Minutes - draft

These minutes are draft and are to be agreed.

Minutes of the Standards Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 29 March 2011 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Jennette Arnold
• Christopher Boothman
• John Bowers
• Anne Dickens (Chair)
• Janet Gray (Vice Chair)
• Toby Harris

MPA officers

• Helen Sargeant (Monitoring Officer)
• Nick Baker (Head of Authority Business and Member Support)

Also in attendance; Catherine Crawford (MPA Chief Executive - items 4 and 5)

12. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

12.1 Apologies for absence were received from Kirsten Hearn.

13. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

13.1 No declarations of interest were made.

Resolved - That

1. the list of memberships of functional bodies and London Borough Councils, as set out in the table above, be noted;

2. the gifts and hospitality received by members, as set out on the Authority’s gifts and hospitality register, be noted; and

3. all members declare any other personal or personal prejudicial interests in specific items listed on the agenda over and above items listed in the table above and including any interest arising from gifts or hospitality received in the last 3 years or which are not at the time of this meeting reflected on the Authority’s register of gifts and hospitality.

14. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

14.1 The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2010.

14.2 It was noted by the Committee that a report of its terms of reference was on hold until there was further clarification around the standards regime. The Monitoring Officer added that a report on members’ gifts and hospitalitywould be presented to a future meeting and confirmed that members had been written to, in the light of the unusually low number of declarations in the year to date, asking them to review and update information currently held by the Authority.

Resolved – That the minutes of the Committee held on 15 September 2010 agreed and signed as a correct record.

15. Guest speaker

(Agenda item 4)

15.1 The Committee welcomed Catherine Crawford, Chief Executive of the MPA who provided members with an update on the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.

15.2 Members were provided with details of the proposals within the Bill for the abolition of the MPA and the establishment of a Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC). Members were informed that as London unlike elsewhere in the country had a suitable governance structure in place the tentative timeline for the establishment of the MOPC was 1 October 2011.

15.3 Members were informed that the Bill made provision for the Mayor to delegate the day to day functions of the MOPC to a statutory Deputy Mayor for Policing and that there was scope for the MOPC to have a non-executive board, and that the GLA would have a scrutiny panel which would hold the Independent Police Commissioner account.

15.4 As part of her presentation to members, Catherine Crawford also highlighted a number of other points which included:

• The corporation sole status of the MOPC and MPS
• That the MPS would also be an employer
• Discussions on a non statutory protocol/guidance on operational independence.
• Discussion around the transfer of staff and estate from MPA to MOPC and a possible secondary transfer of some areas to the MPS.
• The lack of clarify around complaints against senior police officers.

15.5 Members noted that there was no provision in the Bill for a complaints regime for the MOPC, although there was the possibility of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) having a role in this function.

15.6 Some members expressed some concern around the GLA scrutiny panel not having the right to call the MPS Commissioner to its meetings, but acknowledged that there was scope for the MPS Commissioner to be invited and that it was very unlikely that he would not attend. Members also asked if the Bill was likely to be voted out once in the House of Lords. It was noted that whilst there was likely to thorough examination of the Bill and likely amendments suggested, it was not thought the Bill would fall. It was mentioned that there might be a problem with the proposed timescale for completion due to the number of other important Bills passing to the House of Lords and the limited time available to complete the process.

15.7 The Committee thank Catherine Crawford for her presentation.

Resolved – That the report be received.

16 Update on the Standards Regime

(Agenda item 5)

16.1 A report was presented that provided members with an update on the progress of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, as well as the Decentralisation and Localism Bill, so far as they affected the MPA’s Standards Committee.

16.2 Members were reminded that the Decentralisation and Localism Bill contained proposals to abolish the ethical standards regime. Once the Bill was enacted this would see Standards for England ceasing to operate and relevant authorities no longer required to have a local standards committee and the national code of conduct for elected members being dispensed with.

16.3 Members were also informed that some regard to the implications of the Bill and the abolition of the MPA was needed when considering any future complaints. Members were informed that it may be necessary to avoid the possibility of a member being subjected to an investigation at the time of the abolition of the MPA, as there was currently no transitional provision for dealing with complaints against MPA members and it would be difficult to see how the public interest would be served in pursuing the investigation. The report suggested that members should assess any complaint on a case by case basis and that the Assessment Sub-Committee should be mindful of these issues as well as taking care to apply the criteria for investigation and consider the public interest.

16.4 Members agreed that a letter should be written, by the Chair, to the Mayor reiterating the committee’s view that the new Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime should give consideration to the adoption of some form of standards regime.

16.5 A member highlighted her links with other standards board members and that they were currently considering future options which included retaining the existing standards regime at a local level and in one case developing an alternative. It was agreed that any information about alternative future standards models would be of interest to the Committee. . It was also suggested that contact should be made with such organisations as the Local Government Association and London Councils about developing a regional standards/code of conduct model framework.

Resolved - That

1. members noted the contents of this report;

2. a further report be provided as to the progress of the Policing and Social Responsibility and the Decentralisation and Localism Bills, making any recommendations concerning implementation of the new ethical arrangements which may be necessary;

3. the Chair write to the Mayor regarding future arrangements for a standards/code of conduct regime for MOPC; and

4. Officers to discuss with other organisations their proposals for the new regime, in particular, the other functional bodies.

17. Update on the local assessment of complaints about MPA

(Agenda item 6)

17.1 Members received a report that sought approval to the minutes of an Assessment Sub-Committee meeting about a Member complaint and to note the Annual Return to Standards for England

Resolved - That

1. the Committee notes the report; and

2. the relevant Members of the Assessment Sub-Committee note and approve the minutes of the Assessment Sub-Committee meeting of 12 October 2010 and that the Sub-Committee notes the minutes and Decision Notices of that meeting attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

18. Update on politically restricted posts

(Agenda item 7)

18.1 A report was received that updated members as to the work of officers in relation to politically restricted posts

18.2 Members were reminded that the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 had been amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 and that this amendment had included the removal of the requirement of authorities to maintain a list of posts to be politically restricted due to salary

18.3 The Committee were reminded that at its September meeting of the posts that were politically restricted without the right of appeal for an exemption and that the Authority had reviewed posts at deputy chief officer level that should also be restricted and these were the Heads of Unit posts. Members were informed that there were 16 posts deemed to be politically restricted without a right to apply for an exemption. Members were also informed that a review had been undertaken of all other posts, and that taking into account the duties of the posts, 14 posts were designated politically restricted, but these postholders could apply for an exemption to the Standards Committee. Members were informed that all staff had been written to informing them of the change in the law, and if there was any change to their politically restricted status.

18.4 The Chair pointed out that the guidance indicated that a person applying for an exemption may attend the Committee to hear the debate but could not comment. She had asked officers to revisit this with a view to that person being allowed to make representations if they so wished.

Resolved – That the Committee notes the report

19. Standards indicators

(Agenda item 8)

19.1 Members received quarterly standard indicators for the periods July-September 2010 and October - December 2010.

Resolved – That the standard indicators be received, subject to its previous resolution at 14.2 above.

The meeting closed at 3.10 p.m.

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