Process for agreeing changes to the public facing estate

Report: 09
Date: 21 January 2010
By: on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report proposes principles to guide decisions about changes to the public facing estate. Specifically it covers the transfer of front counter facilities from existing buildings to new, purpose built facilities within Borough Operational Command Units (BOCU) and the disposal of surplus buildings. This report does not include the provision of contact points or reception areas provided under the Safer Neighbourhoods programme, which are supplementary to BOCU main front counter provision.

A. Recommendations

That members

1. support the principles to guide decisions about the transfer of front counter facilities to new, purpose built facilities
2. support the principles to guide decisions about the disposal of surplus buildings
3. agree that where these principles are met, and having taken account of all available information including the outcome of any engagement challenge, the MPA Estates Review Panel will make an appropriate recommendation to the Finance and Resources Committee for the transfer of the services and/or the disposal of buildings

B. Supporting information

1. The police estate plays a vital role in supporting the delivery of effective and efficient policing for communities across London. To ensure the estate serves everybody’s needs, the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) needs modern front counter facilities that represent the ‘shop window’ of the organisation and are key to the Citizen Focus programme.

2. A significant proportion of victims of crime and members of the community make contact with the MPS through front counter facilities and the organisation is frequently judged on the quality of service they receive during this contact. The MPS has established its front counter services as a priority in its Citizen Focus programme and in developing these services has adopted an approach that puts the citizen at the centre of the design, development and delivery of front counter service provision.

3. The modernisation programme for front counters is underway and a number of new purpose built facilities have been provided, some within new Safer Neighbourhoods bases. The intention of providing these new facilities was to replace existing front counter services that are out of date, inaccessible and generally no longer suitable for front counter activities.

4. These new facilities, however, remain inactive. The MPS has not been able to transfer existing services from the old facilities since the transfer of front counter services is linked to releasing buildings to be developed for other uses or disposal. This is causing difficulty on some BOCUs where new facilities are available as the BOCUs cannot and, indeed, should not staff existing and new facilities simultaneously. Not only do they do not have the additional resources to staff two facilities, doing so would create difficulty in the future when the old facility is closed, potentially being perceived as withdrawal of facilities rather than transfer to new premises. At this time, therefore communities in parts of London are seeing new facilities going unused.

5. In addition to this position on front counters, there are a number of buildings in the estate that are empty or would be empty once front counter services can be transferred to new premises or alternative accommodation is found for safer neighbourhood teams etc. In other cases, the front counter needs to move to enable the development of its current site into patrol bases and/or custody centres.

6. The Mayoral commitment is that “no buildings with front counter facilities, where people can engage in face to face contact with the police, will be closed without fully operational, improved facilities being opened first”. That commitment cannot be met unless both a suitable alternative is available and the community has been appropriately engaged on the changes to the estate and the reasons for them.

7. To enable the estate to continue to be developed to best meet the needs of the communities of London, it is proposed that principles to govern both the transfer of front counter facilities, and the disposal of surplus buildings, are agreed. Recommendations to the F&R Committee will in some cases cover both the transfer of front counter services and the disposal of a building on a borough where for instance the disposal of a building is a consequence of the transfer of front counter facilities.

Principles to govern the transfer of front counter facilities

8. It is proposed that the following principles govern the decision making process for the transfer of front counter services to new purpose built facilities:

• The new front counter facility is fit for purpose and complies with relevant building legislation (defined as compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act and with modern, and at least equivalent facilities as the site being replaced)
• It is within close proximity to the existing facility or offers considerably easier/improved access to the wider community
• It is open for the same, and wherever possible longer, opening hours as the old facility
• Local community and key stakeholder engagement has taken place and proposals have been reviewed or reassessed as appropriate
• The engagement challenge process has been undertaken if appropriate to confirm the above
• The MPA link member has been consulted and confirms their support for the transfer of facilities in writing

9. If a decision to transfer facilities is taken, the opening of the new facility will be publicised through local media and Safer Neighbourhood teams and an official ‘opening ceremony’ held, if appropriate.

Principles to govern the disposal of surplus buildings

10. It is proposed that the following principles govern the decision making process for the disposal of surplus buildings:

• The building is no longer in use as alternative facilities are in operation (there may be staff left in the building to ensure its security while it is marketed to avoid additional costs of security guards)
• All markings to indicate it is a police building - blue lamp etc - have been removed. Engraved markings should be covered if at all possible.
• The disposal of the building is part of the overall asset management plan for the borough and contributes to the modernisation of the estate
• Local community and key stakeholder engagement has taken place where we have identified a need to do so and proposals have been reviewed or reassessed as appropriate
• The engagement challenge process has been undertaken if appropriate to confirm the above
• The MPA link member has been consulted and confirms their support for the disposal of the building in writing

11. If a decision to dispose of the building is taken, the timing of the disposal will take account of the prevailing market conditions. Once buildings are vacated, all external MPS signage will be removed and the building made safe and secure.

12. This process however is not intended to replace the current process for approving disposals as detailed in Financial Regulations whereby:

1. prior to the beginning of each financial year the Director of Resources submits to the Authority a schedule of proposed disposals (regardless of value) for approval.
2. all property disposals with an estimated receipt greater than £1m total value shall be reported to the Authority for approval. The report shall indicate the bids received and the parties involved.

Engagement with the community

13. The Estate Panel commissioned the development of an engagement strategy to support the implementation of the estate strategy. Specifically, there will be an engagement challenge where required to ensure that the appropriate level and breadth of engagement has taken place. As part of that work, it became clear that the delivery of an engagement strategy would require specific skills and therefore the panel is working with TP to ensure those skills are in place for the both the short and the longer term. It is the intention that a specialist with the right skills will be recruited to undertake this work in the longer term.

14. The Engagement Strategy will be presented to the February 2010 Finance and Resources meeting.

15. The proposals outlined in the paper have been discussed and agreed by the Estates Panel.

Environmental implications

 16. There are currently no known environmental implications.

C. Race and equality impact

1. Some current front counters are not compliant under the Disability Discrimination Act. The design of the new front counter facilities is fully compliant with legislation covering this Act.

D. Financial implications

1. There is a cost to maintaining current facilities and new facilities and therefore not transferring services to new accommodation where available will have financial implications which will vary dependent on the sites concerned and the length of time both facilities are kept. Any additional costs will be managed within existing MPS budgets.

2. There is an opportunity to gain income to support the MPS capital programme by disposing of surplus stock.

E. Legal implications

1. Subject to confirmation from Legal Services, there are currently no known legal implications.

F. Background papers

None

G. Contact details

Report author(s): Diana Marchant, Director of Business Development, Territorial Policing, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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