Minutes

Minutes of an ordinary meeting and the Annual General Meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 27 June 2002, at Romney House, Marsham Street, London, SW1.

Present

Members

• Anthony Arbour
• Reshard Auladin
• Richard Barnes
• John Biggs
• Cindy Butts
• Lynne Featherstone
• Nicky Gavron
• Toby Harris
• Kirsten Hearn
• Peter Herbert
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Jenny Jones
• Nicholas Long
• R David Muir
• Eric Ollerenshaw
• Sir John Quinton
• Richard Sumray
• Graham Tope
• Abdal Ullah
• Rachel Whittaker
• Cecile Wright

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)
• David Veness (Assistant Commissioner)
• Andy Trotter (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)
• Suzanna Becks (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of Human Resources)

Approximately 50 members of the press/public and other MPA/MPS staff were also present.

The Annual Meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority followed the conclusion of the ordinary meeting.

Part 1

169. Communications

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Jennette Arnold and Darren Johnson. The Chair welcomed Kirsten Hearn to her first meeting following her appointment as an Independent Member.

170. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

There were no declarations of interest from members of the Authority with regard to issues to be discussed at the meeting.

171. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 23 May 2002 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

172. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 4)

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

• Finance, Planning & Best Value, 29 May
• Co-ordination and Urgency, 11 June
• Professional Standards & Performance Monitoring, 13 June

173. Chair's, Members' and Clerk's updates

(Agenda item 5)

An update of the activities undertaken by Nicholas Long was tabled.

Other members gave an update on their recent activities. For instance, Cecile Wright had attended several meetings at the Association of Police Authorities and New Scotland Yard on street crime. She had also attended the NACRO conference and a meeting on Jamaican support. She had been invited by the Government Office for London to represent the Authority on the Street Crime Management Board. Jenny Jones had continued her visits to London boroughs to discuss road safety issues. David Muir had attended a Cabinet Office seminar on diversity and a meeting with the Shooters Hill Investigation Team. Toby Harris had attended a meeting of the Prime Minister's street crime action group. Richard Barnes attended the international conference on policing. Peter Herbert had had an informal meeting with the South African Minister of Justice and had chaired the pan London Race Forum.

The Chair wished MPA staff well for the impending move to the MPA's new offices at 10 Dean Farrar Street.

Resolved – That Cecile Wright be appointed as the Authority's representative on the Street Crime Management Board.

174 Commissioner's update

(Agenda item 6)

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

Golden Jubilee celebrations

On two days there had been over 1 million people on London streets. The vast majority of the celebrations had been peaceful and there had only been 40 arrests over four days. The peak in terms of police numbers had been the Tuesday when over 4,600 officers were deployed. Messages of thanks for the policing operation had been received from Her Majesty the Queen, the Home Secretary and the Chair of the MPA.

Operation Safer Streets

The Commissioner reported on the Street Crime Action Group meeting chaired by the Prime Minister. He also reported that street crime allegations were continuing to fall steadily and that judicial disposals were now up to 9.2%.

Nicky Gavron raised a number of issues relating to the impact of street crime and anti-terrorism measures on borough policing in Haringey. She understood that Haringey borough was 84 officers short and that 40% of officers were trainees. Of equal concern to her was that civil staff cutbacks impacted on frontline policing because police officers then had to backfill civil staff posts.

The Commissioner agreed that the anti-terrorism requirements in particular were posing some very real resourcing challenges. He had formed a task force to try to ensure that as few experienced officers as possible were taken from the boroughs but there was a national shortage of experienced detectives. Steps were being taken to bring back approximately 200 ex-officers and to recruit from other forces. As regards civil staff, recruitment had been unfrozen and some criminal justice units were being strengthened. The Commissioner recognised that there was a problem with an increasing proportion of probationers and whilst this would need addressing, it was inevitable given the recruitment drive.

The Chair requested a chart produced monthly showing police numbers borough by borough, to highlight any anomalies. It was agreed that all members should receive this information, along with:

• regular reports on the proportion of probationers
• a further chart showing the position for civil staff, including the aspirational and funded posts
• results in due course of the MPS's work on an operational policing measure so that members could compare boroughs in terms of getting officers on the street

It was agreed that this information should be circulated to members in line with the cycle for the Co-ordination & Policing Committee so that any issues could be raised at that meeting.

Resolved – That information be provided to members as detailed above.

Recruitment and retention

The Commissioner reported that as at the end of May, police strength stood at 26,787. He said that the processing time for new recruits was now down to 34 weeks, but this was still unacceptable and he was looking for this to be further reduced. The recruitment of visible ethnic minority (VEM) officers was starting to fall back and it was important to keep up the pressure to recruit 50 VEM officers a month. The Chair said that the MPA wished to lead on a task force to address this issue. The Mayor's office was also interested in being involved. MPA officers would be developing proposals in conjunction with MPS staff. He stressed that it was important to continue to set demanding targets.

London Street Crime Management Board

The Deputy Commissioner referred to this board, of which he was a co-Chair, which brought together all the relevant agencies. It was to have its first meeting the following day. As agreed, Cecile Wright would be representing the MPA on the Board.

Lambeth cannabis pilot

The Deputy Commissioner referred to recent media interest in this pilot. He commented that the experiment had been a success statistically: officer time had been saved, more warnings issued, more stop and searches conducted and a significant rise in arrests for class A drugs. However the perception had been that more adolescents were now smoking cannabis and that the area was suffering from drugs tourism. He said that there was no evidence of either. The likelihood was that the Home Secretary would be announcing the reclassification of cannabis in the near future. The Deputy Commissioner also commented that in parts of the media Commander Paddick had been blamed for any perceived failures in the pilot. The Deputy Commissioner emphasised, however, that the Commissioner had made it clear that Commander Paddick was bold in taking an innovative approach and that he would always support such efforts. The Commissioner had made it clear earlier in the meeting that the ultimate decisions on issues of this nature rested with himself.

However, some members had reservations about the pilot, including:

• lack of clarity on how long it was to continue and what the exit strategy would be at the end of the pilot
• the impact on neighbouring boroughs
• the anomalies created by having a pilot in just one borough and the view that it should either be ended or rolled out across London
• the view that it was encouraging drugs tourism and was acting as a magnet for dealers
• a lack of prior community consultation and a reported view from the black community that this was an experiment that would not have been tried in Hampstead

The overall view of members was that an independent evaluation of the pilot was needed.

The Deputy Commissioner commented that some independent evaluation had been carried out by the Police Foundation. He also commented that the pilot was only concerned with a lower level approach to possession for personal use. The MPS had trebled its resources focused on the open drugs market in Cold Harbour Lane.

In conclusion, the Chair said that the Authority would benefit from a written report, including the results of any assessment of the pilot done so far. It was important to be clear on the basis for assessing the pilot and what the success criteria would be. He noted that the MPS drugs strategy was due to be reported to the next meeting of the Authority and following discussion of that strategy the Authority could reflect further on the need for independent evaluation.

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority AGM

Jenny Jones, who was also a member of LFEPA, referred to an incident at its AGM the previous week. The Fire Brigade Union had arranged a protest rally outside the building. However, officers policing the rally had asked the firemen to move into the building to clear the road. This they did at which point they took over the AGM, blockading members in the meeting room. To leave the building the members had to pass down a corridor lined by firemen who appeared to be trying to intimidate the female members in particular. Jenny Jones considered that it had been a poor policing decision to get the rally to move into the building. The Commissioner confirmed that he was aware of this incident.

Citizenship academies

Graham Tope asked whether the MPA would have the opportunity to discuss Assistant Commissioner Ghaffur's views on citizenship academies, as reported in the Independent newspaper. The Commissioner said that he would look further at this.

Paedophiles

Richard Barnes asked for the Commissioner's views on Government proposals to introduce a 10 year statute of limitation on paedophile offences. The Commissioner replied that the MPS did not agree with this proposal and had made representations accordingly.

Operation Greyhound

Richard Sumray congratulated the Commissioner on the successful conclusion of this operation, which had resulted in the imprisonment of two corrupt police officers. This would add emphasis to the message that the MPS and the MPA were determined to root out corruption.

Millwall football match riot

Cecile Wright asked whether there had been any progress. The Commissioner replied that the main emphasis was on looking to arrest those involved in the riot.

175. The MPA'S mission and values

(Agenda item 7)

The Authority considered a report proposing a mission statement and values for the MPA.

Resolved – That the mission statement and values for the Metropolitan Police Authority be approved.

176. Introduction of the Baton gun as a 'less lethal' option

(Agenda item 8)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner seeking support for the introduction of the current generation baton gun system into service as a 'less lethal' option in self-defence and arrest and restraint scenarios.

Whilst being supportive in principle of the introduction of this 'less lethal' option, some members felt that they needed more information before giving it their complete support. For instance:

• the circumstances in which baton guns would be deployed
• the gun's capabilities, accuracy and potential for causing injuries; whether there is a choice of projectiles
• an assurance that there was no intention to roll out to anyone other than firearm officers
• an assurance that the gun would not be used in circumstances when a firearm would not previously have been used and that it would not be used in public disorder situations
• what investigations would be carried out when a baton gun was used

The Commissioner commented that whilst he considered that he had the authority to introduce this weapon without the approval of the police authority, he would not want to do so.

Assistant Commissioner Veness said that it was the unequivocal intention to provide officers with a wider range of tactical options and to seek to reduce harm to the public and to violent offenders. This was a new baton gun system which did not have the same problems, for instance connected with bouncing rounds, as the previous baton guns. Its technology had been widely considered by a number of professional and technical bodies. He offered to facilitate a presentation and demonstration of the baton gun for members.

Resolved – That a demonstration of the baton gun system be arranged for members and the issue discussed further at the meeting of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee on 19 July.

177. 2001/02 performance report

(Agenda item 9)

The Authority considered a report by the Clerk summarising MPS performance against the targets set by the Authority for the 2001/02 planning year.

This report had previously been considered by the Professional Standards and Performance Monitoring Committee. Its Chair, Richard Sumray, commented that the year had seen a police force under considerable strain because of the demands placed upon it by 11 September, the increase in street crime and so on. However, whilst there were mitigating circumstances there were still a large number of targets that had not been met and this had to be of concern to the Authority. Some of these were more important than others, such as the gradual increase in burglary and the shortcomings on emergency response times. There were lessons to be learned: he felt there were too many targets, some were the wrong ones and there were some important omissions. The targets had to be meaningful both corporately and for the boroughs.

Members made various comments about the paper and the MPS performance, including:-

• the need to identify those targets which relied on other agencies to be met
• a wish to see individual borough performance against anti-social behaviour targets
• the need for a study tracking youths who have been arrested and taken through the criminal justice system to see how effective the process was in diverting youth crime
• stop and search proportionality targets need to be improved
• on race crime it would be helpful to know what the Crown Prosecution Service was doing in terms of where prosecutions were not being pursued or the reasons why they failed
• the need to look at more sophisticated ways of reporting, for instance, homophobic crime (such as third party reporting) to address the issue of under-reporting
• there were major issues relating to policing and the disabled community, especially for those with mental health problems
• the statistics in the report on road casualties were misleading. The death rate from road accidents was up by 5 % and it would be more accurate to have a new target which separated deaths from casualties. There was also a severe under-reporting of casualties which skewed the figures
• the huge under-recruitment of civil staff was bound to lead to police officers backfilling civil staff posts

In responding to some of these points, the Deputy Commissioner commented on the need to look at longer term trends. It was also important that targets were stretching but achievable. However, the question must always be asked whether the right targets were being selected. As an example, he ran through the events that the MPS had had to deal with the previous weekend and suggested that almost none of the incidents would have been included in the performance targets. The Deputy Commissioner also referred to his involvement in the National Policing Forum, which was likely to inform the Home Secretary's national policing plan.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

178. MPA calendar of meetings 2002/03

(Agenda item 10)

The Authority considered the proposed calendar of meetings for the year and it was

Resolved – That the calendar be approved subject to a change of time for either the Consultation Committee or Human Resources Committee on 5 December and to any other minor changes that might be necessary following appointments to committees at the Annual Meeting.

179. Financial regulations

(Agenda item 11)

The Authority considered a report by the Treasurer proposing some changes to Financial Regulations.

Resolved – That the amendments to Financial Regulations be adopted as shown in the appendix to the report.

The meeting ended at 1.00 p.m.

AGM

1. Election of the Chair of the Authority

(Agenda item 1)

One nomination had been received for this position and it was

Resolved – That Toby Harris be elected Chair of the Authority for the year.

2. Election of Deputy Chairs of the Authority

(Agenda item 2)

It was reported that four nominations had been received, for Richard Barnes, Peter Herbert, R David Muir and Cecile Wright. From a first ballot Richard Barnes Received 19 votes, R David Muir 10 and Cecile Wright and Peter Herbert 6 votes each. At this stage Cecile Wright withdrew and a second ballot was held. Richard Barnes and R David Muir received 15 votes each and Peter Herbert 8 votes. It was therefore

Resolved - That Richard Barnes and R David Muir be appointed Deputy Chairs of the Authority for the year.

3. Election of Chairs and Deputy Chairs of MPA committees

(Agenda item 3)

Nominations had been received for the positions of Chair and Deputy Chair of the MPA committees. The only position to be contested was the Chair of the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board: nominations had been received from Peter Herbert, R David Muir and Cecile Wright. R David Muir withdrew before a vote was taken and following a ballot Cecile Wright was elected Chair by 11 votes to 10.

It was agreed that the Chair and Deputy Chairs of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee should be the Chair and Deputy Chairs of the Authority. It was also agreed that the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Standards Committee should be decided by the membership of that committee.

Resolved – That the Chairs and Deputy Chairs of the MPA Committees be as shown in the appendix to these minutes.

4. Appointment of membership of MPA committees

(Agenda item 4)

Resolved – That the membership of the MPA Committees be as shown in the appendix to these minutes.

5. Appointments to outside bodies and organisations

(Agenda item 5)

Resolved –

That Toby Harris, Elizabeth Howlett, Nicky Gavron and Graham Tope be appointed as the Authority's representatives on the Local Government Association General Assembly

That all other appointments to outside bodies and organisations be referred to the Co-ordination & Policing Committee for decision

6. Committee terms of reference

(Agenda item 6)

The Authority considered proposed terms of reference for the committees in its new committee structure.

Resolved – That the committee terms of reference set out in the appendix to the report be approved, subject to responsibility for issues relating to the criminal justice system being transferred from the Co-ordination & Policing Committee to the Planning, Performance & Review Committee.

7. Members' allowances scheme

(Agenda item 7)

The Authority considered a report asking for confirmation of those positions in the new committee structure which should attract Special Responsibility Allowances under the members' allowances scheme, when filled by an Independent or Magistrate Member.

Resolved – That special responsibility allowances be paid in respect of:

1. The positions of Chair of the following committees: Co-ordination & Policing; Consultation; Equal Opportunities & Diversity; Finance; Human Resources; Planning, Performance & Review; Professional Standards & Complaints; Standards
2. The following portfolios: audit (as the Chair of the Audit Panel); and estates (as Chair of the Estates Sub-Committee)

The meeting ended at 1.25 p.m.

Appendix to the minutes of the MPA Annual meeting held on 27 June 2002

Appointments made at the MPA Annual Meeting on 27 June 2002

Chair of the Authority - Toby Harris

Deputy Chairs of the Authority - Richard Barnes & R David Muir

Audit Panel

Chair: Sir John Quinton

Deputy Chair: Eric Ollerenshaw

Jennette Arnold

Consultation Committee

Chair: Cindy Butts

Deputy Chair: Abdal Ullah

Kirsten Hearn, Jenny Jones and Nicholas Long

Co-ordination & Policing Committee

Chair: Toby Harris

Deputy Chairs: Richard Barnes & R David Muir

Reshard Auladin, Cindy Butts, Elizabeth Howlett, Nicholas Long, Richard Sumray, Graham Tope, Rachel Whittaker, Cecile Wrigh and Abdal Ullah

Equal Opportunities & Diversity Board

Chair: Cecile Wright

Deputy Chair: Peter Herbert

Cindy Butts, Toby Harris, Kirsten Hearn, R. David Muir, Graham Tope and Rachel Whittaker

Human Resources Committee

Chair: Rachel Whittaker

Deputy Chair: Cecile Wright

Anthony Arbour, Cindy Butts, Kirsten Hearn, Nicholas Long and Abdal Ullah

Finance Committee

Chair: Graham Tope

Deputy Chair: Nicholas Long

Reshard Auladin, Richard Barnes, John Biggs, Elizabeth Howlett, Eric Ollerenshaw, Sir John Quinton, Richard Sumray and Rachel Whittaker

Planning, Performance and Review Committee

Chair: Richard Sumray

Deputy Chair: Reshard Auladin

Anthony Arbour, Lynne Featherstone, Elizabeth Howlett and Nicholas Long

Professional Standards and Complaints Committee

Chair: Reshard Auladin

Deputy Chair: Elizabeth Howlett

Jennette Arnold, R David Muir, Richard Sumray, Graham Tope, Rachel Whittaker and Cecile Wright

Standards Committee

Cindy Butts, Jenny Jones, R David Muir and Cecile Wright

Independent members already appointed: Stephanie Caplan and Ian Whitburn

Chair and Deputy Chair to be appointed by the Committee itself at its next meeting.

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