Review of the Resource Allocation Formula (RAF) 2005/06

Report: 4
Date: 5 March 2004
By: Commissioner

Summary

This paper is intended to set out progress on the review, including:

1. The current and evolving consultation arrangements in relation to the review.
2. Some of the early themes emerging from the initial tranche of formula development workshops.
3. Products and next steps in relation to the RAF review.

A. Recommendations

That the committee notes progress on the review to date.

B. Supporting information

Introduction

1. The Co-ordination and Policing Committee acts as the project board for the MPS Resource Allocation Formula (RAF) review 2005/6. This paper is intended to set out progress on the review since last November, when members agreed the terms of reference and the consultation arrangements for the review. The following summary includes the current and evolving consultation arrangements, and some of the themes emerging from the early development workshops.

Consultation

2. The RAF project team has adopted a structured and participative approach to consultation, with a wide-ranging representation of stakeholders involved in the development of the new formula. The identified key stakeholders of the RAF review are: London MPs, MPA members, GLA members, the Mayor’s office, London borough chief executives, London borough council leaders, crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs), community and police consultative groups (CPCGs), the Association of London Government (ALG), the MPS management board, BOCU commanders, the territorial policing command team, the Police Federation and staff associations.

3. A dedicated consultation manager was appointed to deliver the RAF consultation strategy and will adapt and evolve the strategy as differing consultation needs are identified throughout the review.

4. The first consultation phase involved engaging with all identified stakeholders by providing them with an outline of the existing formula, and asking them to return a questionnaire (including positives, negatives, areas for improvement and comments on the previous RAF review process).

5. This phase has been completed, with feedback provided to stakeholders. Research has been conducted by the RAF review team around the issues raised and the ideas have subsequently been taken forward by the team into the second consultation phase.

Workshops

6. The second consultation phase includes (but is not limited to) a series of formula development workshops, carried out between January and June 2004. The workshops will include sessions tailored to MPs, GLA and MPA members, in addition to mixed stakeholder groupings, responding to feedback from stakeholders regarding the consultation process.

7. The intention of the development workshops is to use the knowledge and experience of the various stakeholders as a resource to inform the allocation methodology, and to ensure transparency and accountability of the process.

8. The response to invitations to participate in the workshops has been overwhelmingly positive, with an excellent representation of key stakeholders.

9. The composition of participants at individual workshops aims to achieve a balance of stakeholder groups and, where possible, a balance of borough representation. The project team established a set of selection criteria for the workshops, to encourage inclusion of all those who had declared an interest to attend, whilst ensuring that no borough was over represented. In addition, the team have been pro-active where boroughs had not provided any representation, with the result that every borough is now represented within the workshop process.

10. All workshop participants were forwarded a briefing pack to read prior to their first workshop that contained initial findings from research suggested by the questionnaire, and background information of interest for the RAF review workshops.

11. The first round of workshops has been used as an opportunity to open up the debate about the issues of concern to participants and what might be appropriate for inclusion in RAF.

12. A total of six workshops were held in January, and were structured around the themes of need (two workshops), demand (two workshops), opening the shop & capital city allocation (one workshop) and an overview workshop to consider a number of the recurring issues highlighted in these preliminary sessions.

13. The rationale behind this approach was to manage the review in a structured way and start to test the validity and composition of the existing components in the current formula. The workshops were themed broadly around the current components, with each theme defined as follows;

• Need – defined as the longer term social and environmental factors that affect the need for policing on a borough (intended to smooth out year on year fluctuations in crimes and incidents).
• Demand – intended to address short term policing response to crimes and incidents, including subsequent investigation.
• Opening the shop – to recognise the core infrastructure and mandatory posts necessary on a BOCU.
• Capital city allocation – to address the range and volume of activities associated with London as a capital city.

14. As a result of this openness, there is at this stage a certain level of overlap in the issues raised by different workshops. Some of the issues highlighted by participants include (in no particular order):

• Need: rail and transport links (as crime generators, flow of people through boroughs), crime displacement, cross border offending, day/night-time population, night time activity (including issues re. licensed premises), fear of crime, young people (as offenders and victims), anti-social behaviour, drug related activity, gun crime, deprivation, the geography of boroughs, unreported crime, hospitals, mental illness, business and commercial premises, tourism (potential victims), future environmental and planning issues, education and population turnover.
• Demand: critical incidents (as a drain on local resources), patrol, public order, aid abstraction, late night disorder, mental illness, anti social behaviour, young people, hate crime, crime investigation, response, prevention, partnership, street crime, drugs and shoplifting.
• Capital city allocation: number and volume of licensed premises in central London, 24 hour city, public order/demonstrations, terrorism, vice and drugs.
• Opening the shop: definition of what constitutes a basic level of policing, Health & Safety compliance, statutory requirement/ MPS policy regarding mandatory posts, flexibility requirements in relation to the other RAF components, recognition of the wider police family, fixed costs/variable costs and link with neighbourhood units.

15. Issues raised by stakeholders are being fed into the relevant component group, whether the issue originates from the initial questionnaire, discussions from workshops involved in other component areas or outside of the workshop process altogether. For example, participants from CPCGs have cascaded information from the RAF team throughout their groups. This has resulted in significant feedback to the team from an even wider audience, and all of the matters raised will be considered by the appropriate workshop.

16. Feedback is being actively sought from workshop participants about their levels of satisfaction with the workshop process.

Products and next steps

17. Whilst still engaged in the initial round of workshops the team is now arranging the next round of workshops which will take place in March and April 2004. The idea is for the groups that have formed in January/ February around a specific formula component to remain together as a group, as far as possible, within March and April. The groups will focus and refine the discussion relating to the designated component, and progress a product which properly captures the required elements of the component, taking into account the views registered by stakeholders. In addition to facilitating the groups RAF team members also form a part of the working groups.

18. Again the response to requests for continued participation has been overwhelmingly positive, and the March and April workshops are now able to proceed as planned. Around 90 people are directly involved in the workshop process.

19. The RAF team continue to conduct research on ideas that have been raised (such as datastreams that might capture certain elements) to report back to the relevant group and inform the debate.

20. Since the last review, the MPS has devolved many of its budgets to BOCUs. This has prompted the desire to expand the use of RAF to make a budgetary allocation to BOCUs rather than applying the formula solely to police officers. The RAF team are currently considering options regarding:

• the inclusion of all staff costs (ie: police officers, PCSOs and other police staff);
• a methodology for bringing together different allocation systems.

Later workshops will include:

• discussion of the budgetary allocation work as outlined previously; and
• defining the conditions surrounding the use of Commissioner’s judgement.

21. A further summary of progress on the review will be sent out to key stakeholders at the end of March.

22. The RAF team will hold a dedicated workshop session tailored to MPA members at 2pm on 2 April 2004. Any suggestions in relation to RAF methodology will be fed into the relevant formula development workshops to be debated in more detail.

C. Equality and diversity implications

The RAF team have a good level of engagement with the identified stakeholder groups. The team additionally will undertake a consultation exercise to ensure that hard to hear groups are represented within formula development.

D. Financial implications

The financial implications to this project relate both to the direct cost to the budget estimated at £100K, to be contained within existing estimates, primarily falling in the financial year 2004/05, and the transfer of resources between borough OCUs.

E. Background papers

None.

F. Contact details

Report author: Michael Debens & Petrina Cribb, Corporate Planning Group, MPS.

For more information contact:

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

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