Update on consultation for the 2004/5 Policing Plan

Report: 9
Date: 24 April 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

Consultation for the 2004/5 Policing Plan culminates in September 2003. This report updates the MPA on the development of the consultation plan.

A. Recommendation

That the report be noted.

B. Supporting information

1. At the last consultation committee, members approved the high-level consultation plan for the 2004/5 Policing Plan. Since then, MPA and MPS officers have discussed the plan with the Chair of the Planning Panel. This has led to the development of further ideas. A summary of these is contained in Appendix 1. On 8 April 2003 there will be a debrief of the 2003/4 planning process. This involves planning teams from the MPA and MPS, chaired by the Chair of the Planning Panel. It will also discuss ideas for the 2004/5 planning process including consultation. An oral update on the issues raised at this de-briefing will be given to the meeting.

C. Equality and diversity implications

Equality and diversity issues have been taken into fully taken into account throughout the Policing Plan process and this will be continued.

D. Financial implications

The financial implications associated with the planning and consultation processes can be met from existing budgets.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Supt Chas Bailey, MPS Strategic Consultation Manager, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

2004/5 consultation plan – emerging issues

Transparency

There is a desire to make the process of converting consultation into decision-making more transparent. The benefits of this are:

• consultees feel that their input has been valued;
• constraints on policing and other influencing factors become more widely understood by the community; and
• consultees are more likely to stay engaged and respond to further consultation.

MPA pan London consultation event

The MPA will hold a consultation event on the priorities in August with pan-London organisations.

London Civic Forum

The MPA are working with the London Civic Forum to hold four locally based community engagement events before September.

MPA high level events

The outcome of the recent Stand Up – Stamp Down consultation event and the next event, which is on Youth issues, will be fed into the planning process.

Commissioner’s Seminar

This annual event will be held in September (the provisional date is 24 September). The attendees will be the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Management Board, a selection of MPA members and officers, senior MPS managers and commanders. A key purpose of the seminar is as an internal consultation event to discuss the policing priorities. Based on feedback from previous years the MPS is currently considering options to make it more participative and to improve the strategic analysis on which seminar proposals can be based.

Online consultation

Officers from the MPA and MPS are considering whether more consultation can be done online with pan London and other organized groups. An online system has been identified that allows a more interactive relationship with consultees. By allowing all participants to see each other’s contributions, it encourages healthy debate and reasoned contributions. This will go some way towards increasing the transparency of the process. It is an iterative process that keeps consultees involved throughout the decision process. Early estimates are that it would cost about £30,000, and we are exploring whether this can be found from existing budgets. Complementary methods may be needed to ensure a spread of consultation with groups who do not have online access.

A different approach will be needed for consulting the public online. We are exploring an interactive approach that will identify the public’s priorities and generate understanding of the resource constraints facing the MPS.

National Intelligence Model

A key strand of the National Intelligence Model is to use strategic analysis when deciding the policing plan. The MPS is developing strategic analysis for use in this year’s planning process and the Commissioner’s seminar in particular. A major part of the strategic analysis is the development a deeper understanding of crime problems including the community perspective on factors that affect crime. Strategic analysis is still under development and we will update the MPA on the consultation implications as they are developed.

MPA committees

Before the output of public consultation is used, the Consultation Committee will want to oversee its conclusions. There is no Consultation Committee between 19 June and 22 September. There is therefore no opportunity for members to consider the outputs of the consultation in sufficient advance of the next stage in the planning process, the Commissioner’s seminar. During September, there will almost certainly be an MPA Planning Panel meeting specifically to discuss the planning process. It is proposed that the Chair of the Consultation Committee and other members be invited to attend the September Planning Panel to consider the consultation. MPA members will have a further opportunity to consider how the consultation has been used in formulating the priorities when the MPS presents it’s proposed priorities to the full Authority for approval.

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