Minutes

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

Present

Members:

• Len Duvall (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Tony Arbour
• Jennette Arnold
• Richard Barnes
• Lynne Featherstone
• Nicky Gavron
• Toby Harris
• Kirsten Hearn
• Peter Herbert
• Damian Hockney
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Jenny Jones
• Karim Murji
• Bob Neill
• Aneeta Prem
• Murad Qureshi
• John Roberts
• Richard Sumray
• Abdal Ullah
• Rachel Whittaker.

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)
• Steve House (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of Human Resources)
• Alastair Thompson (Deputy Director of Resources)

19. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Cindy Butts, Graham Tope, the Commissioner and the Director of Resources.

20. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

None received.

21. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the annual and ordinary meetings of the Authority held on 8 July 2004 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Matters arising

In connection with item 7 of the minutes of the annual meeting, the Chair reminded members of the importance of attending committee meetings. It was also reported that Aneeta Prem had stood down from the membership of the Corporate Governance Committee. In relation to committee appointments, it was

Resolved – That Lynne Featherstone be appointed to the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board, Elizabeth Howlett to the Corporate Governance Committee and Damian Hockney to the Human Resources Committee.

22. Questions To The Authority

(Agenda item 4)

The Authority received a question from Mr Paul Webbewood, as follows:

“Following the recent finding by the Bar Council that Mr Peter Herbert was in breach of its code of conduct, what action is being taken to determine whether Mr Herbert may also be in breach of Paragraph 4 of the MPA’s code of conduct?”

The Clerk responded on behalf of the Authority as follows:

“I understand that the determination by the Bar Council in respect of Mr Peter Herbert is to be subject to appeal. I am told that there is also a pending employment tribunal case against the Bar Council and Lord Laming. It would, therefore, be inappropriate for the Authority to consider whether it should take any action until after these processes have been completed. If it appeared appropriate, a report would then be made to the Authority’s Standards Committee. It is, of course, open to anyone to make a complaint to the Standards Board for England at any time if they consider that a member has breached the Authority’s Code of Conduct.”

The Authority also received a question from Mr Mark Beattie, as follows:

“Please can the MPA provide information about the resources provided in the Finsbury Park area? There appears to be sufficient policing resources to accommodate the illegal protests outside the Finsbury Park Mosque, but insufficient to protect members of the public and their property from attack as witnessed on the BBC Local News on 9 July 2004.”

The Clerk responded on behalf of the Authority as follows:

“The operational deployment of police officers is a matter for the Commissioner, but members will recall that at the Authority’s last meeting the Commissioner referred to the policing operation at Finsbury Park Mosque. Most of the time the number of police officers deployed at the Mosque each Friday – for about one and a half hours – has been between 12 and 18. On some occasions more have been deployed under the control of the Public Order Branch to police actual or threatened counter-demonstrations. This has quite clearly been a challenging policing operation but one which the Commissioner reports has been handled with appropriate sensitivity.

I understand that, following discussions between all the parties concerned, it is hoped that the building will re-open before Ramadan in October.

The second part of Mr Beattie’s question refers to an item on BBC London news. This showed how an Islington resident resorted to filming a gang of youths who were engaging in anti-social and criminal behaviour such as attempting to steal a bag from a cyclist, damaging property and harassing members of the public.

Such incidents are very distressing for those concerned and the anti-social behaviour of a few people can blight a neighbourhood. Of course the police have an important role to play but, to be effective in the longer term, there must be co-ordinated action with the local authority and other agencies on the local crime and disorder reduction partnership. The range of options for tackling this kind of behaviour is now quite extensive. In this particular case I am told that this area is about to be the subject of a dispersal area order – this enables police officers to move on and then prosecute people causing alarm, harassment or distress to others.

I must also refer to the record police numbers and their impact on reducing crime and bringing more offences to justice. In April 2003 Islington had a police officer strength of 616. By April 2004 this had risen to 674. Such increases, coupled with all the other developments, such as police community support officers, the Safer Neighbourhoods programme, and the better co-ordination of criminal justice processes, are producing real improvements to performance.

Islington is showing a 9.4% reduction in total crime when comparing April to June this year with the same period last year. This is a much higher reduction in crime than the MPS as a whole (which is currently showing a 1.8% fall). This includes residential burglaries down 7.2%, auto crime down 44.2% and robbery down 11.4%. Coupled with a rise of 31.6% in the borough’s detection rate this has to be good news for the residents of Islington.”

23. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 5)

The minutes of the following committees were received:

• Equal Opportunities & Diversity Board, 20 May
• Planning, Performance & Review Committee, 12 July

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

(Agenda item 6)

The Authority noted members’ updates. These included a report from Jenny Jones on the MPS use of mountain bikes. She proposed a full scale evaluation of bikes and their use in each borough, the designation of MPS bikes as emergency vehicles and, following evaluation, a report on how to replace 100 MPS cars with 400 mountain bikes by 2008. In relation to this report, it was

Resolved – That an evaluation of the use of bikes by the MPS be reported to the Co-ordination & Policing Committee

25. Deputy Commissioner’s update

(Agenda item 7)

The Authority considered a written performance report and operational update by the Deputy Commissioner. Performance April to June 2004 continued to be good and the indications were that there was a further improvement in the first three weeks of July. Members welcomed the production of a written report.

The Deputy Commissioner expressed his concern about an article in the Evening Standards that reported a 37% rise in violent crime. The British Crime Survey showed an increase in the victims of violence from 5.65% to 7.72%. To describe this as a 37% increase was an inaccurate use of statistics. However, there was no room for complacency and he had asked DAC House to draw up a violent crime strategy for the MPS, focussing in particular on domestic violence, knives and offensive weapons, robbery and alcohol-fuelled violence. It should also be recognised that violence against police officers was a growing problem – 2,800 officers were assaulted last year, a 53% increase.

In reply to members’ questions and comments, the Deputy Commissioner agreed that the significant differences between boroughs, for instance in terms of detection rates, was a key issue for the MPS. The MPS was also considering possibly presenting detection rates by way of a ‘weighted basket’. Consistency in reporting was important and Home Office definition changes had not helped.

Members asked a number of questions about dispersal area orders and in particular the recent designation of the Westminster Dispersal Area. The Deputy Commissioner said that he would arrange for a briefing note on the Westminster dispersal area to be sent to members. He would report further to the Authority on dispersal areas, once they had been in place for sufficient time to make an initial evaluation, and would want to link this with information about how the MPS is working with local authorities to tackle crack houses.

In relation to questions about working with the Tamil community, DAC House reported on the establishment of a Tamil Independent Advisory Group and the issues facing the MPS in tackling a growing gang culture.

The Deputy Commissioner gave members some further information about the incident at Heathrow where operational officers had lost a document relating to airport security. He reassured members that this incident had not damaged airport security.

In response to a question from Jenny Jones about a number of officers whose dismissal for drink/driving had been reinstated on appeal, the Deputy Commissioner commented that there had previously been inconsistencies in MPS discipline board decisions, because the number of cases meant four Assistant Commissioners had to share this duty. These inconsistencies had now been eliminated by the introduction and application of sanction guidelines. These had been agreed by the Professional Standards & Complaints Committee and would be copied to Jenny Jones.

The Authority joined with the Deputy Commissioner in congratulating PCs Archer and Woodhouse who had recently been awarded the top honour in the police bravery awards. Members also congratulated PCSOs who similarly often showed dedication beyond the call of duty.

Resolved - That the MPS be asked to present the following reports to future meetings:

• A progress report on dispersal areas, linked with details of joint working with local authorities to tackle crack houses
• MPS violent crime strategy

26. Immigration detainees in MPS custody

(Agenda item 8a, Agenda item 8b)

The Authority considered reports by the Clerk and the Commissioner on the present position and possible future developments to address the problems.

It was recognised that custody capacity is a significant problem – for instance south east London has higher arrest rates than the north east, apparently because of having more cells. Initiatives were planned over the coming months to provide dedicated cell accommodation for immigration detainees. In the longer term custody accommodation managed by the Immigration Service was preferred. However, although not considered a core function (albeit a legal duty), the MPS wanted to remain involved in the arrest procedures to ensure that the Immigration Service handled them with appropriate sensitivity. All were concerned to ensure that the MPS fully recovered its costs from the Home Office.

Elizabeth Howlett asked to be sent details of what happens to the 50% of the Home Office payment that is given back to boroughs.

Resolved - That

1. a further report be presented to the Authority in due course on MPS involvement in the process and developments in the provision of custody facilities for immigration detainees; and
2. Mick Farrant and the Camden Independent Custody Visitors’ Panel be thanked for raising this matter with the Authority.

27. Mental Health and Policing Joint Review

(Agenda item 9)

Richard Sumray introduced proposals for this joint review. The terms of reference were being developed and would be circulated to members when finalised. The review would involve a whole range of stakeholders and a reference group would be set up which could include professional organisations and users.

In addition to Richard Sumray, Reshard Auladin, Cindy Butts, Rachel Whittaker and Kirsten Hearn expressed an interest in being involved with the review.

Resolved – That

1. approval be given to the initiation of a joint review of mental health and policing; and
2. membership of the review be agreed between those concerned.

28. Restraint Review

(Agenda item 10)

The Authority considered a report by the Commissioner on the progress of this review. The final report would be presented to the Authority in September.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

29. MPA accounts for the year ended 31 March 2004

(Agenda item 11)

The Treasurer presented the Authority’s draft set of accounts for 2003/04 for approval. The Corporate Governance Committee had considered these in detail and their comments were reflected in the accounts before the Authority. Although the accounts were subject to audit the Treasurer was confident that the auditors would give an unqualified opinion this time.

Some members considered that the accounts, or a summary of them, could be presented in a more user friendly way, but it was recognised that the accounts represented a significant improvement compared to the situation before the MPA was created. In large part this was due to the efforts of Peter Martin as Treasurer and, with his retirement impending, members congratulated him on what had been achieved.

Resolved – That approval be given to the draft statement of accounts 2003/04, for onward submission to the Authority’s external auditors.

30. Appointment of Link Member appointments

(Agenda item 12)

The Authority considered appointments to the 32 borough link member positions. These had been discussed at the members’ away day in July and nominations for 28 boroughs agreed. These were tabled and it was

Resolved – That

1. borough link member appointments be agreed as shown in the attached appendix; and
2. with regard to the four vacancies, the Clerk be authorised, in consultation with the Chair, to make appointments following discussions with the members concerned.

31. Committee annual reports

(Agenda item 13)

The Authority considered the 2003/04 annual reports of its committees.

Resolved - That the annual reports be noted.

32. Appointment of Co-opted Member of the Corporate Governance Committee

(Agenda item 14)

Resolved – That Richard Stephenson be appointed as a co-opted member of the Corporate Governance Committee.

33. Action taken under delegated authority

(Agenda item 15)

The Authority noted a report by the Clerk on action taken under delegated authority since its last meeting.

34. Other business

The Deputy Commissioner reported that the Court of Appeal had just announced its decision not to overturn the High Court decision that the MPS’s use of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 at the Defence Trade Fair was lawful.

In view of some concerns, it was agreed to reconsider the Authority’s urgency procedure at the next meeting.

The meeting ended at 12.40 p.m.

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback