Commissioner’s report

Report: 5
Date: 22 July 2010
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report summarises recent performance in the MPS, as well as operations and initiatives designed to tackle crime and make London safer.

It is intended to update MPA members and give a high-level, strategic view of the work of the MPS. It highlights the Commissioner’s operational priorities of improving public confidence, tackling serious violence and serious youth violence, delivering value for money policing, ensuring a safe and secure Olympics and countering terrorism.

The performance figures referred to throughout are those for April to May 2010, the latest available before the deadline for submitting this report.

A. Recommendations

The report be received.

B. Supporting information

1. The following paragraphs offer Members a summary of recent performance within the MPS. The performance data referred to below is for April-May 2010 compared to April-May 2009. This is the most recently available data at the time of writing. At the Full Authority meeting, the Commissioner will be able to update members on performance in June 2010.

2. The report also makes reference to the emerging financial situation facing the MPS following the Chancellor’s announcement of a 25% reduction over four years to the Home Office budget. While it is not yet clear precisely how much of this reduction will come from police budgets, it is clear that this will be the most difficult financial challenge we have ever faced as a police service.

Confidence

3. The Home Secretary announced on 29 June that the single Confidence measure and the Policing Pledge would be scrapped with immediate effect. The MPS is currently in discussion with the MPA about our response to that announcement. The Commissioner will be able to provide more details at the Full Authority meeting.

4. Delivering safety and confidence remain clear priorities for the Commissioner. The MPS must improve public confidence by increasing its presence on the streets, being intolerant of violence in all its forms and convincing communities we are on their side.

Performance

Total Notifiable Offences

5. Total Notifiable Offences (TNOs) in the first two months of 2010/11 (April & May) were down -0.3% on the same period last year. As the Commissioner stated at the last session of the MPA Full Authority, that equates to 447 fewer offences, but means total crime is broadly stable. It is the lowest number of TNOs in April-May since 1998.

Serious Acquisitive Crime

6. Serious Acquisitive Crime (robbery, motor vehicle crime and residential burglary) continues to fall overall. It was down -2.3% in April-May 2010 compared to 2009 - equating to 752 fewer offences.

7. Within Serious Acquisitive Crime, robbery continues to present a challenge, going up by 361 offences (+6.1%) in April-May 2010 compared to the same period last year. The reduction target for 2010/11 is 3.0%. The MPS is closely monitoring the recent rise in knife-enabled robberies and has put plans in place early on to tackle it. An intelligence-led approach is being used, focussing on geographic crime hotspot areas and high risk offenders.

8. There were 887 fewer residential burglary offences in April-May 2010 compared to the same period last year, a reduction of -9.2%. This exceeds the end of year target of -4.0%. Over the last 6 years we have reduced the number of residential burglaries by 10.8%

9. There were 226 fewer motor vehicle crime offences in April-May 2010 (-1.3%) compared to the same period in 2009.

Most Serious Violence

10. As reported last month, Most Serious Violence (MSV) (all homicides, attempted murder, wounding, GBH and causing death by dangerous driving) remains on a downward trend, with 523 fewer offences in April-May 2010 compared to 2009, a reduction of -23.2%. The target for reducing MSV in 2010/11 is -4.0%.

11. Of this reduction, a large part can be attributed to a reduction in MSV where a knife is used - down -15.5% or 97 fewer offences. While this is clearly good news it is important to stress that these figures represent only two months of the financial year. MSV continues to be a key priority for the MPS.

12. Overall, knife crime is up by 101 offences (+4.6%) in April-May 2010 compared to 2009. While ‘MSV where a knife is used’ and ‘offences where a knife has been used to injure’ are both down, knife enabled robberies have risen, contributing to this overall rise. In recent years knife enabled robberies have accounted for approximately 1 in 5 of all robbery offences.

13. Gun crime also remains of serious concern to the MPS. There have been 16 additional gun crime offences in April-May 2010 compared to last year (an increase of +3.0%). Robberies with a gun have been responsible for that increase. It should be noted that the low volume of gun crimes mean that percentages can fluctuate greatly from month to month.

14. The MPS is making significant efforts to reduce gun crime in conjunction with broader efforts to reduce violence. Bespoke Trident plans are in place for specific Boroughs; Operation Verano is targeting extra resources based on intelligence; SCD7 is focussing on tackling the supply of firearms; and the media is being used proactively to increase public understanding, provide reassurance and encourage information.

Serious Youth Violence

15. Serious youth violence (SYV) was up by 118 victims (+9.9%) in April-May 2010 compared to last year. Tackling SYV and youth homicide remains a key priority for the Commissioner.

16. To keep young people safe, we continue to maintain our tactical focus through the umbrella of Operation Verano, which includes the Blunt 2 taskforce, Operation Protect, Safer Schools officers, Safer Transport Teams and local BOCU officers working together to ensure a safe journey for young people between home and school.

17. Since April 2010, as part of Blunt 2, Operation Vinco has provided additional resources to BOCUs particularly affected by knife crime, with the aim of detecting and reducing robberies and consequently knife crime and victimisation.

18. In November 2009 the MPS began a joint education programme of school visits to target and inform young people of the dangers of youth violence and in particular gang involvement. To date we have spoken to over 2,000 young people and have a busy schedule of additional visits planned in the run up to the school summer holidays.

19. There is a rolling programme of knife arch and hand held scanners across London, as a preventative tool. This activity can only be undertaken with the support of communities, schools, local authorities and local politicians. The primary message we are seeking to give out is that the streets of London are hostile to carrying a knife or a gun.

Rape

20. As the Commissioner reported to the last Full Authority meeting, the MPS is concerned that the number of recorded rapes has risen by 179 offences on the same period last year. The number of reported rape cases began dramatically increasing from the summer of 2009.

21. It is never possible to rule out a rise in offending, but our own research indicates that almost half of this increase can be attributed to more victims coming forward to report rape offences, with the other half being attributed to better crime recording and management of rape cases. That is not to say that we welcome any rise in recorded crime, especially not a serious and violent crime like rape.

22. We continue to focus resources and operations on those areas that pose the greatest risk through ongoing partnership work with both the CPS - which has led to a new CPS rape charging centre being formed - and the Havens through the Havens Strategic Board.

23. The MPS will continue to provide dedicated support to rape victims, putting them first and striving to increase their satisfaction with the service they receive from us.

Domestic Violence

24. There was a slight reduction in reported domestic violence offences of -1.5% in April-May 2010 compared to the previous year, equating to 135 fewer offences.

25. As the Commissioner stated at the last Full Authority, it is important to recognise that domestic violence is an under-reported crime and we continue to work hard to change this.

26. The MPS has made significant progress in the way we tackle domestic violence in recent years. We continue to drive this through positive action and ongoing operations such as Operation Athena.

27. A powerful new advertising campaign was launched in June, reminding the public they can play a vital part in reporting domestic violence with the message ‘You make the call - we’ll make it stop’. By reporting domestic violence at the earliest possible stage we have the best chance of responding effectively. Victims do not need to come forward themselves, the police can independently investigate all allegations.

28. Last year domestic violence accounted for 1 in 5 of all murders. Over the last 5 years, the approach we have taken has seen domestic homicides reduce significantly from 43 in 2004 to 24 in 2009.

29. However this level is clearly still unacceptable and we will proactively identify, arrest, and seek prosecution of offenders while taking steps to protect victims and their children.

30. An overview of call handling and front counter reporting of domestic and sexual violence will be reported to the MPA's Domestic and Sexual Violence Board on 13th July 2010.

Value for money

31. The MPS Management Board met for the entire day on Tuesday 29 June to discuss the implications of the Chancellor’s recent Budget statement and the Government’s planned Comprehensive Spending Review, building on the discussions that have been taking place for many months.

32. While the CSR, in the autumn, will provide more details about the Met’s funding from the Home Office, it is clear that we must make significant changes to the way we operate and that substantial savings will be needed. The indications are of a 25% cut over the next 4 years but we are yet to know the full extent of the police service's share of that cut.

33. In addition to our grant from central Government, we receive funding from several other sources (including the Mayor’s precept) making this a complex and difficult picture. Management Board will work with the MPA in taking the Service forward in these challenging times and are determined to do all they can to maintain our operational capability, deliver efficient and effective support services at the lowest possible cost and get the most out of our assets and resources. MPS Management Board and MPA Management Group met on 9 July and the Commissioner will be able to update Members on that meeting at the Full Authority.

Staff Pay Deal

34. Management Board have indicated their intention to pay the third and final instalment of the police staff pay deal agreed in 2008/09 due this autumn. This follows the Home Secretary's earlier announcement that the Government will honour the third and final payment to police officers in their 3-year deal from September and similarly to all police staff across the UK covered by the Police Staff Council (40 of 43 forces are covered by this deal). All MPS employees can then expect to be similarly included in the public sector pay freeze for 2011/12 and 2012/13.

TP Development Programme

35. Management Board also received an update on the TP Development Programme, which commenced in January 2010 with an initial scoping phase to commission a range of work streams. The Programme is not just a cost saving exercise, but a strategic improvement programme. Financial, performance and confidence improvements can only be delivered through a re-design of some of our policing function - in some cases ceasing to perform functions 32 times. However, the TP Development Programme blueprint has been predicated on 32 Boroughs remaining the basis of how the MPS provides normal policing services to the public, and how we are answerable to local partners and the public. Safer Neighbourhood policing will remain at the heart of our policing model.

Olympics

36. The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a world class sporting event, and we want them to be safe and secure for everyone. Our approach remains to work with partners to deliver the right levels of safety and security.

37 Planning is on track and currently within budget as we approach the two year mark at the end of July. The projects that have been commissioned to the police service can be broadly split into three categories, those that deliver infrastructure, those that deliver kit and equipment and those that deliver people in the run up to the games and during the games themselves. Most of the projects in relation to the infrastructure have been through the financial approvals process and are now in delivery mode. Much work has recently been done refining the demand for staff for the 64 day period which will then be fed into the resource modelling process.

38. There has also been significant work with LOCOG to properly define their part of the security operation so that it creates one cohesive security plan.

39 The Home Office continues to review all budgets, including Olympic security costs, and the MPS is providing significant information for the Comprehensive Spending Review. The MPA Olympic & Paralympic sub-committee will continue to receive detailed briefings on our preparations.

Counter Terrorism

40 Terrorism presents a serious and enduring threat to safety within London. Our approach fully reflects and supports Government strategy and detailed reporting of performance to the MPA CT and Protective Services Sub-committee continues.

41 Planning of counter-terrorism measures for the Olympics remains on track. MPS CT specialist staff have supported the delivery of a safe and secure design for Olympic Park and Village.

C. Other organisational and community implications

1. Equalities impact

1.1 This report is concerned with overall MPS performance, but a number of equalities issues are highlighted, notably measures to improve rape investigation, improve the service offered to rape victims, and encourage the reporting of domestic violence.

1.2 Throughout all the operational activity detailed in this report, the MPS strives to improve the quality of service provided to victims of hate crime, ensuring that a consistent and effective service is provided to London’s diverse communities; to improve performance against domestic violence, ensuring a consistent level of service across all communities and minimising disproportionality issues; to increase community trust and confidence in the police; to develop a workforce that reflects the diversity of London.

2. Met Forward

2.1 This report fully reflects how the MPS is delivering the three key outcomes of Met Forward: fighting crime and reducing criminality, increasing confidence in policing, and providing better value for money.

3. Financial implications

3.1 In the Commissioner’s June report to Full Authority, he informed Members of the in-year reductions of £35m the Service was required to make as a result of the Government’s reduction in general and CT specific grant. The Authority’s Finance and Resources Committee has now received the period 2 (end of May) financial monitoring report which has:

• Identified how the Management Board is intending to manage the impact of the withdrawal of grant
• An assessment of this year’s outturn

3.2 .It is still early in the year and, given the level of reductions (£124m) built into the budget as approved by the Authority on 1 April 2010, it is not surprising that business groups are identifying a number of pressures. The outturn forecast is currently for an overspend of £32.6m (1% of budget) assuming the proposals to deal with the grant reduction are successful. The Service remains committed to ensuring it takes the necessary action to maintain expenditure within the resources made available to it.

4. Legal implications

4.1 As this report is a summary of operational performance data, no legal implications arise.

5. Environmental implications

5.1 This report contains no direct environmental implications.

6. Risk implications

6.1 The risks and opportunities are reflected in the content of this report and controls are in place where appropriate.

Report author:

D. Contact details

Report author(s): Director of Business Strategy, Michael Debens, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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