Update Report - Implementation of the MPS Policing Pledge

Report: 8
Date: 4 March 2010
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report summarises the work being undertaken in the Metropolitan Police Service to deliver the Policing Pledge to Londoners. The report will also provide an update regarding current MPS performance data in relation to Pledge delivery.

A. Recommendation

Members are requested to note the contents of this report and appendices, and make any comments.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. The Metropolitan Police Service Policing Pledge - Our Promise to the Public was published in December 2008, and sets out the levels of service that the MPS will provide to people living, working in and visiting London. The content of the document comprises all of the elements of the national policing pledge.

2. One of the main benefits of the Pledge to the MPS is that it brings together those services that have the most direct impact on improving public confidence in policing and provides an opportunity for close management oversight of the corporate performance in these critical areas.

3. The following section of the report examines each element of the MPS Policing Pledge and describes the activity that is being undertaken to deliver the services described and current performance.

Delivery of the Policing Pledge

HMIC Inspection

4. Between July and August 2009, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) undertook an inspection of the delivery of the Policing Pledge within the MPS. The inspection was part of a national programme and involved a number of reality checks in which HMIC staff tested some of the services offered. The reality checks were followed up with the more usual inspection approach of document review, focus groups and interviews.

5. The HMIC inspection report summarised the evidence found for the quality of delivery of each of the Pledge elements and awarded a grade for them. In addition the HMIC awarded an overall grade as well as grades for three ‘specific grading criteria’ relating to; performance in respect of confidence and satisfaction, planning and leadership.

6. For the Pledge elements, the MPS received two grades of ‘Good’ and eight of ‘Fair’ (HMIC did not grade the additional MPS Pledge commitment relating to contact with people involved in Road Traffic Collision’s). In respect of the specific grading criteria, the MPS was graded ‘Fair’ in terms of its confidence and satisfaction performance and ‘Good’ for its planning and leadership. (A copy of the HMIC summary report is attached at Appendix 1)

7. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary has indicated that HMIC will re-inspect the two forces that received a poor grading and the six forces that were at the bottom end of the ‘Fair’ grading category. Oversight of the delivery of improvements identified by the inspection in the remaining ‘Fair‘ graded forces (including the MPS) will be provided by their Police Authorities.

8. In responding to the ‘Areas of Improvement’ (AFI) identified by HMIC, the MPS has developed an improvement plan under which each element of the Pledge action has plans to meet the AFI. The management of the delivery of this plan falls within the remit of the newly formed Pledge Delivery Group (PDG see below). Because there is MPA membership, the work of the PDG provides an opportunity for the Authority to become directly involved in the development of Pledge and the oversight of progress to meet the HMIC AFI’s.

Governance

9. Oversight of Pledge delivery is provided by weekly ‘Grip’ meetings chaired by the Commander CCC and Patrol. These regular meetings have been supplemented by monthly meetings of a Pledge Delivery Group (PDG). At PDG meetings members will address longer term development and delivery of the Pledge and manage activity to address the ‘areas for improvement’ identified by HMIC in its recent inspection. Membership of the PDG is drawn from the leads of business areas directly responsible for the services described in the Pledge as well as a representative from the MPA.

Activity to deliver each element of the Pledge

10. Each element of the Pledge has a documented process to support its delivery. Whilst many of these processes existed before the publication of the Pledge, they have been reviewed to ensure they are capable of providing the service described to the promised standard.

11. Under each MPS element of the Policing Pledge, the following activity is taking place:

Pledge 1. We will always treat you fairly, with dignity and respect, ensuring that everyone has access to our service at a time that is reasonable and suitable.

12. Safer Neighbourhood policing has at its core a commitment to ensure officers and staff are visible, accessible and familiar to their communities. As a result the MPS identified that SNT officers needed to have ‘contact points’ where public could go and engage with their officers. These contact points include the development of Safer Neighbourhood Bases at which public information signage is provided in the form of an LCD display which is located, where possible, adjacent the main entrance. The LCD screen will provide up to date accurate information of such things as the nearest Police Station and opening times.

13. Officers and staff working on Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (SNTs) are trained to deliver a very specific Safer Neighbourhoods policing model. This model involves seven stages, which, collectively, identify the priorities of local people within any given neighbourhood and then ensures that these priorities are tackled effectively.

14. Stage one of the model requires that each SNT undertakes research to understand their communities. Each team is required to complete a ward profile that clearly identifies the demographic make up of the ward. This ward profile then provides a baseline from which to set out a clear engagement strategy is developed.

15. We will ensure local services remain fully accessible at borough-based Police Stations, and further broaden opportunities to access Police via strategically-based public kiosks, surgeries and neighbourhood forums. These will ensure the full range of policing services and support are available at the right time and in the right places to adequately serve the people of London.

16. To assist SNTs in producing a comprehensive and up to date ward profile the MPS has developed a system called ‘Planweb’. Planweb is an online mapping system which allows users to view any relevant area and build a comprehensive picture of that area. Databases that feed the Planweb system include Mosaic Data, Acorn Data, origins data as well as multiple layers that outline various points of interest including places of worship, educational facilities, partner agencies, youth groups, bus routes and many others. To date, the MPS has trained over 170 people in Planweb; of this number some 120 are SN Team sergeants. Officers and staff have found Planweb easy to use and relevant to what they do. The Central TP SNT unit plans to train all SN Sergeants in the use of Planweb to ensure that all ward profiles are of the highest standard possible.

17. The MPS established processes to monitor the fair application of stop and search powers. Each Borough has a community monitoring group scrutinizing local stop and search practice. They are provided with comprehensive Borough based stop and search data including disproportionality. Operation Pennant (stop and search performance monitoring) meets bi-monthly and has representatives from the Black Police Association and the Community Monitoring Network. Borough senior officers are questioned about their stop and search activity including disproportionality. Similarly the Stop and Search Strategic Group made up of representatives from various organizations/groups are currently looking at stop and search complaints and their outcomes. The most recent MPS data was for the period 2007/8 which recorded that the Black/White disproportionality was 4.1% against a national average of 7.6% For the year to date (April 2009 - October 2009 Black:/White disproportionality stands at 4.1%.

Pledge 2. We will work to keep you and your neighbourhood safe from harm. Each ward has a dedicated Safer Neighbourhoods team that will provide a visible police presence and will only work elsewhere if absolutely necessary. They will spend at least 80% of their time visibly working in your neighbourhood, tackling your local policing priorities.

18. Safer Neighbourhoods Teams were fully rolled out in December 2006 across every Ward in London. They work with partner agencies and communities to tackle local people’s priorities. Safer Neighbourhoods is a massive sea change in the Policing Style of the Metropolitan Police Service in London. For the first time in the history of the police service, local people are asked to choose local policing priorities.

19. There are 630 Safer Neighbourhood Teams across London, each responsible for a Ward within their borough. They are comprised of at least one Sergeant, two Constables and three Police Community Support Officers (PCSO). The ethos of SNTs is to be visible, accessible and familiar. Officers actively engage with local communities in order to deliver a policing service that meets community needs.

20. 87 Wards with higher populations (14,000+ in 2006) have an additional 3 PCSOs per team.

21. Following the success of Safer Neighbourhoods it was apparent that the concept of Safer Neighbourhoods could be applied to different environments. We have therefore applied it to different living environments such as:

• The bus network and transport hubs through the roll out Safer Transport and Hub Teams
• Priority Schools through Safer Schools Police Officers and PCSOs
• Supporting ex-offenders coming out of prison through the MPS Diamond District Initiative
• Increased visibility of police patrols within Boroughs primary town centres.

22. The MPS has a robust abstraction policy for SNTs as well as a deployment protocol. This is published on the MPS intranet site and makes up part of the rolling inspection process carried out by the SN central link Inspectors.

23. MPS wide consistently above 95% of SNT’s patrol time spent on ward duties. The latest figures available for this are November 2009 and this shows 96.1%. However it is recognised that the SNT abstraction measure is not exactly the same as the Policing Pledge measure of SNT visibility. To gain a more complete picture of SNT visibility, the Airwave radio Automatic Personal Location System (APLS - GPS Tracking) is currently being tested on Kensington and Chelsea BOCU for a 3 month period. A subsequent review and evaluation will determine the feasibility of using this process as a measure across the Service.

24. All SNTs have working protocols which include a statement of expectation for staff with a minimum commitment of two years. This excludes promotional development of individuals and welfare issues.

Pledge 3. We will publicise the details of your Safer Neighbourhoods team so that you know who your dedicated team is and how to contact them.

25. The MPS realises the importance of knowing who your local police are, as this contributes to the confidence that communities have in their local police. It is critical to the success of a SNT that they are visible and accessible.

26. Details of local police are widely advertised across London. In January 2010 the MPS launched a new media campaign to highlight the work of Safer Neighbourhoods London wide. This campaign has been run several times before and was recently supported by the Home Office media campaign ‘Justice Seen, Justice Done’ in the latter part of November.

27. At a local level SNTs have posters, cards, and other mediums of publicity at their disposal to promote the details of teams.

28. As a result of research conducted by the Strategic Research Analysis Unit a significant amount of effort has been given over to the publication of newsletters. The characteristics of a newsletter that most people wanted to read was that it had to be timely and specific to their ward and/or community. The MPS have financed the publication of a ward newsletter to be posted to every household and business twice a year. This initiative is on top of SNT newsletters and those produced by the Local Authority.

29. As well as the above mediums of communication each SNT has a dedicated page on the external MPS website, on which each team has published monthly public engagement opportunities. These include meetings, surgeries, street briefings and drop in centres. These meetings are all designed to engage with the local community in order to exchange and gather local information and intelligence as part of the local priority setting process. They also give teams an opportunity to provide information on local policing and partner activity that has taken place to address identified ward priorities.

30. Each team is required to publish photographs and team details (contact number/E mail address etc) of the team members on the external MPS website. The central SN unit monitors performance on a monthly basis with information fed back through Area and BOCU Commanders.

31. SNT contact details are also included on team websites and in locally and centrally developed newsletters. Current Newsletters are published on individual SNT web pages.

Pledge 4. We will respond to every message directed to your Safer Neighbourhoods team within 24 hours.

32. The MPS are committed to responding to communities promptly and efficiently. All SNTs have been issued with Mobex telephones. The numbers for these phones and the 0300 number are published through an assortment of mediums. In addition on the SNT web pages there is a section for people to send an email to the team. These messages are picked up by the teams when on duty. Boroughs are aware of their responsibilities around this area of the policing pledge and have either received briefings or been trained on this aspect of the Pledge.

33. When teams are not on duty the calls are picked up by local officers and dealt with in an appropriate fashion. These systems are frequently on a ‘buddy system’ where teams cover each others messages when they are off duty utilizing the redirection facility of Mobex telephones. Detailed below are examples of the localized arrangements in place.

• Bromley: Off duty SNTs redirect their telephones to the Telephone Investigation Bureau (TIB). TIB staff answers all the calls/messages and make contact with caller to assess if immediate deployment is necessary. TIB also answer SNT e-mails. All calls are logged on a paper system.
• Kensington and Chelsea: A volunteer checks all voice mail messages for all wards, if the SNTs are not available. A reply is sent and then the SNT is notified direct by the volunteer.
• Enfield: An office has been set up using restricted/ recuperative duties personnel to answer e-mails, phone calls outside ward team hours/days.
• Haringey: Each weekend SNT telephone extensions are called by an Inspector to check for compliance, the outcome of these checks is reported to the Chief Inspector at weekly meeting and failures to respond are addressed.
• Sutton: There is a single default number to which calls to SNTs are redirected. This number is monitored on Monday to Friday by SNT support staff & volunteers and on weekends and Bank Holidays by the Integrated Borough Operations team (IBO).
• Westminster: A SNT desk has been created within the IBO. This is staffed between the hours of 10am - 8pm by members of the SNTs and, outside of these hours, by IBO staff. The mobex telephones are set to auto forward calls to the SNT contact desk if they are not answered. The contact desk also monitors the email boxes of each of the SNTs across the BCU.

34. This Pledge is monitored through a mystery shopper style process which is being conducted by MPS Inspectorate. This is an ongoing monitoring process from which enables the centre to identify and address areas of concern as well as effective practice.

35. Centrally we are looking to develop a corporate system to address this section of the pledge using data from the reality checks carried out on the BOCUs. We are trialing a Call Management Log. This is a spreadsheet which is completed by the teams which captures the message details as well as time it takes to respond and the outcomes. This log also provides additional information on action was taken in relations to the call.

Pledge 5. We aim to answer 999 calls within 10 seconds and non-emergency calls within 30 seconds. We will always tell callers what will happen next and give an estimated time of arrival if appropriate.

36. Call answering performance within the Central Communications Command (CCC) has steadily improved throughout this Financial Year, and the MPS is currently meeting the targets for both emergency and non-emergency call answering.

37. Coupled with significant improvements in the consistency of our response to ‘Immediate’ and ‘Significant’ graded calls, the call takers within CCC can now be more confident than ever that the promises being made to the public about the speed of our response are likely to be met. As a result from 8 February 2010 call handlers will make the promise to achieve the target times while closing the call. E.g. 'Your call has been graded as requiring an Immediate response and we will be with you in 12 minutes.'

Pledge 6. We will respond immediately to emergencies so that we get to incidents as quickly and safely as possible – aiming to attend within 12 minutes and much sooner if possible.

38. The MPS response to emergency calls has improved significantly this year, and at the current rate of improvement it’s anticipated that the targets for both 'Immediate' and 'Significant' calls will be achieved by the end of this Financial Year.

39. Year to date statistics indicate that the number of police collisions have declined in comparison to the same period last year, and at this stage there doesn’t appear to be any correlation between improvements in police response times and the number of police collisions.

40. It should be noted that the 12 minute (MPS) target for emergency call response is far more challenging than the national 15 minute target used by our Most Similar Forces (MSFs).

Pledge 7. When responding to non-emergency cases involving vulnerable victims and witnesses or agreed neighbourhood priorities we aim to get to you within 60 minutes. (We use the word ‘vulnerable’ to describe someone who may be at risk because of their age, disability or their personal circumstances.)

41. To ensure that vulnerable victims and witnesses are identified at the earliest possible stage CCC have initiated a program of work to raise awareness of caller vulnerability amongst all of its call takers.

42. In addition a new set of identification codes relating to caller vulnerability will be introduced alongside the roll-out of the National Standard for Incident Recording (NSIR) later this year. This change will mean that cases involving vulnerable victims can be tracked throughout the various stages of the police response, and any shortcomings or disproportionality can be readily identified and addressed.

43. With reference to Safer Neighbourhoods priorities our current system is the Conditional Deployment and Task Management in an IBO / Metcall Environment - Protocol. This protocol was developed between the Patrol and Safer Neighbourhoods Central Teams.

44. Integrated Borough Operations units are subject to Safer Neighbourhoods Central Supportive Visits to ensure that there is compliance with the protocol.

45. To ensure that that we are Pledge compliant we have set up a senior working group at Chief Superintendent and practitioner level between Safer Neighbourhoods, Patrol and Central Communications Command OCUs to look at current performance, future needs and developments.

Pledge 8. Alternatively, if appropriate, we will make an appointment to see you at a time that is convenient to you within 48 hours

46. Since August CCC and TP Patrol OCU have been running a borough appointments pilot, with eight boroughs across London now fully involved. When appropriate callers are offered the opportunity to make an appointment for an officer to visit them, at a time that suits the victim.

47. To date over four thousand appointments have been made, of which 83% were achieved, and the feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. This is scheduled to be extended to another nine boroughs at the start of March, and the remainder in April.

Pledge 9. We will attend regular public meetings, at least once a month, to agree local crime and policing priorities and give updates about crime and policing issues in your area.

48. The foundation stone of Safer Neighbourhoods Policing is to find long-term meaningful solutions to resolve problems that adversely affect communities; this is known as Problem Solving Policing. Rather than turn up to incidents and take steps to resolve the problem for the short term, the MPS believe that communities and colleagues from all agencies should work together to find ways to establish longer-term solutions that enable neighbourhoods to grow and develop.

49. Officers are trained in using the Seven Stage Safer Neighbourhoods Model, which helps them to identify the priorities of local people within any given neighbourhood. It then ensures that these priorities are tackled effectively. The stages of this model are as follows:

1. Research the local neighbourhood (Ward Profiles)
2. Engage with local communities (Community Engagement Plans)
3. Identify public preferences for action
4. Investigate and analyse public preferences
5. Identify priorities for action
6. Plan and act, and
7. Review.

50. The Seven Stage Model is a continuous cycle requiring the SNT to revisit each stage on a regular basis to ensure that progress is being made in tackling local community issues. Equality and diversity are threads that run through each stage, not just at the community engagement stage. Each of the seven stages is an important step in delivering a service that meets the needs of all communities. This model allows the MPS to concentrate on the right priorities – priorities that reflect what communities want.

51. Teams engage with communities using a variety of engagement methods to ensure that new people are identified and their concerns captured. This can be through Safer Neighbourhood Panels, Surgeries, and/or 'Street Briefings' where teams meet residents and businesses on street corners to identify local concerns at pre-arranged times and places. These meetings are advertised locally or on the Internet as part of The Policing Pledge.

52. Each SNT has a Neighbourhood Panel, which normally meets about once every six weeks and is chaired by a community representative. Young people are encouraged to identify their concerns and, in some boroughs, Youth Panels have been established. The panel is provided with research into identified concerns, and local crime statistics so that it can choose three priorities for the SNT and/or partners to deal with. This ensures that police deal with priorities that match local concerns. Safer Neighbourhoods Teams deal with priorities that are chosen by the Neighbourhood Panel. This often means that SNTs are dealing with long standing problems.

53. SNTs update the public meetings with work that they are carrying out around the locally agreed priorities as well as local crime and Anti Social Behaviour data. This is generally supplied by the Borough Intelligence Units (BIUs) and the SN analysts and uses the various information databases.

54. Locally agreed priorities are published on each of the SNT pages which include an update on action taken by SNTs. This takes the form of “we asked, you said and we did” section.

55. The MPS have modeled the week long Safer Neighbourhood training programme on the Seven Stage Problem Solving model. This incorporates managing meetings and publicity as well as the Policing Pledge.

56. In support of the initiative of Justice Seen, Justice Done, Safer Neighbourhood Teams have adjusted their publicity to fall in line with the national picture. The main thrust of the initiative is to communicate to communities about what their local police have done in response to the engagement process. So under the banner of 'We asked, You said, We did' the activity conducted by the SNTs is publicized through meetings, newsletters and the internet. During the latter part of November all 630 teams published an update of their activity. This included:

• An update on the position of the ward priorities
• A current newsletter
• A revamp of the format of monthly meetings
• An improved version of the team’s photographs
• A link to the Justice Seen, Justice Done section on the BOCU page publicising appropriate case results
• A link to the MPS Crime Mapping facility

58. Crime Mapping - In August 2008 the MPS launched the MPS Crime Mapping facility. This gives communities updates on crime to sub-ward level. Each web page has a link to the programme. SNTs are using these mapping facilities to assist their presentations to SN Ward Panels.

59. Community Payback - Community Payback in London is a partnership between National Probation Service London, the Metropolitan Police Service and local authorities, and forms part of the Safer Neighbourhoods Programme. This has been running since April 2005. Community Payback enables the Unpaid Work done by offenders in London to receive public recognition, and allows the public to contribute ideas as to which work projects are undertaken. It is critical that Community Payback hours are used effectively both as a punishment, and to help rehabilitate offenders
60. The scheme is governed across the MPS Safer Neighbourhoods teams, Probation and Local Authorities by a Standard Operating Procedure. There are now over 420 Community Payback project running across the capital each week. The scheme is vital tactic in initiatives such as the Capital Standards Annual Clear-up where it was involved in over 260 projects in the 2009 campaign with many projects being proposed by Safer Neighbourhoods teams
61. The scheme has opportunities for the Community to have their say as to where they would like Community Payback to work. This is done thorough engagement, local Neighbourhood panels, MPS and National Probation Service websites and phone lines. Justice Seen Justice Done saw each of the Pioneer boroughs engaging with the community to nominate their top 5 project ideas in 2009.

62. Community Crime Fighters - The MPS also took part in the Home Office staged Community Crime Fighters Conference held at the Oval in Lambeth. People representing communities from all over London attended these presentations to learn more about what they can do to work with the Criminal Justice Agencies and be a ‘critical friend’. This conference was the sequel to the conferences run over the summer period where, again, the MPS were major contributors.

Pledge 10. We will keep victims of crime informed about the progress of cases at least once a month.

63. The MPS approach to keeping victims informed is the establishment of Victim Focus Units. These units are tasked with maintaining regular contact with victims of crime, to asses their needs and where required tailor an appropriate support. Current MPS performance is showing 93% of victims updated monthly. This has been matched by a rise in the satisfaction measure that related to follow up contact from police which shows satisfaction currently standing at 67%.

64. All MPS Crime Management Units have been directed to ensure they have sufficient stocks of the Victim of Crime Leaflet and the new Victim of Crime for Young People leaflets, these are sent to almost every victim of crime along with a letter explaining the investigative decision and providing the victim with a crime reference number.

65. Taking this forward during 2010, TP Emerald will be focusing on the provision of quality contacts to ensure that victims expectations and needs are assessed, and that our front line staff are working with other support agencies to ensure victims have access to the services they require.

Pledge 11. We will contact people who have been involved in a road traffic collision (accident) within 10 working days.

66. In the performance year to date the MPS has met the 10 working day target in 88% of cases. For this same period, contact has been initiated, on average, 4 working days from the date of collision.

67. The MPS centralised Traffic Criminal Justice OCU is responsible for investigating all collision cases and delivering against this pledge target. This unit has made a commitment to make contact with persons involved in a road traffic collision at the earliest opportunity and within a target of 5 working days of the date they are notified of the collision. For the performance year to date the unit has made contact within the 5 working day target in 95% of cases. On average contact is made within 2 working days of the unit being notified of the collision. In addition and to support the unit in achieving the pledge targets, a new Special Message Format (SMF) MSS was introduced so that all the necessary details could be sent direct to the centralised traffic CJU. Compliance by BOCU’s in this respect is being monitored and for the performance year to date is at 69%.

Pledge 12. We will acknowledge any dissatisfaction with the service you have received within 24 hours of reporting it to us. To help us fully resolve the matter, we will discuss with you how it will be handled, give you an opportunity to talk in person to someone about your concerns and agree with you what will be done about them and how quickly.

68. The Central Communications Command (CCC) has established a confidence and satisfaction team that has the remit to manage and resolve dissatisfaction arising from any failure of the services it provides to the public. The team has its own management structure and uses the technological infrastructure developed for use by the Corporate Customer Service Unit (CSU). It was identified that there were considerable areas of overlap in terms of the functions of the CCC unit and the CSU and that there were efficiency gains to be realised by combining the teams. With effect from Monday 25 January 2010, the two units with merge and operate from the Lambeth CCC base.

69. In terms of performance the CSU is now responding to calls and emails from the public within 24hours 96% (FYTD 2009/10) and this has improved to 100% of the time in the most recent performance reporting period (November 2009).

Additional MPS Promises

Burglary

70. The MPS is working towards ensuring that a uniformed officer attends every allegation of residential burglary to conduct an initial investigation and that a Scene of Crime Officer attends within 4 hours to conduct a forensic examination. To provide further reassurance and maximise investigative opportunities, a member of a SNT will conduct a follow up visit to the victim within 72 hours of the burglary. All allegations will be reviewed by a member the CID to consider the merits and opportunities that might result from a secondary investigation.

Cases Going to Court

71. Witness Care Units (WCU) are fully established in every MPS BOCU. They are tasked with supporting victims and witnesses of crime through the criminal justice process. They maintain contact with the witness, usually as a result of a new development, and in any event maintain monthly contact as per Victims Code and Pledge obligations.

72. All MPS Witness Care Manager have received face to face briefings from TP Emerald detailing the pledge and then focusing on commitments most relevant to their role. This information has then been disseminated down to front line Witness Care Officers.

73. In late 2009 the Witness and Victim Experience Survey (WAVES) data became available on a BOCU basis. TP Emerald and the LCJB are in the process of analysing this data to identify key area to focus activity on and will be setting key achievements for 2010. Initially we will be focusing on improving the offer of court familiarisation visits and Victim Personal Statements.

74. TP Emerald continues to work with our partners at Her Majesty’s Court Service (HMCS) to improve the timeliness of court results particularly in relation to the notifications of bail conditions and case results. Furthermore 2010 will see the publication of the MPS Witness Care Unit Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which will seek to provide further direction and corporacy to MPS WCU processes.

Stop and account and stop and search

75. In January 2009, following changes to legislation stop and account recording has been reduced considerably. There is now only a requirement to record: date, time, location, officers details and the self defined ethnicity of the person stopped. With in excess of 60,000 stop and accounts taking place each month this has resulted in a quicker and less intrusive interaction.

76. Similarly the operational evaluation of the personal digital assistant (PDA) is currently underway with 260 devices being used across 5 Boroughs. It is expected that the full roll out of 4,000 devices will commence February 2010. Operational evaluation will test some other operational benefits offered by the PDA including:

• reduced bureaucracy
• reduced re-keying
• reduced officer enquiry time
• improved access to and quality of information

77. In June 2009 TPHQ Stop and Search Team conducted visits to 17 MPS BOCU’s and 5 pan London units. The aim of these visits was to gain a better understanding of the knowledge of officers in relation to the various stop and search powers and procedures. As a result recommendations have been made to provide training for officers which will enhance service level delivery in stop and search interactions.
78. Numerous and varied stop and search community engagement and liaison activities have taken place across the MPS during 2009 and continue to be undertaken in 2010. This work is now reported to the MPA via the Communities, Equalities and People Committee.

Performance Management

79. Most of the services described in the Pledge have been monitored for a number of years and there is a large amount of base data against which performance may be assessed. All of this data has now been brought together into a unified Pledge scorecard measuring the eleven elements of the MPS Pledge. A copy of the most recent Pledge scorecard is attached at Appendix 2.

80. The most significant areas of performance improvement can be found response times to emergency (I) calls and non-emergency (S) calls. In respect of emergency calls the % that are attended within 12 minutes has increased from 65.2% (2008) to 79.4% (November 2009). In respect of non-emergency calls the % attended within 60 minutes has increased from 49.5% (2008) to 84.7% (November 2009). The performance improvement has been achieved through a number of initiatives including; the introduction of National Call Handling Standards Call Grades and definitions, greater use of appointments and, most importantly, intrusive supervision of call response by supervisors within CCC and on BOCU.

81. A programme of internal reality checking is underway to test whether requirements of the Pledge are being met and that promises are kept by local teams. The reality checks are being undertaken on an Area by Area basis with the results being sent directly to the Area Commander who is then responsible for initiating and coordinating remedial action. They then report the action plan to the Deputy Assistant Commissioner at her Operational Review meeting. The most recent checks were undertaken on the North Area (a copy of the inspection report is attached at Appendix 3 - exempt). The recent reality checks show that performance has improved in every area inspected, key findings include;

• All ten non 24 hour police stations were open as advertised.
• All police stations visited had Pledge information displayed.
• Eighteen of twenty two telephone calls to SNT’s were responded to within 24 hours.
• 100% of SNTs displayed their priorities
• 100% of SNTs displayed current newsletters
• 100% of SNTs displayed updates on their priorities
• 100% of SNTs displayed details of offenders brought to justice

82. There remain challenges in respect of publication of SNT photographs on the website and consistent performance in terms of engagement activity.

83. The Central Safer Neighbourhoods Unit will be including ‘Policing Pledge’ performance in their supportive visits to BOCU’. The first round of visits commences in January 2010 to Bexley Borough.

84. This review will primarily look at neighbourhood policing and determine whether there is an appropriate focus on engagement with Local citizens. Specifically, the review will consider:

• The ability of the borough to articulate a clear, comprehensive, prioritised, evidence-based strategy for engaging with their community and delivering increased public confidence.
• The ability of the borough to turn their strategy into effective and improving delivery on the ground of “neighbourhood policing” and “citizen focus”.

85. At the conclusion of the visit all agreed recommendations will inform the development a Borough Development Plan.

86. The Borough Commander and Area Commander will agree a timescale for implementation of Borough recommendations. The central TP-SNT unit will assist in the review of the implementation of the recommendations on behalf of the Area Commander.

87. New robust guidance in respect of SNT’s having their photographs taken and displayed is being developed.

C. Other organisational & community implications

Equality and diversity impact

1. An Equality Impact Assessment has been prepared by the Citizen Focus Policing Programme in relation to the MPS Policing Pledge. The assessment indicates that there are differential satisfaction rates between white and black and minority ethnic service users (see paragraph 2 below) and that some service users experience difficulty in accessing services through traditional routes. For this reason the MPS Pledge describes such things as; how to access services through the Internet, how operators in our call centres have access to translation services and how callers who are deaf or have hearing difficulties can use a text phone. In developing the Pledge, the MPS has received advice from the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate, the Plain English Campaign, the Royal National Institute for the Deaf and Mencap. The MPS Pledge is now available in nine alternative languages, as a podcast and a Braille version is also available. By the end of August a version will be available that will make the Pledge more accessible to people learning difficulties.

2. The MPS has identified a performance gap in respect of the comparative satisfaction of black and minority ethnic victims of crime, which is lower than that of white victims. Research undertaken by the MPS indicates that the satisfaction of BME victims is improved primarily through consistent delivery of quality policing services. The initiatives described in this paper and elsewhere, for example in the TP Front Counters Project, are all designed to improve external service delivery and improve the satisfaction of all service users. The approach delivering the Pledge has been to embed the principles in the usual business development processes of the MPS. A separate report providing an update on satisfaction gap between White and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) victims is to be presented to the Strategic and Operational Policing Committee.

Financial implications

3. There are no additional financial implications arising from this report. The MPS approach for delivering services within the Pledge has been to embed the principles in the usual business development processes of the MPS. It has not been the catalyst for new spending.

Legal implications

4. Whilst there are no statutory requirements upon the MPA to monitor the performance of the MPS in terms of meeting specific police pledges, the MPA is responsible for securing an efficient and effective police force under s6 of the Police Act 1996.

5. This report acknowledges that by increasing performance against the Policing Pledge it will raise public confidence in the delivery of policing services; improve satisfaction levels and strengthen community engagement, which can all contribute towards the prevention and detection of crime.

Environmental implications

6. The environmental implications arising from this report are largely indirect. The activities of the policing teams and units described by the report include playing a positive role in addressing environmental crime such as graffiti, litter, vandalism, noise, abandoned vehicles, etc. Further, day-to-day operational activities involve the use of resources including energy, water, paper, etc, and generate emissions (e.g. carbon dioxide) and waste. The MPS Environmental Strategy 2005-10 seeks to create awareness of these issues and to mitigate impacts through behavioural change among police staff.

7. It should also be noted that the Environmental Strategy will, in the latter part of the 09/10 financial year, be superseded by a MPS Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy 2010-13 that is currently in development. This CSR Strategy will address a broader scope of issues than the current Environmental Strategy, including, for example, social and economic issues such as public confidence in policing, community engagement, responsible procurement etc.

8. It is possible that a number of material issues likely to be identified by the CSR strategy (and which will subsequently be included in a CSR reporting framework), will include some of the issues addressed by this Report. For example, stakeholder engagement, partnership working, training & awareness, equalities, organisational reputation, etc.

D. Background papers

• MPS Policing Pledge Our Promise to the Public

E. Contact details

Report author: Chief Superintendent Ian Harrison, MPS.

For information contact:

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

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