Safer Neighbourhoods update

Report: 6
Date: 30 March 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report deals with the current position in respect of the Safer Neighbourhoods programme, its aims and the limits within which it operates. The report also deals with PCSO recruitment and the financial and resource implications created by the rollout of a major change in policing style.

A. Recommendation

1. That the Authority notes the rationale for the Safer Neighbourhoods Programme; its objectives and the limitations of its mission.
2. That the Authority notes the current position in respect of the rollout of Safer Neighbourhoods teams in every local authority ward in London.

B. Supporting information

Purpose of Safer Neighbourhoods teams

1. The Safer Neighbourhoods (SN) programme is being introduced against a background of reductions in crime across a range of crime types over the last few years. However, the public have reported higher rates of fear and insecurity in neighbourhoods across London. The implementation of safer neighbourhoods is intended to reassure the public by tackling their priorities, reducing anti-social behaviour and providing visible patrol. It is essential that the focus of such local priorities does not lead to a reversal of the successes in reducing priority crime. This is the context in which the programme objectives and limits should be read.

2. The SN teams provide a visible, accessible and familiar uniformed police presence within a defined neighbourhood. At this stage of development the 624 local authority wards are being used as the basis for defining neighbourhoods. In due course this will be amended in line with clearly defined neighbourhoods. An example is the Crystal Palace SN team which serves one neighbourhood but sits across four borough boundaries.

3. The essence of the SN programme is the principle of working closely with all sections of the community and with partner agencies to identify and implement lasting solutions to neighbourhood concerns. In order to achieve this, the teams operate to a defined problem solving process, the stages of which include consultation, analysis, priority setting, response and subsequent assessment of the response. The emphasis is on accountability to communities, which is overseen through neighbourhood panels.

4. In order effectively to be able to consult and engage their communities, SN teams have a particular responsibility for identifying all communities within their neighbourhoods and finding ways in which to reach all these communities. They receive training and ongoing assistance to carry out this function.

5. The members of SN teams are expected to have a good knowledge of crime trends and indeed specific crimes within their areas. They may be asked to assist with aspects of a crime enquiry, which is being managed by other officers. However, they are not directly tasked with investigations (see limitations below).

Limitations on the Safer Neighbourhoods mission

6. It has been stated that the SN programme is about the frontline delivery of local policing by officers who are visible, identifiable and accessible to the communities at a neighbourhood level. However, it is important to note that there are certain limits to the role in order to ensure that the primary objective is achievable.

7. The SN teams are not designed to deliver a 24-hour first-line response service; that remains the task of other teams working at borough level on a rolling shift pattern. In addition, they are not routinely used as primary response to crime investigations, although they may have a role within certain enquiries and should have a working knowledge of significant, ongoing investigations. It is the case that Senior Investigating Officers in charge of major investigations are encouraged to consult the teams in respect of Community Impact Assessments or for local knowledge. In addition, they have a clear role in relation to community reassurance following incidents with potentially significant community consequences. This was evident in the aftermath of the central London bombings last summer.

8. The officers on the SN teams are ‘ring-fenced’, in that they are protected from abstraction to other duties such as routine demonstrations on their boroughs or beyond or for local crime tasking away from their defined neighbourhoods, either for uniformed patrolling or as a plain clothes task force. Furthermore, they are not to be used to backfill vacancies elsewhere in the Service. While it is true that this abstraction policy carries with it a caveat in relation to a major disaster response, it does not prevent SN officers from being used on three stated major public order duties: Notting Hill Carnival: New Year’s Eve celebrations and May Day events.

Performance regime, linkage with current plans and performance targets

9. The SN programme will see the introduction of 625 dedicated teams across London by April 2006. The commitment of this level of resources demands a robust performance measurement framework. Such a framework must take account of the specific elements of the programme’s mission which include: providing a visible, reassuring presence tackling those issues that, through joint working ultimately lead to greater satisfaction with policing, increased trust and confidence and a reduction in the fear of crime.

10. The performance monitoring mechanism must therefore be wide-ranging and carried out at various levels. The first criterion of success is the satisfaction of local communities in the service being provided. To this end, a range of measures is used: local surveys, feedback from local partners, Key Individual Networks and public meetings.

11. As teams are measured locally and objectively on their performance, there is also a need to monitor performance at a more strategic level. The MPS Strategic Research Unit achieves this through Public Attitude Surveys, pan-London crime and incident statistics and in-depth evaluation. The central Safer Neighbourhoods Unit has a function in respect of performance monitoring and support. This is achieved through regular meetings with all SN team leaders, supportive visits, regular communications and measurement against a tiered delivery plan. Furthermore, teams and individual team leaders have performance targets based on the PSA1 crime types. These targets are negotiated according to the prevailing volume crime types in a given neighbourhood. This provides recognition that the teams, while working with local communities, retain an obligation to contribute to overall crime reduction.

Best practice and dissemination

12. On the basis of having 625 teams working across one of the largest and most diverse cities in the world it is fair to say that ideas and innovative practice will emerge frequently. There is a need to identify and disseminate good practice where it is shown to be transferable. By way of an example, one team in south London (Chessington), responding to the requirement to be identifiable and contactable, negotiated agreement with local estate agents for an insert in new residents’ welcome packs giving full details of the SN team. This simple, effective method is being shared with all other teams through the regular team leaders’ meetings run by the central Unit.

13. The teams all operate the MPS problem solving process for which a specific recording mechanism has been designed. A library of good practice, as contained within these records, is being created on the SN intranet site, accessed by all the teams.

14. At a recent conference organised jointly by the MPS and MPA, the 2006 award for innovative approaches to problem solving were announced. A short list of fourteen nominations resulted in the winners and the runners up showcasing their initiatives at the conference. The opportunity to recognise good practice in this way rewards those teams that develop the good practice as well as generating a mechanism for identifying and disseminating examples.

Progress with programme rollout

15. All borough commanders have been briefed regarding the commitment to provide teams in all neighbourhoods by April 2006. The SN training is being delivered as a priority to teams leaders and will ultimately be delivered to all team members.

16. BOCUs working together with the central unit are currently identifying the existing staff to create the remaining teams before the April target. Regular updates are being provided to the Authority on the progress of the rollout.

Progress with PCSO recruitment

17. The MPS is on target to recruit 2339 PCSOs by the end of the current financial year. This figure includes the TfL allocation as well as those employed on the Security Zones. It is anticipated that a further 1500 PCSOs will be recruited during 2006/2007.

18. As a consequence of the requirement for continuity in the SN role, there is a need to maximise retention of staff. The PCSOs are given a clear tenure on entering the Service in a Safer Neighbourhoods role. They are subject to whole-team performance measures, which recognises the vital contribution they make to the success of the teams.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The point has already been made that the SN programme is built on the principles of consultation and engagement. There is recognition that for this process to be meaningful, communities must be understood in their complexity and diversity. This understanding necessitates a broad and imaginative approach to the task of identifying and reaching all sections of the community. The fact that this principle is so definitively inscribed in the programme provides genuine impetus to the stated intention of the MPS to deliver an excellent service to all those it serves.

2. There are existing requirements to carry out Community Impact Assessments in connection with major incidents and investigations. The SN teams provide a valuable resource to make these assessments even more accurate. Furthermore the teams themselves offer a mechanism for addressing issues arising out of the impact assessments. This was seen in operation following the bombings of July 2005.

3. There is effective integration of the Safer Neighbourhoods programme with the Citizen Focus agenda and work continues centrally to develop community engagement toolkits to assist the SN teams to undertake effective consultation.

D. Financial implications

1. It is a statement of the obvious but the allocation of resources to the SN programme is an indication of the commitment to Safer Neighbourhoods at the highest levels. While the programme itself directly affects 1/7 of the MPS resources, it is fair to say that the programme affects every area of the organisation; training and the MPS estate are just two obvious affected areas.

2. The programme has been made possible through substantial funding support from partners, notably the GLA and the MPA. In addition, local authority partners have demonstrated their firm commitment to the programme with financial contributions, which together exceed £8 million. Other partners are also providing financial support through the purchase of teams or supplementary resources for teams; an example here would by the Heart of London Business Improvement District. This is an aspect of the programme that is likely to develop significantly in the future as the teams have the potential to provide a hub for the delivery of a range of public service at the neighbourhood level.

3. In recognising the impact the programme will have on the Service and in acknowledging the contributions – present and future – from partners, it will be necessary to ensure that Safer Neighbourhoods evolves in the context of public service delivery through partnership working. There are significant opportunities with mixed teams and through innovative partnerships within the public sector and beyond to make the Safer Neighbourhoods teams the focal point of locally accountable service delivery.

4. The next two to three years will see the bedding in of the biggest single change to the MPS since its formation in 1829. This change process is being managed through a clear programme management structure with direct oversight at the level of Management Board. There is a central Unit which has within its remit the delivery of the programme as well as the ongoing support of the teams which, by dint of the work they do, will require expert guidance and support across a wide spectrum including: problem solving, tackling ASB, working in partnership, youth related matters, community engagement and media and communications.

5. Much of this report has focused on the delivery of a standard 1-2-3 model. However, this is clearly a first step on what will be an evolving programme. Future developments should see team sizes increasing in those neighbourhoods where there is particular need. In addition, the refinement of neighbourhood definition will affect the current spread of teams. The MPS is actively developing the mechanisms – such as the National Intelligence Model – which will be used to inform the development of the programme.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Stephen Bloomfield Chief Superintendent

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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