Minutes

Minutes of a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 25 April 2002, at Romney House, Marsham Street, London, SW1.

Present

Members

• Toby Harris (Chair);
• Anthony Arbour
• Jennette Arnold
• Reshard Auladin
• Richard Barnes (Deputy Chair)
• Cindy Butts
• Nicky Gavron
• Peter Herbert (Deputy Chair)
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Jenny Jones
• Nicholas Long
• R. David Muir
• Sir John Quinton
• Richard Sumray
• Graham Tope
• Abdal Ullah
• Rachel Whittaker

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Peter Martin (Treasurer)
• Simon Vile (Head of Secretariat)

MPS officers

• Sir John Stevens (Commissioner)
• Ian Blair (Deputy Commissioner)
• Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
• Michael Todd (Assistant Commissioner)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of Human Resources)
• David Hamilton (Director of Legal Services)
• Alan Shave (Commander)

Approximately 60 members of the press/public and other MPA/MPS staff were also present.

Part 1

141. Apologies for absence and other communications

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from John Biggs, Darren Johnson, Eric Ollerenshaw and Cecile Wright.

Members asked that their congratulations to Cecile Wright on her recent wedding be recorded.

The Chair extended a welcome to the meeting to Stephanie Caplan and Ian Whitburn, the two independent members of the Authority’s Standards Committee.

Members congratulated A.C. Todd on his appointment as Chief Constable of Greater Manchester. They also expressed their best wishes to D.A.C. Grieve on his retirement.

Nicholas Long referred to a letter sent to the Chair by P.C. Sherrington of the Royal Parks Constabulary which expressed concern at comments purportedly made by the Deputy Commissioner about the quality of some members of the Royal Parks Constabulary.

142. Minutes

(Agenda item 2)

RESOLVED - that the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 21 March 2002 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

143. Question to the authority

(Agenda item 3)

In accordance with Standing Order 15, Asif Iqbal of the R.N.I.D asked the following question.

“The Greater London Authority are committed to providing R.N.I.D. Deaf Awareness Training to members of staff and this has been very successful. We would like to propose the R.N.I.D. Deaf Awareness Training for all police officers as part of the Metropolitan Police Authority training programme, to encourage good communication with the one million deaf people who live in London. What is the Authority’s response to this proposal?” 

The Clerk replied on behalf of the Authority, as follows:

“Following an RNID Question Time last year, Toby Harris, the Authority’s Chair, personally raised with the Commissioner the service needs of the deaf and hard of hearing. I have asked for the Authority’s Consultation, Diversity and Outreach Committee now to receive a report from the Metropolitan Police Service on how it responds to the needs of the disabled community, including the deaf and hard of hearing and what plans it has for extending this provision. 

Whether the RNID’s deaf awareness training is the most appropriate method for the MPS needs more detailed discussion. I am asking the Chair of the MPS’s Disability Discrimination Act Programme Board to contact Asif Iqbal to discuss this further.

I understand from the MPS that currently there is no corporate training programme specifically on the issue of deaf awareness. The MPS is, however, taking steps to ensure equality of access to all police services across London. Last year it formed a Disability Discrimination Act Programme Board to ensure that the legal requirements of the Act are met and that the MPS responds to the needs of the broad disabled community. The Board’s role includes employment and service provision which will clearly involve aspects of training.

A number of specific initiatives are currently underway to improve the service to the deaf and hard of hearing. One example is issuing every police station in London with a video which explains people’s rights and entitlements in sign language. The MPS intends to hold a workshop at New Scotland Yard inviting those from the disabled community who have personal experience of the police service to inform the Programme Board's future work.

On behalf of the Authority, I would like to thank Asif for reminding us of an issue of great relevance to a significant number of Londoners.”

144. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 4)

The Authority received the approved or draft minutes of the following committees:

• Consultation, Diversity and Outreach, 14 March
• Co-ordination and Urgency, 9 April
• Professional Standards and Performance Monitoring, 11 April
• Finance, Planning and Best Value, 18 April

Nicholas Long raised an issue in relation to item 240 of the minutes of the Finance, Planning and Best Value Committee (sale of former Old Street Police Station and Magistrates Court). He reported that, although he was not seeking to vary the decisions taken by the Committee, it had become apparent since the meeting that there had been a misunderstanding about what had been agreed between the officers and Community Advice Project representatives at a meeting on 20 March. In view of this, and the fact that any sale would probably take at least four months to complete, he proposed that the officers be instructed to continue discussions with CAP. In supporting this proposal, Graham Tope suggested a report back to the Finance, Planning & Best Value Committee at its meeting on 29 May.

RESOLVED – That the officers be instructed to continue discussions with the Community Advice Project and report back to the meeting of the Finance, Planning and Best Value Committee on 29 May.

145. Funding for C3i project

(urgent tabled item)

The Chair agreed to accept a tabled report by the Clerk and Treasurer seeking agreement to the drawing up of a protocol with the Home Secretary to secure funding for this project. Consideration of the report was urgent as the protocol had to be submitted to the Home Secretary by 29 April.

Sir John Quinton asked for clarification about the Home Secretary’s intention to include a contingency payment of £15m payable only as a part contribution to an agreed contingency. The Treasurer responded that there was a contingency in the business case, the bulk of which would be consumed by increased prices. The Home Office view was that they would release the £15m if it could be demonstrated that it was required because of increased prices rather than project drift. He further commented that the MPS was working on the production of a measure of operational policing as an alternative to crude police numbers. It was important that this work was pursued.

RESOLVED – That delegated authority be given to the Clerk and Treasurer, in consultation with the Chair of the MPA, to agree a protocol with the Home Secretary on the funding of C3i.

146. Chair’s, Members’ and Clerk’s updates

(Agenda item 5)

The Chair gave an oral update on his activities. He reported that he had attended briefings and the control room at New Scotland Yard in the period around the Quenn Mother’s funeral. He placed on record his congratulations about the quality and precision of the police arrangements and the relaxed way in which the occasion had been policed.

He also thanked MPA officers for the arrangements for the MPA Members’ Development Day which had been held on 12 April. Detailed proposals for a new committee structure, as supported at the Development Day, would be brought to the next meeting of the Authority.

The Chair commented that although a large number of issues concerned with crime and policing had been raised at the People’s Question Time, it was noticeable that the other functional bodies had been better represented than the MPA. He felt that this was something that the MPA needed to address.

He further reported that he and other members had met with the Police Federation and had agreed a basis for future meetings and the possibility of also having a meeting involving all members of the Authority. In view of these positive outcomes, he had been disappointed at the Federation’s negative response to the initiative to foster closer links with the business community and for senior business men and women to act as mentors within the MPS.

An update from Peter Herbert was tabled.

147. Commissioner’s update

(Agenda item 6)

The Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, gave the Authority an update on the following developments and current issues:

Arrangements for the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother

The events had unfolded over a ten day period and the operation had involved 8,000 staff days. The arrangements had received widespread praise and the Commissioner had received a message of thanks from Her Majesty the Queen

The estimated cost of policing the event was £4,000,070. This was made up of £2.2m opportunity costs and £1.8m overtime.

Operation Safer Streets

Operation Safer Streets now covered 15 boroughs and the number of officers deployed on a daily basis was around 1,080. As a result, street crime was reducing considerably. A.C. Todd commented that the majority of traffic officers were now back to their normal duties and it would appear that the street crime problem had been contained. Whilst there was a problem in sustaining the initiative, he was optimistic that a real reduction could be achieved by the summer. He accepted the need for criminal justice units to be given a higher profile and commented that a review was being carried out to identify any which were under-resourced. At this stage there was no indication of significant displacement into boroughs which were not part of the Safer Streets operation.

Annual crime figures

The Commissioner reported that there had been a 6.3% increase in total notifiable offences in 2001/02 and a 19% increase in judicial disposals.

Recruitment and retention

At the end of March police strength was 26,768, a net increase of 1,338 over the year and 118 over the budgeted workforce target. Whilst the target of 5% for visibly ethnic minority officers had been met, the proportion of female officers had remained largely constant, at 16%. Recruitment targets for 2002/03 were challenging: 3,600 officers – 2,500 to meet the net target of 1,000 extra officers, a further 207 to meet Transport for London requirements and possibly about 900 for security commitments.

Public order

The Commissioner referred to the demands that would be placed on the MPS by May Day, a rally in Trafalgar Square on 6 May in support of Israel and the Queen’s Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Other issues

Reference was made to the Health and Safety Executive’s prosecution of the Commissioner in respect of two cases and the implications of the HSE’s role for the work of the MPS. The Deputy Commissioner said that he would bring a paper to the Authority addressing this, with particular reference to any issues coming out of the current prosecution.

Richard Barnes raised the issue of officers being uncontactable due to incompatible radio systems when attending incidents in underground stations. This problem would remain with Airwave. Apart from anything else this raised clear health and safety issues. The Deputy Commissioner said that this was a matter of major concern which he had raised with the Home Office.

Jenny Jones asked about a raid on the Radical Dairy in Stoke Newington.

148. A members’ code of conduct for the Metropolitan Police Authority

(Agenda item 7)

The Authority considered a recommendation from the Standards Committee in relation to the adoption of a Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were reservations, for security reasons, about members’ home addresses being placed on the website as part of the Register of Interests, and the Clerk undertook to look into this.

RESOLVED - 

1. That the code of conduct attached as Appendix 1 to the report be adopted.
2. That members note their obligations under the code in respect of giving a written undertaking to abide by it and to register financial and other interests and the receipt of any gifts and hospitality (paragraphs 5 – 8 of the report).
3. That the terms of reference of the Standards Committee be amended to include authority to grant dispensations as set out in paragraphs 9 and 10 of the report.

149. The Chancellor’s Budget

(Agenda item 8)

The Treasurer reported that there was little specific information to report at this stage. The Home Secretary would shortly be announcing details of the budget distribution, which would be circulated to members when available.

150. Police reform update

(Agenda item 9a)

The Chair commented that he had raised in the House of Lords the need for a mechanism by which the new Independent Police Complaints Commission could deal with complaints about direction and control. The Government had indicated that they recognised this was an issue and that an amendment would be brought forward at the Commons stage.

RESOLVED – That

1. the report be noted;
2. further updates be made to the Authority during the passage of the Bill through the House of Commons;
3. a paper on the Authority’s future role in crime and disorder reduction partnerships come to a future meeting of the full Authority; and
4. the Authority endorse the Association of Police Authorities’ continuing representation of the concerns of its members.

151. Community Support Officers

(Agenda item 9b)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner setting out how proposals to introduce a scheme in London to recruit and deploy a direct labour force of community support officers (CSOs) might be achieved.

During discussion it was agreed that it should be made explicit that the normal career progression for a CSO would be to become a police officer. It was also agreed that guidance should be given to borough commanders on how to deal with those private security organisations that were already being set up

After discussion, the Chair summarised the key points made and it was

RESOLVED - 

1. 1. to agree the general principle of creating Community Support Officers (CSOs)
2. 2. to agree the recruitment of CSOs in respect of security in central London, subject to Home Office funding being confirmed
3. 3. that further reports be presented to the Authority on:
   1. proposals in respect of accreditation for externally employed officers
   2. how if CSOs were borough-based, this would work in practice and how their role would be integrated with that of police officers
   3. developing a general policy on responding to requests for service delivery where external funding is being offered, and the implications of doing so

152. MPS decision making in malfeasance litigation

(Agenda item 10)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner setting out the strategy, processes and key factors involved in MPS decision making in malfeasance litigation.

RESOLVED – 

That the report be noted.

153. Draft special services agreement for provision of a new Transport Operational Command Unit

(Agenda item 11)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner and the Clerk setting out the key elements of this agreement with Transport for London.

The Clerk agreed to take two issues away for further consideration. Firstly that the contract review should occur in year four and not year five as stated; and secondly clarification of the MPA representation on the Combined Advisory Committee. It was considered inappropriate for the Clerk to appoint police officers to this committee.

Subject to this, it was

RESOLVED – 

1. to approve the making of a Special Services Agreement between the MPA and TfL, subject to the agreement of the Clerk and Treasurer to any further minor amendments emerging during the last stages of negotiation.
2. to authorise the Clerk to affix the MPA’s seal to the document and to make all other arrangements for its completion, including any minor formatting changes that may be necessary.
3. to authorise the Clerk to sign and approve variations (‘Notices’) to the Agreement under delegated powers, provided that such variations do not give rise to additional financial obligations on the MPA.
4. to agree that variations (‘Notices’) which give rise to additional financial obligations for the MPA should be referred to the Finance, Planning and Best Value Committee (under delegation) for approval.
5. to note that the Agreement will also need to be approved by the TfL Board, and that formal sealing of the Agreement will only take place after such approval has been obtained. 

154. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 12)

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 paragraph 12 of Part I Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 is likely to be made known.

155. Civil litigation case

(Agenda item 13)

Members considered a report by the Commissioner on the processes and key factors involved in a recent case.

After discussion it was

RESOLVED –

1. that a report be presented to a future meeting clarifying where the MPA has a legitimate role in the decision-making process in such cases, given that it has ultimate responsibility for approving settlement of significant cases
2. that a report be presented to a future meeting as a basis for discussion on the role of individual members in liaising with someone who may be taking legal action against the MPS.
3. that a report be put to the Authority at the appropriate time on the outcome of the re-investigation of this particular case.

The meeting closed at 1.05 p.m.

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback