Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Consultation, Diversity and Outreach Committee held on 09 May 2002 at the Assembly Hall, Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street, E8 1EA.

Present

Members

• R. David Muir (Chair)
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
• Abdal Ullah (Deputy Chair)
• Jennette Arnold
• Jenny Jones
• Nicholas Long

Also present:

• Peter Herbert (Deputy Chair)
• Eric Ollerenshaw (MPA link member for Hackney)

MPA staff:

• Julia Smith (Policy Officer, CDO)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS staff:

• Chief Supt. Derek Benson.(Borough Commander, Hackney)
• Commander Croll and Carl Bussey, Diversity Directorate)

In addition approximately 20 members of the press/public and other Metropolitan Police Authority MPA/MPS staff were present.

Part 1

80. Welcome to the meeting

(Agenda item 1)

The Chair welcomed members of the public to the meeting and provided a brief outline of the work of the MPA.

81. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 2)

Apologies for absence were received from Assistant Commissioner Todd, Catherine Crawford and Meg Hillier.

82. Minutes of the meeting held on 14 March 2002

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – Subject to the inclusion of Nicholas Long the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 14 March 2002 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

83. Chair and Link Members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair reported that he had spoken to Mr. and Mrs. Taylor following the outcome of the trial of those accused of murdering their son. There would be a review of the conduct of the case. He had attended meetings in connection with the MPA race equality scheme.

Members reported that they had attended the briefings in connection with May Day. They had been pleased to note that in the event there had been less disorder than in recent years and there had indeed been praise from some of the participants at the way in which the day had been policed.

Resolved - That the Chair and Members update be noted.

84. GLA “Listening to London” Best Value Review

(Agenda item 5)

A report was considered which outlined the outcomes of the GLA group 'Listening to Londoners best value review.

The policy officer CDO reported that since the report was written the Authority had been advised that it could proceed to agreeing to sign up to the consultation network.

Referring to recommendation 3.33 a member asked whether what was proposed would conflict with the work that the MPA was doing to build up its own consultation strategy with the MPS. In reply the policy officer CDO said that she was able to give that assurance.

The Committee noted that there was no provision in the MPA budget for the current year to develop the work arising from this review and that the proposals in the review had not been costed. The Chair said that in the circumstances it would be premature to agree the second recommendation.

Resolved - That -

1. the report be noted.
2. a decision be deferred on the further consultation proposed until more was known about the likely cost.

85. GLA “Equalities for all” Best Value Review

(Agenda item 6)

The GLA “Equalities for All” Best Value review was completed in March 2002, and signed by all members of the GLA Group, and the MPS. A report was submitted which outlined the key findings and recommendations of the report and proposes a number of processes for internal consultation that will inform the development of the MPA implementation plan.

In receiving the best value report the Committee felt that a workshop for members and the MPS should be held before any decisions were made as its implications were wider than that of the CDO Committee.

Resolved-

That the report be noted and decisions on particular aspects be taken at a future meeting.

86. Race hate crimes

(Agenda item 7)

A report was submitted which updated the Committee on activities being undertaken by the police to monitor the investigation of race hate crimes.

The Committee received information from the borough Commander concerning community reassurance which had taken place locally following the recent defacement of a synagogue in Finsbury Park.

Peter Herbert reported that a report by the Inspectorate of the Crown Prosecution Service had been published which dealt with issues such as the prosecution of race hate crimes. He would suggest that this report be considered at a future meeting.

Members indicated that in order to get a fuller picture of what was happening at local level information should also be provided at what remedies were being used by other agencies e.g. eviction from local authority housing.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

87. Women and ethnic minority staff in specialist units

(Agenda item 8)

A report was submitted which outlined the actions being taken by the MPS to encourage female and visible ethnic minority staff to apply to join specialist units.

Members noted there were some areas such as the anti terrorist unit which still had no visible ethnic minority staff which meant it was clear that there was still much progress to be made. A member suggested that in the absence of any improvement to the position in these areas that visible ethnic minority staff be seconded to these Units. The Committee requested that further reports should show comparisons with the previous year.

Resolved – That the report be noted and the Committee be kept advised of the action being undertaken.

88. Education and youth street crime

(Agenda item 9)

Following the successful MPA Education and Youth Street Crime seminar held on 26 February 2002, the Committee considered a report that identified a number of key actions arising from the seminar and how these should be progressed by Committees.

Resolved - That

1. the actions identified as priorities for the Consultation, Diversity and Outreach Committee be noted; and
2. the proposal for an MPA Youth and Street Crimes Reference Group to be chaired by Cecile Wright, lead member on youth crime issues be noted.

89. Community and Police Consultative Groups and Independent Custody Visiting Panels progress report

(Agenda item 10)

A report was submitted which set out a summary of work undertaken to progress the work on community and police consultative groups and independent custody visiting panels since the last meeting of the Committee.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

90. MPA evaluation of MPS (CRR) training Race Relations (Amendment) Act – work in progress by the MPS

(Agenda item 11)

Resolved- That

1. the progress made be noted.
2. the decision on letting the contract be delegated to the Clerk, advised by the Chairs of the CDO Committee and HR Committees and the Deputy Chairs of the CDO Committee at an ad hoc meeting.

91. Diversity budget

(Agenda item 12)

No report submitted.

92. Progress on MPA/MPS consultation strategy

(Agenda item 13)

No report submitted.

93. MPA Race Equality Scheme

(Agenda item 14)

A report was submitted which outlined work in progress towards introducing the MPA Race Equality Scheme to meet the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

Resolved-That

1. the MPA’s Race Equality Scheme and action plan be noted.
2. the draft be referred to the meeting of the Authority on 23 May.
3. it be noted that subject to approval by the Authority the final Scheme will be published on 31 May 2002.

94. MPS Race Equality Scheme

(Agenda item 14)

A report was submitted which outlined work in progress towards introducing the MPS Race Equality Scheme to meet the requirements of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

Resolved – the progress towards preparing the MPS’s Race Equality Scheme be noted.

95. Presentation

(Agenda item 13)

At the request of the Chair no presentation made.

96. Questions and comments from the public

(Agenda item 15)

These are contained in appendix 1.

The meeting finished at 8.05 p.m.

Questions and comments from the public

Are you aware that this meeting clashes with the meeting of the executive committee for the Hackney CPCG? Also that we received notification of the meeting too late for it to be included in our newsletter so we were not able to publicise the meeting.

This is noted and the agenda will be amended so that anyone in the audience who is attending the CPCG meeting can ask questions before they have to leave.

I understand that a new form of neighbourhood police officer is to be introduced into London shortly. Can we have some more information on this. Also, can we have an assurance that the police will be involved in their training. There is concern that these officers will not be engaged where they are most needed –i.e. on the housing estates in boroughs like Hackney.

The Borough Commander explained that the new posts would be called Community Support Officers. Their task would be to support police officers in their work and to provide community safety reassurance. The first intake of recruits would be concerned with security and will largely be based in central London. There will be further categories of community support officers and their role was still being determined. The CSO’s would be employed directly by the MPS.

The questioner was also advised that as part of a separate initiative a new Transport Operational Command Unit was due to be introduced. One of its tasks would be the policing of bus routes to ensure the safety of passengers.

I accept that it is necessary for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to work closely together but I have heard that the CPS is now concentrating on bringing street crime offences to court. I am concerned that if the CPS and police concentrate on street crime the focus will be removed from prosecuting other crimes and it will also mean the police will not have resources to carry out all their other duties.

It is important for the police to work closely to work with other agencies such as the CPS to ensure the full success of high profile initiatives such as Safer Streets but this was not done at the expense of other work. The questioner was in part referring to the recommendations of the Glidewell report which are currently being progressed with the first joint facility being introduced at Holborn covering the boroughs of Camden and Islington. The aim was to bring CPS and MPS into a closer working relationship but the independence of the two bodies was maintained.

Hackney may have a reputation for good racial relations but residents are in fact becoming increasingly subject to racist comments as they go about their daily lives. I think that local authorities should have some responsibility for law and order enforcement.

The Borough Commander explained that there was already a role for local authorities in crime and disorder partnerships. This works well locally. There was also the Hackney 20/20 vision initiative which had evolved into a local strategic partnership.

An announcement was expected soon about the introduction of four neighbourhoods in the borough. There would be a corresponding restructuring of the borough policing.

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