Minutes

Minutes of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee held on 17 February 2003 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Toby Harris (Chair)
• Richard Barnes (Deputy Chair)
• Cindy Butts
• Nicholas Long
• Richard Sumray
• Rachel Whittaker
• Cecile Wright

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Peter Martin (Treasurer)
• Nick Baker (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Bernard Hogan Howe (Assistant Commissioner)
• Steve House (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)

Part 1

90. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Reshard Auladin, Elizabeth Howlett, R David Muir, Graham Tope and Abdal Ullah.

91. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No interests were declared.

92. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

The Committee considered the minutes of its meeting held on 7 February 2003.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee held on 7 February 2003 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

93. Managing further expansion in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

(Agenda item 4)

The Committee received a report that gave proposals to initiate a strategic review of the opportunities and implications of future expansion of the MPS. The report gave a statement of intent and proposed governance arrangements.

Resolved - That

1. the initiation of a strategic review of the opportunities and implications of future expansion of the MPS in accordance with the statement of intent as given at Appendix 1 to the report be agreed: and
2. the proposed governance arrangements be agreed, in particular the lead role for Coordination and Policing Committee and that Toby Harris represent the MPA on the project steering group.

94. Update on implementation of activity based costing in the MPS: data collection from BOCUS

(Agenda item 5)

Members were reminded of the Home Office requirements that all police services provide Activity Based Costing (ABC) information to agreed definitions and standards as part of the annual data requirement for 2003/04. The report updated members on the Home Office proposals for ABC and the MPS’s views on the requirement to carry out activity analysis studies in all 32 MPS BOCUs every year. It also outlined details on Operational Policing Measure, developed by the MPS to track visible and operational staff deployments.

With regard to the requirement to carry out activity analysis studies in all 32 MPS BOCUs, the MPS expressed concern that this would be overly burdensome on the organisation and preferred the option of a rolling programme of eight BOCU carried out each year. This would provide force-wide ABC information, detailed information to supplement the operational policing measure, and allow bench marking of activity and costs for a manageable number of individual BOCUs each year.

Resolved – That

1. further discussions with the Home Office be undertaken on the MPS proposal for a four-year rolling programme analysis studies on eight BOCUs per year in order to provide data to develop Activity Based Costing;
2. the MPS’s operational policing measures be supported as a basis for the Home Office’s measure of front line policing for all forces; and
3. the MPS’s plans for ABC data collection be reviewed at COP in March, prior to submission of these plans to the Home Office.

95. MPS merger with Royal Parks Constabulary

(Agenda item 6)

The Committee received an update on negotiations to merge of the Royal Parks Constabulary with the MPS.

Members were informed that following an inspection in September 2000 commissioned by the Royal Parks Agency, three options for the future of the Constabulary were proposed.

Of the options being considered, the preferred option expressed by members was that the MPS take responsibility for policing of the Royal Parks. However, in considering this option, members expressed the need for this option to be further thought through and to consider such issues as; obtaining the Royal Parks Constabulary’s capital assets, including an update of all possible future cost associated with these; looking at staffing levels and pensions issues; and all special service agreements that are currently in place.

The Clerk also requested that the MPA be engaged more fully in future discussions on this issue.

Resolved – That the progress on the negotiations be noted and at this stage, support be given to the option for the proposed merger of the Royal Parks Constabulary with the MPS.

96. HMIC thematic inspection of Special Branch

(Agenda item 7)

Members received a report that gave details of the MPA response to the findings of HMIC in the thematic inspection of Special Branch.

Resolved – That the Committee endorse and support the recommendations of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary in the thematic inspection of Special Branch, but ask the Home Office to ensure that suitable tripartite oversight arrangements accompany the proposed structural changes.

97. Any other business, which the Chair accepts on the grounds of urgency

(Agenda item 8)

The Chair agreed to accept an item on Police Reform – Special Payments, which would be taken during Part 2 (exempt) of the meeting.

98. Exclusion of press and public

To resolve that the press and public be asked to leave the meeting during discussion of the remaining item of business because exempt information as defined in paragraph 11 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 is likely to be made known.

Resolved – That the press and public be excluded.

99. Police Reform – special priority payments

The Committee considered a report that updated members on the special priority payments since the last meetings of the Human Resources and Co-ordination and Policing Committees and which sought approval to the posts that would qualify for payment, the formula for allocating payments and the amounts allocated to eligible posts.

Clarification was given that proposed payment would, initially, apply to those staff that qualify and had completed four years of service and not four years in a particular borough.

Resolved – That

1. the lists of posts at Appendix 1 to the report be agreed in respect of special priority payments; and
2. the proposed methodology for allocation of payments to posts be noted and authority given for the allocation of payment under the provisions of Standing Order 11 – urgent business powers.

The meeting closed at 12:40 p.m.

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