Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 29 January 2009 at Chamber, City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London, SE1 2AA.

Present

Members

• Kit Malthouse (Vice Chairman in the Chair)
• Jennette Arnold
• Reshard Auladin
• Faith Boardman
• Chris Boothman
• Victoria Borwick
• Valerie Brasse
• Cindy Butts
• James Cleverly
• Dee Doocey
• Len Duvall
• Toby Harris
• Kirsten Hearn
• Neil Johnson
• Jenny Jones
• Clive Lawton
• Steve O’Connell
• Caroline Pidgeon
• Deborah Regal
• Graham Speed
• Richard Tracey

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
• Ken Hunt (Treasurer)
• Jane Harwood (Assistant Chief Executive)
• Nick Baker (Head of Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Sir Paul Stephenson (Deputy Commissioner)
• Tim Godwin (Acting Deputy Commissioner)
• Anne McMeel (Director of Resources)

65. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Boris Johnson (Chairman) and Joanne McCartney. In the absence of the Chairman, Kit Malthouse chaired the meeting.

66. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

67. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Members considered the minutes of the Authority meetings held on 13 November 2008 Part 1 and 2 (Extraordinary meeting) and 27 November 2008.

Resolved – That the minutes of the Authority meetings held on 13 November 2008 Part 1 and 2 (Extraordinary meeting) and 27 November 2008 be agreed and be signed as a correct record.

68. Vice Chairman's update

(Agenda item 4)

The Vice Chairman provided members with a brief update on issues and events since the Authority meeting. These included:

• The appointment of the new Commissioner (see minute 71).
• MPA members’ attendance at a number of briefings including: the MPS budget process; Baby ‘P’; Learning from the Rachel Nickel investigation; MPA Estates Strategy; and the emerging MPA strategic framework.
• Member attendance at the APA Plenary.
• A launch of the next stage of Operation Tyrol.
• The MPA Race and Faith Inquiry had now started to meet and was taking evidence.
• Resulting from the conclusion of the Stockwell Scrutiny and the Coroner having written to the MPA and MPS, the reconvening of the MPA Scrutiny Panel to consider the Coroner’s letter and to make a response.
• Following discussion at the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee, a new team to deal with the dangerous dogs’ problem, developing a multi agency approach with key partners including the RSPCC and magistrates.

Resolved – That the report be received.

69. Update on the Policing London Business Plan

(Agenda item 5)

The Authority considered an update report on the Policing London Business Plan 2009-12. In conjunction with the circulated report, members received an addendum report, which provided further details since the Plan was last discussed by the Authority (at the Strategic and Policing Committee on 8 January 2009) .

The Chairman informed members that work on the plan would continue with the aim being for a joint meeting of the Strategic and Operational Policing and Finance and Resources Committees on 5 March 2009 to finalise the Plan and the Authority to ratify the Plan at its meeting at the end of March. He added that members were invited to forward comments on the Plan to officers.

Some members asked for clarification of whether a reduction in devolved budgets would lead to a reduction in front line policing. Further comments were made on the possibility that a reduction of devolved budgets could lead to a reduction in police staff with the possibility of PCSO or special constables covering this work.

The Acting Deputy Commissioner confirmed that any reductions would need to be both achievable and sustainable and not affect front line policing. He added local borough commanders have flexibility in their budgets any reductions would not necessarily be people or posts.

In noting the Acting Deputy Commissioner’s comment, members suggested that the impact of any reductions needed to be monitored through the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee.

Members suggested that the Plan should provide assurances around those policing services funded by boroughs, avoiding reductions that would impact on the policing of human trafficking and road traffic policing. Members also asked that as part of the development of the Plan discussions take place with the Home Office on those areas where matched funding was promised but had not materialised.

Members also discussed the need for borough commanders to be supported in the delivery of policing in their boroughs, particularly in ensuring that they had a say in establishment of their senior management team. The Acting Deputy Commissioner informed members that borough commanders are allocated mentoring support and highlighted support provided around financial decision making.

The Commissioner stated that a balanced decision needed to be taken with regard to what was deliverable, with the aim of cutting crime. He also agreed with some members that police officer numbers alone should not be used when measuring performance.

Resolved - That Members note the progress on the development of the draft Policing London Business Plan 2009-12.

70. Commissioner’s report

(Agenda item 6)

The Commissioner presented a report that summarised the progress of the MPS against the objectives featured in the 2008-2011 Policing Plan for London. The report covered a period between October and December 2008 with data for individual measures reflecting the 12-month period ending November 2008.

In drawing members’ attention to the areas of success outlined in the report the Commissioner also raised a number of other issues.

The Commissioner confirmed that, while there was an increase in reports of domestic violence, there was an increase in the sanction detection rate. He suggested that the increase in reported incidents could be a result of greater confidence in reporting of this crime. However, the MPS continued to work as part of a multi agency approach to deal with this crime. In regard to rape, again there was an increase in reporting of crimes which could also be a result of an increase in confidence of reporting incidents. However, these increases are an area of concern for the MPS and one that they remained focused on.

The decrease in residential burglary was welcomed. The Commissioner, however, felt that the economic downturn required the MPS to be prepared for further challenges in this area. He confirmed that Operation Spotlight continued and added that burglary had a profound effect on victims and was carried out by a small, but prolific, group of people. He added that ongoing work with those imprisoned for of burglary and due for release continued in order to prevent them from reoffending.

The Commissioner also suggested that the economic downturn could have an impact on business crime. In preparation for this the Commissioner informed members of proposals for policing town centres and on-going work and initiatives with the business community.

The Commissioner confirmed that Operation Blunt would continue and that to date it had been effective, with good community support for the initiative.

In relation to public order, the Commissioner highlighted two recent events; New Year celebrations and demonstrations following the conflict in Gaza. The Commissioner stated that there had been less officers deployed at the New Year celebrations, but an increase in arrests and that he would be raising his concerns with the Mayor. Regarding the demonstrations following the conflict in Gaza, the Commissioner confirmed that the policing of these demonstrations had cost in the region of £2.6m. Whilst the demonstrations had been largely peaceful, he did have concerns about subsequent increases in hate crime. The increase was small, but needed to be taken seriously. The Commissioner agreed to circulate details of the cost of policing these demonstrations to members.

At the invitation of the Commissioner, the Acting Deputy Commissioner provided members with an update on Operation Tyrol (policing of transport hubs). This included an 18% reduction in crime for the first three months that they had been in place and that 15 key town centres were to have dedicated teams. He suggested that further information on this operation could be given to the Authority as a future member briefing.

A number of questions and concerns were raised with the Commissioner on Operation Blunt and in particular relating to the stop and search process. Some members felt that the wrong section of the law was being used for stop and search and that the MPS needed to review this. Members felt that in some cases stop and searches were not being done in an appropriate manner and that there was a need for officers to be properly trained to avoid unnecessary negative encounters between the police and individuals who were stopped. Some members acknowledged that whilst stop and search was a vital tool in delivering success for Operation Blunt, inappropriate use of Section 60 could lead to a negative response from the community. Members also suggested that in relation to knife crime and particularly Operation Blunt lessons learnt from Operation Trident could prove highly beneficial.

In response, the Commissioner stated that he would support the monitoring of Section 60 stops and searches. He confirmed the MPS did take the possibility of negative encounters during a stop and search seriously and that training of officers included this aspect. The Commissioner agreed that applied learning from Operation Trident should be looked at in relation to knife crime.

The Chairman invited members to observe Operation Blunt.

Members suggested that there was scope for the MPS to develop a better analysis of why there was an increase in domestic violence and rape. The Commissioner agreed there was a need for further research on this matter and added that no assumptions should be made as to why there was an increase. He suggested that there was a need for a high level of consistent investigation into the increase and that once this had been completed its findings should be presented to the Authority.

Members asked the Commissioner about current victim satisfaction levels. He stated that whilst satisfaction had generally improved there was still more work to be done. He added that this would be taken forward as part of the recently launched ‘policing pledge’.

The Commissioner added that the MPS continued to police London with the consent of its communities and that work continued to be undertaken with the all of London’s communities. However, he acknowledged that there was a challenge to ensure that people with disabilities were not left behind; particularly around access issues and that those with mental health issues were not excluded either as victims or perpetrators of crimes. He noted members’ reference to a report about disabled hate crimes entitled ‘Getting away with murder’ and in doing so, reassured members that hate crime was taken seriously by the MPS.

Members asked about the resources issue and resilience arising from the investigation into the death of Baby P. The Acting Deputy Commissioner, confirmed that this issue needed to be impact assessed and that the MPS awaited the outcomes of a review that would identify any gaps in provision. These outcomes were expected by late March.

Those issues that the Deputy Commissioner took an undertaking to report back to members have been circulated in the form of an addendum report and are appended to these minutes at Appendix 1.

Resolved – That the report be received.

71. Commissioner appointment - update

(Agenda item 7)

The Chief Executive confirmed that following a series of interviews that had included an MPA panel of members, the Home Secretary had announced that Sir Paul Stephenson had been appointed Commissioner of the Metropolis.

The Chairman and members congratulated Sir Paul on his appointment and stated that they looked forward to working with him in the coming years.

72. Reports form committee

(Agenda item 8)

The Authority received a report outlining key issues that had been debated at recent Authority Committee meetings. The report covered the following meetings:

• Finance and Resources Committee - 20 November 2008
• Strategic and Policing Committee - 4 December 2008
• Corporate Governance Committee - 8 December 2008
• Finance and Resources Committee - 18 December 2008
• Strategic and Policing Committee- 8 January 2009
• Communities, Equalities and People Committee- 15 January 2009

Resolved - That the report be received.

73. External Audit Annual Audit letter 2007/08

(Agenda item 9)

Following consideration by the a Corporate Governance Committee, members received the annual audit letter for 2007/08 from the District Auditor.

The Chairman of the Corporate Governance Committee in commending the letter to the Authority added that this had been the most positive letter to date that the Authority had received.

Resolved – That the report be received.

74. Appointment to the Standards Committee

(Agenda item 10)

Following Dee Doocey’s the resignation from the Standards Committee, a replacement nomination was sought.

Resolved – That the Chief Executive be delegated to seek a replacement to fill the current vacancy.

75. Action taken under delegated authority

(Agenda item 11)

Members received a report that provided them with details of action taken by the Chief Executive under delegated authority.

Resolved – That the report be received.

The meeting closed at 12:00 pm

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