Community Engagement to counter terrorism (3)

Report: 8a
Date: 27 July 2006
By: Chief Executive and Clerk

Summary

This report provides an update for members on progress made in delivering the MPA’s agreed programme of community engagement to counter terrorism.

A. Recommendation

That Members note the progress made in delivering the MPA’s agreed programme of community engagement to counter terrorism.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. On 12 December 2005 the MPA held a community conference, entitled ‘Together Against Terror?’

2. A report of this conference, entitled ‘Community engagement to counter terrorism (1)’ was tabled at the 26 January 2006 Metropolitan Police Authority meeting. This report included recommendations for both the MPS and MPA, all of which were approved.

3. In response to a recommendation in that report, a set of proposals for a further MPA programme of community engagement to counter terrorism was put before the 3 March 2006 Co-ordination and Policing Committee meeting in a report entitled ‘Community engagement to counter terrorism (2)’. This set of proposals was approved, with the exception of the proposed film documentary, which was retracted.

4. The present report, entitled ‘Community engagement to counter terrorism (3)’, will be tabled at the 27 July 2006 Metropolitan Police Authority meeting. This report consists in an update from the MPS on its progress towards implementation of the recommendations approved in January, and an update from the MPA on its progress towards implementation of the recommendation approved in March.

Programme outline

5. The MPA programme of community engagement to counter terrorism, approved in March, has the following five strands:

• Six hearings with specific sections of London society.
• Six focus groups with students in London universities and colleges.
• Thirty-two local consultations – one in each London Borough.
• An analysis of qualitative data received from the public via the MPA website.
• A publication, featuring contributions from practitioners, commentators and community representatives.

6. This programme of activity, taken as a whole, is entitled ‘Counter-Terrorism: The London Debate’. It is to be completed by the end of the calendar year 2006.

7. An update follows for members’ benefit on progress made so far with regard to each of these individual strands of work, and with the programme overall. This update focuses exclusively on process, rather than outcome: it is too early to draw useful conclusions from this activity or to hazard guesses at findings which are only now beginning to emerge.

Hearings

8. A panel, comprising three MPA members and expert guest panellists, is listening to and questioning representatives of different sections of London society, before an audience of their peers, regarding their experience of terrorism and counter-terrorism. The three MPA members on this panel are Lord Toby Harris (Home Secretary’s appointee to the MPA), who is chairing the panel, Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair of the MPA and Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement) and Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair of the MPA and Portfolio Holder for Counter-Terrorism). They have been joined by one guest panellist so far, Daniel Sandford (BBC Home Affairs Correspondent). Confirmed future guest panellists include: Professor Tariq Ramadan (Oxford University), Shami Chakrabarti (Liberty), Rob Watson and Frank Gardner (BBC Security Correspondents).

9. At each hearing, a senior MPS officer adopts the role of respondent, giving an initial response on behalf of the MPS to the questions and issues raised both by the panel and by the community representatives in attendance. Sir Ian Blair (Commissioner) played this role at the first hearing. Steve House (Assistant Commissioner, Serious Crime) did so at the second hearing. The following MPS officers will fulfil this role at the remaining four hearings: Rose Fitzpatrick (Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Diversity and Citizen Focus), Tarique Ghaffur (Assistant Commissioner, Central Operations), and Andy Hayman (Assistant Commissioner, Specialist Operations).

10. The dates of the hearings are as follows:

• 29 June – young people
• 6 July – local government, business and tourism
• 7 September – faith groups
• 5 October – women
• 16 November – Asian men
• 7 December – police and government

11. The rationale for the selection of these sections of London society was laid out in the 3 March 2006 report to the Co-ordination and Policing Committee and supplemented by members’ suggestions at that meeting.

12. Each of these hearings takes place at 5.30pm for 6pm until 8pm in Meeting Room 1 of the MPA, 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

13. The hearings are invitation-only. All MPA members have been invited to attend. Please let Sally Benton know if you plan to come.

Focus groups

14. We have written to the Vice-Chancellor (or equivalent) of six tertiary education institutions in London asking them if they are willing to host a focus group on terrorism, counter-terrorism, terrorist recruitment and radicalisation, with students from that institution and/or nearby Higher and Further Education institutions. The six institutions to which we have written are: Queen Mary University (east), St George’s Medical School (south), Brunel University (west), London Metropolitan University (north), London School of Economics (central) and Birkbeck College (central).

15. So far, LSE and Queen Mary University have replied. Both have agreed to host an MPA focus group with students at their campus. The date and time for the focus group at LSE has been set.

16. These focus groups will be MPA officer-led.

Local consultations

17. We have written to all Community Police Consultative Groups (or equivalents) in London, asking them to table counter-terrorism as an agenda item at one of their ordinary meetings in 2006. This letter was accompanied by some guidance as to how to frame the discussion, and the offer from the MPS of a Specialist Operations affiliate with counter-terrorism expertise to attend each local meeting.

18. So far, the following dates have been set:

• Richmond – 25 July
• Harrow – 18 September
• Kingston-upon-Thames – 18 September
• Islington – 12 October
• Newham – 9 November

19. All other such dates will be scheduled for after 1 August, including Hillingdon, who initially asked for a date in July which was not possible for MPS Specialist Operations.

20. All MPA Link Members are encouraged to attend these CPCG (or equivalent) meeting(s) in their Link Borough(s) when they occur. From now on, Link Members will be notified as each borough’s date is scheduled.

Qualitative data

21. We accompanied the ‘Together Against Terror?’ conference on 12 December 2005 with an online questionnaire on the MPA website. 500+ responses were received. At the time, we analysed the quantitative data this questionnaire generated, and presented it at the conference itself and in the report which followed. The piece of work yet to be performed is the analysis of the qualitative side of these responses – that is the comment and opinion featured in people’s submissions in the free-text boxes we provided on the questionnaire. This strand of work is yet to be progressed.

Publication

22. The aim is to produce a publication featuring ten or so different perspectives on the terrorist threat and counter-terrorist response in London. Sir Ian Blair (Commissioner, MPS) and Susan Hemming (Head of the Counter-Terrorism Division, Crown Prosecution Service) have so far agreed to contribute articles. Suggestions are sought from members for people whom we might profitably approach to contribute.

Reporting

23. A report, with recommendations, will be written in January 2007, in which we shall collate and analyse the findings of all of these five strands of activity. This report will be tabled at the 22 February 2007 Metropolitan Police Authority meeting. This meeting will be given over entirely to the theme of counter-terrorism.

Media

24. To-date this programme of work has been covered by, amongst others, BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme, BBC2’s Newsnight, BBC London, Guardian Unlimited and the Press Association. A dedicated communications strategy for the programme is in place, and significant further media interest is expected.

International

25. A possible European dimension to this work is emerging. An MPA/MPS delegation went to Brussels on 10 and 11 May 2006 to see what prominence is afforded to community engagement in a counter-terrorism context in other European countries, and to hear about and contribute to current thinking on counter-terrorist strategy in the European Commission, Parliament and Council. Whilst there, a potential source of substantial future funding for community engagement to counter terrorism in London was identified. These avenues of policy development, including the possibility of an MPA bid for European funding in 2007, are being further investigated by Sally Benton in partnership with the MPS.

C. Race and equality impact

1. This is an update report. The equality and diversity implications of this programme of activity were covered in some detail in the preceding report to Co-ordination and Policing Committee on 3 March 2006. To recapitulate: the current programme deliberately puts especial but not exclusive emphasis upon consulting sections of London society which either have been insufficiently consulted in the past or which are disproportionately affected by terrorism and counter-terrorism in the capital.

2. It seems noteworthy that, in approaching young Londoners from every community to attend the first of our hearings last month, we observed a much higher level of interest in attending amongst young Muslims than amongst other young people. As a result, despite our initial advertisements and invitations to young people from all London communities, the audience which attended this hearing was disproportionately Muslim. There are various possible explanations for this, one of which may be that young Muslim Londoners are exercised by these issues more than their non-Muslim peers.

D. Financial implications

A budget was assigned to this programme of work, as per the costings approved by the Co-ordination and Policing Committee on 3 March 2006. Expenditure to-date is in line with that budget. All costs are thus being met from within existing MPA resources.

E. Background papers

• ‘Community Engagement to Counter Terrorism (1)’,Full Authority, 26 January 2006
• ‘Community Engagement to Counter Terrorism (2)’, Co-ordination and Policing Committee, 3 March 2006

F. Contact details

Report author: Andy Hull, Community Engagement Officer and Sally Benton, Corporate Information Officer, MPA

For more information contact:

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

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