MPA and MPS consultation strategy 2005/06, Policing Plan and priorities

Report: 8
Date: 18 March 2004
By: Clerk

Summary

The report summarises the complementary methods by which the MPA and MPS will seek the viewpoints of Londoners in informing the 2005/06 Policing Plan. For the MPA this will include the input from Community Police Consultative Groups, analysis of surveys undertaken by the GLA, ALG and other relevant recent studies and research as they pertain to policing issues; the results of the first round of consultation with the MPA’s own Citizens Panel comprising approximately 3000 residents; focus groups with hard to reach groups; as well as the results of research undertaken for the MPA by the London Civic Forum.

The MPS will implement an approach that will include online consultation, youth consultation, the findings of the Public attitude Survey and early results from Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP) audits.

A. Recommendation

That members note the report and refer to the Planning, Performance and Review Committee for its review and comments.

B. Supporting information

1. In complementing the consultation process being undertaken by the MPS for the 2005/06 Policing Plan the emphasis of the MPA’s own consultation activities will be to stress a pan-London perspective in gathering Londoners view on overall strategic priorities. The results will be submitted jointly to the Planning Panel and the Commissioners Planning Seminar in September 2005.

2. To ensure the processes and the results are co-ordinated in a timely manner it is necessary to undertake all consultation before the end of June 2004 and to ensure results are complied before the end of August 2004.

3. One of the major findings from the 2004/05 consultation process was that policing priorities should be founded upon and be responsive to the diversity of the local needs at the borough level. To attain this goal the array of local arrangements needs to be further strengthened to increase both the capacity and quality of community engagement. This conclusion suggests that the framework by which police priorities are established in a way that truly reflects Londoners’ needs can only be determined through a policing service that is ‘diversified’ and ‘localised’.

4. This conclusion reinforces the changes that are already underway through such major initiatives as the Step-Change programme, the introduction of Police Community Support Officers, the Reassurance Strategy, etc. These changes also support the Home Office objective of enabling local communities to have much more involvement in local policing decisions and solutions, within the strategic context of community engagement and civil renewal.

5. In devolving greater consultative responsibilities to the local and BCU level, the MPA will be concerned to ensure that these are fully reflected and incorporated in this bottom-up police priority setting process. As part of this years’ consultation process, the MPA will seek input on the appropriate standards for police consultation, partnership and engagement arrangements and, thereby, serve as the basis for increasing the MPA’s capacity for properly scrutinising against these standards.

6. Another objective of the MPA consultation activity is to attempt to further pinpoint what Londoners actually expect from having a more visible local policing presence and what they expect from closer consultation with the Police.

7. The methodologies that will be employed by the MPA will include, firstly, compiling, analysing and bringing forward the results of consultation and survey work undertaken by other agencies and institutions such as the GLA, ALG, local authorities and other relevant recent studies and reports. In determining the policing priorities for 2005/06, the MPA needs to be informed by as many different sources as possible.

8. Secondly, one of the major sources of knowledge about Londoners’ views on policing is the result of the discussions of Community Police Consultative Groups (CPCGs). While historically CPCGs have always provided input at the local borough level, this year they will also be invited through the CPCG London Chairs Forum to bring a pan-London perspective on policing plans by making a formal presentation to the Consultation Committee.

9. The third source of public involvement that the MPA will pursue in informing the 2005/06 Policing Plan is through a Citizens Panel. A competitive tendering process is presently being undertaken to select an external consultant to establish and implement the MPA’s Citizens Panel. The composition will reflect London’s demographic makeup, and with approximately 3000 participants, be large enough to ensure statistically valid representative samples and sub-samples of ‘hard to hear’ communities. The first round of questions sought of the Citizens Panel will focus on police-community engagement arrangements and 2005/06 policing priorities and plans.

10. The fourth avenue of seeking Londoners viewpoints on the 2005/06 policing priorities that the MPA will pursue is to build on the partnership developed last year with the London Civic Forum. This will include the development of a ‘knowledge bank’ for the MPA, and a mapping of all the channels that would be most effective in getting information to and from communities, to assist it with future community engagement activities and as a platform for working with different communities for future rounds of consultation. In addition it will include the identification, compilation and analysis of recent reports, briefs, studies and research carried out by and for ‘hard to hear’ groups about community safety and policing issues.

11. The final method that the MPA will employ to seek public input into the 2005/06 police priority setting process is to enter into partnership with community umbrella organisations to undertake consultation with specific target groups. This will include working with Greater London Action on Disability to undertake the necessary background research and a one-day community conference to establish the strategic policing directions and priorities for the disability communities in London that will be presented to both the MPA and MPS. A similar approach will be undertaken with other groups including the LGBT, Faith and BME communities.

12. In addition to the methods that will be employed by the MPA, the approaches taken by the MPS will include first an online consultation. Due to the favourable response to the online consultation from participants in this year’s process, the MPS propose to build on the success of last year’s online process. This is felt to be the most effective way to:

• ensure all participants get an opportunity to give their views unhindered or influenced by either other participants or the MPS.
• allow, through an iterative process, individual participants to take all participants views into account when making their choices of policing priorities.
• generate a transparent set of priorities, within the time and resources available, that all participants can identify their contribution to.

13. All the recommendations made in the final report from this year’s online consultation will be incorporated into next year’s process.

14. Additionally, the MPS intends to expand the consultation process to include members of the public. To ensure the best possible participation in the process, this will be widely advertised at an early stage.

15. A youth consultation will be lead by the MPS, intending to build on last year’s consultation run through the Safer Schools Partnership.

16. The Public Attitude Survey (PAS) will be lead by the MPS and MPS officers will shortly meet with MPA officers to develop this further. MPA views will be taken into account, as it is intended to further develop the PAS.

17. CDRP Audits will be lead by the MPS. As the CDRP Audits are due for their 3-year strategy plan, the MPS discussed with the MPA the possibility of combining this Audit process together with the planning process. However, on further discussions with GoL and the MPS Partnership Unit, it has been identified that the results from the CDRP audit process are unlikely to be completed to feed into the August deadline. However, the MPS Strategic Consultation Unit will continue to liaise with the MPS Partnership Unit to ensure that any results that are available within the time span are fed into the process.

18. It should be noted that it is the intention of the MPS to combine the consultation for the 2005/06 policing plan with that for the 2005/08 Strategy Plan.

C. Equality and diversity implications

The consultation processes being undertaken by both the MPA and MPS pays attention to the particular policing issues and needs of London's diverse communities and will help to strengthen community, access to and increased impact upon the police priority setting process.

D. Financial implications

There are no direct financial implications of this report. Funding for the consultation process described is included in the MPA 2004/05 budget.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author: Tim Rees, MPA.

For more information contact:

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

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