MPS Corporate Governance Framework update

Report: 10
Date: 10 March 2011
By: Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report provides a progress update on work areas pertaining to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) corporate governance framework.

A. Recommendation

That members

1. Members note the progress being made across a number of corporate governance work areas as set out in this report.
2. Members note the current monitoring arrangements are considered appropriate to provide assurance on human rights compliance (see paragraph 12).

B. Supporting information

Current corporate governance arrangements

1. The MPS continues its drive to achieve excellence in corporate governance. It uses an established ‘temple’ model of corporate governance, approved by Management Board (see Appendix 1) that reflects current good practice.

2. The MPS corporate governance work programme consists of a number of work streams that have been identified through a gap analysis against elements of the CIPFA/SOLACE framework: “Delivering Good Governance in Local Government” the Interim Guidance Note for Police Authorities & Forces in England and Wales (2007) and significant governance issues included in the 2009/10 MPS Annual Assurance Statement. A full list of work streams and the responsible leads is included in Appendix 2. This work programme is managed and monitored through the MPS Governance Board, with regular progress updates to this Committee.

3. This is the third quarterly report identifying improvement against the 2009/10 Annual Assurance Statement. Highlights include the introduction of Business Group Organisational Learning forums, the completion of risk management maturity assessments in SO, CO, SCD, HR, DoI and DoR, and the first data collection and analysis exercise of non-financial partnerships.

Summary of progress

4. For each work stream, a progress update for the quarter is detailed below.

Pillar One: Organisational structures & processes

5. Embedding risk management

• Assessments of risk maturity have been carried out against the MPS risk maturity model in SO, CO, HR, and DoI this quarter, in addition to reassessments of DoR and SCD. This ensured that changes to the maturity model following the pilot assessments were accounted for and will enable benchmarking across the MPS. Local risk management implementation plans have been agreed with Business Group Risk Co-ordinators and assessment reports are in the process of being reported to senior management teams.
• Good progress is being made to ensure that information within the corporate risk register remains fit for purpose and up to date. Each risk area is being reviewed through a series of meetings or workshops to ensure that critical risks are identified, activities inform action planning and any gaps in controls are addressed.

6. Implementation of Developing Resource Management Programme

a) Corporate Real Estate

• Good progress has been made following MPA approval of the 2010/11 Estates Strategy (November 2010) and the in-principle approval of the 2011/12 strategy (December 2010).
• Accommodation moves underway include Hendon, the Lambeth Road unit (adjacent to Lambeth Met Call site) and the vacation of Tintagel House.
• The work-stream is currently on track to achieve its savings for 2010/11.

b) Delivery of Property Services

• Contract Review and Asset Leverage projects were brought into the Developing Resource Management (DRM) programme in October 2010 to support interdependencies with the CRE work-stream.
• Work to identify the remaining maintenance and repair contract savings for 2011 are on track and further proposals for savings are to be finalised in June 2011.

c) Procurement

• The implementation plan developed by Procurement, DoI and DRM for the technical / system improvements, recommended by Capgemini in summer 2010, was agreed by the DRM Steering Group in December 2010.
• The rollout of the Contract Management Toolkit and Procurement Awareness Training is ongoing.
• Following further development with CapGemini, a coordinator has been appointed to manage the Strategic Procurement Plans.

d) Source-to-Payment

• Work with potential suppliers to negotiate the best deal for the MPS continues.

e) SAP Development

• Capital Management
  • New functionality to manage the capital budget onsystem was delivered in October 2010, with full reporting available from November 2010. The reports are now being used to inform capital planning.
  • A “temperature check” is underway to ensure benefits realisation, and the project board is currently discussing next steps
• Invoice Management
  • The Vendor Invoice Management module and scanning solution successfully went live in December 2010, following testing and relevant training. This will lead to significant improvements in our invoice handling and enable the delivery of cashable savings.
  • Extensive communications, training to key users, and support via e-learning to users across the MPS is underway.
• Capability Review
  • Pricewaterhouse-coopers (PWC) provided expert support to the capability review between September 2010 and January 2011.
  • Use of SAP Financials was reviewed, with priority improvements and draft implementation plans agreed by the DRM Steering Group, in November and December 2010.
• Asset Tracking
  • The revised governance structure for the Asset Management programme (phases 1, 2 and future), which introduces a project steering group to provide strategic direction and oversight, was agreed by the Asset Tracking project board in December 2010.
  • Phase 1 implementation is progressing, although impacted by SAP change freeze (December 2010 - February 2011).
  • Phase 2 feasibility study is also progressing, with project team members recruited (including secondees from TP).
• Vehicle Recovery and Examination Service
  • Feasibility study into application of SAP CRM tools to support VRES agreed by DRM Steering Group, November 2011.
  • The project team are currently being recruited.

f) Finance and Resources Modernisation 2

• Options for the key work-strands, which may include the establishment of central teams to focus on purchasing, expenses, financial partnerships and income contracts, are being developed.
• A revised governance structure has been put in place, with HR support at key project meetings.
• Activity analysis has continued across Finance and Resources (F&R) functions.
• Further engagement with stakeholders has included borough and area commanders, unions, staff associations and the Police Federation.

7. Partnerships

• Data on non-financial partnerships has been collated and analysed for the first time.
• An enhanced data collection and analysis exercise was also undertaken on financial partnerships to inform and improve associated risk management processes.
• The Partnership Central Steering Group (PCSG) has agreed the governance and management of the corporate partnership risk.
• Partnership guidance has been drafted for the TP Safer Neighbourhood teams.
• An update on Borough Partnership funding was presented to the January meeting of the Communities, Equalities and People Committee (CEP)

8. Provision of detailed information on emerging market hotspots, especially around specialisms and specialist professionals

• Significant work on a voluntary departure scheme for police staff has precluded work with HR Business Partners in identifying and quantifying hotspots.
• Work is planned between HR Organisational Development and Olympic and Paralympics Coordination team to identify Olympic-related hotspots with a view to developing contingency plans in terms of retention arrangements or succession planning.

9. Review of expenses policy

• Expenses policy guidelines are in place and the policy is expected to be published by end of March 2011.

10. Organisational Learning

• Business group level organisational learning (OL) forums chaired by OL champions have been established to stimulate proactive learning strategies and provide accountability for existing learning. These forums will escalate corporate issues to the corporate OL forum.
• OL minimum standards have been circulated to business groups for incorporation into local OL activity.
• Funding has been secured to develop an information management solution for OL, which will enable OL documents to be effectively managed and shared across the organisation via a Sharepoint portal.
• The Head of OL has been appointed as the strand lead for ‘Broader Organsiational Learning’ under the Olympic legacy and learning strategy. A paper was submitted to the Olympic Legacy Board on 13th January 2011.

11. Management Board operating framework

• The revision to the Management Board Operating Framework is now complete and will be kept constantly under review as part of business-as-usual.
• The Police Reform & Social Responsibility Bill was published at the end of November 2010. This sets out a number of changes to the accountability structures for policing across the country. The exact changes to the current governance arrangements are unclear as the Bill is being debated at Committee stage in Parliament. An internal working group is monitoring the proposed changes and amendments will be made to the Management Board operating framework if required.

12. Human Rights compliance

• Following discussion at a meeting of the Strategic & Operational Policing Committee work has been progressed on monitoring compliance with the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998.
• Research into possible monitoring mechanisms has concluded that the MPS can be reassured that using existing process to capture and address complaints means that it already has mechanisms in place that target a number of the HRA articles. Similarly, legal opinion is that the complaints process is sufficient for monitoring any breaches of convention rights and as the MPA currently receives regular reports on discipline & complaints from DPS, then additional mechanisms are unnecessary.
• No further work is planned on developing further reporting mechanisms.

13. Review of MPS Environment Strategy and development of Corporate Social Responsibility / Sustainable Development Strategy for 2010-13

• Work is ongoing to mainstream Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as part of MPS Directorate business plans.
• The MPS CSR Strategy has been published on the MPS internet and intranet pages in an accessible format. A limited number of printed versions will be made available to MPS Management Board and key stakeholders.
• A governance mapping exercise for the CSR strategy objectives is almost complete, which identifies MPS activities and targets that support the objective, the MPS lead, performance measures, and governance mechanisms.
• 72 Environmental Champions have been recruited across the MPS. Two pilot sites at Hendon and Paddington Green have been selected to trial the Environmental Awareness Campaign. Environment Champions are assisting with the completion of a baseline survey, which will enable the MPS to monitor the effectiveness of the awareness raising activity.

14. SIP

• The financial position and summary of progress for the SIP projects was presented to the Management Board on 20th December as part of the development of the Policing London Business Plan 2011 - 14.
• An update on the SIP portfolio was presented to the MPA Resources and Productivity sub-committee (RAP) in January.

15. Business Charge Card

• Barclaycards were introduced as the new Business charge card in May 2008, with tighter criteria for the card holders to account for their expenditure. The procedures have been revised in response to a DARA audit published in December 2010 and good practice developed across the business. See Appendix 3 for the value and volume of unreconciled expenditure returns as at 11 January 2011, and a full update on the current progress and controls in place to manage this process.

Pillar Two: Reporting to & involving the MPA & stakeholders

16. Review of all forms of public engagement and consultation

• An update on the community engagement work undertaken by the MPS and how this has been informed by the Community Engagement Commitment published in July 2010 was presented to the MPA CEP Committee in February 2011.

17. Safer Neighbourhoods panel training and business/youth engagement

a) Business Engagement

• Visits to a number of BOCU Town Centre Teams during the last quarter have informed a draft toolkit (currently out for consultation), which will enable local teams to take a collaborative, problem solving approach to address concerns of the local business community.
• An assessment of business initiatives introduced in the lead up to Christmas will be evaluated to determine if they can be introduced across the Service

b) Youth Survey and Halloween Consultation

• The findings from the Halloween and Bonfire consultation were reported to the London Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) board in December 2010 and to the Safer Neighbourhoods (SN) Senior Management Team.
• Over 68.4% of young people surveyed agree that police and local council are dealing with ASB and crime successfully in their neighbourhood.
• 64% also agreed that the same agencies dealt with ASB and crime successfully during the Halloween and firework period.
• The SN unit have created a working group to deliver the 2011 youth survey, which will target 11-18 year olds in secondary education.

c) Town Centre Programme

• The Town Centre Programme (TCP) Review and report has been completed and recommends performance measures, which will be considered by the TP Chief Officer Group
• The Town Centre Policing Special Interest Group went live in November 2010

d) Youth Strategy and Engagement

• The MPS Children and Young People Strategy Board, chaired by Commander Rodhouse met in December.
• The draft strategy and supporting documents are currently out for internal consultation.

Pillar Three: Standards of behaviour

18. Enhanced MPA/MPS Fraud and Corruption Awareness Strategy

• The joint MPA / MPS Anti-Fraud Strategy and accompanying Implementation Plan was agreed at MPS Governance Board in November and at MPA CGC in December.
• A series of 10 Fraud Awareness workshops will be delivered to around 350 officers and staff, with one workshop dedicated to Exchequer Services staff.

19. Introducing the Equality Standard

• Feedback has been provided to Business Groups and Boroughs following the QA of returns by the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate (DCFD). Areas for improvement have been agreed and action plans have been amended accordingly.
• Assessment reports have been sent to Area Commanders outlining the assessment scores of Boroughs, feedback from the Diversity and Citizen Focus Advisors (DCFAs) and the agreed activity outlined in BOCU action plans.
• Progress of the Equality Strategy for the Police Service (ESPS) was reported to the Deputy Commissioner at the Executive Diversity Board in December 2010 and January 2011.
• An article on the progress of the ESPS appeared on the corporate intranet site and the Job in December 2010. In January 2011 an update article was also published in the MPS Diversity Space newsletter.

C. Other organisational and community implications

Equality and Diversity Impact

1. The model of corporate governance set out in this report is based on the principles of openness; integrity; accountability and equality. The development of the framework therefore should have a positive race and diversity impact by ensuring that these principles inform the way in which MPS operates. Furthermore, improved communication of the corporate governance framework aims to help staff understand how to apply these principles in their day-to-day work.

Consideration of MET Forward

2. This report provides assurance that the MPS is improving the governance infrastructure of the MPS to ensure better value for money when fighting crime.

Financial Implications

3. All costs associated with the work streams identified in this report will be met from existing MPS budgets as approved in the 2010-13 Business Plan.

Legal Implications

4. The MPA are under a statutory duty to prepare and publish an Annual Governance Statement (AGS), under regulation 4 (2) of the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2003, as amended by the Accounts & Audit (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006. The AGS is a general certification about governance issues, which is the primary responsibility of the MPA as police authority.

5. In order that the MPA can discharge its statutory duty referred to in paragraph 1 above, the MPS provides its certification to the MPA by submitting an Annual Assurance Statement (AAS), as recommended by CIPFA / SOLACE guidance “Delivering Good Governance in Local Government-Interim Guidance Note for Police Authorities and Forces in England and Wales (2007”) (“The Guidance”), which demonstrates how aspects of governance have been implemented within the police force.

6. The Corporate Governance Framework provides the supporting information which evidences that the MPS will ensure it has robust systems in place that demonstrate it is adhering to the strategic direction set by the MPA, and is delivering good governance through the delivery of many operational and financial aspects within a delegated framework, in accordance with Guidance and best practice.

7. Compliance with the Corporate Framework will also assist in raising standards, reduce risk of legal challenge and build public confidence by ensuring the MPS operates in a transparent manner.

Environmental Implications

8. The work streams identified have varying levels of environmental impact / benefits.

Risk Implications

9. The work streams in this report are key activity areas in risk area 1 of the corporate risk register “need to manage corporate governance effectively”. Improvement in these work areas continues to reduce the risk of a significant governance failure.

D. Background papers

None

E. Contact details

Report author: Nicky Harris, Strategy and Improvement Department, MPS

For information contact:

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

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