act” in this context had not yet been established. In reply to a question about work being undertaken in connection with injuries to police officers and PCSOs he advised that there had been an examination to see whether there were any particular types of accidents associated with single patrolling which the MPS had undertaken to introduce.

32. External Independent Audit of Health and Safety

(Agenda item 14)

32.1 The MPA in consultation with the MPS commissioned Turner and Townsend to undertake an overview evaluation of safety management across the MPA and MPS. The report was published in 2010 and made 39 recommendations relating to structure and control co-operation and collaboration; training and competence; planning and prioritising; culture and communication; and monitoring, auditing and benchmarking. A working group of the MPS Strategic Health and Safety Committee had prioritised the recommendations and formulated a strategy for their implementation and these were contained in the report submitted to the Committee.

32.2 Philip Turner, Turner Townsend Consultancy attended for consideration of this item.

32.3 In response to a point raised by a member the Head of Safety and Health, Risk Management Team said that consideration would be given to ways in which the number of classifications in the “Importance” column might be reduced.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

33. Business Charge Card update

(Agenda item 15)

33.1 This report updated members on the progress made in reviewing and investigating the potential misuse of MPS Amex charge cards.

Resolved – That

1. The progress made by the Directorate of Professional Standards in reviewing and investigating the potential misuse of Amex charge cards within the MPS (including any non-MPS holders of MPS cards) be noted; and
2. the estimate of the likely time to complete the reviews and investigations by the Directorate of Professional Standards and resources required to do this be noted.

34. Any other urgent business

(Agenda item 16)

34.1 There was none.

35. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 17)

Resolved – That the press and public be asked to leave the meeting during discussion of the remaining item of business because exempt information as defined in of Part 1, Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) was likely to be made known.

Summary of items considered in part 2

36. MPS Risk Management update

(Agenda item18)

The Chair suggested that a separate briefing session be held with members to discuss some of the risks noted in the corporate risk register in more detail.

Report noted.

37. Exempt appendix to high-risk audit recommendations

(Agenda item 19)

Information noted.

38. Minutes of the Corporate Governance Committee (Part 2) – 13 September 2010

(Agenda item 20)

The minutes of the Corporate Governance Committee held on 13 September 2010 (Part 2) were signed and agreed as a correct record.

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