Update on the policing London business plan 2009/12

Report: 5
Date: 8 January 2009
By: Director of Resources on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report presents members with an updated draft of the Policing London Business Plan 2009/12, offers details of outstanding items to be included for the next draft, and details the progress of the TP variable target setting process with a timetable for completion. Associated targets remain under development.

A. Recommendation

That members

1. note and comment on the draft Policing London Business Plan 2009/12 and 2009/10 Critical Performance Area KPIs where populated, and
2. note the progress of, and timetable for, the TP variable target setting process.

B. Supporting information

Policing Plan

1. The draft Policing London Business Plan 2009/12 is developed in six broad sections:

• Section 1 is an introduction and outline of the MPS’ Strategic Outcomes and Values
• Section 2 outlines the MPA/MPS’ service environment, Government and Mayoral priorities, Public consultation and the MPS’ strategic and financial planning framework
• Section 3 develops MPS corporate objectives and planned activity to deliver these, including key activities, performance measures and targets
• Section 4 expands on the ‘Lead and Manage’ MPS corporate objective and overviews the MPA/MPS budget
• Section 5 outlines governance and business group responsibilities, including anticipated funding to support the planned activities and business group establishment
• Section 6 develops Capital budgets.

The Appendices offer further detail around stakeholder priorities for policing, the MPS’ policing pledge, and measures and targets. The draft Policing London Business Plan 2009/12 is shown at Appendix 1.

2. The draft Policing London Business Plan 2009/12 is currently unchanged from the submission to the Mayor in November 2008 but will be updated during February and March 2009 and, to meet statutory obligations, text added around five additional areas:

• HMIC and Audit and Inspections
• Joint working and Collaboration
• Protective services
• Out-turn for APACS and NI for 2008/09
• LAA targets for 2009/10

3. The Budget element of the Plan will be updated to reflect the final decisions by the Mayor on the GLA Group budget.

4. MPA and MPS officers are currently reviewing and mapping the Metforward framework against the draft Policing London Business Plan 2009/12.

5. The iterative process of drafting and producing the final public version of the plan, in collaboration with partners and members, will continue through January and February 2009.

Performance

6. The Performance environment is being refined, with MPS Management Board considering MPA comments on the 2009/10 Critical Performance Area (CPA) KPI’s, and with Corporate and Business Group measures being validated as SMART.

7. An updated set of measures for the 2009/12 Policing London Business Plan is being agreed at Corporate and Business Group level, aligned where possible to the National Indicator set (NIS), Assessments of Policing and Community Safety (APACS), and/or to the MPS’ Corporate Health Indicators (CHI). It should be noted that a review of the Corporate Health Indicators (CHI) is also underway.

8. Consultation has taken place with MPA officers throughout the CPA setting process. The CPA set was presented to MPA SOP Committee on 13 November 2008 and, following comments from members, further discussions have been held with MPA officers who made recommendations, notably to:

• Consider inclusion of the Policing Pledge in the CPA set
• Consider inclusion of a Hate Crime measure in the CPA set
• Consider deletion of the ICT measure KPI 16(a) from the CPA set
• Provide clarification around the description and detail of some measures.

MPS MB is in the process of considering these recommendations.

9. The National Public Confidence and Satisfaction measure CPA KPI 5(a) is becoming more defined, around satisfaction with police and the local council in dealing with ASB and Crime in the local area. S&ID has included a shadow question in the Public Attitude Survey (PAS) to measure this:
The introduction suggests that: ‘It is the responsibility of the police and local council working in partnership to deal with anti-social behaviour and crime in your local area.  The question follows as: ‘How much do you agree that the police and local council are dealing with the anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in this area’.

Two quarters of data will be available in this fiscal year.

10. S&ID propose to clarify the language around performance, and issue a simple diagram that outlines the performance framework.

11. Targets for measures in the Policing Plan have, where possible, been populated. However, a number remain unpopulated due largely to the MPS’ variable target setting (VTS) process, through which operational targets across the 32 boroughs are set against local performance outcomes and priorities.

TP Variable Target Setting

12. Over the last five years headline targets within TP have been populated from the annual Variable Target Setting Process (VTS), a methodology that directly links the local context with MPS Corporate target setting. The process is well established and understood amongst key stakeholders including CDRPs, LSP’s and borough SMT’s. It is acknowledged, by HMIC amongst others, to be a sound basis upon which to generate targets.

13. Furthermore VTS is regarded as fundamental in terms of underpinning performance delivery within TP, and the use of this bottom-up process results in meaningful targets when borough targets are aggregated.

14. The VTS process involves preparatory objective and target discussions through December 2008 and early January 2009, typically involving the full Borough SMT and CDRP partners, with activity being drawn together by the local borough planning coordinators. This preparatory work culminates in full borough target setting meetings in mid-January where these same individuals consider and determine their annual target proposals for the following year.

15. The initial borough proposals are aggregated by TP Planning Team, who in turn briefs the Link Commanders in their role as moderators ahead of Star Chamber on 28th January 2009. Star Chamber is the forum at which TP Command Team consider Borough and Business Group target proposals. Key stakeholders represented at the meeting include The Police Authority, Government Office for London, and Borough Commanders representatives. MPA Link Members have been involved in previous VTS processes, with the opportunity to be involved again this year.

16. Throughout the process checks and balances are put in place to ensure that target proposals are stretching, but also realistic and achievable.

17. In order to manage a meaningful VTS process several key elements have to be in place, such as:

• The need for BOCUs (and CDRPs) to have completed a local Strategic Assessment, in order for informed decisions to be made about local objectives and targets
• The engagement of Local Strategic Partners (LSPs) around setting / refreshing LAA targets and objectives, and in relation to which the MPS and MPA have a legal obligation to ‘have regard’ for LAAs targets, and
• The provision of timely performance data illustrating the relative position of a BCU within its Most Similar Family (MSBCU) group – which is the basis for most Home Office and HMIC performance assessments, and which can change markedly over a period of six months.

18. The timing of these elements mean that the VTS process does not get underway until mid-December, and that the aggregation of these bottom-up targets is not completed until late January. Final adjustments to TP targets are made in April following fiscal year performance results. The VTS timetable is shown in Appendix 2.

19. The VTS process is undertaken with only partial 2008/09 data- as such there will be inevitable performance fluctuations over the last three months of the year, and final borough target levels cannot be set until end-of-year reconciled data is released in late January 2009. However, the process used to reconcile initial proposals with end of year outcomes is well understood, and the application of various parameters ensures that the overall MPS position is unlikely to differ significantly from the target levels agreed at Star Chamber.

20. Over the coming weeks TP’s Planning Team will be working to firm up the position in relation to several indicators currently requiring clarification, namely:

• Most Serious Violence (MSV) - Home Office changes to the way in which MSV offences should be recorded since April have presented Forces with a number of issues in relation to the recording of assaults, and an ongoing process of scrutiny is underway to ensure that our MSV data is as accurate as possible for this target setting round
• Confidence in policing measure - this measure is still yet to be fully defined by the Home Office, but work is underway to ensure that performance measures will be available at both Force and borough levels
• Every Child Matters measure of youth violence - the detail of this measure and its constituent drivers are also being worked on.

Corporate planning

21. Business Group Business Plans are being prepared for 2009/10 for all nine MPS Business Groups to a standard format, with a proposed ‘live’ monthly update of performance and financial MMR’s during 2009/10.

22. The Corporate Planning guidelines for the 2010/11 planning cycle are being drafted during January and February 2009, for release to MPS Business Groups at the end of February 2009.

Timetable

23. The key forthcoming meetings and dates in relation to the development of the Policing London Business Plan 2009/12 are:

• December 2008 to February 2009 - London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee scrutiny of Mayor’s budget proposals
• 8 January 2009 – MPA SOP consider draft of Policing London Plan 2009-12
• Before 15 January – GLA issue draft Capital Spending Plan, including consultation of approved borrowing limits
• 21 January 2009 - MPS MB consider interim draft Policing London Plan 2009-12
• 28 January – London Assembly to consider draft consolidated budget
• 5 February 2009 – MPA SOP consider interim draft Policing London Plan 2009-12
• 11 February – London Assembly final consideration of consolidated budget
• 26 February – MPA Full Authority consider interim draft Policing London Plan 2009-12
• Before 28 February – GLA issue Capital Spending Plan
• 3 March 2009 - MPS MB consider final draft of Policing London Plan 2009-12
• 5 March 2009 – MPA SOP consider final draft of Policing London Plan 2009-12
• 26 March – MPA Full Authority approve final draft of Policing London Plan 2009-12
• 27 March – Policing London Plan 2009-12 published
• Before 31 March – GLA Authorised Limits for Borrowing agreed.

C. Race and equality impact

There are no equality or diversity implications arising directly from this proposal. Equality Impact Assessments are undertaken on the Corporate Planning process and on Corporate Objectives.

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications arising directly from this proposal. Resources required to support corporate objectives and targets will be reflected in the budget and business plan as finally agreed for 2009/10.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Paul Clarke, Strategy and Improvement department, MPS

For information contact:

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

Appendix 2

Key dates for TP VTS process (for 2009/10)

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