Minutes

Joint minutes of the Human Resources and Remuneration Sub-committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 14 July 2011 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Faith Boardman (Chair)
• Tony Arbour
• Reshard Auladin

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
• Annabel Adams (Deputy Treasurer)
• Alan Johnson (Human Resources Officer)
• Michael Taylor (Committee Officer)

MPS officers

• Anne McMeel (Director of Resources)
• Gabrielle Nelson (A/Director of Recruitment and Workforce Planning)
• Ellie Ryan (Director of Employee Relations, Health and Well-Being)
• Shaun Kennedy (Strategic Manager, HR Organisational Development)

1. Apologies for absence

(Agenda Item 1)

1.1 Apologies were received from Cindy Butts (MPA Member)

2. Declarations of interest

(Agenda Item 2)

2.1 No declarations were made.

3. Minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2011

(Agenda Item 3)

3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 18 April 2011 were agreed, and updates on the outstanding actions were provided. The MPS has contracted Ipsos Mori to conduct a benchmarking exercise on exit survey data, including how to improve response rates.

4. Issues raised by staff associations and trade unions

(Agenda Item 4)

4.1 Alan Johnson said trade unions raised issues around the budget and redundancies, and their concern over reports of police staff being replaced by police officers. A subsequent investigation had shown the latter concerns to be unfounded. SAMURAI raised issues relating to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the budget and the changes to Safer Neighbourhood Teams. The Superintendents’ Association had discussed issues around the Winsor Review and the Hutton Report.

4.2 Members noted that the Winsor report is entering a critical phase, and that the sub-committee should examine the impact of the Review on the MPS and how the MPS communicates arising issues to its staff.

Action: MPA to consider options for receiving future updates on the impact of the Winsor Review.

5. Human resources recruitment targets

(Agenda Item 5)

5.1 Gabrielle Nelson provided an overview of recruitment in 2010-11; in the light of the reduced budget and recruitment pause there was an increased focus on recruitment into the Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC).

5.2 Members enquired on the average monthly service provided by the MSC, and if their contribution was calculated through Full Time Equivalent (FTE). The strength of MSC is measured by number of officers; therefore FTE is not used to calculate their contribution. The minimum requirement for MSC is 16 hours per month, although many work longer hours. Specials may also work additional hours so that they can achieve Independent Patrol Status, which will enable them to apply for regular police officer roles.

5.3 Members asked about attrition rates and how leavers are managed. It was explained the MPS has been closely monitoring wastages levels, and Territorial Policing has recently undertaken further work to identify MSC officers who have consistently been unable to meet minimum requirements. The primary reason for specials leaving is that they are unable to meet the minimum time requirements. The MPS is examining options for providing more MSC accommodation outside police stations.

Action: MPS to provide the MSC exit surveys.

5.4 Members noted that the value of the MSC is difficult to quantify, as their presence will provide higher value if they work at peak times, such as in town centres on Friday and Saturday nights. In the light of the MPS intent to recruit more specials for the Olympics, members asked how their value was quantified, e.g. in terms of ‘adding’ uniform police numbers on the streets.

Action: MPA to liaise with MPS on the reporting of the value of MSC.

5.5 In response to a query, the MPS said it was confident that recruitment targets will be met; over 1100 applications are received each month from a diverse range of backgrounds; last month 40% were from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) candidates.

5.6 In order to coordinate the management of staff vacancies, the MPS implemented a ‘Star Chamber’ process. Where vacancies arise, the Star Chamber will match any vacancies with staff that are being displaced from their current role; remaining posts are then advertised internally, prior to being opened to external candidates. Usually the MPS will only advertise externally in cases where roles require specialist qualifications, skills, or requirements or 24 hour shift working. Some senior staff positions are also advertised externally, in order to attract a wide range of skilled candidates.

6. MPS organisational change

(Agenda Item 6)

6.1 Shaun Kennedy provided an update on the early departure scheme, which is being offered to targeted groups of staff. The MPS intends to avoid the use of compulsory redundancy wherever possible and offers redeployment opportunities to staff whose positions are at risk.

6.2 Equality Impact Assessments are used to identify any specific support which can be offered; such as training on IT systems for older employees, job fairs for specific groups of staff, e.g. catering, etc. Members enquired whether an employee who has previously accepted redundancy could be employed into the MPS. Although an ex-employee who signs up to a recruitment agency would be in their pool of eligible candidates, they would not be employed into their old jobs. The Star Chamber would prevent this from occurring.

7. Women in policing

(Agenda Item 7)

7.1 Gabrielle Nelson set out how the MPS is being seen as an increasingly popular employer by women, with females now accounting for 25% of police officers in 2011. Research indicates that female staff tend to work in victim support roles, and that those applying for promotion currently progress through the ranks at a faster rate than male staff. In order to further encourage women to apply for promotion, seminars on work/life balance issues, maternity leave, etc are organised.

7.2 Although the MPS offers equal opportunities in all business groups, it is recognised that some roles such as public order and firearms, have traditionally been seen as male orientated. The MPS acknowledged that this perception is unfortunate, given the high profile and public facing nature of these roles. To address this issue Central Operations are identifying any perceived barriers to entry for female applicants. .

7.3 In order to highlight role models, the MPS is promoting the success of senior female officers such as Lynne Owens as Assistant Commissioner for Central Operations and Julia Pendry in charge of the firearms command. The MPS has also established a network of volunteer ‘work/life balance advisors’ who champion related issues in the workplace.

7.4 Members noted that female officers generally perform better at promotion examinations than males and asked if there was any evidence that female recruits joined the MPS with higher academic qualifications than males. The MPS does not currently require applicants to record academic qualifications, although it was noted that the Winsor Review is look at entry ‘qualifications.’

8. Human Resources and Remuneration Sub-committee Annual Report

(Agenda Item 8)

8.1 Members noted the report, which provided an overview of the broad range of issues examined by the sub-committee. It was noted that in the recent, and possibly last, MPA appointment of MPS commanders, four out of six candidates were external candidates, whilst one appointee was BME. The recent successful candidates for the Police National Assessment Centre also presented a reasonable mix of gender and ethnicity.

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