Minutes

Minutes of the an inquorate meeting of the Strategy and Policing Committee held on 7 April 2006 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Len Duvall (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
• Jennette Arnold,
• Toby Harris
• Karim Murji
• Richard Sumray

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive and Clerk)
• Ken Hunt (Treasurer)
• Keith Dickinson (Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership)
• Jude Sequeira (Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Alan Brown, Assistant Commissioner, (Intelligence and Standards Command)
• Brian Paddick, Deputy Assistant Commissioner (Territorial Policing)
• Ailsa Beaton (Director of Information) attended for consideration of agenda item 6

Also present: Roger King and Stan Burnyeat, Government Office for London attended in connection with agenda item 8.

54. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Richard Barnes, Kirsten Hearn, Damian Hockney, Elizabeth Howlett, John Roberts, Graham Tope, Rachel Whittaker and the Deputy Commissioner.

55. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations of interest were received.

56. Minutes – 3 March 2006

(Agenda item 3)

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2006.

A revised version of the minute relating to minute 49 – Community Engagement Funding was tabled.

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2006, as amended, be agreed and signed as a correct record.

57. Minutes of Community Engagement Committee 1 September 2005

(Agenda item 4)

Members noted that it was necessary for them to confirm these minutes as the Community Engagement Committee had been disbanded.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 September 2005, be agreed and signed as a correct record.

58. Membership of Remuneration Sub-committee

(Agenda item 5)

A report was submitted which asked the Committee to appoint a Chair and membership of the Remuneration Sub-Committee. The Sub- Committee was previously a Sub-Committee of the Human Resources Committee.

Resolved – That the membership be as follows: Rachel Whittaker (Chair), Tony Arbour, Jennette Arnold, Reshard Auladin, Cindy Butts and Len Duvall.

59. C3i/ Airwave status report

(Agenda item 6)

A report was submitted which provided a summary of progress on the C3i/Airwave Programme.

The Director of Information reported that the provision of the technology to ensure the availability of Airwave on the London Underground was due to be considered by the Home Office Investment Board on 15 June. If the necessary approvals were given, there would be a roll out period of at least a year.

Resolved – That the progress on the C3i/Airwave programme be noted.

60. Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership update

(Agenda item 7)

This report summarises developments in London’s 32 crime and disorder reduction partnerships during 2005. It also outlines MPA involvement with these partnerships and how it has fulfilled its duty as a ‘responsible authority’. The report invites members to discuss and report on their link member role, particularly in relation to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership involvement. In identifying some of the key developments impacting upon CDRPs and the recent review of the Crime and Disorder Act, the report recognises the need for the Authority to hear the views of members on future arrangements for borough-level partnership working.

In the ensuing discussion, members spoke of the experiences in their link boroughs and the factors that contributed to the success of CDRPs These included the question of effective community engagement. It was agreed that the Authority had a pivotal position in ensuring that best practice was shared but there also needed to be a mechanism that could highlight examples of less than satisfactory practice to ensure that this was not replicated. There must be realistic assumptions about the demands placed on members and members needed to be clear of their precise role on the Partnership – which should for example not include Overview and Scrutiny. There needed to be more on the links between the local criminal justice groups and the CDRPs.

Assistant Commissioner Alan Brown said it was clear that there was a great value in MPA members sitting on CDRPs but he would endorse what had been said about the scope of member’s involvement.

The Chair said that the matter should be referred for further consideration at a meeting of the full Authority as it would be particularly useful to get the views of elected members on the new legislative framework.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted; and
2. the full Authority consider the matter further.

(Note - subsequently agreed that this would be considered at the meeting on 25 May)

61. MPS involvement in Local Area Agreements

(Agenda item 8)

A report was submitted which set out the rational and application of Local Area Agreements (LAAs). It identified a number of potential implications for Crime and Disorders Partnerships and community safety work in general in the light of the early indications from two London-based pilots. The report deals with the preparations for the Phase II rollout, including guidance given to boroughs to date and the proposals for future work in this area.

Roger King and Stan Burnyeat from the Government Office for London attended for this item and gave a short presentation on the work so far.

In the ensuing discussion members commented that there needed to be greater clarity about the factors that determined whether the single or multiple funding pot approach was taken. It was important that the LAAs took account of existing local structure and for voluntary sector engagement to be fully effective the sector would need to be approached as soon as possible.

The Chair said that it would be useful for the matter to be discussed further by the full Authority. There should be a further, more forward looking, presentation from the Government Office for London.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted.
2. the matter be considered further by the full Authority with a further updated presentation from the Government Office for London and a revised report from the Commissioner.

(Note- subsequently agreed that this would be considered at the meeting on 25 May)

62. Any urgent business

(Agenda item 11)

Football project

Richard Sumray referred to the KICKz football project which the MPS and MPA had been working on for some time. The project was about to be formally launched under the Government’s Respect agenda. There were some unfortunate errors in the publicity as the project was being branded as a Football Foundation project and the publicity made no mention of the MPS or MPA or the football authorities. The position was that the Football Foundation had not been actively involved in the development of the proposal, but the government was not prepared to amend the press statements to reflect the correct position.

The Chair suggested that the Authority issue a robust press release to highlight the involvement of the various partners in the Football Project.

The meeting closed at 12.42 p.m.

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