Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 25 September 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Toby Harris (Chair)
• Richard Barnes (Deputy Chair)
• R David Muir (Deputy Chair)
• Tony Arbour
• Jennette Arnold
• Reshard Auladin
• Nicky Gavron
• Peter Herbert
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Jenny Jones
• Nicholas Long
• Noel Lynch
• Eric Ollerenshaw
• Sir John Quinton
• Richard Sumray
• Abdal Ullah
• Rachel Whittaker
• Cecile Wright

MPA officers

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

MPS officers

• Sir John Stevens (Commissioner)
• Sir Ian Blair (Deputy Commissioner)
• Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of Human Resources)
• Rose Fitzpatrick (Commander)
• Steve House (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)

Part 1

24. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Cindy Butts, Lynne Featherstone, Kirsten Hearn, Diana Johnson and Graham Tope.

25. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations made.

26. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Authority held on 24 July 2003 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

27. Questions to the Authority

(Agenda item 4)

The Authority received two questions and responses were given by the Clerk as follows:

Question from Mr Tom Mulcahy on Liquor Licensing Law and Corporate Accountability

Background

“Following years of attending local meetings on anti-social behaviour and listening to the licensed trade trying to defend itself, stating drunken anti social behaviour has nothing to do with them, it’s a police problem / social problem, I consider it is about time we put the responsibility back where it belongs onto the licensees who sell alcohol to people until they are legless to maximise their profits. It is time all the liquor licensed industry was held accountable for their customers’ behaviour after they leave their premises as they do in other countries. Only then will the multinational breweries, clubs, pubs, restaurants, off sales etc take notice.

On Friday 12th April the front page headline in my local newspaper, the Romford Recorder, stated Gang of sixty attack police in drunken street brawl. The Metropolitan Police Service are striving to operate a business, however, I do not know of any other corporation which requires its employees to enter into unknown situations week after week and risk their lives in the same locations, such as public houses and clubs.

The crimes intoxicated people commit are classified as anti social behaviour “low level crime”, i.e. fighting, stabbings, physically as well as verbally abusing police officers, doctors, nurses, paramedics and ambulance drivers, mugging innocent victims, terrorising the old and young, smashing shop windows, wilful destruction of bus shelters, vandalising cars as well as destroying private and public property. This may be classified as “low level crime” by some fool but it has a serious impact on the quality of life of law abiding people notwithstanding the cost which has to be paid in higher taxes and insurance premiums by the general public who are normally the victims.

Conclusion

The way you achieve a drastic reduction in drink related anti social behaviour is not exactly rocket science – you simply target and revoke the licenses of known troublesome establishments, target six licensed premises in the borough and repeat the same across the 32 London boroughs, revoking a total of 192 licenses. This is not many considering we have 22,154, however I am sure that it would cause genuine fear to the licensees when they realise they are going to be held accountable for their customers’ behaviour as well as the loss of their liquor licence permanently if they are incapable of managing a well-behave, trouble-free establishment. It would be an excellent incentive for concentrating the mind of the licensee.

On 30th June 2001, according to Home Office statistics, within Greater London 22,154 establishments held liquor licenses, i.e. clubs, pubs, hotels. Within Havering there were 382.

Question

Why is it that the Metropolitan Police Service continually allow their police officers to enter into unknown, dangerous situations on a daily basis, attending altercations on or about licensed premises therefore endangering their officers’ lives? Why is the MPS not targeting and revoking liquor licenses permanently from known troublesome licensed establishments?”

Response by the Clerk

“Mr Mulcahy’s question is directed more to the Commissioner’s sphere of responsibility than that of the police authority. However, I have sought the views of the MPS and will represent these in my reply.

It is certainly true that drink and drunkenness are significant causes of anti-social behaviour, disorder and the more serious offences that Mr Mulcahy describes in the background to his question. However, the police do work in close partnership with licensees and local authorities to reduce crime and disorder. Most licensed premises now have comprehensive crime prevention measures installed and I am told that almost all disorder happens on the street when people leave. Individual licensees who fail to keep proper control of licensed premises or who serve drunken people or under 18s are already targeted by the police. The safety of the public and of its officers will always be a priority for the MPS.

Partnership working is key to addressing the issues around licensed premises and my guess is that it would be an unusual Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership that did not feature this in its strategy. Indeed the 2002 to 2005 Community Safety Strategy for Havering – co-signed by the Council Chief Executive and the Borough Commander – has a section on drug and alcohol related crime. Three of the ‘key actions’ in particular are relevant:

• To continue work with licensees in relation to drugs and alcohol and safer nightclubs and licensed premises
• To work with the police and licensees to establish effective codes of practice with licensed premises, and
• In partnership with the police, schools, youth service, trading standards and local licensed retailers to address the issue of under age drinking

Romford town centre has figured more than once at the Authority’s meetings, in terms of the number of pubs and clubs, the size of the night time population and consequent alcohol related problems. The problems have also been aired at the Chair’s borough visits to Havering. I do not, therefore, seek to downplay the issues. However, the best course of action must surely be to continue the processes that are already underway, to encourage responsible licensees, and where this fails to target those who act irresponsibly.

Finally, I hope that Mr Mulcahy will be reassured by the information I have from the MPS that the number of police officers in Havering injured in the execution of their duty is thankfully very low.”

Question from Ms Pauline Bower

“What does the MPA consider the relationship should be between the MPS and other members of a Community Police Consultative Group?”

Response by the Clerk

“The MPS participates fully in Community Police Consultative Groups across London. I understand that Borough Commanders value the opportunities to share information and to hear views about local policing problems.

In Lambeth, Ms Bower’s borough, the CPCG meets 12 times a year. The Borough Commander attends 11 of these meetings, but by convention does not attend the AGM which, I understand, has traditionally been dedicated to the business of the CPCG itself, in which the police can play no part.

The MPA is content to leave it to the discretion of the Borough Commander to decide whether attendance at an AGM is necessary or justified.”

The Commissioner also commented that the MPS would be represented at future Lambeth CPCG AGMs.

28. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 5)

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

• Finance Committee, 10 July
• Planning, Performance & Review Committee, 10 July
• Equal Opportunities & Diversity Board, 17 July
• Co-ordination & Policing Committee, 1 September
• Human Resources Committee, 4 September
• Finance Committee, 15 September

29. Planning, Performance and Review Committee

(Agenda item 6)

Resolved – That Sir John Quinton be appointed as a member of the Planning, Performance and review Committee.

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

(Agenda item 7)

The Authority noted updates from the Chair, other members and the Clerk.

31. Borough visits 2003/04

(Agenda item 8)

The Authority noted a report by the Chair on the third round of his visits to all London boroughs. He invited all members to join him on some of these visits, not necessarily just to boroughs for which they were link members.

32. Commissioner’s update

(Agenda item 9)

The Commissioner gave an oral update on a number of issues, as follows:

Crime performance information

Crime in London continued to fall with notifiable offences down 4 % in the year so far. For instance, burglary was down 9.7% and gun related violent crime down 13%. Street crime was down 1.4% but it would take considerable efforts to achieve the Policing Plan target of 7%. The Safer Streets 3 initiative was shortly to be launched. The homicide clear up rate was currently 93.6%, well above the 83% target.

Responses to the 2002/03 Public Attitude Survey also showed that trust in the police had increased to its highest level since 1995; with over three-quarters of respondents believing that they could trust the police.

The Commissioner also commented that detection rates were also due to rise with the introduction of a new auditing process which corrected previous under recording.

Review of Windsor Castle security breach

The Commissioner reported on the findings of Commander Armstrong’s review. He commented that there had been good co-operation between the MPS and the Thames Valley Police. Approximately one third of the review’s recommendations had been actioned and he was personally overseeing the action plan.

Tony Arbour expressed his surprise that lessons did not appear to have been learned from a previous incident on 11 December at St James Palace in terms of tightening security. He was also concerned that the Authority had not been made aware of the previous breach at the time. Sir John Quinton, as the lead member for national and international functions, was also surprised that he had not been informed of that incident, although he had been kept fully in the picture concerning the Windsor Castle incident.

Members agreed to defer further discussion to the closed session, when Commander Armstrong would be present.

Superintendent Ali Dizaei

The Commissioner reported on the CPS decision to offer no evidence in the second indictment against Superintendent Dizaei, with the result that he had now been found not guilty of two separate indictments. He remained suspended and consideration was being given as to whether internal discipline proceedings should be invoked. As part of that, he would be asked for his explanation in relation to a number of issues.

The Commissioner welcomed proposals for the Authority to establish an independent review.

Operation Osiris 2 – emergency exercise

The Commissioner referred to this emergency exercise (testing specific elements of a response to a chemical attack on the Underground), which would be covered in more detail in the closed session of the meeting. He commented that London was on a high state of alert and that the activities of the anti-terrorist branch had prevented a possible terrorist attack – this work continued.

In reply to a question from Jennette Arnold, he confirmed that the MPS would be looking at the links with local authority emergency plans and London resilience generally – he would report back to the Authority in due course on this.

Resolved – That a confidential briefing by Assistant Commissioner Veness be arranged for members to update them on security issues.

Policing of the Defence Systems and Equipment Exhibition at the Excel Centre, Docklands

This was a private enterprise held between 8 and 12 September. In the light of publicity surrounding the use of stop and search powers in Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and the legal challenge by Liberty, the Commissioner had asked for a review of whether these powers had been used in an appropriate way. He would receive a full report on 15 October and the Authority would subsequently receive a report on the outcome.

154 arrests had been made, mostly for public order offences or obstruction. Four complaints had been made against the police. Police resources used were based on intelligence and varied between 20 and 2,672 MPS officers a day.

Reshard Auladin requested information on who had actually given the authority to use Section 44 powers and whether the Home Secretary had been informed within 48 hours as the Act required.

Jenny Jones asked for a further discussion of the use of Section 44 once the court case had finished.

A number of members raised the wider issues concerning the policing of such events as this, football matches or the current David Blaine event at Tower Bridge. It was felt that, working jointly, the Authority and the MPS should develop criteria so that there was a consistent approach, covering for instance where cost recovery was appropriate or where the MPS should seek to have the event relocated in the interests of public safety. It was, therefore,

Resolved – That the Clerk develop terms of reference for such a review, for report to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee.

Notting Hill Carnival

The Carnival was considered to have been a success, with excellent partnership working between the agencies concerned. Although arrests had been up 18% on the previous year the event had been quieter and less well attended. The cost to the MPS, at £5.4 million, had been some £160,000 up on 2002 and there was a need to work on reducing this in 2004.

Nicholas Long commented that it would be essential to have stewarding arrangements in place well in advance of next year’s carnival, and earlier notification of funding, so that the police knew earlier what they needed to do.

Spectator article

Peter Herbert reported that the Crown Prosecution Service and the Attorney General’s office had decided not to prosecute the editor of the Spectator magazine over an alleged racist article. He found this decision astounding and had asked, without success, to have sight of the legal advice on which this decision was based. The Deputy Commissioner confirmed that the MPS had been informed that there would be no prosecution. It was not normal practice for legal advice given to the CPS to be made known outside the CPS. However, if Peter Herbert wrote to him he would enquire of the CPS on his behalf.

Double murder at Harlesden

The investigation into the murder of Bertram and Toni-Ann Byfield continued. Two people had been arrested to date.

Drugs arrests

The Commissioner referred to the recent smashing of a major drugs operation, leading to a number of arrests and recovery of large amounts of drugs and money. This operation represented a new way of tackling these issues, working in close co-operation with other countries and agencies. Other such operations were underway. The MPS and the Customs and Excise were establishing a task force under the command of Assistant Commissioner Ghaffur.

Cecile Wright expressed the hope that the media would now recognise that Columbia was the source of much of the drugs entering Britain and would stop demonising the Jamaican community.

Ethnic minority recruitment

Noel Lynch asked why the MPS was not advertising in the Muslim News. The Director of Human Resources said that a new recruitment campaign was due to start in all the ethnic media.

The Commissioner and the Chair paid tribute to the work of the Black Police Association and hoped that they would feel able to reconsider their stated position following the acquittal of Superintendent Dizaei.

33. Independent inquiry into the conduct by the MPS of internal investigations against police officers, grievance and conflict resolution and Employment Tribunal claims

The Chair accepted this additional report by the Clerk as an urgent item on the grounds that action needed to be taken immediately, as proposed in the report.

There was a consensus amongst members supporting the establishment of an independent inquiry, although Eric Ollerenshaw expressed the view that it reflected badly on the Authority and how it had discharged its responsibilities since its inception. He preferred a delay to examine what the Authority could do itself.

Members commented on the proposed terms of reference. Greater clarity was needed over anticipated timescales for the inquiry. The Chair thought that civil staff should be explicitly included in the terms of reference. There was discussion about whether the focus of the inquiry should or should not be wider than the experiences of black and minority ethnic staff. The Chair commented that race was a major factor but it was important to ensure that the parallels to and relevance for other groups of staff were also picked up. Rachel Whittaker suggested that the terms of reference should include looking at whether national regulations were a hindrance to proportionate investigations. Jennette Arnold commented that paragraph 4 of the terms of reference, relating to the role of the MPA, should also include reference to the responsibilities of its members.

After further discussion, it was

Resolved –

1. That a further report be made to the Co-ordination & Policing Committee on 3 October on the terms of reference (taking account of the views expressed at this meeting), anticipated timescales and proposed inquiry membership; and
2. That the Clerk be authorised, in consultation with the Chair and Deputy Chairs, to take all necessary steps to commission the inquiry, appoint its members and provide legal, secretarial and other support as the inquiry may require.

34. Draft MPA accounts for the year ended 31 March 2003

(Agenda item 10)

The Authority considered a report by the Treasurer recommending approval of the draft accounts following their review by the Audit Panel.

Resolved – That the draft statement of accounts 2002/03 be approved, for onward submission to the Authority’s external auditors.

35. Police authority responsibility for health and safety

(Agenda item 11)

The Authority considered a report by the Clerk setting out how the Authority might discharge its existing and potential responsibilities for health and safety.

Resolved – That a Health and Safety Committee be established to discharge the Authority’s statutory responsibility for health and safety, drawing on professional advice and assistance in determining and overseeing appropriate strategies, systems and processes.

36. Policing: reform, accountability and engagement meeting of Police Authority Chairs and Chief Police Officers

(Agenda item 12)

The Authority considered a report by the Chair on this meeting, which had taken place on 9 September, as a forum for discussing the possible next steps in police reform.

Resolved –

1. That the report be noted; and
2. That a further report be presented at a future meeting of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee so that views can be submitted to the Home Office on how the issues raised by the continued reform programme (including any new governance structures at local level) might apply within London.

37. The MPS ‘extended police family’

(Agenda item 13)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner on the work being undertaken to develop the extended police family of the MPS.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

38. Support provided for boroughs by non-borough units

(Agenda item 14)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner on the support provided to boroughs by non-borough units and about aid resources supplied by both borough and non-borough units.

Resolved – That approval be given to the proposed format of the management information and its supply to members and OCU commanders on a monthly basis.

39. Authority meetings May – September 2004

(Agenda item 15)

The Authority considered a report by the Clerk on arrangements for Authority meetings during this period, taking account of the date of elections in June 2004.

Resolved – That

1. Subject to approval from the Home Office, the 2004 annual meeting of the Authority be held on Thursday, 8 July 2004;
2. The meetings that would have been held in June 2004 be moved to May 2004 as shown in Appendix 1 of the report; and
3. To ensure continuity of business, the dates of meetings in July and September 2004, be approved as given in Appendix 1.

40. Action taken under delegated authority

(Agenda item 16)

The Authority considered and noted a report by the Clerk on urgent action taken under delegated authority since the last meeting of the Authority.

41. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 17)

Resolved – That the press and public be asked to leave the meeting during discussion of the remaining items of business because exempt information as defined in paragraph 14 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 is likely to be made known.

Part 2

42. Windsor Castle security breach

(Agenda item 18)

Commander Armstrong of the City of London Police attended to report on his review following this security breach.

43. OSIRIS 2

(Agenda item 19)

Assistant Commissioner Veness attended to give members a confidential, preliminary debrief on this emergency exercise.

The meeting ended at 1.15 p.m.

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