Consultation calendar

Report: 6
Date: 27 February 2003
By: Clerk

Summary

At the Consultation Committee on 5 December 2002 a programme of consultation events outlining a proposed timetable for initial meetings was presented to members. This paper proposes a change to these dates and highlights work that has been done to progress these events.

A. Recommendation

That the revised timetable for consultation events is noted.

B. Supporting information

Background

1. Members agreed that as part of the Authority’s statutory responsibility to consult they would hold up to four planned meetings per year with different groups and communities and in different areas of London. The nature of consultation has meant that adjustments have had to be made to some of the proposed dates, whilst others have emerged that were not necessarily in the frame at the time when the original dates were discussed. A revised calendar of consultation events is attached at Appendix 1.

Gun crime event: Stand Up and Stamp Down On Murder - 28 February 2003

2. In October members proposed that a consultation event should be held in the borough of Hackney. At the December meeting it was agreed that this consultation on gun crimes should include the five Trident boroughs and officers were asked to progress the planning of the event. Following the December siege in Hackney the Chair of the Committee proposed that, given the increasing concern about gun crime throughout London, it should be a Londonwide event aimed at attracting a wide range of contributors and communities.

3. The Chair has been actively engaged in the planning of the event for 28 February, which has attracted a wide range of high profile speakers and contributors including Lord Falconer the Home Office minister with responsibility for gun crime, the Minister of State, Doctah X, a community activist and Lucy Cope of Mothers Against Guns, who has attracted a great deal of publicity in the promotion of parents in the fight against gun crime.

4. Invitations have been sent to a wide range of individuals and organisations and a copy of the programme can be found on the MPA website The venue has been invited to the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in Bloomsbury . Plans are still underway to confirm a celebrity to perform on the evening.

Youth consultation event 25 or 26 March 2003

5. It was agreed on 5 December that an event to engage with the youth of the Royal Borough Kensington & Chelsea, and the boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Ealing, would be held 25/26 March 2003. The local Community Consultation Coordinator (CCC) was asked to look into the arrangements and planning for this event.

6. The purpose of the event is to;

1. engage with young people to inform about key policing issues and their impact on young people
2. seek views on police operations or practice as a means of influencing policing practice
   Target group: 12-17 year old, in the west London area

Difficulties with the proposed timescale and other issues

7. The CCC has consulted with key partners and stakeholders and it is evident that the original proposals for the event will need to be reviewed in the light of the work that she has done surrounding the planning of this event.

Partners consulted:

8. Borough police schools involvement team, local authority education department, Youth Policy Unit Scotland Yard

• The Junior Citizen Safety Scheme is run throughout the month of March. This involves engaging with youth in the various boroughs over a two-week intensive period.
• The SATs exams occur at this time of the year.
• The proposed time of the event (4-7 pm) raises practical difficulties especially if children are expected to travel to a venue without supervision.
• Specific insurance for the event would need to be organised.
• All facilitators and event assistants need to be police checked.
• Specific Health & Safety checks need to be organised in advance.
• The proposed age range (12-17 year olds) is considered to be too broad.
• Any proposed event is wholly dependent upon police resources and availability, which is currently being severely hampered by the ongoing security alert, with some local events already being postponed.

New meeting arrangements

9 Following this consultation with the local partners, it is clear that 25 or 26 March 2003 not be suitable dates for this event.

10 It is therefore suggested that an event held nearer to summer would be more appropriate. The remit of the event could also be expanded to include the promotion of youth related events planned for the summer period. At the time of writing this report, full information concerning other proposed events in May/June was not available. It is possible that some events such the Youth Games in the Royal Borough Kensington & Chelsea could be extended to include a police consultative element. This cross agency working will make the event more relevant and local to the attendees.

11. Further and more detailed research will be conducted to ensure that all boroughs are available to attend and a more comprehensive report will be provided shortly.

Recommendation 61 consultation events

12. This is separately dealt with elsewhere on this agenda However, it is apparent that this initiative will be an extremely important one for this committee. Precise details of the local events that will be organised will be made available to members as these are agreed. There are regular by-weekly meetings taking place, and plans are underway to directly involve members from community and voluntary groups from Hackney in the planning process. This is being coordinated via the Manager of Hackney Crime and Community Safety Unit.

Peace on the Streets – Choice FM’s Action Against Gun Crime Friday 28 march – Sunday 30 March 2003

13. Choice FM has been a positive influence and driving force for peace in the black community. With gun crimes rife in the black community, Choice FM has decided to run a major campaign on this escalating problem. There will be three days dedicated to debates, discussions and interviews to campaign against the rise of gun violence amongst the black co0mmunity in the UK and especially London.

14. The Chair of the MPA Consultation Committee and the Director of Communications are in active discussions with Choice FM about the MPA’s partnership role in the action against guns campaign. The Chair will be involved in radio and press interviews and the MPA, as co sponsors with the Government Office for London, will be represented at a number of events throughout the weekend.

Consultation strategy 21 April 2003

15. Copies of this document were sent to Community and Police Consultative Groups, local authority chief executives, borough commanders and other key stakeholders in November 2002. It is apparent, however, that due to the focus on other issues CPCGs were unable to coordinate any meaningful consultation on the draft strategy document.

16. Following consultation with the CPCGs, this document has now been reissued with a response deadline of April 2003. A response proforma has also been circulated.

17. In addition to paper copies, a copy of the document has also been posted on the MPA website for public views and consultation.

Consultation on the annual Policing Priorities

18. It was previously agreed by this committee that the outcomes from range of events would be used to inform the process for setting the annual policing priorities. MPA and MPS officers will be meeting to agree the type of information and data that will need to be collected at each event, and the way in which this will be analysed. It is proposed that this process will be used for MPA and MPS consultation events at Pan London and local borough levels.

Annual Consultation conference

19. It was agreed that the MPA should organise an annual consultation conference. This should be broad-based and will inform the annual policing priorities as well as be used as a process for maintaining engagement with key stakeholders, community groups and organisations. The detailed programme will be presented to members at the 24 April Committee meeting.

Resourcing consultation events

20. It is apparent that the planning of events takes up a great deal of staff time. In the past, no additional resources have been allocated to undertake this. However, as this is a continuous activity of this committee, members may wish to consider the idea of proposing the employment of an events organiser, to be a general resource to the Authority and could assist the Communications and Consultation Units in planning all aspects of such events. This post would need to be funded from the 2003/04 consultation budget. Detailed proposals will be forwarded to a subsequent meeting of this Committee.

C. Equality and diversity implications

A youth event that maximises its potential through partnership working and consultation with local agencies is likely to be more effective at engaging those ‘hard to reach’ groups as identified within the MPA Consultation Strategy 2002/05.

D. Financial implications

The proposed calendar raises no significant additional financial implications. Decisions on the possibility of additional staffing resources for an event’s organiser are not being sought at this stage and would be the subject of a further report. It would be expected to contain this cost within existing budgets. The Choice FM campaign has been sponsored to the sum of £10,000 from within the communications budget.

E. Background papers

Committee report 5 December 2002

F. Contact details

Report author: Julia Smith, MPA.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

Revised MPA Consultation Calendar

• Gun Crime event: Stand Up and Stamp Down Murder - 28 February 2003
• Recommendation 61 consultation events

• 31 March – proposed launch event at Oceans (programme to be agreed)
• Local meetings are being arranged. Details will be made available to MPA members at on the MPA/MPA and hackney websites

• Peace on the Streets – Choice FM’s Action Against Gun Crime - Friday 28 March – Sunday 30 March 2003
• MPA/MPS Consultation Strategy - 21 April 2003
• Public Attitude Survey initiative (MPS) - May/June 2003
• Second phase consultation to confirm CPCG Constitution - May – July 2003
• Annual Consultation conference – July 2003
• Online consultation to inform the Policing Priorities - May – July 2003
• Youth consultation event June/ July 2003

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