Minutes

Minutes of the an meeting of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee held on 5 October 2006 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Len Duvall (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
• Jennette Arnold
• Richard Barnes
• Toby Harris
• Kirsten Hearn
• Karim Murji
• Aneeta Prem
• John Roberts
• Richard Sumray (up to agenda item 6b)
• Graham Tope
• Rachel Whittaker

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive and Clerk)
• David Riddle (Deputy Chief Executive and Solicitor)
• Ken Hunt (Treasurer)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Paul Stephenson (Deputy Commissioner)
• Tim Godwin (Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing)
• Steve House (Assistant Commissioner, Specialist Crime)
• Richard Gargini (Chief Superintendent, International Crime Co-ordination unit)
• Nina Cope

32. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Damian Hockney and Elizabeth Howlett

33. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

Kirsten Hearn declared an interest in agenda item 6c as a member of the Board of Transport for London.

Toby Harris declared an interest in agenda item 6c as a consultant for Transport for London.

34. Minutes – 1 September 2006

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 September 2006, be agreed and signed as a correct record.

35. Any urgent business

(Agenda item 6)

The Chair agreed to bring forward part of agenda item 6.

The Deputy Commissioner made the following statement concerning a report concerning the posting of a police constable which had appeared in the media earlier that day:

‘The Commissioner, I and the whole of the MPS are clear that the impartial policing of all communities is fundamental to policing the UK. This is non negotiable. Every day MPS officers put their duties above their political, religious or ideological views. The MPS has a long history of policing difficult demonstrations, marches and events, no matter what the personal view of the officers involved might be.

Upon joining the police service, officers swear an oath of attestation, which says that they serve 'without fear or favour'. If on this or any other occasion that principle has been broken it would be wholly improper.

In all its personnel management issues the MPS encourages officers to be up front and honest to highlight any matters that may impact on them conducting their duties. At the height of the Israeli/Lebanon conflict in August this year the officer made his managers aware of his personal concerns which included that he had Lebanese family members.

Whilst the Israeli Embassy is not his normal posting, in view of the possibility that he could be deployed there, a risk assessment was undertaken, which is normal practice. It was as a result of this risk assessment - and not because of the officer's personal views whatever they might have been - that the decisions was taken temporarily not to deploy him to the Embassy. The public would expect us to conduct such a risk assessment and review the suitability of any firearms officer undertaking such duties. This is not about political correctness. I want to make it clear that this decision was taken on the basis of risk and safety.

The Deputy Commissioner finished by confirming that members would be kept advised in this matter.

Resolved – That the statement be noted.

36. MPA link member roles

(Agenda item 4)

This report asked the Committee to approve the description of the link member role attached as an appendix to this report and to decide which link member appointments should be made.

Some members commented that there was still a lack of clarity on certain aspects such as situations were there was an overlap between the subject areas. The point was also made that sight should not be lost of the impact of these appointments on members’ time.

The Chair said whilst that he did not think it appropriate for all members to be consulted again, there was clearly a need for both the wider context and some of the particular proposals to re-examined. He would suggest that the report be deferred pending this further consideration.

Resolved - That .the report be deferred so that further consideration can be given to the points raised at the meeting.

37. Provision of police advice and assistance to international agencies

(Agenda item 5)

This report outlines existing corporate governance for international activity within the Metropolitan Police Service. It highlighted the legal requirement to incorporate the Authority into this process and sought a decision on how this may best be achieved. This was a revised version of a report which had been considered by the Corporate Governance Committee at its meeting on 22 September.

In reply to questions about the MPS overseas travel scheme members were advised that there was delegated authority for each case to be considered on its own merits and many factors would be taken into account in deciding the most appropriate mode and class of travel. The decisions would not necessarily be based strictly on rank as other factors such as the time between the arrival of the officer in the country and his or her first official engagement were taken into consideration.

Rachel Whittaker said that overseas travel represented a large amount of discretionary expenditure and it was one of the matters which the Authority’s budget scrutiny group was looking at.

Resolved – That

1. the Corporate Governance Committee and Co-ordination and Policing Committee recognise the existing MPS process for managing overseas assistance deployments be noted;
2. Co-ordination and Policing Committee authority be delegated to the Commissioner via the MPS’s International Crime Coordination Unit (ICCU) to approve section 26 Police Act applications for onward transmission to the Home Office (option 2), with the exception of cases of full cost, sensitive or contentious cases;
3. Corporate Governance Committee and Co-ordination and Policing Committee to set a level of cost and approve arrangements to settle a protocol for handling exceptional cases;
4. the Co-ordination and Policing Committee receive twice yearly reports to COP on all MPS overseas assistance deployments under section 26 of the Police Act 1996 be commissioned with monthly data sent to the Chief Executive for monitoring and analysis; and
5. all ACPO and senior police staff overseas travel to be subject to these oversight arrangements, with authorisation delegated to the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner except in exceptional circumstances as set out.

38. Police and Justice Bill – government amendments

(Agenda item 6a)

This report detailed the government amendments to the Police and Justice Bill and the MPA /APA response.

Toby Harris confirmed that he would continue to be briefed by the MPA and APA and would table amendments in the House of Lords as appropriate.

Resolved –.That

1. The proposed MPA amendments to be tabled in relation to membership provisions (paragraph 8) be approved; and
2. it be agreed that the MPA should continue lobbying with the APA at the regulation stage of the Bill, with regular updates to the Committee on progress.

39. Increasing accessibility to policing services

(Agenda item 6b)

This report outlines the background and proposed strategic development of front counter police services within the MPS with the intention of significantly increasing accessibility to and improving the qualify of front counter services.

In reply to a question Assistant Commissioner Godwin confirmed that the changes would not impact upon the continued provision of front offices which were staffed by volunteers.

Resolved –That

1. the report be noted and the proposed strategy for the development of front counter services be agreed; and
2. the Police Authority considers suitable oversight arrangements for the development of this area of service.

40. Transport Safer Neighbourhoods Teams

(Agenda item 6c)

A report was considered which outlined the proposal that 375 Police Community Support Officers are deployed to work alongside existing Safer Neighbourhoods Teams in a joint initiative between Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police Service. TfL will purchase approximately 220 PCSOs and the MPS will support the initiative with a further 155 PCSOs. The Transport Safer Neighbourhoods Teams will work to similar principles and methodology as the existing 630 Safer Neighbourhoods teams across London except they will focus on transport links and communities as opposed to local residents.

Graham Tope said it was not clear from the report how the reporting arrangements would relate to the Borough command structures. He also pointed out that there was no provision for further PCSOs at main line stations and the proposal therefore did not appear to have benefits for the many outer London boroughs which do not have Underground stations.

AC Godwin confirmed that these were amongst the matters to be explored further with TfL and BTP.

Resolved – That members note and support the proposal for a joint initiative between TfL and the MPS for the purpose of increasing confidence and satisfaction in the policing of transport interchange locations across London.

41. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 7)

Resolved - That the press and public be asked to leave the meeting during discussion of the remaining items of business because exempt information as defined in Schedule 12a to the Local Government Act 1972 as amended is likely to be made known.

42. The Intelligence covert policing and tasking programme

(Agenda item 8)

The Intelligence, Covert Policing and Tasking (ICPT) Programme was initiated as a result of the Commissioner’s Service Review of the MPS in 2005. The MPS Management Board has made a number of decisions regarding the MPS corporate intelligence and information structures, and standards for covert policing to support delivery for the future. These decisions amount to the Programme Mandate for the ICPT Programme. The ICPT Programme is included within the MMP. This report provides an overview of the ICPT Programme and the projects that fall within the programme.

Resolved –That

1. the report be noted; and
2. the Treasurer be appointed to represent the MPA on the Intelligence, Covert Policing and Tasking (ICPT) Steering Group

The meeting closed at 4:00 p.m.

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