Review of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) Secretariat senior support structure

Report: 18
Date: 26 September 2002
By: Clerk

Summary

At its meeting on 25 July, the MPA commissioned a review of the Secretariat senior support structure from Collinson Grant. It was agreed the final report would be submitted to the full Authority’s September meeting. The Collinson Grant report has been circulated outside this meeting to all members of the Authority.A small working group, consisting of Rachel Whittaker (Chair), Cecile Wright, Jennette Arnold and Reshard Auladin, was set up to perform an oversight role but, because of conflicting commitments, have discussed this report by telephone and made a number of proposals. The recommendations of the Collinson Grant report are now submitted for consideration by the full Authority.

A. Recommendation

That

1. the recommendations of the Collinson Grant report to appoint a legally qualified deputy clerk and additional policy officer should be implemented immediately, subject to the modifications suggested by the working group;
2. the financial implications are addressed in a paper to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee on 4 October 2002; and
3. the working group should oversee implementation of the recommendations arising from the review and provide a quality assurance role after implementation of the recommendations.

B. Supporting information

1. At its meeting on 25 July, following discussion at the members’ awayday, the MPA commissioned a review of the Secretariat senior support structure from Collinson Grant. It was subsequently agreed that the final report would be submitted to the full Authority’s September meeting. 

2. The findings from these discussions are set out in full in the report. Summarised, they are that the demands of the organisation have increased significantly since it was set up and that these demands are not now adequately being met. In particular, there is a lack of resilience at the highest level which leads to somewhat patchy support for the chair and members, and insufficiently robust scrutiny of the MPS. This, taken with the new demands of the Police Reform Act on police authorities, points to a need for reinforcing that level of officer resource. There was particular concern about the need to ensure that complaints against senior officers are handled correctly and within time limits.

3. The MPA has a significant requirement for legal advice in order to carry out its statutory responsibilities in terms of major contracts, the handling of complaints against senior police officers in the MPS and employment issues. At present this legal work is outsourced. Collinson Grant concluded that the risk of a high profile problem was unnecessarily high and internal, specialist advice was required. The ‘legal’ aspects of the role would not require a full-time commitment and the post holder should have the capacity to combine this with senior support to the Clerk in order to take a broad overview of all work in the organisation, identify potential problems and filter the requirement for external legal advice.

4. The report author also concluded that the role of policy officers is not well defined and that they are spread too thinly. The priorities of members are changing and will continue to change; the policy officer structure needs to be flexible to respond to these changes. A further policy officer post is recommended.

5. A small working group, consisting of Rachel Whittaker (Chair), Cecile Wright, Jennette Arnold and Reshard Auladin, was set up to perform an oversight role but, because of conflicting commitments, have discussed this report by telephone and made a number of recommendations.

6. Members of the working group considered:

• the recommendations should be implemented immediately;
• the potential impact upon secretariat support staff should be evaluated. Preliminary assessment suggests that support for the two additional posts could be managed within existing resources;
• that the job description of the Deputy Clerk needed amplification;
• that if the Consultation and Diversity Manager post were to be split, there was a need for further discussion as to how this would be achieved; personal preference must be considered;
• that a timetable for recruitment, together with the proposed media, should be provided to the full Authority (draft now attached at Appendix 1) prior to detailed consideration at the Human Resources Committee meeting on 3 October 2002; there may be a need to engage recruitment consultants in order to identify suitable candidates;
• that further discussion should take place as to how the flexibility of policy officers could be increased by making best use of the skill and competence of the individuals;
• that the working group should oversee implementation of the recommendations arising from the review and provide a quality assurance role after implementation of the recommendations.

7. As Clerk, I very much welcome the Collinson Grant report and the recommendations which it contains. I strongly endorse the need for ‘in-house’ legal advice, without which the Authority may be running unacceptable risks in carrying out its responsibilities. The two additional posts will significantly strengthen the MPA Secretariat and enhance the service it provides to members.

C. Equality and diversity implications

The proposals may enable the MPA to devote more time to equality and diversity issues if the Consultation and Diversity Manager post were to be split. This will not affect any group or section of the community to a greater extent than any other. Any recruitment process would, of course, be conducted in accordance with equalities best practice.

D. Financial implications

The MPA staff pay, grading, terms and conditions paper to the Co-ordination and Urgency Committee on 25 January 2001 envisaged a salary for the Deputy Clerk of £60k (£65k including on costs) compared with a figure of up to £86k recommended by the Hay review of pay and gradings. There was no direct provision in those papers for an additional policy officer post. The whole cost of these recommendations will be provided to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee meeting on 4 October 2002, along with the MPA budget. There may be some budgetary adjustments with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) due to changes of responsibility between the two organisations.

E. Background papers

• Committee Work Areas (Co-ordination and Policing Committee, 6 September 2002)
• MPA staff pay, grading, terms and conditions (Co-ordination and Urgency Committee, 25 January 2001)

F. Contact details

Report author: Alan Johnson.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1: Draft timetable for recruitment of MPA staff*

Week beginning 30 September 
job descriptions finalised

Week beginning 14 October 
review completed of pay and grading of job descriptions

Week beginning 21 October
Deputy Clerk post advertised in, as a minimum, The Times legal section, Evening Standard and The Voice
Policy Officer post advertised in, as a minimum, The Guardian, Evening Standard and The Voice
MPS ‘call off’ contract recruitment consultants advised of requirements

Week beginning 18 November 
paper sift for Deputy Clerk and Policy Officer

Week beginning 2 December
interviews for Deputy Clerk and Policy Officer

Week beginning 6 January 2003
Deputy Clerk and Policy Officer start at MPA (Subject to clearances and referees)

* subject to approval of the growth bid in the budget

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