Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on Thursday, 31 October 2002, at 10.00am at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1.

Present

Members

• Toby Harris (Chair)
• Richard Barnes (Deputy Chair)
• R David Muir (Deputy Chair)
• Anthony Arbour
• Jennette Arnold
• Reshard Auladin
• John Biggs
• Lynne Featherstone
• Nicky Gavron
• Kirsten Hearn
• Peter Herbert
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Darren Johnson
• Jenny Jones
• Nicholas Long
• Eric Ollerenshaw
• 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)
• Bernard Hogan-Howe (Assistant Commissioner)
• Tim Godwin (Acting Assistant Commissioner).

39. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

An apology for absence was received from Cecile Wright and from Nicky Gavron and Darren Johnson for late arrival

40. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

None made.

41. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2002 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

42. Question to the authority

(Agenda item 4)

As provided for in Standing Orders, Mr Tom Mulcahy asked the following question:

“Why does the MPA and the MPS not consider providing sufficient funding for the running of the Volunteer Police Cadets across London?

“Currently there are 19 units (this equates to 19 boroughs within the Metropolitan Police District). The objectives of the Volunteer Police Cadets are:

• to teach good citizenship
• to enhance the relationship between the police and the public
• to enable young people to develop personal qualities and skills through a structured programme including the Duke of Edinburgh award and the academic course ‘preparation for uniform service’.
• to create a group of young men and women with a suitable level of fitness to assist the police in non-confrontational tasks and to be involved in local community projects
• to stimulate and maintain the interest of suitable young people who may be considering the police service as a career

“The police service has in excess of 600 cadets currently aged 14 to 19 years. These young people are involved in numerous local community projects, are a visible advert for good citizenship to their peer group and they are deeper in the community than any other part of the police service. They have the ability to reduce costs at non-confrontational policing events and are a pool from which to draw potential police recruits.

“In terms of funding:

• the total annual budget required for the 32 police cadet units: £1, 604,000
• the start up and set up costs per unit are around £43,000
• the cost of each unit of 60 cadets including police officer wages is approximately £55,000
• to set up units in the 13 remaining London boroughs would cost £559,000
• to continue to run the existing borough units will cost £1,045,000

“In conclusion, this project would help to reduce youth crime, engage the public with their police service, set London apart as the market leaders in youth diversity, the cadet numbers could be expected to increase to in excess of 2,000 across the Metropolitan Police District. This would greatly enhance public contact and community trust especially in inner cities as well as reduce youth vandalism. This is worthy of serious consideration.”

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

“May I, on behalf of the Authority, thank Mr Mulcahy for this question and for the thorough research he has evidently carried out. I understand that there are in fact currently 21 boroughs with cadet units, with the total number of cadets standing at around 560. This includes Lambeth who have two units. Redbridge, Camden and Hillingdon are considering setting up a unit and Lewisham may develop a second unit.

“I am sure that members will agree absolutely with Mr Mulcahy about the value of the MPS cadet corps, which began in 1987 and has continued to develop since then. When the Commissioner referred to the Corp in his update to the February meeting of the Authority the number of cadets as at December 2001 was 499. It now stands at 557 so clearly the scheme is continuing to grow. I recall from that meeting that members were interested to learn that of those 499 cadets, 155 were from black and minority ethnic groups and 207 were female and, encouragingly, that 228 had indicated their intention to join the police service.

“The activities that cadets take part in can range from weekend camps, to environmental improvement projects, to assisting the police in non-confrontational tasks. For instance in December 2000, cadets in Havering carried out a crime prevention initiative in Romford town giving motorists crime prevention leaflets. This led to an overall reduction in motor vehicle crime of some 20%. During the borough visits, Toby Harris has, I know, on several occasions been impressed by the obvious commitment of those involved with the cadet corp.

“And I am pleased to report that at the National Volunteer Cadet Competitions held in August London swept the board in the “overall top team” awards – Havering first, Bexley second and Lambeth third.

“However, to come down to earth, it is probably appropriate that Mr Mulcahy’s question appears on the same Authority agenda as the draft budget submission for 2003/04 and the report on the work being carried out to bring the budget gap down to more manageable proportions. I am told that central MPS funding provides £500 a year per unit for incidental expenses and £50 per week to pay for accommodation. All the uniform and transport costs and officers’ time is borne by the borough OCU. By Mr Mulcahy’s estimate, adequate funding for 32 units would amount to £1.6 million. I am afraid that the proposed budget submission does not allow for this.

“I know that some cadet units manage to boost their finances through local sponsorship. Last week, the Authority’s Finance Committee agreed funding for a significant development of the MPS Income Generation Unit. I would suggest to the Commissioner that he may like to consider making increased sponsorship for the Volunteer Police Cadet Corp an early objective for this expanded unit.

“In conclusion, I am sure that members will want me to express their appreciation of the efforts of cadet unit leaders, for the most part serving police officers, who give their time freely to give young people such a stimulating and worthwhile outlet for their energies.”

Resolved: That a progress report on the Volunteer Police Cadet Corp be made to a future meeting of the Authority, including proposals as to how further development of the Corp could be encouraged.

43. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 5)

The Authority received the draft minutes of the following committees:

• Co-ordination & Policing Committee, 16 September
• Planning, Performance & Review Committee, 19 September
• Equal Opportunities & Diversity Board, 26 September
• Finance Committee, 27 September
• Human Resources Committee, 3 October
• Co-ordination and Policing Committee, 4 October
• Finance Committee, 14 October
• Professional Standards & Complaints Committee, 17 October

In relation to the minutes of the Human Resources Committee, Tony Arbour commented that he had finally received information that he had requested some time previously about the costs of visible ethnic minority police recruitment. However, this information occasioned further questions. It was

Resolved: That a fuller report on the costs of VEM recruitment be made to the December meeting of the Human Resources Committee.

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

(Agenda item 6)

Updates on their activities since the last meeting were received from the Chair, Nicholas Long, Tony Arbour, Rachel Whittaker, Richard Sumray, R David Muir, Abdal Ullah, Jennette Arnold, Kirsten Hearn, Peter Herbert and Jenny Jones.

Arising from these updates:

• Nicholas Long requested a briefing paper on the current work of the Marine Support Unit, with particular reference to its increased contribution to counter-terrorism work
• Kirsten Hearn reported from the first London LGBT Conference that people there were unaware of any third party reporting campaigns in relation to hate crimes. The Deputy Commissioner said that the MPS was developing third party reporting regarding rape. He would talk to Commander Dick about how to improve contact with the LGBT community

45. Commissioner’s update

(Agenda item 7)

The Commissioner updated the Authority on a number of issues.

Gun crime update

The Commissioner reported that the MPS was on target to meet the 2002/03 gun crime objectives of restricting the growth in firearm-related violent crime to 10%. In the past three months armed response units had been called out 5,500 times, a significant growth over the previous year, and in many instances officers faced difficult decisions. The MPS was looking for a change in the law, for example on the conversion of replica or air weapons.

Trident had been a massive success story recently, with only one Trident-related murder in August and none in September.

Reduction in complaints

There had been a significant fall in the number of complaints received, part of a continuing trend. In particular, over the last five years:

• Complaints of incivility had dropped by 42%
• Allegations of assault had dropped by 57%
• Complaints relating to the use of stop and search had dropped by 60%

With regard to civil actions, the amount of damages paid by the MPS had decreased to £1,386,000, compared to £2,658,000 the previous year. The amount paid for court awards and settlements was the lowest for seven years and the number of claims had fallen by more than half since 1995/96. Where cases had been contested and gone to trial the MPS ‘win rate’ had been 80 per cent.

Public order update

The Commissioner referred to the Stop the War Coalition event that was due to take place that day. He also referred to the Mayor’s announcement that Trafalgar Square would be closed on New Year’s Eve – he would report on this further in due course.

Safer Homes

The Safer Homes operation had been launched on 28 October to protect homes and businesses from burglary. From 24 to 27 October a series of operations had resulted in the arrest of 258 people suspected of burglary and handling stolen goods and the recovery of property to the estimated value of almost £500,000.

Other issues

Richard Sumray repeated the concerns he had expressed at the previous meeting in relation to the application of the Resource Allocation Formula (RAF). Members supported his view that, for instance, if a borough had reached 105% of its RAF allocation it should not be allowed to increase further until all other boroughs had reached 105%. The Deputy Commissioner commented that a report would be brought to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee to discuss at what point new data should be fed into the formula and the application of the formula in the coming year.

Richard Barnes asked what the MPS was doing in response to the Home Secretary’s pledge to reduce bureaucracy. The Commissioner said that ten days ago the MPS had started a process of asking officers what of the large numbers of forms in circulation in the Met they considered necessary. The aim was to reduce the number of forms by 50%. He would report progress in due course.

Nicholas Long referred to an Evening Standard article about police station closures. He pointed out that, in fact, five counters had been re-opened – he felt that this message should be promulgated more pro-actively. The Commissioner agreed and suggested that reports be made to the MPA every four to six months to reinforce this message.

The Chair reported that he had asked the MPS to look at the feasibility of reinstating dedicated telephones in the street – maybe in conjunction with the Mayor’s replacement of bus shelters – to increase public access to the police.

Darren Johnson asked about the position in relation to Commander Paddick. The Commissioner responded that 18 months ago Lambeth had been seen as a special case, for instance because it had a far higher incidence of crime and disorder than comparable boroughs in London. It was also true that the amalgamation of divisions into borough based OCUs had been carried out at some cost to operational performance in Lambeth. It was therefore decided that Lambeth needed leadership at ACPO rank. Commander Paddick’s work had laid the foundations for progress, and this had been continued by Chief Supt Brian Moore following Commander Paddick’s departure. Levels of crime in Lambeth were now far more consistent with comparable boroughs. There had been no decision to remove the Commander post from Lambeth but Accenture had been commissioned to carry out a review of the management structure and ranks of borough commands across London – this was due to be completed by the end of November. The Commissioner stressed that Commander Paddick’s current posting was a challenging role in which he could make a real contribution to the MPS.

46. 2003/04 draft budget submission

(Agenda item 8)

The Authority considered a report by the Treasurer and Commissioner presenting the draft budget submission for 2003/04. An additional recommendation was also tabled.

Various issues were discussed in reaching a decision, including:

• the need to spend more time each year considering what issues to discuss with the Mayor before he announces his budget ‘envelope’
• a better integration of the planning and budget processes
• a recognition that the rest of the organisation is not growing as fast as the number of police officers
• the enormous capital implications of growth beyond this point
• given the condition of the estate, the importance of keeping an adequate capital budget for maintenance
• the need to develop an ‘operational policing measure’
• concerns at backfilling of civil posts with police officers
• the relationship between the provision for overtime in the budget and some of the proposed new initiatives which would release officers for frontline duties
• the need to develop an adequate but simple message about the on costs that must be implicit in the recruitment of additional officers

The Conservative members of the Authority reserved their position until there was further information on the grant position and potential budget savings.

Resolved: That

1. approval be given to the 2003/04 draft budget submission on the basis of the recommendation of the Finance Committee as supported by the Committee’s resolutions in Appendix B of the report, subject to a final review by the Finance Committee before submission to the Mayor on 15 November; and
2. the MPS bring forward options for achieving the required savings total of £25.5 million for approval by the Finance Committee following an informal member discussion after the Co-ordination & Policing Committee meeting on 8 November, and that in considering its approval, the Finance Committee should have regard, inter alia, to:-
   • the requirements under the PNB agreement to achieve savings against police overtime
   • the potential perverse results of further savings against civil staff pay; and
   • a review of the assumptions underlying the provision for price increases

47. Civil staff support on boroughs

(Agenda item 9)

The Authority noted a report on the impact of police recruitment on boroughs and the effects of the moratorium on borough civil staff recruitment.

48. Policing and performance plan 2003/04

(Agenda item 10)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner setting out the proposed priorities to be included in the policing and performance plan.

Resolved: That

1. the proposed priorities for Londoners to be included in the 2003/4 Policing & Performance Plan be approved;
2. approval be also given to a secondary set of priorities (for excellence) that will help to deliver the priorities for Londoners and to the longer term direction set out in ‘Towards the Safest City’ and the National Policing Plan; and
3. the next stages in the planning process, in particular the setting of objectives in support of the priorities, be noted.

49. Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board terms of reference and co-opted membership

(Agenda item 11)

The Authority considered a report by the Clerk on the above issues.

Resolved: That

1. the co-option of Lee Jasper be agreed. Rosemary Emodi was agreed as a named deputy but on the basis that her attendance in place of Lee Jasper should be the exception rather than the rule;
   (Richard Barnes asked for his name to be recorded as having dissented from the decision to co-opt Lee Jasper)
2. approval be given to the co-option of one representative each from the Commission for Racial Equality, the Refugee Council, the Children’s Rights Commission and the Rev. Stephen Penrose; and that the Clerk be authorised to make the necessary arrangements;
3. the following additional terms of reference for the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board be approved:
   1. To propose to the Co-ordination & Policing Committee at least one review of the MPS diversity strategy or other relevant issues annually, depending on the staffing resources available. These reviews could range from a formal scrutiny to one or more themed meeting on a particular subject
   2. To monitor and review the MPA and MPS annual diversity budgets to ensure efficiency of spend against performance and to respond to the budget requirements of the Mayor’s Office.

50. Action taken under delegated authority

(Agenda item 12)

The Authority noted a report giving details of action taken by the Clerk under delegated authority on the grounds of urgency.

The meeting ended at 12.55 p.m.

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