Minutes - draft

Please note these minutes are currently draft and are subject to committee approval.

Minutes of the meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 31 March 2005 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1.

Present

Members

• Len Duvall (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
• Tony Arbour
• Jennette Arnold
• Richard Barnes
• Lynne Featherstone
• Toby Harris
• Kirsten Hearn
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Jenny Jones
• Bob Neill
• Aneeta Prem
• Murad Qureshi
• John Roberts
• Richard Sumray
• Graham Tope
• Abdal Ullah
• Rachel Whittaker

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
• Elizabeth Turner (Acting Deputy Treasurer)
• David Riddle (Deputy Chief Executive)
• Simon Vile (Head of Secretariat)

MPS officers

• Sir Ian Blair (Commissioner)
• Paul Stephenson (Deputy Commissioner)
• Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
• Andy Hayman (Assistant Commissioner) (for part of meeting)
• Richard Bryan (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)

127. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Nicky Gavron, Peter Herbert, Damian Hockney, and Karim Murji and from Kirsten Hearn for late arrival.

The Chair welcomed Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson and Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman to their first meeting of the Authority.

128. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

None

129. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the Authority meeting held on 24 February 2005 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

130. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 4)

The Authority received the minutes of the following Committees:

• Finance Committee, 17 February
• Human Resources Committee, 3 March
• Equal Opportunities & Diversity Board, 10 March
• Co-ordination & Policing Committee, 11 March

Tony Arbour referred to item 69 of the draft Human Resources Committee minutes (Diversity Directorate Strategic Assessments). He commented on the apparent proliferation of units within the Directorate and considered that some of the proposed activities were not a valid role for the MPS, such as promoting forthcoming religious festivals, as proposed in the “Faithful” strategy. Rachel Whittaker, the Chair of the Human Resources Committee, commented that these issues had been discussed at the Committee’s meeting and as a result the Committee had asked for a more focused report to a future meeting, in particular making the distinction between internal and external strategies.

Resolved – That the minutes of committees be noted.

131. Chair’s, Members’ and Clerk’s update

(Agenda item 5)

Members gave an update on their activities since the last meeting of the Authority, including:

• Peter Herbert (tabled report) – addressing the Reverend Jesse Jackson public meeting; speaking at the launch of the National Coalition of Black Led Organisations; and chairing the London Race Hate Forum
• John Roberts – a visit to the Iraqi Police Training Centre in Jordan; attending the Camden CPCG Youth Conference
• Kirsten Hearn – making a presentation at a conference on the Disability Discrimination Act and leading a workshop at the Disability Capital Conference
• Abdal Ullah – visiting Luton to share his experiences as the chair of a monitoring group
• Aneeta Prem – making a presentation to a Hindu, Sikh and Muslim forum in connection with stop and search disproportionality; and various events with the Tamil community in connection with the Tsunami.

132. Commissioner’s update

(Agenda item 6)

Members expressed concern at a comment made by the Commissioner in a press interview and quoted in the Evening Standard that “if you are looking for co-conspirators of al Qaeda, the chances are you are looking of someone of an Asian appearance.” It was felt that this remark, and a similar one made by Hazel Blears, were very damaging to community relations and could make all South East Asians feel very vulnerable. Members pointed to the fact that al Qaeda supporters are not necessarily Asian, and that there must be a clear distinction made between Muslims and extremists. Of concern too was the message that such comments gave to the ranks of police officers. It was recognised that disproportionality exists in Section 44 stops and considered that the MPS needs to find ways of explaining to the communities why this happens and why stop and search powers are necessary. There was also a need to have a discussion at some stage about the significant difference between the number of stops and the number of consequential arrests.

The Commissioner understood and appreciated the concerns expressed by members. In responding he informed them that the quote came from an interview some weeks previous with the Whitehall and Westminster World. He tabled copies of the full interview. He pointed to his long record of anti-racism and his continuing efforts to engage with Muslim and Asian communities, the vast majority of whose members are law-abiding citizens, as the MPS can only do its job with the consent of all communities. With regard to disproportionality he reported that the number of Asian people stopped under Section 44 had only risen by about two a day over recent years. There might be times when there are good reasons for disproportionality and he agreed that these needed to be explained as far as possible. The number of consequential arrests was not necessarily a good indicator of the success of Section 44 stops; the MPS’s task was to protect London from a terrorist attack and Section 44 stops are a weapon in the armoury.

In bringing the discussion to a close, the Chair emphasised the importance of working hard to regain and retain the confidence of London’s communities. A debt was owed to the Muslim community in particular for coming forward in the fight against terrorism.

The Commissioner then introduced his performance report which continued to show reductions across the range of crimes and an increase in the sanction detection rate. Violent crime was the exception, but that increase, as discussed in previous meetings, was the result of a number of factors and not just a real increase in violent crime. Satisfaction levels also showed a rise which, he suggested, was the result of the Safer Neighbourhoods programme. Bob Neill asked for details of the Public Satisfaction Survey on which this was based, including the sample size.

The Commissioner reported on the launch of the Central Operations Command under Assistant Commissioner Steve House. This is intended to put greater focus on the support that specialist units are able to provide to front-line officers, with central tasking and co-ordination to ensure that units or boroughs with the most pressing needs receive additional help.

The Commissioner referred to the heroism shown by PC Iain Morrison on 11 March in rescuing a four-year-old boy from a house fire, staying with the boy in the burning house until they could both be rescued by the London Fire Brigade.

Amongst other items, the Commissioner referred to Tower Hamlets, where funding from the local authority had enabled the introduction of Safer Neighbourhood teams across the whole borough. This was an interesting experiment that would need to be evaluated, and whilst it was possible with one borough it would be more difficult to achieve to any greater extent across London. Rachel Whittaker asked for information on the governance arrangements in respect of the agreement with Tower Hamlets Council to extend the Safer Neighbourhood programme. Elizabeth Howlett asked to be informed whether the Council had received any extra funding from the Government to pay for additional PCSOs.

The Commissioner also reported on the launch of a new domestic violence advertising campaign, reinforcing the message that police no longer need a statement from the victim to make an arrest. Members welcomed this, although there was concern that more and more mid-teenage girls were experiencing domestic violence and this should perhaps feature in future campaigns.

Asked about the position on the Notting Hill Carnival, the Commissioner reported that negotiations with the Carnival Committee had reached a delicate stage. Discussions continued on the use of Hyde Park but the possibility of extending the carnival to four days was, as far as he was concerned, not possible on cost grounds.

In relation to road safety cameras, Jenny Jones felt that the option of outsourcing some of the MPS’s processing work to Essex should be taken, as a way of helping to reduce road casualties. The Commissioner re-emphasised the importance he placed on traffic policing but had reservations about outsourcing work to another organisation. Jenny Jones commented that at the Mayor’s request, the pervious Commissioner had agreed, in relation to road accidents, to change the term ‘accident’ to ‘crime’. The Commissioner was not aware of any such agreement but would consider this further.

In bringing this item to a close, the Chair commented that some significant items currently dealt with by committees merited the wider attention and debate afforded by full Authority meetings, and greater co-ordination of MPA business was needed in this respect.

133. 2005/06 revenue budget

(Agenda item 7 (a))

The Authority received a joint report by the Commissioner and Treasurer presenting the final 2005/06 budget for approval.

Graham Tope, the Chair of the Finance Committee, emphasised that concerns remain about the potential for ongoing overspending in some budget areas. This could not continue into the 2005/06 financial year and the MPA’s Budget Group would closely monitor the position throughout the year. The Budget Group would expect any variances to be properly managed and clear proposals made on how any overspends were to be covered elsewhere in the budget.

The Chair stressed that budget holders should be firmly reminded of their responsibility for managing their budgets and to give early warning of any problems or issues in doing so.

Resolved

1. To note the latest information contained in the report;
2. To approve the final MPA / MPS revenue budget for 2005/06; and
3. To approve the use of the MPA Efficiency and Effectiveness Reserve to support the Service Review.

134. Capital programme 2005/06 to 2009/10

(Agenda item 7 (b))

The Authority considered a joint report by the Commissioner and Treasurer providing details of the 2005/06 capital programme and the proposed programme through to 2009/10.

Whilst members generally supported the use of over-programming as an approach to maximising capital programme spend, lead officers should be reminded that slippage was not acceptable when it was the result of inadequate project management.

Resolved

1. To note the latest information contained in the report;
2. To approve the addition to the programme of those schemes listed in paragraph 24 of the report;
3. To approve the MPA / MPS capital programme for 2005/06 to 2009/10 as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report; and
4. To note that the programme will be further reviewed by the MPA Finance Committee at its meeting on 23 June (and not July as proposed in the report), in the light of emerging capital project pressures and project slippage from 2004/05.

135. Service review terms of reference

(Agenda item 8)

The Authority considered a joint report by the Chief Executive and Commissioner setting out the terms of reference for the Service review, the context for the review, its key objectives and methodology and also proposing the governance structure.

The Chief Executive clarified that the oversight group would consist of members of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee – some decisions would require formal meetings of the committee but at other times informal meetings of the committee members would be needed. Consideration was also needed about the involvement of other MPA members in the process, for instance on the Challenge Panel or by attending Co-ordination and Policing Committee sessions.

The Chair commented that consideration was still being given to how the GLA could be involved in the process. It had to be clear however that the MPA, not the GLA, was managing the project.

Learning the lessons from Best Value reviews, Reshard Auladin commented that it was important to clearly define the scope and that the remit had to be ‘within existing resources’. He asked whether the MPS was putting a stop to other reviews, especially those that might duplicate aspects of the Service review. The Commissioner responded that he had asked for other reviews to be stopped wherever necessary.

Members generally considered that the report and the terms of reference inadequately conveyed the role of the Authority as a partner in the review. This was seen as a significant omission, as was the lack of private sector and HR expertise, particularly on the Challenge Panel.

After further discussion, it was

Resolved - That the governance structure be approved, subject to further development to:

1. Include HR and private sector expertise on the Challenge Panel
2. Clarify the GLA involvement in the process; and
3. Brand the Service review more explicitly as a joint MPS / MPA review

136. Commission for Racial Equality formal investigation into the Police Service in England and Wales

(Agenda item 9)

The Authority considered a report including the recommendations of the CRE Formal Investigation and confirming the previously agreed approach to the implementation of these recommendations.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

136. Gun Crime Scrutiny 2004 – recommendations progress report

(Agenda item 10)

The Authority received an update report on the implementation of the recommendations of the MPA’s Gun Crime Scrutiny.

Cindy Butts, the Chair of the Scrutiny, commented on the worrying indications that the perpetrators of gun crime are getting younger and the carrying of guns more casual. All the trends point to the perpetrators being Black British young males, so this was a home-grown problem and one which was not solely the responsibility of the police to address.

Other members agreed that it was a wider partnership issues and suggested that MPA link members could play their part in raising the issues locally, especially at Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership meetings.

Resolved

1. That the report be noted; and
2. That a brief be produced for members on how they can contribute through their link member role, in particular on issues to be raised at CDRP meetings.

137. Home Office immigration detainees at MPS detention facilities

In view of the time, it was agreed to defer this item to the next meeting of the Authority to enable proper discussion. Members asked that when the report was re-presented, it include an explanation (in paragraph 8) of why the length of detention is not reducing but the number is detainees is; and more detail on the financial implications.

138. Freedom of Information

(Agenda item 12)

The Authority considered an update on requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act and proposals for a charging regime.

Resolved - That the charging regime set out in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.

139. Other business

At her suggestion, it was agreed that Aneeta Prem send condolences on behalf of the Authority to the family of the Cheshire police officer assigned to Operation Bracknell who was recently killed in a road accident in Thailand.

The meeting closed at 1.15 p.m.

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