MPA and MPS Community Engagement Strategy

Report: 5
Date: 3 March 2006
By: Chief Executive and Clerk and Commissioner

Summary

This report, and Appendix, proposes for adoption by Members a Community Engagement Strategy for both the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

A. Recommendations

That the Committee discuss the content of the strategy and provide guidance to MPA and MPS officers to allow them to produce a final document to be submitted to the April meeting of the Authority for adoption.

B. Supporting information

1. At it’s meeting on 30 June 2005, the Metropolitan Police Authority received a draft MPA Community Engagement Strategy. Since that time significant amendments have been made as a result of both internal and external consultation and the organisational arrangements and operational directions that the MPS has undertaken with respect to community engagement and citizen focused policing. Considerable activity and improvements have been undertaken by both the MPA and MPS regarding the extent and way by which community engagement is carried out.

2. This joint strategy is consistent with the draft MPA/MPS Corporate Strategy 2006-2009, which requires as one of the strategic outcomes, that communities are engaged with, confident in and satisfied by policing in London. This strategy ensures a coherent approach and provides a shared vision for community-police engagement in London. The appended strategy reflects the distinct roles and responsibilities of the MPA and the MPS.

3. It is intended that this draft be discussed by both this committee and the MPS Management Board, following which the definitive statement of the strategy come back to the MPA for formal adoption.

C. Race and equality impact

One of the most important challenges for the police is how the policing needs of London’s diverse population can be met in partnership, and in a manner whereby their differences can be taken into account effectively. The proposed community engagement strategy calls for a sharper focus on connecting the delivery of policing with the real involvement of the public, in all its diversity.

D. Financial implications

Whilst there are no direct financial implications to this report, implementation of the MPA/MPS Community Engagement Strategy may require the repositioning of existing resources.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Tim Rees (MPA) and Jane Wilkin (MPS)

For more information contact:

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

Appendix 1

MPA and MPS Community Engagement Strategy

1. Preface

Historically, community engagement has tended to be seen as a means for securing public support and cooperation, and to some extent gathering intelligence, rather than giving the public a more significant voice in policing. Today there is an explicit emphasis on police responsiveness to the public and on local accountability to the public. This emphasis is reflected in the first priority of the National Policing Plan 2005-08, which requires the provision of a citizen focused service that responds to the needs of communities and individuals.

We know that actively engaged communities contribute significantly to the improvement of policing services, the reduction of anti social behaviour and solving crime at all levels. Communities can only make these contributions if the engagement work of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is undertaken with a genuine desire to listen and learn.

This community engagement strategy demonstrates the commitment of the MPA and the MPS to develop a joint approach to engagement with the public that provides the means through which all parties derive maximum benefit. The MPS to understand what communities and individuals really need from them, from which they can design services that meet those needs. The MPA to monitor the way in which the MPS undertakes engagement and by promoting citizenship and community confidence and the public by receiving the very best police service delivered to the highest standards.

Although there is much in common between the MPS and MPA roles in respect of community engagement, the two organisations have their own distinctive objectives in this area. Whilst this document sets out the objectives, the detail of these objectives and priority areas will be established through the development of delivery plans. These plans will be monitored within the MPS by the Citizen Focus Programme Board and publicly scrutinised by the MPA.

2. Definition

Community engagement is defined in this strategy as:

“The proactive harnessing of the energies, knowledge and skills of communities and partners not merely to identify problems but also to negotiate priorities for action and shape and deliver solutions”.

3. Purpose

The purpose of this Community Engagement Strategy is to:

• Enable Londoners, our partners and our staff to understand the MPA and MPS responsibility for community engagement.
• Set out how the MPA and MPS will engage with Londoners to put community engagement at the heart of citizen focused policing.
• Provide a framework for embedding community engagement in the practice of policing in London.
• Ensure engagement activity is coordinated and prioritised in line with MPA and MPS corporate priorities.
• Establish methods and measures by which the MPA can assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the MPS in undertaking community engagement, assist in improving performance and enhance community accountability.
• Establish the basis on which the MPA can play a leadership role in strengthening the civic accountability and oversight of policing in London by enhancing the capacity of Londoners to participate in and influence police policy decisions, both locally and London-wide.

4. Benefits of engagement

Community engagement produces two main benefits: improved decision-making and enhanced citizenship. The MPS focuses primarily on the decision-making benefit of community engagement and increasing levels of trust, confidence and satisfaction with policing at the individual level. The MPA’s governance and oversight roles call for a wider perspective that focuses on both the decision-making and the citizenship aspects.

Key elements of the improved decision-making and enhanced citizenship benefits are shown below:

5. MPA responsibility

The MPA has two overarching objectives for community engagement. Firstly, to monitor, scrutinise and ensure that the MPS discharge their responsibility for community engagement as outlined in this strategy. Secondly, to promote the enhanced citizenship and community confidence agenda in respect both of the MPS’s and the MPA’s activities.

These objectives will be met by:

• requiring clear statements on user impact and citizen focus and the actions being taken as a result of citizen involvement, to be included in all annual policing plans, local strategic plans and initiatives undertaken by specialist areas within the MPS; (also to be included in all MPA Committee reports and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP’s) annual reports).
• assessing the outcomes of community engagement, using existing measures such as the Public Attitude Survey, Police Performance Assessment Framework, the British Crime Survey, the Association of London Government Annual Survey of Londoners and adapting for internal use the Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary qualitative baseline assessment framework for community engagement. Where necessary new outcome measures will be devised.
• promoting good practice by developing and testing exemplary community-police engagement models and evaluating, clarifying and strengthening existing methods and structures. The MPA will support and disseminate innovative methods and structures for community-police engagement at the borough level and across London.
• reinforcing partnerships and community engagement at the local level by establishing closer integration and involvement in the support and funding of borough-based community engagement with local statutory partners, and by using MPA officers’ work with local CDRP’s to strengthen these activities.
• prioritising community engagement at the pan-London level, where the MPA has historically been weak, it having focused almost exclusively on local level perspectives on strategic policing issues. The MPA will strengthen its pan-London initiatives by:
  • making more effective use of its Safer London Panel and promulgating and promoting its collective viewpoint;
  • strengthening partnership work with appropriate institutions such as the Greater London Authority, the Home Office, Association of London Government, Government Office for London and Association of Police Authorities.
  • building partnerships with pan-London community-based organisations to undertake community engagement with specific target groups.
  • addressing the policing needs of London’s diverse population in a manner whereby their different experiences and needs can be taken into account effectively.
  • establishing a Community Engagement Reference Group and Board to assist in progressing further reform.
• strengthening the community voice by building capacity. Successful community-police engagement is a two way process and requires residents and groups willing and able to get involved. The MPA will therefore:
  • fulfil its statutory responsibilities in support of the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme.
  • increase Londoners’ awareness and understanding of policing issues, in particular by providing policing summaries to every household in London.
  • provide skills, knowledge and the means by which Londoners can contribute on an ongoing basis to policing issues of particular public concern such as the recently held Together Against Terrorism conference.

6. MPS responsibility

The MPS overarching objective of community engagement is to ensure the MPS is able to provide a citizen focused policing service, which enables improved decision making by listening to and meeting the needs of all London’s citizens.

These objectives will be met by:

(a) Ensuring capacity for community engagement:

Capacity refers to the MPS knowing what to do and how to do it, and having the appropriate skills and other resources to carry out community engagement to a high professional standard. To do this the MPS will:

• understand the environment (who will be engaged). Have a detailed and neighbourhood level understanding of the demographics of communities including interests, needs, priorities and preferences of each section of that community.
• understand how different sections of community feel comfortable interacting with the police. We understand what communities think of policing in London by carrying out research and recording satisfaction levels.
• have consolidated stakeholder management. A managed and accessible stakeholder database makes the best use of internal resources and enables us to co-ordinate and target invitations to stakeholders.
• ensure staff are able to use methods appropriate to situation. Engagement can be deployed to assist in a number of situations such as; neighbourhood challenges, public order policing, strategic priorities, critical incidents, gun crime and community relations, etc. Tools will be available to all staff to ensure a range of effective levels of engagement can be carried out. This includes communication, research, consultation, partnership, and volunteering.
• locally adapted strategies and processes are put in place. These are clear on what they aim to achieve and ensure the purpose; level and anticipated outcomes of engagement are understood and communicated. Expectations are set and met.
• put standards in place to ensure the real picture matches the theory. Mechanisms are in place to ensure standards are set and engagement monitored. Scrutiny and accountability processes are in place within the MPS and the results are recorded and publicised. The role of the MPA and other bodies to facilitate public accountability is clear to both MPS staff and the public.
• put processes in place to ensure communication of engagement activity. This includes collating and advertising events. Publicising the outputs and outcomes. The appropriate technology will be harnessed to enable communication, avoid duplication and ensure efficient use of resources.

(b) Embedding community engagement within MPS:

As well as ensuring the MPS has the capability to carry out engagement, it will also embed engagement within the culture and structure of the MPS by ensuring:

• engagement is seen as a core part of delivering and managing all services. Value driven leadership will ensure that engagement is championed at all levels of the MPS. It will ensure the benefits are understood and communicated.
• engagement findings affect decision making. Priorities and service delivery strategies are influenced, changed and where appropriate, driven by community concerns and priorities. Engagement findings are fed into appropriate decision making processes and the outcomes recorded and reported back to those who participated.
• communication is seen as an integral aspect of engagement. Communication concerning community engagement activity is ongoing, consistent and two way. A variety of ways to communicate are used to ensure it is appropriate to the needs both of the community and of the occasion.
• Information is regularly discussed and shared with all sections of the community. There is consistency in individual as well as corporate engagement messages. Responses are listened to and acted on, whether engagement is a part of a formal or an informal process.
• Ongoing feedback is communicated to the participants. The community and staff, need to know how their input has impacted on the delivery of policing services.
• patterns of engagement are targeted to reflect community needs and strategic priorities. Engagement activity is targeted to meet the needs of the community. The methods are accessible to all parts of society. The issues are the subjects the community want. Engagement activity is targeted to reflect strategic priorities. Engagement is understood as a means to an end, and not an end in itself.
• the MPS makes best use of community intelligence. Staff understand what community intelligence is. Staff know how and when to elicit it, what to do with it, and its benefit as an indicator of community tension. Processes are in place to deal with it, ensuring it is systematically recorded, acted on at the appropriate levels and fed into appropriate decision making processes.
• policing services are delivered in partnership with the community. Partnership opportunities are identified and maximised. Volunteer and partnership initiatives are in place.
• a joined up approach to working takes place within the MPS. Co-ordination mechanisms exist to ensure engagement activity is carried out within a framework of MPS engagement activity. Engagement activity is joined up and responses are shared between agencies. Engagement resources are shared with citizens and partners and problems solved together.

7. Governance

The delivery of this strategy is dependent on continued high level support within the MPA and the MPS ensuring effective governance of the implementation plans of both organisations. The main conduits though which the strategy is monitored are described below:

Citizen Focus Policing Programme Board

The governance for the Citizen Focus Policing Programme is through a Programme Board comprising a Member and an Officer of the MPA together with senior representatives from all of the MPS business groups. The role of the Board is to ensure that all of the elements of the programme are delivering the planned benefits and to ensure that the other major change programmes underway within the MPS adopt a citizen focused approach to their work.

The Community Engagement Strategy is a key component of the Citizen Focus Policing Programme because it underpins the way in which we understand the needs of the public and this in turn helps us shape the delivery of policing services. The Citizen Focus Policing Programme Board will therefore have direct oversight of the Engagement Strategy and the implementation of the MPS work plan that supports the strategy.

The MPS Strategic Engagement Unit

The Strategic Engagement Unit of the MPS is responsible for administering the implementation of the engagement strategy and for identifying issues for the Citizen Focus Programme Board. The unit is responsible for putting in place a performance management framework for engagement activity and to ensure that standards are set and monitored throughout the MPS.

MPA

The Coordination and Planning Committee will exercise oversight responsibilities and policy directions in the implementation of this community engagement strategy.

The MPA Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement, who will sit on the Citizen Focus Policing Programme Board, will serve as the Lead Member for this strategy.

The MPA Senior Management Team will drive the implementation of MPA activity.

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