Draft MPA/MPS Annual Report 2001/02

Report: 4
Date: 6 Jan 2003
By: Clerk

Summary

The joint MPA/MPS annual report 2001/02 sets out how the MPS performed during the year and the priorities for 2002/03. Members are asked to approve the MPA section of the report attached at appendix A.

A. Recommendation

1. That the committee approve the MPA section of the MPA/MPS annual report 2001/02 attached at Appendix A; and
2. That the Clerk be authorised to make any subsequent editorial changes, in consultation with the Chair as necessary.

B. Supporting information

1. The MPA/MPS annual report is due to be published later this month, when it is formally presented to the Authority at its 30 January meeting.

2. The report sets out how the MPS performed during the year and the priorities for 2002/03. A draft is attached at Appendix A and members are invited to approve or amend this draft.

3. There is a statutory requirement for the Metropolitan Police Service to present an annual report to the MPA. This will be produced jointly with the MPA annual report.

4. The reporting period covered by this report saw the MPS deal with one million recorded crimes, sharp increases in street robberies and an increase in counter-terrorist activity following the 11 September 2001 terrorist atrocities in the United States.

5. The MPA also led the drive for greater numbers of borough-based police officers to increase visible policing and reduce crime and the fear of crime. Police numbers had fallen steadily over a ten year period – a damaging trend which the MPA, working closely with the Home Secretary, the Mayor and the Commissioner, has worked hard to reverse.

6. The Authority has made significant contributions to the policing of London in a number of key areas, including some in-depth scrutiny of MPS performance.

7. The subject of the first project followed a request by the MPS to look into rape investigation and victim care. The project was a success, making 38 recommendations for improvements.

8. The MPA was instrumental in pushing forward reforms that give police borough commanders greater control over policing their communities. They now have more responsibility for their budgets and for the setting of local policing targets that reflect the particular concerns of people in each borough.

C. Equality and diversity implications

1. The report will be available via the MPA/MPS websites, and in London, can be seen at local libraries and police stations.

2. A summary of the report will be available in large print, audiotape or Braille, or in the following languages:

• Arabic
• Bengali
• Chinese
• Croatian
• Greek
• Gujarati
• Hindi
• Turkish
• Urdu

D. Financial implications

1. A £25,000 budget is held by the MPA for the design and production of the annual report.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Philip Powell, MPA.

For more information contact:

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

Appendix A

Report of the Metropolitan Police Authority

Foreword by Toby Harris, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority

The past year has been an extremely busy and challenging one for both the Metropolitan Police Authority and the Metropolitan Police Service. The Met had to deal with a million recorded crimes, which included sharp increases in shootings and street robberies and led to greater concern among our communities that their neighbourhoods were not safe.

And no one will forget the events of September 11 when terrorists struck in the United States with such appalling consequences. The Metropolitan Police had to react quickly to increase security patrols to keep our city free from attack. While the MPA fully supported the heightened vigilance, we were also concerned that policing in our boroughs did not suffer as a consequence. So I commend the Commissioner and his officers who did so much to ensure the safety of our capital was maintained while regular operational duties continued. Many hundreds of extra hours were worked by officers so that this difficult balance could be achieved.

Throughout the year, I made a point of visiting nearly every London borough to listen to people’s concerns on policing and safety issues. In particular, how we could work together with our partners in the boroughs to make a difference in the way our neighbourhoods are policed. One of the recurring themes during these visits was the need for a much greater visible police presence on our streets, a call that the MPA has answered. Working closely with the Home Secretary, the Commissioner and the Mayor of London, we have increased police numbers substantially, with more to follow until police numbers are at acceptable levels.

A very good start has been made, with the target to recruit 2,475 police officers during the year being exceeded by more than 270, which by any standard is an exceptional achievement. Of these, 1,050 were recruited specifically as additional officers for our boroughs. They will help to reassure our communities that the streets are becoming safer and that crimes of violence will not be tolerated. Operation Safer Streets launched half way through the year to stop and reverse the alarming rise in violent street robberies has been particularly successful in targeting the cowardly thugs who prey on the old and the other vulnerable members of our communities. The Authority will continue to support police initiatives that put pressure on the culprits of such odious crimes.

But although putting more police officers onto the streets is to be welcomed, we must continue to work together in partnership to tackle not only crime but the reasons behind it. Youngsters who commit crimes again and again are of particular concern, and while the Met has concentrated on the operational priorities around street crime, the Authority itself has been working behind the scenes on how to tackle persistent offending in the long term. We have looked in particular at issues of youth crime and its links with truancy, school and social exclusion. We held a conference jointly with police and the education authorities in February 2002 to consider these important issues and together we continue to work on them to find lasting solutions. Preventing crime is preferable to dealing with its aftermath, as I am sure every victim will agree - and it is much less costly for society as a whole.

The Authority has made significant contributions to the policing of London in a number of other key areas, including some in-depth scrutiny of MPS performance.

The subject of the first project followed a request by the MPS to look into rape investigation and victim care. The project was a big success, making 38 recommendations for improvements. These included basic training and guidance for all officers on how best to deal with rape victims, the availability of well-trained and dedicated teams of sexual offence investigation officers providing 24-hour coverage across the capital, and a desire to have three sexual assault referral centres for London to provide a first-class victim care service. All of these recommendations have been adopted by the Metropolitan Police and their progress closely monitored by the Authority. This scrutiny and others that follow mark a step-change in how policing is held to account and improvements are driven forward. They should make a real difference to policing in London.

Finally, the Authority has been instrumental in driving through reforms that give police borough commanders greater control over policing their communities. They now have more responsibility for their budgets and for the setting of local policing targets that reflect the particular concerns of people in each borough.

During my tour of London boroughs, I had the opportunity to speak with many borough commanders and the local communities about concerns and areas where we could help to improve things. I will be embarking on the next round of visits in the autumn of 2002, which will tie in with our new statutory role in Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, where we will become much more closely involved in formulating the three year crime reduction strategies.

The MPA is committed to securing an effective, efficient and fair police service for London's communities. During our second year of operation we have helped to bring about major improvements in policing the capital. With the help of London’s richly diverse communities and our other partners, we are ready for another equally challenging year to come.

Toby Harris

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Meeting targets

The MPA has a statutory duty to maintain an effective and efficient police service for London. To help us do this we set targets each year for the MPS to achieve. An example of this is a target for the MPS to answer 999 calls within a certain time. Where targets are met, we look at ways of improving performance even further. Where they are not, we look for the causes and work closely with police on how they can be reached the following year.

In 2001/02 we set the MPS 44 targets for improvement that were measured. Of those, 16 were achieved and 28 not achieved. These were a mixture of crime and internal improvement measures.

MPA Chair, Toby Harris, had a number of productive meetings with borough operational commanders to understand their views and concerns about planning issues and how local targets could be used to make police more responsive to local needs.

Whilst the MPA welcomes improvements made in detecting drug crimes and hate crimes, we are very concerned over the levels of street crime and burglary.

Street crime had been rising in London steadily for over a year up until August last year, then showed a sharp increase following September 11, at which time many police officers were redeployed into central London. In response, the MPS launched Operation Safer Streets in February 2002 with the full support of the MPA. Since then street crime levels have fallen back to those recorded in May 2001 and Safer Streets has been extended for the rest of 2002 to keep up pressure on street robbers and help Londoners to feel safer.

Having provided more officers for London, we are keen to see this lead to more officers on the street and crime reductions. We have set crime reduction targets in street crime, burglary and car crime for 2002/03. Our members have been particularly challenging on initial targets presented to them by the Met in 2002/03. For example, they rejected the proposal to limit growth in street crime to 10% and set a more demanding target of 0% growth.

One of the Authority’s committees is specially tasked with planning, performance and review issues. Members of this committee ensure that targets set reflect the views of the London population and scrutinise performance against those targets.

This committee is also working towards a target setting process that reflects local priorities and concerns. In setting the 2002/03 targets the MPA, for the first time, encouraged the MPS to set targets at a borough level giving the flexibility for borough commanders to reduce those crimes that were increasing locally.

Full details of the targets and performance can be found at Appendix A within the MPS report

Scrutiny

The Authority decided in the year to look at some in-depth areas of MPS performance by carrying out scrutiny projects. The subject of the first project was a request by the MPS to look into rape investigation and victim care.

The Authority produced a report which found examples of high quality service provision in some boroughs. But we concluded that overall these needed to be improved and standardised across London to ensure the best possible service is provided.

The scrutiny made 38 recommendations for improvement, all of which have been adopted by the MPS.

A key recommendation identified an urgent need for three Sexual Assault Referral Centres covering London to provide a first class victim care service.

The Authority is now undertaking its second scrutiny project into Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships, of which the MPA will become a statutory partner next year.

As well as looking at how police involvement in these partnerships works, this scrutiny will also provide recommendations on how the MPA should fulfill its role as a statutory partner.

Strategy

There was significant MPA input for the development of a medium-term corporate strategy for the MPS, although the launch was delayed due to the new requirement in the Police Reform Act for police authorities to issue three-year strategies in March 2003. This led to the development of 'Towards the Safest City' - a framework setting out the likely direction of the MPS pending further national requirements from the Home Office.

Planning

In March 2001 the annual policing and performance plan was published. The plan contained a number of bespoke targets - targets set by borough commanders following consultation with local partners. This was in line with the MPA’s desire to see more devolvement of decision-making – making policing accountable and relevant to local communities.

Best value

Best value reviews play an important role in bringing about improvements to policing at every level. Our members have an active role in overseeing each review and in providing challenge to current working practices. MPA approval of reviews related to consultation, crime management and records management are now moving towards implementation and realisation of major savings and improvements in performance. HMIC recently carried out an independent assessment of our reviews of consultation and crime management. Final reports are awaited but the initial prospects for improvement were rated as ‘good’.

Critical incidents

The Authority is keen to lead the debate surrounding the highly emotive and contentious issue of deaths in police custody. A viewing of the film ‘Injustice’ was facilitated for the Authority members and a special meeting of the Full Authority was held where members of the public involved in cases were able to contribute to the debate. Following the meeting the Authority agreed to review the policy on when police officers are suspended following a critical incident and a working group will make recommendations on how different critical incidents should be dealt with according to their circumstances. The Authority views these issues as essential to instill public confidence and to ensure that the police response to a critical incident is seen to be transparent and fair.

Recruitment

The target to recruit 1,050 extra officers in 2001/02 was exceeded with a total of 1,350 joining the service. This placed a certain amount of strain on training facilities which the MPA has been monitoring and taking steps to redress. All indications are that last year’s successful recruitment rates will continue into 2002/03.

This was a particularly busy period in terms of recruitment, but there is no let-up in the determination of the Authority to increase the number of police recruits, and specifically the number of black and visibly ethnic minority communities and women recruits in the current financial year.

The overwhelming demand from Londoners has been for safer streets, higher visibility policing and lower crime. Consequently the MPA insisted that the police officers recruited in 2001/02 were all sent to police the boroughs. It is planned to continue this policy as much as possible as extra officers are funded and recruited year-on-year.

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Diversity

Race equality remains an absolute priority. The Authority will promote race equality in the work of the MPS and ensure that the service delivers on actions and performance outlined in its Race Equality Scheme. The Authority is also insisting on improvements in diversity to maximise the benefits of a diverse population, both internally and externally.

Partnership

The Authority continues to promote working partnerships between all agencies, government departments, independent organisations, London’s diverse communities and increasingly business to eradicate crime and the underlying causes of criminality.

Police pay and conditions

Following lengthy negotiations at the Police Negotiating Board, agreement was obtained on a far-reaching package which includes a substantial investment in police pay and will see that all officers of federated rank are better off.

Features include the flexibility to award bonus payments for outstanding work, a competency related payment scheme, reductions in the length of pay scales and special priority payments to target additional rewards towards officers at the sharp end of their profession.

Another key element of the agreement is that police authorities, police managers and staff associations will co-ordinate action to cut down on unnecessary overtime and make the police service more ‘family friendly’.

Civil staff pay

The MPA has been determined to improve working conditions and overcome the serious retention problem involving all civil staff. It managed to find the money from within a very stretched budget to provide a reasonable package that will stop good people from leaving and encourage others to join.

The MPA will continue to work with the Human Resources Directorate and the staff to build upon the new pay and grading system to ensure that conditions of service continue to improve. The pay increases for civil staff as a result of the review are in addition to the substantial increase in the location allowance and the 3.5% above inflation pay rise from 1 August. The package also recognises frontline civil staff and provides pay increases which reflect the importance of their key roles.

Appointments of ACPO rank police officers

The Metropolitan Police Authority appointed two new Deputy Assistant Commissioners and seven new Commanders during the year, all of whom now occupy senior posts within the Metropolitan Police.

Transport Operational Command Unit

The MPA has ratified a Special Services Agreement with Transport for London (TfL) setting out the contractual details of the Transport Operational Command Unit (TOCU) which became fully operational on 10 June 2002. The TOCU has specific responsibility for policing agreed bus corridors on the London bus network and addressing associated criminal and anti-social behaviour, as well as taxi and private hire vehicle enforcement. The TOCU is staffed by police officers, traffic wardens and civilian support staff.

Police Community Support Officers

The MPA has welcomed the current recruitment process for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) to provide reassurance and reduce fear of crime through a visible uniformed street presence, as demanded by Londoners. PCSOs will have limited powers and will complement the work of police officers whose time will be freed-up to deal with more serious offences.

Professional standards

The Authority’s Professional Standards and Performance Monitoring Committee has kept the MPS’s anti corruption activities under review throughout the year. Londoners need to be able to trust their police and know that corrupt police officers will not be tolerated, but will be rooted out and face the consequences of their actions.

The new five-year professional standards strategy will see a significant shift of emphasis. The MPS will direct greater effort towards prevention and reducing the risks to staff and the community. In short there will be a greater balance between prevention and detection, whilst at the same time maintaining the threat or fear of detection

ACPO complaints protocol

During the year, the Authority has dealt with a number of high profile cases involving reports, complaints or allegations about ACPO rank police officers. A protocol has now been developed which tries to ensure that all parties are kept informed of progress. At present there is a sub committee which will meet every 2-3 weeks to receive details of any new report, allegation or complaint against an ACPO rank police officer and to receive updates on the action taken with existing cases.

Timeliness of complaint investigations

One of the issues the members have been very concerned about is the time taken to process and investigate any complaint, report or allegation.

Many of the policies and procedures that deal with investigations into wrongdoing by police officers, either directly by public complaints or through internal investigations, are dealt with under primary legislation and take some time to complete the process to resolution.

The MPS have worked hard to reduce the average time taken to deal with the majority of complaints, but a small minority of more difficult or complex cases will always ‘skew’ the figures.

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