Reports from committees

Report: 9
Date: 24 November 2011
By: Chief Executive

Summary

At each meeting of the Authority members will receive a report from committees that have meet in recent weeks.

This report from the authority’s committees provides members with details of the key items considered at each of the committees and their sub-committees.

This report covers the following meetings:

• Corporate Governance Committee - 10 October 2011
• Strategic and Operational Policing Committee – 13 October 2011
• Finance and Resources Committee – 20 October 2011
• Communities, Equalities and People – 3 November 2011

Corporate Governance Committee - 10 October 2011

Members present: Toby Harris (Chair), John Biggs, Valerie Brasse and Caroline Pidgeon

Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2011 and annual governance report 2010/11

The Committee received the audited set of accounts and the Annual Governance report from the Audit Commission which were approved by the Authority on 15 September . The Accounts were subsequently signed off on the 30 September. Members noted that the District Auditor has given an unqualified opinion on the 2010/11 financial statements and an unqualified value for money conclusion.

The District Auditor has identified no material control weaknesses that could result in a material error occurring in the financial statements and had noted that she was able to place reliance on the work of the Director of Audit, Risk and Assurance rather than perform additional testing of her own. The accounts were the first to be prepared on an International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) basis. The District Auditor confirmed that the accounts fully met the IFRS requirements. She commented that she was aware that a significant amount of work had been carried out in preparing for the introduction of the Standards and this had clearly been very useful.

Fraud risk assessment

The Directorate of Audit, Risk and Assurance has conducted an analysis of fraud risks in the MPA and MPS.. The assessment supports the anti fraud strategy and is a significant piece of work that has been carried out to analyse the fraud risks within the MPA/MPS. The analysis will form part of the risk management arrangements in the MPS The fraud risk analysis involved examining over two hundred business systems in the MPA and MPS for risks of potential fraud and weighting the risk according to a number of criteria, as defined in the DARA audit needs assessment. These criteria for each system included the level of expenditure per year, level of income per year, other funds affected by the system, sensitivity of system or data, expected quality of control within the system, impact on operational objectives, likelihood and time since the area had been last audited. Two additional criteria were added for the analysis - the number of staff who have access to the system and the level of reputational damage that would be sustained if a fraud occurred. The results were then plotted on to a pie chart which members commented on as being an effective way of presenting the information.

Health and safety performance

Detailed information on accidents and other notifable incidents within the MPS is submitted to each meeting. Following a request these are now presented with reference to the statistics for the past five years. (Members requested that information be provided on this basis so that trends could be identified) The report showed that over the period 2004 to 2010 the total accident rate had fallen by 29% which members considered demonstrated a satisfactory downward trend for an organisation of this size and complexity .

MPS Corporate Assurance Update

This is another area where the committee receives information at each meeting. The format of the report has been changed so that the areas where improved governance arrangements have been embedded and are no longer viewed as risks have been removed from the report. The report is now more concise and focuses on key areas of activity. The Annual Assurance Statement identified nine areas where significant improvement activity is planned or underway for 2011/12.

• Transitional change following the introduction of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.
• Embedding the MPS risk management framework
• Improvements in management information and reporting as part of the SAP work stream within the Developing Resource Management 2 Programme
• A review of the Financial Regulatory framework to improve accessibility and consistency
• Developments to the Financial Management Training Strategy
• Embedding the MPS partnership strategy
• Development of a new procurement strategy beyond 2012
• Creating a leadership development pathway
• Introduction of a streamlined Personal Development Review process to complement the MPS Performance Framework.

An appendix was provided which included an explanation and update of each of these areas including key milestones.

MPA Risk Management Update

Arising from the Committee’s consideration of the quarterly report it was agreed that a report be submitted to the next meeting which set out the corporate governance framework which would be set up in the MOPC arrangement.

MPS Risk Management Update (exempt)

As part of its consideration of the MPS risk register the Committee discussed the risks associated with an organisation which was undergoing a period of significant change

Strategic and Operational Policing Committee – 13 October 2011

Members present: Reshard Auladin, Toby Harris, Tony Arbour, Chris Boothman, Jennette Arnold, Jenny Jones, Joanne McCartney and Caroline Pidgeon.

Headline performance report

A Member expressed concern that rape sanction detection figures were deteriorating and sought further reassurance from the MPS as to their plans in mitigating this. The MPS responded that SOP would be provided with a full report on rape in November. They noted that more incidents of rape were being recorded and more suspects arrested, and that the MPS now has greater responsibility for making ‘no further action’ decisions.

The MPS were asked whether they direct specific resource to preventing and investigating the rape or abuse of victims of human trafficking, and agreed to supply a report on this to the December meeting of SOP.

A Member noted that much of the review of 20,000 hours of disorder CCTV would be done at a borough level. She asked whether these boroughs, and Haringey in particular, would receive additional resource in order to do so. She also asked when a public consultation on the MPS estate was likely to be held – in light of previous reassurances that this would be done during the autumn of 2011. The MPS confirmed that Operation Withern is now being delivered via ten hubs across London, which will include officers from the affected boroughs and others. In relation to the consultation on the MPS estates strategy, this will be completed shortly. Finally, they confirmed that match-funding was a reference to the ‘buy one officer get when free’ scheme, and that this had required greater additionality than first projected.

A Member noted that Waltham Forest continued to underperform in a number of important areas – motor vehicle, robbery, and knife offence sanction-detections, for instance. He noted that not only were these rates low overall, but they were consistent outliers when measured against neighbouring boroughs. Another Member suggested that this poor performance was due to the borough remaining under-resourced and under-establishment. The MPS agreed to provide a verbal briefing on this issue at the November meeting of SOP.

Thematic performance report

The MPS informed Members that they once had the lowest level of user satisfaction amongst all of the UK’s police forces. Since then, the MPS has worked tirelessly to extract best practice from other forces and the private sector and have measured their performance against tangible action plans. The MPS has now introduced an information card which spells out what service someone can expect from the organisation when reporting crime – in order to provide officers with meaningful guidelines and to manage the expectations of customers. Following primary investigation, customers are now sent a letter which informs them what this investigation would have entailed. Terminology referring to ‘screening out’ has been removed.

The MPS noted that Blunt 2 was launched in 2008 to coincide with a campaign within schools to put across the message that carrying weapons is criminal and stupid. Since this time, the MPS has worked to refine the use of stop and search. They stated that whilst all of these tactics have been affective in the short-term it is a fact that the MPS may only police with the consent of Londoners and that they will shortly need to reconsider their engagement strategy. However, Members were reminded that over a thousand stop and searches had recently been performed without a single complaint. The MPS are now conducting research on the roll-out of the Commissioner’s plans for more targeted stop and search. Finally, they confirmed that work was ongoing on the establishment of a dedicated phone-line for reporting those suspected of carrying weapons.

Public protection update report – Operation Jigsaw

The MPS introduced this report regarding Operation Jigsaw, the organisation’s response to registered sex offenders and serious violent offenders. This operation is managed by the Central Jigsaw Team and on each borough. They noted that there are currently 8731 MPS records on the Violent and Sexual Offender Register (ViSOR) (12% of the national total), and that whilst this figure is set to increase due to the introduction of Violent Offender Orders (VOOs) and Registered Terrorist Offenders (RTOs), it has begun to plateau since launch.

Members were informed that there are currently 135 wanted/missing MPS Registered Sex Offenders, and that this figure has remained relatively static over the previous three years (despite a steady churn). Most of these peoples are missing due to a change of address, 45 are believed to be outside of the country. The Central Jigsaw Team dip-sample and quality assure the work of each borough team and provide additional guidance where required. All KPIs are currently being met.

A Member stated his understanding that the MAPPA process is only activated upon the conviction of an offender. However, he suggested that a multiagency approach would be appropriate in other circumstances – when a mentally ill person is considered to be at risk of offending but is not treatable and therefore not detained, for instance. The MPS agreed to provide a more detailed report on offender management in response to Members concerns.

Finance and Resources Committee – 20 October 2011

Members present: Dee Doocey (Chair), Reshard Auladin, John Biggs, Faith Boardman, Christopher Boothman, Steve O’Connell, Amanda Sater, Valerie Shawcross and Graham Speed.

Revenue and capital budget monitoring 2011/12 – period 5

This report showed the revenue and capital position at Period 5 (August 2011). The revenue budget is forecast to overspend by £2.1m (0.1% of budget) before any account is taken of the budget resilience provision or the costs of Operations Kirkin and Withern. The capital programme as at the end of period 5 shows year to date expenditure of £63.2m. This represents 33.9% of the annual programme budget of £186.3m.
Banking and Royal Bank of Scotland update.

The Committee was advised of changes which had been made to the counterparty list on the advice of the MPA treasury advisors Arlingclose in the light of changes to the credit ratings of banks in the ratings published by Standard and Poors, Moody’s and Fitch in October.

The Committee approved the continued use of the Royal Bank of Scotland for temporary overnight balances and for Proceeds of Crime Act, other detained funds and Police Property Act Fund monies.

Award of contract for the provision of coach services for the Olympic and Paralympic Games

During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the MPS will need to transport up to 8,000 officers per day between their normal place of duty or mutual aid accommodation location to their Olympic duty areas via a Muster, Briefing and Deployment Centre (MBDC). This needs to be sustained over a 64 day period, taking into account variations in deployment numbers and the potential short notice changes to operational requirements. In addition, there is also a requirement to transport mutual aid officers between their donor and host force. Where large groups of officers are travelling at the same time from the same donor force, coaches provide the most effective means of ensuring timely point to point journey.

Approval was given to the award of a contract under an existing framework to secure the supply of coach services for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The maximum value of the contract, including a contingency sum, is £9.399m. The matter had previously been considered in some detail by the Olympic and Paralympic Sub-Committee.

Framework agreement for office supplies

In 2007 the MPA approved the use of a Framework Agreement for Office Consumables tendered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This agreement provided the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) with a fixed price for core items along with annual price reductions over four years, which has delivered significant savings and value for money. In March 2011 the Government Procurement Service took over responsibility from the MoD for the pan-Government agreement and undertook a new tender process.

Approval has now been given to the use of the framework agreement in respect of office stationery, office paper and small office machines. This call-off contract is for three years with an option to extend for a further term of 12 months. The total value is estimated to be £5.45M.

Disposal of properties

There is a schedule of properties which have been identified for disposal in the current financial year. The Committee received reports in connection with the outcome of the disposal process in respect of the freehold interest in Finchley section house and Westcombe Park former police station Greenwich and of the long leasehold interest in flats 1-12 Rennets Wood House Greenwich. Members approved the recommended bids which had been made following an open market tender. The receipts generated from these disposals will be allocated to the 2011/12 capital programme.

Procurement strategy for the provision of facilities management services to maintain/repair the real estate portfolio (exempt)

The day to day maintenance and repair of the properties in the estate are dealt with through facilities management contracts. Approval was given to the procurement strategy for the provision of these services when the current contract arrangements expire.

Communities, Equalities and People – 3 November 2011

Members present: Cindy Butts, Reshard Auladin, Victoria Borwick, Valerie Brasse, and Clive Lawton.

Update from Head of Equalities and Engagement

The Head of Equalities and Engagement provided an update on her work programme since the last meeting of the committee and also discussed how that might feed into the work of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC). Members were advised that a briefing note on the Multi-Point Entry scheme had been circulated and that the proposals would be further considered by the MOPC and MPS Management Board. In addition, the Race and Faith Monitoring Group has identified ongoing equality and diversity matters for consideration which will continue to be developed under the MOPC, such as ensuring that the concerns of disabled staff arising from a recent staff survey are properly addressed. Discussions are also being held with the MPS property services team to ensure equality of access to MPS buildings.

In relation to the future under MOPC, the Head of Equalities and Engagement advised that work is underway to develop the MOPC governance structure and this will include consideration of how the MOPC will continue to oversee equality and diversity matters.

Governance of the Diversity and Equality Strategy

Members noted that several Staff Support Associations (SSAs) have a long history of direct engagement and that many others are increasingly following suit. The MPS advised that SSAs generally engage well with their communities, serving as a conduit for discussions between communities and the MPS.

Members were advised that in order to ensure that equality and diversity issues are given full consideration, all community engagement proposals are required to include an Equality Impact Assessment as a minimum standard. All equalities issues are also aligned to developments established in the context of the Commissioner’s priorities. Although there are many good examples of work being done to promote equalities, as showcased at the diversity excellence awards, the MPS will continue to promote and progress developments.

MPA update on Community Engagement Commitment Action Plans

Members were advised that the most recently conducted MPA community consultation programmes had been the ‘have your say’ policing plan consultation and the ‘Safer Neighbourhoods Panels and community engagement’ exercise. MPA units have worked together to coordinate community engagement activities across the organisation and learning from this will be carried forward into the MOPC. Community engagement work conducted by the MPS will also be analysed in order to identify effective engagement work.

Safer Neighbourhoods Panels (SNPs) and Community Engagement

Members were advised that one of the key recommendations in the report is that there needs to be consistency in the way that SNPs are managed and conducted, such as by establishing minimum expectations and ensuring the involvement of identified key partners in every panel. However, it is recognised that there should not be a one size fits all approach and that SNPs should be granted flexibility to decide how to manage their affairs locally. Having said that SNPs have been established by the MPS to consult with local communities to identify the issues of concern to them and to inform local policing priorities on its behalf and as such, the MPS develops the policy and operating procedures for SNPs. However, this review of SNP and community engagement has highlighted that while the MPS allows some local flexibility and ownership, for example empowering SNPs to elect their own chair and vice-chair and to decide the length of service for panel members, the potential for overly inconsistent and/or poor practice is a matter that does need to be addressed. Members therefore recommended that the SNP governance and operating procedures for SNPs should be reviewed and should outline the minimum requirements of all SNPS.

It was also noted that in order to successfully engage with their communities, SNPs have a range of communications methods available, including face to face meetings, electronic newsletters and virtual panels and the report recommends that the MPS should develop a toolkit of engagement approaches that can be used by SNPs as and when appropriate.

Communities, Equalities and People committee Legacy Report

All MPA Committees will be producing legacy reports, which will be presented at the final Full Authority meeting on 12 January 2012. Members received a first draft of the CEP legacy report and requested that it also include positive comments from the MPS, highlighting where engagement with the MPA has been of benefit. In addition to the issues identified in the report to be carried forward into the MOPC, members asked that it also identify specific areas of work that have been of interest to the Authority over a long period of time and that still need to be developed, such as details of how disproportionality in the MPS will be examined in the future. Members also advised that they would wish the report to identify the good practice it has established in respect of scrutiny of the MPS and how this could be taken forward into the MOPC. A draft report incorporating these additions will be circulated to CEP committee in early December, so that members can offer comments prior to presentation at the January 2012 Full Authority

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