Minutes

Minutes of the an meeting of the Strategy and Policing Committee held on 11 May 2006 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Len Duvall (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
• Damian Hockney
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Karim Murji
• John Roberts
• Richard Sumray

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive and Clerk)
• Ken Hunt (Treasurer)
• David Riddle (Deputy Chief Executive and Clerk)
• Tim Rees (Head of Community Engagement)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Paul Stephenson (Deputy Commissioner)
• Keith Luck (Director of Resources)
• Ailsa Beaton (Director of Information) attended for consideration of agenda item 6

63. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Richard Barnes, Kirsten Hearn, Toby Harris, Graham Tope and Rachel Whittaker

64. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations of interest were received.

65. Minutes – 7 April 2006

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 April 2006, be agreed and signed as a correct record and any actions identified at this inquorate meeting be ratified.

66. Minutes of the Remuneration Sub-committee 16 March 2006

(Agenda items 4 and 11)

Resolved – That the minutes be noted.

67. Minutes of the Human Resources Committee 6 April 2006

(Agenda item 5)

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

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the Human Resources Committee held on 6 April 2006, be agreed and signed as a correct record.

68. Revised financial planning framework and strategic planning process

(Agenda item 6)

The Finance Committee at its meeting on 20 April considered an earlier version of a report on the revised financial planning framework at its meeting on 20 April 2006. One of the key principles of the new framework is to improve integration with the strategic planning process, and the report provides an update on strategic planning for 2006/07.

Richard Sumray said that the report was an important first step towards bringing the two processes together but there was clearly much more to be done. Joint meetings of the Finance and Planning, Performance and Review Committees would be held as necessary.

Elizabeth Howlett said it was important that members were involved in the budget scrutiny process at an early stage. The Chair said it should be borne in mind that in addition to any specific scrutiny group that might be set up, the Finance Committee also had an on-going scrutiny role.

In reply to a point from Reshard Auladin on MPA involvement in the MPS Investment Board, the Deputy Commissioner advised that the Treasurer was provided with the papers for meetings of the Board and so the Authority was aware of the business discussed.

In summing up the discussion the Chair said that whilst it was envisaged that the process would take three years to complete he would hope that it would be possible to achieve good progress in the first year.

Resolved – That the proposals for a revised financial planning framework, and its relationship with the strategic planning process, as set out in the report be noted and the report be referred to the Planning Performance and Review Committee.

69. Local policing summaries

(Agenda item 7)

A report was submitted which provides the background options and recommended implementation process by which the MPA/MPS will provide Local Policing Summaries to every household in the capital, as required by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005.

Members commented that the estimated costs seemed to be surprisingly low and suggested that further work be carried out so that the Committee could be advised of the likely cost if there was a substantial take up of the invitation to supply copies in other languages. Officers at the GLA might be able to assist with details of the typical likely take up of versions in other languages on documents they had produced.

Members acknowledged that there was considerable scope for flexibility in the information to be included in the publication although it was important that it had a strong “neighbourhood” feel and that there should be clarity at the outset on who would write and edit it. There might be some useful learning points from the approach taken by the Greater Manchester Police Authority.

The Chair said that the Committee was not in a position to make a final decision on all aspects of the report and asked further work to be undertaken in these areas. Some of the recommendations could be adopted at this stage. Accordingly it was:

Resolved – That

1. officers be directed to explore further with MPS Strategy Modernisation and Performance the feasibility of implementing the borough specific policing summaries option;
2. it be agreed in principle that the Royal Mail be used as the primary delivery mechanism subject to further clarification on the total cost;
3. further work be undertaken on the local information to be included in the local policing summary;
4. the officers undertake a process of consultation with local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships to explore whether Summaries can produced jointly with local partnerships;
5. members receive a report from the central Safer Neighbourhoods Unit outlining how the Unit will develop a comprehensive and consistent public information dissemination strategy for all local Safer Neighbourhoods Teams; and
6. in due course the Chair writes to the Home Office on the approach which is eventually adopted.

70. Single non-emergency telephone number

(Agenda item 8)

A report was submitted on the proposal to introduce the Single Non Emergency Number service (SNEN) and then set out the current MPS position for the implementation of the SNEN service in London.
The Director of Information stressed that it was clearly a very ambitious timetable and it would have been better from the MPS point of view if there had been scope for flexibility so that any issues in connection with the introduction of MetCall could have been addressed first. She also referred to comparisons had been made with New York and said it was important to bear in mind that the city government there provided far more direct services than was the case in London.

The Chief Executive and Clerk said that the MPA would be represented at the next planning meeting.

Members commented that it was not immediately apparent as to why other organisations would be interested in forming a London partnership for the provision of this service or how these bodies perceived the advantages of them in doing this.

Members felt it was important that any service that was introduced met the expectations of the public using it, particularly bearing in mind that it would not be a free service. There was the danger that any shortcomings would be blamed on the overall provider rather than the relevant body responsible for that particular service.

The Deputy Commissioner advised that the MPS Management Board had discussed this issue several times and shared the concerns members had raised.

The Chair asked that a joint letter be sent on behalf of himself and the Commissioner stating that there were concerns but there was general support for the introduction of the service. He also said the Committee would wish to be kept advised of developments and asked for a further report to be submitted to a future meeting.

Resolved – That a further report be submitted.

71. ANY URGENT BUSINESS

(Agenda item 9)

Independent Member of the MPA

A report was tabled which asked the Committee to agree the appointment of an Assembly or Magistrate member as the MPA representative on the first stage selection panel for the appointment process for an independent member. The vacancy arose following the resignation of Abdal Ullah who has been elected to Tower Hamlets council at the borough council elections held on 4 May.

Reshard Auladin indicated that he would be pleased to undertake this role.

Resolved - That Reshard Auladin be appointed as the MPA representative on the first stage Selection Panel for the appointment of an Independent Member.
Name of the Committee.

The Chair referred to the fact that the name of the Committee had been changed as part of the amendments to the committee structure which had been made in March. The new name had not proven to be either popular, or indeed easy to remember, so he would suggest that with immediate effect the title reverts to Co-ordination and Policing Committee.

Resolved – That the Committee reverts to the title Co-ordination and Policing Committee with immediate effect.

(As the exempt minutes of the Remuneration Sub-Committee were noted under agenda item 4, it was not necessary to exclude the press and public)

The meeting closed at 3.08 p.m.

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