Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 29 January 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Toby Harris (Chair)
• Richard Barnes (Deputy Chair)
• Tony Arbour
• Reshard Auladin
• Cindy Butts
• Lynne Featherstone
• Nicky Gavron
• Kirsten Hearn
• Peter Herbert
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Jenny Jones
• Nicholas Long
• Noel Lynch
• Sir John Quinton
• Richard Sumray
• Graham Tope
• Rachel Whittaker
• Cecile Wright

MPA officers

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

MPS officers

• Sir Ian Blair (Deputy Commissioner)
• Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
• Tim Godwin (Assistant Commissioner)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of HR)

Part 1

66. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Jennette Arnold, Diana Johnson, R. David Muir, Eric Ollerenshaw, Abdal Ullah and the Commissioner. Apologies for late arrival were received from Nicky Gavron and Sir John Quinton.

67. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations made.

68. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Authority held on 9 December 2003 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

69. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 4)

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

• Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board, 4 December 2003
• Co-ordination and Policing Committee, 15 December 2003
• Finance Committee, 20 November and 18 December 2003
• Planning, Performance and Review Committee, 11 December 2003
• Professional Standards and Complaints Committee, 10 January 2004

Resolved – That the minutes be noted.

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

(Agenda item 5)

The Authority noted updates from the Chair and Abdal Ullah.

71. Acting Commissioner’s update

(Agenda item 6)

The Deputy Commissioner gave an oral update on a number of issues, including:

Hutton Inquiry Report

The Deputy Commissioner reported that the MPS had not so far been asked to investigate the leak of the Hutton Inquiry Report.

Shooting at Newham

The Deputy Commissioner reported on a significant event the previous Saturday, when a Territorial Support Group vehicle had been sprayed with machine gun bullets from a passing vehicle. Ten bullets had been recovered from the scene. Fortunately, only one police officer had been grazed by a bullet, but had there been fatalities it would have changed the policing landscape. AC Godwin had been asked to carry out a review of the health and safety issues, particularly with regard to the wearing of protective vests.

National Front march at Newham

The National Front proposed to march at Newham that Sunday, in connection with the murder of Ashley Hedger. There were no grounds for banning the march but the MPS would take all possible precautions to ensure a peaceful outcome. The borough commander was fully engaged with the community on this issue. Cindy Butts felt that more needed to be done about the MPS’s inability to stop such marches. The Deputy Commissioner said that the MPS would monitor more closely the issue of incitement to racial hatred, to see whether any prosecutions were possible. Whilst understanding the frustration that such marches took place, he commented that banning marches could cause more problems and disturbances.

Cannabis reclassification

The Deputy Commissioner reported that cannabis was being reclassified as a Class C drug that day. The message to MPS officers was that the drug remained illegal and arrests would follow if it were smoked in public view or in breach of other government guidelines.

Members had concerns about how consistently the MPS policy would be applied across London, and that young people in particular might be disadvantaged by the exercise of discretion. The Deputy Commissioner and AC Godwin were confident that consistency would be achieved and activity across boroughs would be monitored. Their biggest concern was that communities might be confused into believing that cannabis was now legal.

Richard Sumray suggested that the various criminal justice agencies could usefully discuss a common approach. The Deputy Commissioner said that he would arrange for this to be raised with the London Criminal Justice Board.

Reshard Auladin suggested that it would be helpful if the MPS policy were shared with London courts.

Resolved - That there should be a report back to the Authority in due course on how the new approach was working, any issues of differential approaches and what the impact has been.

Violent crime

The Deputy Commissioner referred to the headline rises in violent crime. He pointed out that the picture in the MPS was different from and lower than the national picture. For instance, gun crime in the Metropolitan Police District showed a fall of 9% over the previous year.

Anti-terrorism activity

Reshard Auladin reported on disquiet in the Muslim community about the number of people being arrested but not charged over the last few months. Extremist groups were now publicising details and making the most of these arrests. He asked what was being done to allay fears and explain the situation. The Deputy Commissioner commented that he was aware of how some police activity was being portrayed in relation to individuals awaiting trial or immigration action. AC Veness had met with the Muslim Council to discuss concerns. The Deputy Commissioner was only aware of one allegation by a detainee.

Graham Tope asked about MPS officers being used as air marshals. The Deputy Commissioner would not say in public how many had been assigned to those duties, but confirmed that all costs and liability would be met by central government. This use of trained firearm officers had led to a further review of firearms training. For example, some ARV officers failed the course on a forced entry test. It might be that a modular form of testing and deployment could be introduced.

Publicity on group rape

Richard Sumray expressed concern that, following collaboration between the MPA and the MPS on jointly commissioned work on group rape, the MPS had given interviews on its own. The Deputy Commissioner and AC Godwin apologised for this – there had been no intention to disregard the MPA’s role and those arranging the interview had not been aware that there was meant to be a joint response.

PNC data

It was noted that a report was due to be considered at the next meeting of the Co-ordination & Policing Committee on the timeliness of data inputting. It was agreed that a further report should come to the Authority establishing what limitations the Data Protection Act places on the holding or sharing of data – this was of particular relevance given the problems ascribed to the Act in connection with data held or not held on Ian Huntley. The Deputy Commissioner said that he would also take the opportunity to report on linked issues relating to the Freedom of Information Act requirements which come into force in January 2005 – these would have significant implications for the MPS.

Resolved – That a report be presented to a future meeting regarding Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information Act issues, as outlined above.

Richard Barnes said that victim support organisations in Hillingdon had told him that referrals from the MPS were down by 50% with the requirements of the Data Protection Act cited as an example. The Deputy Commissioner said that he would arrange for this to be looked into.

Millwall riot

At the suggestion of Cecile Wright, it was agreed that the Authority should send a letter of appreciation to the Lewisham borough commander concerning the officers involved in policing this event.

Ghettopoly

Following a question from Peter Herbert, the Deputy Commissioner said that whilst he was happy to condemn this game, the legal advice received so far was that no offence was involved. It might be appropriate, however, for the MPA and MPS to write jointly to stores to urge them not to sell it.

72. Policing and Performance Plan 2004/05

(Agenda item 7)

A supplementary report proposing some amendments to the objectives and measures was tabled.

Tony Arbour suggested that the numbering of the objectives should be reworked to avoid any suggestion that they were in priority order.

It was also agreed that the plan should be more explicit on how road crime was reflected in the objectives.

Richard Sumray made a number of detailed points about the objectives and measures. He also commented that it would be important to discuss how the National Intelligence Model and the plan would work together in practice. He also called for a programme for 2005/06 that was more inclusive of the joint partnership working between the MPA and the MPS.

Further discussion would be needed elsewhere on how business group objectives should be monitored by the MPA and its committees.

Resolved – That

1. the proposed objectives and supporting measures to be included in the 2004/05 plan be agreed, as amended by the supplementary report;
2. the programmes of work identified at Appendix 3 of the report be included in the policing plan; and
3. the proposed business group key objectives be noted.

73. Appointments

(Agenda item 8)

The Authority considered a report by the Clerk on appointments needed. Independent Members on the Authority took no part in the discussion or decision on the composition of the Independent Members Appointment Panel.

In relation to the link membership for Kensington & Chelsea, Jenny Jones reported that, whilst she would be unable to be proactive in the role, she was prepared to continue to represent to the MPA any concerns raised with her by Kensington & Chelsea. It was agreed to continue on this basis pending the overall review of link member appointments for the Authority’s new term.

Resolved – That

1. the membership of the Independent Members Appointment Panel be Toby Harris, Richard Barnes and a Magistrate Member to be decided by the Magistrate Members; (post meeting note: Cecile Wright appointed as the magistrate member on the panel)
2. Jenny Jones continues in the Kensington & Chelsea link member role on the basis outlined above;
3. Noel Lynch be appointed as a second link member for Barnet; and
4. Richard Barnes and Cindy Butts decide between themselves which of them should serve as the MPA’s representative on Crime Stoppers for London.

74. Review of independent evaluation of the MPS Community and Race Relations (CRR) training

(Agenda item 9)

The Authority considered this review, which had been referred to it by the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board.

Members considered this had been an important piece of work and congratulated Cindy Butts for her lead on it. There was some uncertainty about the MPS’s own evaluation, but the Deputy Commissioner clarified that the process of evaluating each borough and drawing conclusions had been completed and would be submitted to the March meeting of the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board.

In the discussion, points made included that, as recognised in the report, boroughs needed to take more ownership of the training to ensure its success. It was also important that anti-racism should be part of annual appraisals – the Deputy Commissioner responded that equalities was central to the PDR system. He also said that new Home Office guidance was due on a national strategy for CRR training. Integrity testing had been carried out at Hendon training school – of 250 observed interactions, none had caused concern in terms of race issues.

Resolved – That

1. the review’s findings and recommendations be approved; and
2. the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board should continue its work on this issue, with progress reports to the full Authority as appropriate.

75. Equalities performance of Community and Police Consultative Groups

(Agenda item 10)

The Authority considered and noted a report referred to it by the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board.

The Deputy Clerk reported that in terms of funding bids for 2004/05, CPCGs would be asked to provide information on the equalities performance in a number of respects, for example their equalities policy statement, the representativeness of their membership and their plans to reach ‘hard to hear’ groups. Where the MPA officers had doubts, they would make recommendations, for example on funding or an improvement plan.

In response to concerns expressed by Richard Barnes, the Deputy Clerk outlined the process of consultation with CPCGs that had been gone through to arrive at this position. Tony Arbour commented that his link boroughs saw this as interference from the MPA, caused by the failures in a small number of boroughs. The Deputy Clerk and other members stressed that the Authority had obligations to ensure that public money was properly and effectively spent.

76. MPA response to the Green Paper on police reform

(Agenda item 11)

The Authority considered a report by the Clerk proposing a response to this Green Paper. A revised version of the draft response was tabled, reflecting discussion at the Co-ordination & Policing Committee.

With regard to paragraph E.2 of the response, Tony Arbour suggested that there should be an evaluation of whether the MPS was actually best placed to be responsible for terrorism and serious and organised crime. The Chair would be content for the MPS to be asked to restate their arguments as to why this was considered necessary.

Rachel Whittaker suggested an amendment to F.3 to reflect the importance of police staff and growth issues.

It was agreed to amend D.23 to refer to ‘community advocacy’ rather than ‘community advocates’.

Resolved – That the response to be Green Paper be confirmed, subject to those amendments agreed at the meeting.

77. Members’ expenses

(Agenda item 12)

The Authority considered a report by the Clerk requesting a decision on issues in relation to the Scheme of Members’ Expenses.

Resolved – That

1. the payment of the congestion charge and parking charges be not included in the Scheme of Members’ Expenses (this decision was by majority vote); and
2. to introduce a three month deadline for the presentation of claims during the financial year and an end of year deadline of 30 April, subject to the Clerk being able to exercise discretion in exceptional and individual circumstances.

78. Action taken under delegated authority

(Agenda item 13)

The Authority noted a report of action taken by the Clerk under delegated authority.

The meeting ended at 12.35 p.m.

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback