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 26 January 2006 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Len Duvall (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
• Tony Arbour
• Jennette Arnold
• Richard Barnes
• Dee Doocey
• Nicky Gavron
• Toby Harris
• Kirsten Hearn
• Peter Herbert
• Damian Hockney
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Jenny Jones
• Karim Murji
• Bob Neill
• Aneeta Prem
• John Roberts
• Richard Sumray
• Graham Tope
• Rachel Whittaker

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
• Ken Hunt (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)
• Tim Godwin (Assistant Commissioner)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of HR)

78. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

An apology for absence was received from Abdal Ullah and from Kirsten Hearn for late arrival.

79. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

None notified.

80. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meetings of the Authority held on 6 December 2005 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

81. Petitions

(Agenda item 4)

At the request of the presenter the petition in respect of Chipping Barnet policing was deferred to the next meeting.

Mr Ed Fordham presented a petition on behalf of local residents in the following terms:

“We the undersigned oppose any plans to reduce the level of policing located and based in Hampstead Police Station and reject plans to close or scale down the current station.”

He emphasised that local people wanted to work with the police to provide modern facilities at the station. However, as a result of a Freedom of Information request it was clear that plans were being drawn up to sell this and other stations. He also reported comments made by Richard Sumray, the MPA’s link member for Camden, that the age of the local police station was over. Mr Fordham considered that the lack of communication of communication was fundamentally undermining the confidence of local people in the police.

The Chief Executive responded in writing on behalf of the Authority as follows:

“The MPA and the MPS appreciates and accepts the desire of local residents for local policing services. This is the basis for the Safer Neighbourhoods programme – establishing dedicated teams of police officers and PCSOs to work with local people to identify and tackle issues of neighbourhood concern. Where Safer Neighbourhood teams are in place there has been a positive impact on both crime and the fear of crime.

"Providing local accommodation for Safer Neighbourhood teams is one of the pressures that the MPA’s Estates Strategy has to address. The strategy must also address the need for significant capital investment in an ageing building stock, recognising that in some cases there has to be replacement rather than repair. All of these issues are present in Camden Borough. The strategy for the borough is to provide easily accessible buildings for all members of the community through a mix of contact points, Safer Neighbourhood units, front office schemes as well as patrol bases and custody facilities.

"Hampstead Police Station currently houses a number of Safer Neighbourhood teams supporting the local community and a further team supporting a borough-wide function. The building itself was designed to meet the policing demands of an earlier age and it is no longer fit for purpose. Access is difficult and the costs of refurbishing to meet operational needs outweigh the benefit of retaining the building.

"The aim is therefore to identify suitable alternative locations for those based at Hampstead Police Station, but no decision has yet been taken as to its future. It is worth restating the commitment that has already been given locally that no public front desk will close until alternative provision has been made.”

Richard Sumray responded to Mr Fordham’s comments. He corrected the comment attributed to him in that he had said that the age of the traditional police station was at an end. There was a need to create a more efficient police service in the way it related to the public, for instance through deployment and custody clusters, Safer Neighbourhood teams and other access points. The Authority and the MPS had tried to be open as to the reasons why the police estate had to be changed but he saw a need to develop a road show to go round boroughs to explain this in more detail. He deplored what he saw as a politically inspired campaign by local Liberal Democrats in the run up to the May elections, quoting an email to Mr Fordham in support of this contention. He emphasised that no station would close until there were alternative access points.

The Chair commented that the estates strategy was not about reducing local access but growing and improving it. The Commissioner agreed with Richard Sumray about the need to communicate the message more clearly but pointed out that improvements to and expansion of the estate had been made necessary by the greatest expansion of local policing in the history of the MPS.

RESOLVED - That the petition be received.

82. Minutes of committees

(Agenda item 5)

The minutes of the following committees were received for information:

• Finance Committee, 17 November 2005
• Equal Opportunities & Diversity Board, 1 December
• Co-ordination & Policing Committee, 2 December
• Corporate Governance Committee, 5 December
• Planning, Performance & Review Committee, 8 December
• Human Resources Committee, 15 December
• Finance Committee, 15 December

83. Chair’s update

(Agenda item 6)

At the request of the Chair, the Treasurer gave the Authority an oral update on the 2006/07 budget submission in the light of the Government’s announcement of counter terrorism funding the previous day.

A new MPS specific revenue grant had been agreed at £30M in 2006/07 and £45M in 2007/08. A new Counter Terrorism national capital grant had been agreed at £30M in 2006/07 and £35M in 2007/08. Existing MPS specific revenue Counter Terrorism grant has been set at £61M in both 2006/07 and 2007/08. The £50M ‘top-sliced’ from the Special Payment was to be returned in full.

The new specific revenue CT grant was new money and the MPS would have to identify a CT programme to match the grant. No details were yet available of the allocation of the MPA’s share of the national capital monies. Early allocations would be vital to enable infrastructure provision changes to support the new revenue spend.

In overall terms the £61 million grant in 2006/07 represented a shortfall of £2 million compared to budget assumptions. The Commissioner commented that this would be absorbed in SO funding. The MPS had received 38% of its bid compared to just under 7% for the rest of England and Wales. This would allow an increase in strength of about 650 officers. He guaranteed that the funding would be spent in accordance with the bid and not moved to elsewhere in the MPS budget.

The Chair commented on the difficulties experienced in the 2006/07 budget process and that discussions must start at an early stage on the 2007/08 budget. It was

RESOLVED

1. That the Treasurer brief members in writing on the 2006/07 budget position; and
2. That the informal budget oversight group be reconvened to complete the 2006/07 process.

84. Commissioner's update

(Agenda item 7)

The Commissioner reported to the Authority on the announcement earlier in the month that, following the Mayor’s guarantee of funding, the roll out of the Safer Neighbourhood programme to all areas of London was to be brought forward by 12 months. As from April all areas would have four person teams and this would be increased to the full complement of six people by the end of the calendar year.

Members welcomed and supported this move whilst having concerns that it had not been possible for the Authority to be engaged before the announcement was made. There were also some concerns of detail and the issues covered in the discussion included:

• whether there were enough sergeants with the right skill set to make this possible
• what the impact would be on existing Safer Neighbourhood teams
• the pros and cons of PCSO recruitment being carried out centrally again
• whether there was enough traffic police to respond to a possible growth in demand for action against traffic offences
• the need for analysis of the roll out to assess the extent to which, for instance, Safer Neighbourhoods impacted on actual crime as opposed to people’s perceptions particularly in crime hotspots, whether they had any effect on serious criminality and whether there was displacement to non-Safer Neighbourhood areas
• that there should be flexibility in approach so that Safer Neighbourhood areas did not become ward-based where a different approach was better suited to local circumstances
• that in about a year’s time it would be useful to arrange an event to bring together the different kinds of neighbourhood policing to share good practice etc.

In responding to the points made in the discussion, the Commissioner and colleagues said that the main issue was that this early roll out was responding directly to the wishes of Londoners. The Safer Neighbourhood programme was achieving significant results both in the perception of Londoners and in the impact on crime in Safer Neighbourhood areas. Studies showed that Safer Neighbourhoods were also hitting crime that had been previously unrecorded. Professor Stanko was carrying out an ongoing evaluation of the Safer Neighbourhood programme which would be shared with the Authority when completed.

Although some 18 months previously there had been a shortage of sergeants, this had been addressed and the current position was that there was only a slight shortage. There was now a faster process for appointing sergeants and it was anticipated that there would be no shortage as a consequence of the faster roll out. As regards the centralisation of PCSO recruitment, this was necessary both to ensure that the recruitment numbers could be achieved and that consistent standards were applied. The majority of candidates were given their first choice of borough. Applicant vetting remained a challenge as parts of the process were outside the MPS’s control. However ways were being considered of speeding up the overall recruitment process, such as whether training could be given in advance of vetting clearance.

The Commissioner confirmed that Safer Neighbourhood teams were ring fenced and would not be subject to abstraction except in the following circumstances:

• a ‘7/7’ emergency
• for three annual major public order events – Notting Hill Carnival, May Day and New Year’s Eve
• for training such as public order training

The Commissioner was confident that the programme was sustainable and that resources would continue to be available in the future.

Bob Neill asked for figures in relation to the appointment of sergeants for Safer Neighbourhood teams and details of the changes to the sergeants’ promotion course.

AC Godwin undertook to respond to Cindy Butts’ concerns about the delay in implementing the full roll-out paid for by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

It was

RESOLVED

1. That a detailed paper be brought to the September Authority meeting on the progress of the Safer Neighbourhood roll out and its impact on crime and the fear of crime, also addressing the issues raised at the meeting; and
2. that the Authority should have a separate debate in due course about the other issues raised during the debate relating to the impact on serious criminality and displacement of crime from Safer Neighbourhood areas

Moving on to other matters, the Commissioner referred to some good news stories. The MPS Department of Public Affairs had won 13 awards for advertising campaigns in the previous year, the campaign ‘Crackdown on Drugs’ being one of the winning campaigns. That day the Specialist Crime Directorate had smashed an international drug gang, recovering 50 kilograms of cocaine. A new 24-hour helpline had been launched to give Family Liaison Officers advice on how to deliver bad news and deal with grief reactions.

The Commissioner also reported that he would bring a report to the Authority’s next meeting on the changes introduced by the MPS since 7 July and the death of Mr de Menezes.

The Commissioner also referred to performance figures for November and December 2005. The murder rate was the lowest for a decade; the overall recorded crime rate had fallen below 1 million for the first time in five years and the sanction detection rate had nearly doubled. There were, however, continuing concerns about robbery and gun/knife crime although the rate of increase appeared to be slowing.

Members asked for information to be provided about particular issues as follows:

Peter Herbert asked for details of:

• the amount of money paid in 2005 as a result of civil actions compared to 2004
• the number of complaints compared to 2004
• whether there has been a settlement of the Dwayne Brooks case

Peter Herbert also asked for information as to why race hate crimes had increased significantly in Haringey (up 55%) and Hillingdon (up 23%) and the reasons for the increase in Trident incidents in Hackney.

Kirsten Hearn asked for information about the number of cases of homophobic abuse between MPS police officers/staff and how these are dealt with.

Rachel Whittaker asked to see the protocol addressing the respective roles of Family Liaison Officers and Victim Support.

Cindy Butts congratulated the MPS on the arrests in connection with the murder of Tom ap Rhys Pryce. She pointed out however that during that week there had been seven other murders in London which had not received the same amount of media coverage. She hoped that investigations were not based on the amount of media focus and asked how the MPS achieved a proportionate response. The Commissioner responded that the MPS devoted the same level of resources to all murder cases proportionate to their complexity. What was different was how the media reported them. Compared to some high profile cases the media did not appear to be interested in murders in minority communities – the murder of Damilola Taylor being an exception – and in his view this amounted to institutional racism. Cindy Butts remained concerned about differing accounts of the way in which decisions about the allocation of resources to investigate homicides were arrived at and the Commissioner offered to meet her to explore her concerns in more detail.

85. Review of the way the MPA conducts its business

(Agenda item 8)

The Authority considered a report by the Chief Executive proposing, amongst other things, changes to the MPA’s committee structure. The Chief Executive commented on the importance of developing the full Authority meetings, for example by focusing in turn on the individual business group areas of the MPS Management Board.

Referring to the proposed demise of the Human Resources Committee, Rachel Whittaker hoped that strategic monitoring would continue through the workforce monitoring portfolio and the Co-ordination & Policing Committee. It was important, however, that the ability to commission formal papers continued. She suggested that the portfolio linkages between workforce modernisation and Remuneration Sub-Committee and between community engagement and the Authority Deputy Chair position might not always be the case in the future. She also asked for agreement for the Human Resources Committee to hold a final meeting in April to wind up its business. The Commissioner thanked Rachel Whittaker for her work as Chair of the Human Resources Committee.

Kirsten Hearn observed that as committees developed their annual work plans they should ensure that these included equalities objectives.

There was some discussion around the different roles of portfolio holders lead members and link members. The principle of portfolios was supported but appointments to portfolios were deferred to the March meeting, together with consideration of lead and appropriate link member appointments.

RESOLVED – That

1. the committee structure proposed in paragraph 3 of the report be adopted;
2. the proposal to appoint portfolio holders as set out in paragraphs 4 to 9 be agreed. The Authority will consider further the question of which portfolios to appoint;
3. a proposed calendar of meetings be submitted to the Authority meeting in February meeting;
4. detailed committee terms of reference etc be reported to the meeting of the Authority in March, at which meeting all necessary appointments will be made so that the new structure can be implemented from April 2006;
5. the April meeting of the Human Resources Committee go ahead to wind up its business; and
6. a report be brought to the full Authority on link and lead member roles.

86. Community engagement to counter terrorism

(Agenda item 9)

The Authority considered a report by the Chief Executive on the outcomes of the Together Against Terror event in December and proposing a programme of future community engagement.

The officers involved, Andy Hull and Hamida Ali in particular, were congratulated on this successful event. There were some reservations about the proposal for the MPA to deliver its own programme of community engagement events in relation to terrorism and counter terrorism. Proposals would be brought to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee but there needed to be clarity about what such a programme would achieve and the rational for this to be delivered by the MPA rather than the MPS. The MPA could have a role, for instance, in developing standards for MPS community engagement. It was also agreed that a report should be brought to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee at the same time on the MPA’s overall community engagement strategy so that the counter-terrorism proposals can be considered in context.

Kirsten Hearn commended the event for enabling feedback from disabled people. A seminar was to be held on 16 March about resilience planning and disability and she invited the Commissioner to attend.

Richard Barnes expressed concern about the specific reference to the Muslim community in recommendation 2 of the report as he considered that this continued to make them separate and different to other minority communities. The Chief Executive responded that much thought had been given to this recommendation and on balance it was decided to include reference to the Muslim community because there were specific concerns.

Peter Herbert suggested that the MPS’s learning on engaging with communities about terrorism could usefully be shared with other forces and countries, especially in relation to dealing with transient populations and cross-border travel.

John Roberts asked that statistics on Section 44 Stops be released on a borough-by-borough basis. The Commissioner responded that there were security concerns about releasing information about counter-terrorism patrols but he would give some consideration to this.

RESOLVED – That

1. The Metropolitan Police Service make publicly available as much factual information as possible on the scale and nature of the terrorist threat, on how the police are responding to it and on how the public can help;
2. The MPS increase its outreach work at grassroots level, in particular with students and teachers in schools, universities and colleges, with small businesses, and with women and young people in Muslim and other communities. In doing so there is a need to develop a standard against which such work can be assessed;
3. The MPA commission a report back to its July 2006 meeting on MPS implementation of these recommendations and on MPS progress towards building its capacity and capability to prevent and respond to terrorism;
4. Proposals be brought to Co-ordination & Policing Committee for the MPA to deliver its own distinct, related but independent programme of community engagement in relation to terrorism and counter-terrorism. A report should be brought to the committee at the same time on the MPA’s community engagement strategy generally, so far the proposals can be considered in context; and
5. The MPA continue to use events such as the ‘Together Against Terror?’ conference to facilitate constructive civic debate on policing issues of major public concern.

87. Review of Mayoral powers and responsibilities

(Agenda item 10)

The Authority considered a report by the Chief Executive on consultation by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) on additional powers and responsibilities for the Mayor and Assembly.

It was recognised that the Police and Justice Bill had implications for the Authority in this area and that there was a need to work with the Association of Police Authorities on matters of joint concern.

The following points were made in the discussion:

• The view that the Authority should continue to appoint its own Chair. The Chair should, at least, be appointed from amongst the MPA membership and should be confirmed by the Authority as an indication that s/he enjoyed the confidence of the Authority’s membership
• That the Mayor should not be given powers of direction. This would effectively bypass the Authority’s membership on key issues, making it difficult for the Authority to add value to policing. There is also a matter of principle that it is not appropriate for the Mayor to give directions to an Authority where the majority of members are elected and therefore have a democratic mandate
• No issues raised in respect of extending the provisions of S.17 of the Crime and Disorder Act to the GLA
• The Commissioner suggested that the response could also express doubts about the need for the Government Office for London’s continued role in community safety

RESOLVED – That

1. The Chief Executive be authorised to finalise the response in discussion with the Chair, following the draft response being copied to all members; and
2. If feasible, a joint response be made with the MPS.

88. Deferred items

The reports on Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Update (item 11) and MPS Involvement in Local Area Agreements (item 12) were deferred to a future meeting, at which time the Authority would also consider a report on the Government’s review of the Crime and Disorder Act. Members were invited to make any comments in respect of the MPA’s role on CDRPs by email.

The meeting ended at 1.10 p.m.

Send an e-mail linking to this page

Feedback