Local Policing Summaries: progress report

Report: 6
Date: 9 June 2006
By: Chief Executive and Clerk

Summary

The first Local Policing Summaries report was presented at the Strategy and Policing Committee meeting on 11 May 2006. At this meeting, members identified a number of actions, which would provide further information and clarity on the development and production of the Summaries. This report provides feedback on each of the identified actions.

A. Recommendations

That Members note the content of this report and to receive at the July Co-ordination and Policing Committee meeting a final report with optional templates and financing proposals.

B. Supporting information

1. The Home Office has introduced within the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 a new obligation on all police authorities to provide local information - Local Policing Summaries - to every household in the authority’s area. The obligation is on police authorities but there is an expectation that the summaries will be produced in partnership with police forces and that other criminal justice agencies will be asked to support the venture.

2. At the 11 May Strategic and Policing Committee meeting, a report outlining the preferred option for the development and distribution of the Local Policing Summaries - the production of 32 borough specific policing summaries – was presented to Members.

3. Members raised a number of issues which MPA officers were asked to provide additional information and clarity on. The actions focused on the following:

• consultation with Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs);
• deliberating on the diversity implications of the proposed financial costings and reaffirming the proposed costings;
• meeting with MPS Strategy and Modernisation and Performance;
• producing a Local Policing Summaries template;
• consulting with the Greater Manchester Police Authority;
• meeting with Central Safer Neighbourhood Unit’s Media and Communications Manager.

Feedback on each action is listed below.

Consultation with CDRPs

4. The Home Office’s ‘Review of the Partnership Provisions of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998’, identifies the need for CDRPs to produce regular reports on community safety issues for local communities. It notes that the requirement of disseminating Local Policing Summaries may be one of the appropriate vehicles for fulfilling this obligation.

5. In April all CDRPs were contacted by the MPA and informed of the preferred borough based summaries option. The letter requested that CDRPs consider working in partnership with the MPA in the production of the summaries.

6. On 18 May a further letter was sent to all CDRPs requesting that they consider using the opportunity provided by the MPA and adopt the summaries as a main vehicle for the dissemination of their annual progress reports on the implementation of their Crime and Disorder Strategies. They were also asked if they would be interested in pooling resources and if they were not in a position to do so this financial year, to consider this for 2007/08.

7. Of the 32 boroughs contacted:

• 9 boroughs responded and agreed that a partnership approach would be advisable. However, all wanted further clarity from the MPA on what information they were expected to provide and clearer timeframes. Only one responded to the particular query on financial commitment.

Costings – diversity implications

8. Members requested further information on the diversity implications of the proposed financial costings. In the first Committee report it was stated that £5,000 would be ring fenced for translation costs and for producing the summaries in accessible formats. It was explained that it would be difficult to predict with accuracy the true cost for producing the summaries in a variety of formats, as this would be dependent on demand. It was suggested by Members that officers consult with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and attempt to ascertain the average demand for GLA publications in alternative formats and languages.

9. Based on the GLA’s experience of producing and disseminating the free newspaper, The Londoner, it was felt that this should be the main measure to ascertain public demand. It was found that ten editions of the Londoner are produced annually and that each edition has a 2.8 million print run. Of the 2.8 million copies that are distributed, the GLA receives approximately 200 requests per edition for alternative formats and languages. All alternative formats are produced on a request only basis.

10. Members should be aware that alternative formats are not an exact copy of each edition. A 9,000-word document is produced. Producing exact copies is not considered cost effective. To produce The Londoner in alternative formats and additional languages costs the GLA £10,000 per edition. Estimated costings for producing the Local Policing Summaries in additional formats and languages based on this information is projected at £20,000 and is further explored in Section D. financial implications.

MPS Strategy and Modernisation and Performance

11. MPA officers met with MPS staff from Citizen Focus, Department of Public Affairs (DPA), Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate (DCFD) and Strategy, Modernisation and Performance to ensure corporacy and a joined up approach.

12. It was agreed that:

• 32 borough specific policing summaries would be the most useful way forward;
• the 4-page summary would comprise of two pages of MPS wide information, 1 page of borough specific information and 1 of Safer Neighbourhood information. The MPS wide information would include a summary of the policing plan and priorities for the coming year, the latest Police Performance Assessment Framework data and the Quality of Service Commitment;
• an editorial working group led by DPA and consisting of MPA officers and relevant officers from other MPS directorates would be convened, to:
  • establish a standardised content for each borough summary;
  • produce a template(s) for agreement by MPA members.
• summaries would be ready for dissemination by October. This meets with both PPAF timeframes and the MPS Quality of Service Commitment;
• the costings listed in the first report to the 11 May Strategy and Policing Committee meeting were based on two separate and independent estimates. The approximate total costing listed in this report was £200,000 and this figure has been further confirmed as comparable to costings that have since been sourced by the DPA.

13. Once the content has been agreed, those CDRPS who have expressed an interest in working in partnership will be asked to provide the relevant borough information.

14. A template will be produced for members to consider at the 6 July Co-ordination and Policing Committee meeting.

Greater Manchester Police Authority

15. Members requested further information on the approach utilised by the Greater Manchester Police Authority (GMPA). The Authority had placed information in council tax demands stating that summaries would be available on the Internet, in libraries and in police stations. Members wanted further information on the success of this approach.

16 GMPA were asked:

• to establish how many ‘hits’ had been received on the Local Policing Summaries web page;
• how many Local Policing Summaries had been made available in public buildings and what the take up had been.

17. Unfortunately, the GMPA were unable to provide the level of detail required by the MPA. As part of the distribution, copies were sent to a wide number of partner organisations including: primary health care facilities, education and youth facilities and Local Authority reception areas. Between 5 and 50 copies of each relevant summary – GMPA is comprised of 10 areas - with a letter stating that additional copies were made available. Since the distribution, the Authority has only received a few enquiries for additional copies. A few requests have also been made for copies of Summaries in additional formats.

18. The GMPA were unable to provide details on the number of people who have visited the Local Policing Summaries web page.

19. It would therefore be fair to surmise that public access and awareness of the GMPA summary is limited due to the methods used.

Central Safer Neighbourhood Unit’s Media and Communications Manager

20. Members were keen to ascertain how links could be established between the annual borough based Policing Summaries and the regular ward based information produced by local Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

21. The main information mechanism used by many of the local Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) is a four-sided newsletter. The newsletters generally provide the following types of information: crime prevention advice; update on crime and disorder initiatives being undertaken by the teams; information on upcoming public meetings; and, also relevant local community safety and Anti Social Behaviour contacts.

22. The Central Safer Neighbourhood Teams Media and Communication Unit has agreed that an information note on the Summaries would be included in upcoming local newsletters in order to establish and draw links between the localised ward information and the borough/ward information to be provided by the MPA/MPS.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The production and dissemination of the Local Policing Summaries provides a valuable opportunity to the MPA/MPS to communicate with all Londoners. By using the Royal Mail as the sole delivery mechanism the MPA/MPS can ensure that the summaries reach all Londoners.

2. In establishing the capacity to produce and disseminate alternative formats and additional languages of the Policing Summaries, the MPA/MPS will ensure that adequate resources are ring fenced for this task.

D. Financial implications

1. There is no present budget available to finance the ongoing revenue cost estimated at £220,000. Proposals to support the costs in 2006/07 and for 2007/08 will be included in the report to be presented to the July meeting.

2. Based on the costs provided by the GLA it would seem realistic to put aside £20,000 for the production of the summaries in alternative formats and additional languages. This estimate is based on the knowledge that the GLA spend £10,000 per edition of the Londoners on additional formats and languages with a distribution list of 2.8 million. The MPA/MPS has to provide 3.2 million copies of the summaries, 400,000 more than each edition of The Londoner. It is also expected that the Summaries may have a larger take up, as they provide local information on crime and community safety and therefore are more likely to be of interest to many Londoners.

3. Costings listed in the first report and further confirmed in separate cost estimates indicate that:

• the cost projections for the production of 3.2 million copies of a four page A4 full colour leaflet on 115gsm paper would be in the region of £71,000;
• the design and artwork for 32 separate borough-policing summaries would cost approximately £4,050;
• dissemination utilising the service of Central Office for Information and the Royal Mail will cost approximately £118,400.

The total estimated costings are £220,000.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Hamera Asfa Malik and Tim Rees, MPA

For more information contact:

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

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