Minutes

Minutes of the Human Resources and Remuneration Sub-committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 14 October 2010 at Room 2 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1.

Present

Members

• Faith Boardman (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
• Bob Atkins (Treasurer)
• Fay Scott (Head of Engagement and Equalities)
• Alan Johnson (HR Officer)
• Michael Taylor (Committee Officer)

MPS officers

• Kevin Courtney (Head of Pay and Benefits)
• Eleanor Ryan (Director of Employee Relations, Health and Wellbeing)
• Darren Bird (Assistant Director of Employee Relations, Health and Wellbeing)
• Donna Haynes (Programme Lead, Developing Training Programme)
• Alex Walsh (HR Strategic Director Organisational Development)
• Shaun Kennedy (Strategic Manager, HR, Organisation Development)
• Esme Crowther (Head of Employment Tribunal Unit)
• Margaret Kelly (Performance and Learning Manager)
• Rod Jarman (Director of Learning and Development)

15. Apologies for absence

(Agenda Item 1)

15.1 Apologies were received from Tony Arbour, Martin Tiplady and Majella Myers. Faith Boardman welcomed Fay Scott to her first meeting.

16. Declarations of interest

(Agenda Item 2)

16.1 No declarations were made.

17. Minutes of the meeting held on 17 June 2010

(Agenda Item 3)

17.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 17 June 2010 were agreed.

18. Borough Commanders - Completion of Met Forward Project

(Agenda Item 4)

18.1 Members noted the contents of the report detailing the completion of this project, with one highlighted outcome being the expectation that Borough Commanders shall remain in post for three years. Territorial Policing were looking at some of the areas that had been omitted, i.e. equality and diversity, innovation and creativity, professional standards for the Borough Commander role.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

19. Employment Tribunals

(Agenda Item 5)

19.1 Members noted the contents of the report and were pleased with the relatively low level of cases. It was acknowledged that attempts to benchmark against other police authorities had proved fruitless because of an unwillingness to release the data. The MPS continues to engage with the trade unions, the staff associations and the staff support associations to ensure that channels of communication remain open and, where possible, to facilitate early settlements prior to tribunal. Unfortunately, individuals often initiated tribunal proceedings with little prospect of success.

19.2 In the light of the major changes within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the Home Office terms and conditions review, changes to redundancy arrangements and to the role of the Leadership Academy, it is possible there will be an increase in tribunal and fairness at work claims. It was suggested that future reports should reflect upon this and that the opportunity should be taken to highlight this current data on the MPS intranet and in ‘The Job’ newspaper.

19.3 Faith Boardman suggested an ‘employee relations briefing’ with Eleanor Ryan would be useful in the light of the current climate. Fay Scott and Alan Johnson would also attend.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

20. Fairness at work

(Agenda Item 6)

20.1 Members noted the contents of the report, particularly the efforts made by the Practice Support Team to provide those who are aggrieved with the confidence that their concerns have been satisfactorily addressed, i.e. through the quality call back process. Members asked that some data should be provided with the next report around the call back process.

20.2 Similar concerns were raised about the impact of the many change programmes and members asked about the EIA process to ensure this pre-empts any potential challenges.

Resolved: That the report be noted and the next report should contain data on the quality call back process and a copy of the EIA.

21. Police Staff discipline

(Agenda Item 7)

21.1 Members noted the contents of report. Reshard Auladin asked about how the MPS were achieving consistency between police officer and police staff discipline. Ellie Ryan explained that there was a close working relationship between Liz Haddon and Commander Julian Bennett who now chaired the respective police staff and police officer discipline panels. The staff associations, trade unions and staff support associations were also provided with the shared learning from these activities.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

22. Issues raised by staff associations and Trade Unions (oral report)

(Agenda Item 9)

22.1 Alan Johnson reported that since the last meeting the Chair had held meetings with the Police Federation, the Chief Police Officers Staff Association (CPOSA) and SAMURAI (the staff support associations). The main items discussed were the likely impact of budget cuts and the impact of the new Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs). The Chair gave his commitment to protect front line services and set out his view on the likely impact of the new PCCs in London. The Chair also took the opportunity to update the staff associations and staff support associations on the Race and Faith Inquiry.

23. Workforce modernisation

(Agenda Item 10)

23.1 Members noted the contents of report. Members welcomed the ethos and approach adopted in terms of workforce modernisation. Although the current recruitment pause was impacting upon this programme, varying the workforce mix was still considered a valuable option in terms of filling roles in the future.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

24. Exempt minutes of the meeting held on 17 June 2010

(Agenda Item 12)

24.1 The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 17 June 2010 were agreed.

25. Special Priority Payments (SPPs)

(Agenda Item 13)

25.1 It was explained that SPPs were part of a package of improvements under the ‘Police Reform’ Act, which included shortening of the pay scales for federated ranks and the introduction of threshold payments and bonus payments. The SPP scheme is targeted towards front line/operational officers in posts which contain significantly higher responsibility level than the norm for the rank and present particular difficulties in recruitment and retention or feature especially demanding working conditions or working environments. Members endorsed the recommendations, but referred the paper to the next meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee as this meeting was inquorate.

26. Cheif Superintendent’s Post Related Allowances (PRAs)

(Agenda Item 14)

26.1 It was explained that PRAs were also part of a package of improvements under the ‘Police Reform’ Act. Business Groups individually assess each Chief Superintendent post within their respective commands and rate each post either ‘Low’, ‘Medium’ or ‘High’ against the following criteria: Socio-Economic Features; Political and Community Relations; Operational Features and Organisational Relations. Members endorsed the recommendations, but referred the paper to the next meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee as this meeting was inquorate.

27. Catering Service Improvement Programme

(Agenda Item 15)

27.1 It was explained that there was a clear organisational imperative ced for the approach that was being adopted. Extensive consultation had already taken place with the relevant trade unions and the Metropolitan Black Police Association (MetBPA) around the impact of these proposals. Members noted the information contained in the report and supported the direction of travel.

28. Leadership and development training (oral report)

(Agenda Item 8)

28.1 The rationale for the approach being adopted was explained, i.e. in order to deliver more focused training in a more conducive training environment. Members noted the information contained in the report and supported the direction of travel.

29. Risk register

(Agenda Item 16)

29.1 It was explained that the HR Directorate is in the process of updating and revising the current risk register and the updated version would be tabled at the next meeting.

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