Minutes

Minutes of the Standards Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 27 February 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Cecile Wright (Chair)
• Ian Whitburn (Deputy Chair)
• Stephanie Caplan
• Nicholas Long
• Eric Ollerenshaw

MPA officers

• Simon Vile (Head of Secretariat)

Part 1

11. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

An apology for absence was received from Jennette Arnold.

12. Declarations of interests from members of the sub-committee

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

13. Minutes: 21 November 2003

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2003 be agreed and signed as a correct record subject to ‘part’ in item 8 being amended to read ‘party’.

14. Audit Commission review – ‘setting high ethical standards’

(Agenda item 4)

The Committee welcomed Siobhan Coldwell from the Audit Commission who reported on the findings of this review. In general terms, she had found that the Authority was meeting its obligations and the Standards Committee was properly constituted and meeting on a regular basis. However, the challenge now was to become more proactive in terms of communicating and promoting ethical standards to all Authority members, and by making staff aware of the issues.

The committee discussed how best to do this. The start of the Authority’s second term provided an opportunity to brief members on ethical standards as part of the induction process (probably by way of a workshop run by the Audit Commission). Steps should also be taken to identify and target risk areas where members might need guidance. For instance, finance, estates and procurement could be such areas. Similarly, members needed to be clear on the parameters of their relationships with police officers, in terms of respective roles etc. Committee members felt that the working relationships between MPA members were a key area that impacted on effectiveness and ‘training’ should be as near mandatory as possible. The officers would be putting together an induction / briefing programme for the Authority. In doing so, they should consider running relevant sessions before committee meetings to make the best use of time.

As part of maintaining the profile of the ethical standards issues, it was agreed that the Standards Committee should report to the full Authority after each meeting on the issues discussed.

The MPA should now respond to the Audit Commission’s recommendations. When drafted, the response would be copied to the members of the Standards Committee for comment before being finalised.

The Authority’s relationship with Community Police Consultative Groups was raised, in terms of whether the Authority had a responsibility for their ethical conduct and, therefore, whether the Standards Committee had a role to play. It was agreed that this would be discussed with the Monitoring Officer, although the legal advice already received was clear that the Authority was not liable for the actions of CPCGs. A funding relationship existed, through which the Authority could promote standards and values that it would expect CPCGs to sign up to. This would be a matter for the Consultation Committee to develop further.

Resolved – That

1. the Audit Commission review ‘Setting High Ethical Standards’ be received;
2. the Authority’s response to the Audit Commission recommendations be copied to committee members in draft before being finalised;
3. the issues discussed at the meeting in terms of promoting ethical standards within the Authority be progressed, including a regular report from the committee to the full Authority and briefings being included as part of the induction/introduction programme for new members; and
4. the position in respect of CPCGs be discussed with the Monitoring Officer and members of the committee informed of the position.

15. Reviews of members’ expenses

(Agenda item 5)

The Committee considered the findings of reviews carried out by External and Internal Audit into the procedures and processes for the payment of members’ expenses. Members noted the action being taken in response to the audit recommendations. They agreed that it was not practicable to make expenses claims for public transport travel conditional on the production of tickets or receipts. It was also suggested that consideration be given to reimbursing members on some basis where a personal season ticket was used on Authority business.

Resolved – That the reviews and the action being taken to respond to their recommendations be noted.

16. Protocol on member/officer relations

(Agenda item 6)

The Committee considered a report by the Clerk proposing a protocol on the respective roles and reasonable expectations of members and officers.

Members made the following comments about the protocol:

• para 23 should include an urgency provision
• the section on ‘when things go wrong’ should recommend mediation as an option
• when the full Authority considers the protocol, attention should be drawn to the reference in para 20 to GLA members’ researchers in case members wish to discuss this further
• that the parameters of the link member role could be included as an appendix to the protocol – this is probably best done once a review of the link member role had been completed
• that more specific guidance on the relationship between MPA members and MPS officers and police staff would be helpful – this could form part of the induction process, but thought should also be given to producing written guidance

Resolved – That subject to the above comments, the protocol be recommended to the full Authority for adoption.

17. Third annual assembly of standards committees

(Agenda item 7)

The Committee considered whether it wished to be represented at the Assembly of Standards Committees.

Resolved – That one or both of the Committee’s independent members attend, subject to their availability.

18. Local investigation and determination of misconduct allegations

(Agenda item 9)

The Committee received a report outlining proposed regulations and guidance enabling allegations to be investigated and determined locally. The Chair agreed to accept this additional item on the grounds that the consultation deadline expired before the next meeting of the committee.

Resolved – That the report be noted and any MPA response copied in draft to members of the committee to give them an opportunity to comment.

19. Date of next meeting

(Agenda item 8)

Resolved – That the next meeting be held on Friday, 23 July at 10 a.m.

20. Any other business

This was the last meeting for Cecile Wright and Nicholas Long as they were resigning as MPA members. Colleagues thanked them for their contribution to the work of the committee.

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