Minutes

Minutes of the an meeting of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee held on 7 June 2007 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Len Duvall (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
• Toby Harris (from agenda item 5)
• Damian Hockney
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Karim Murji
• Aneeta Prem (up to agenda item 7)
• John Roberts
• Richard Sumray (up to agenda item 6)
• Graham Tope
• Rachel Whittaker

Also attended – Jenny Jones

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
• Ken Hunt (Treasurer)
• Alan Johnson (Policy Officer, HR)
• John Crompton (Committee Services)
• Siobhan Caldwell (Interim Assistant Chief Executive) attended for agenda item 12

MPS officers

• Sir Ian Blair (Commissioner, for agenda items 1 to 7)
• Tarique Ghaffur (Assistant Commissioner, Central Operations)
• Rob Jarman (Commander)
• Martin Tiplady (Director of Human Resources)
• Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Roberts (Deputy Director of Human Resources)
• Simon Hart (Acting Director, Finance Services)

131. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Jennette Arnold and Richard Barnes.

132. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations were made.

133. Minutes– 3 May 2007

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 May 2007 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

134. ‘Kickz’ youth diversion programme growth proposal

(Agenda item 4)

A report was submitted concerning the Kickz Football Project, a national social inclusion and youth diversion programme which currently has 17 schemes in 12 London boroughs and 25 schemes nationally including 18 of the 20 Premier League clubs and all London Football League clubs. It is proposed to grow the project significantly across London. The total cost of the expansion is £3m per annum revenue for each of two years beginning September 2007. The proposal is that the MPS provides £1.5m per annum for each of two years to match the funding from the Football Foundation. That funding would come from £1.5M carried forward from underspendings from 2006/07 and a further £1.5m will need to be carried forward to 2008/09 to cover the costs in that financial year.

Resolved - That the proposed investment in growth of the project of £1.5 million, to be matched funded by the Football Foundation to, provide for total growth of £3 million during 2007/08.

135. MPS Olympic Programme update

(Agenda item 5)

A report was submitted which outlined the current progress of the MPS Olympic Policing Programme.

In the ensuing discussion members asked for clarification about the protocol surrounding the carrying of arms by police overseas from overseas whilst on duty in the United Kingdom. Assistant Commissioner Ghaffur advised that this was not permitted but there was clearly an expectation in some quarters that high profile guests would have armed protection officers from their own countries and this was an area where more work would be carried out.

In reply to a question from a member action necessary to secure the site for the Stadium Assistant Commissioner Ghaffur advised that there would be a Community Impact Assessment and any police presence necessary during the eviction process would be tasked by the Borough.

With regard to armed officers the Assistant Commissioner said there was clearly a need to identify as soon as possible with some certainty the numbers likely to be required in view of the implications for training.

Assistant Commissioner Ghaffur referred to questions that had been asked about the effects which policing the Olympics would have on operational policing in the boroughs. He reported that the Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing had set up a workshop to examine the issues relating to providing “business as usual” in terms of the numbers of officers needed etc.

Rachel Whittaker said she had attended the Westminster borough briefing on the Olympic Games which she had found very useful and she would recommend that link members attended their own borough briefing when it was held. Richard Sumray, MPA link member on the Olympic Games, provided a brief update on his activities.

MPA governance and oversight. The Chair stated that Richard Sumray and Reshard Auladin would continue to lead on specific aspects and in addition to the regular reports to CoP further oversight would be provided by the Chair’s meeting. He requested that members of the Assembly and London MPs be sent a similar update to that considered at the meeting.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted.
2. an update be provided for members of the London Assembly and London MPs.

136. Revenue Reserves

(Agenda item 6)

This report sets out a review of the likely reserves prior to closing the 2006/07 accounts. The report reviews and confirms the policy that the general reserve should lie within the range of a minimum of 1.5% to 2% of net revenue expenditure when conditions permit, identified an opportunity to increase the General Reserve by £5M and proposed a new Budget Resilience Reserve of £5.1M.

The Commissioner said he wished to propose an alternative way of dealing with the revenue account underspendings of £5.1M, which he had outlined to the Treasurer before the meeting. His proposal was to transfer the sum of £5.1M. to a new tactical counter terrorism reserve. The rationale for this was that it was generally accepted that there was the strong likelihood of another incident related to terrorism during the year and it would be easier from an operational point of view in the immediate aftermath of an incident if it was known that a specific identifiable reserve was readily available.

Summing up the ensuing discussion, the Chair said that members did not consider that a sufficient case had been made for him to be able to recommend the revised proposal to the Committee and the Chair proposed that it was appropriate for the proposed £5.1M Budget Resilience Reserve to be transferred to the General Reserve as it served a similar purpose. The Chair said he would point out that the overall proposals regarding reserves as set out in the report should provide sufficient flexibility and room for manoeuvre in the event of a major incident, and if any grant monies were received from the Home Office in respect of operation Overt they should be transferred to the Emergencies/Contingency Fund.

Resolved – That

1. the policy of increasing the general reserve within a range of a minimum of 1.5% to 2% of net revenue expenditure as and when conditions permit be confirmed;
2. the proposed use of the 2006/07 underspend and other reserve adjustments as the basis for closing the 2006-07 accounts (paragraphs 10 –11 and 17) be approved with the exception of the Budget resilience Reserve for which the sum of £5.1M would be transferred to the General Reserve; and
3. a report be presented to the Finance Committee in October reviewing the use of reserves for budget purposes.

137. MPA budget 2007-08 and provisional outturn 2006-07

(Agenda item 7)

A report was submitted which set out the budget for the MPA for 20007-08 together with the provisional outturn position against budget for 2006-07.

In response to requests from members for more information, it was agreed that a revised version of the table at Appendix 2 be circulated to members which contained a further column showing salaries be included in the table at Appendix 2 and a note of from which budget heading the subscription to the Association of Police Authorities was made and the budget provision for redundancy payments.

The Chief Executive referred to statements that had been made which suggested that there had been a substantial reduction in the equalities budget. This was not the case and the misunderstanding had probably arisen due to the changes which had been made in the new way in which the information was presented. The explanatory note would contain information on this aspect.

Resolved –That the report be noted and the underspend of £60,382 be transferred to the MPA reserve.

138. Initial Police Learning Development Programme

(Agenda item 8)

This report provided an update into the progress of the implementation of the Initial Police and Learning Development Programme be achieved by the target date of September 2007.

In reply to questions, the Director of Human Resources said that there would still be a need for training accommodation at Hendon. Consideration was being given to the format of the passing out parades.

Resolved – That the progress of IPLDP to the agreed timetables be noted.

139. MPS Equal Pay Audit (exempt item)

(Agenda item 9)

This report set out the arrangements for the police staff equal pay audit agreed as part of the 2006-07 pay negotiations.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

140. MPA Equal Pay Audit

(Agenda item 10)

A report was submitted which set out the arrangements for the MPA staff equal pay audit agreed as part of the 2006-07 pay negotiations.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

141. MPS Annual Learning and Development Business Plan 2007-2008

(Agenda item 11)

This report presented a summary of the Annual Learning and Development Business Plan that meets the criteria specified in Home Office Circulars 44/2005 and 10/2007. The plan had previously been given detailed consideration by the HR Oversight Group.

Resolved – That the Annual Learning and Development business plan 2007-08 be approved.

142. MPA scrutiny programme

(Agenda item 12)

This report outlined a proposed scrutiny programme for 2007-8.

Resolved – That the proposed scrutiny programme for 2007/08 as shown in Appendix 1 be endorsed.

143. Proposed scrutiny into succession planning and talent management for police officers in the Metropolitan Police Service

(Agenda item 13)

A report was submitted which set out the background and proposed terms of reference for a member-led scrutiny into succession planning and talent management for police officers in the MPS.

The Director of Human Resources said that whilst the MPS fully supported the establishment of the scrutiny he wished to request that in view of the substantial current work load of the MPS officers who would be contributing to the scrutiny, that work on it did not start in earnest until September.

The Chief Executive said that whilst she had sympathy with the request she thought it important that work commenced as soon as possible so that it might, for example be possible to submit evidence from it to the police review being carried out by Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

Members commented that it would be useful if the scope of the scrutiny could encompass police staff.

Resolved – That approval be given to the carrying out of a member-led scrutiny into succession planning and talent management for police officers in the MPS.

144. Any other urgent business

(Agenda item 10)

See supplementary agenda item 17 relating to the settlement of an Employment Tribunal.

145. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 16)

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.

Summary of decisions made on exempt items

Minute 146 agenda item 16 exempt minutes of the meeting held on 3 May 2007
Agreed as a correct record.

Minute 147 supplementary agenda item 20 –Settlement of an Employment Tribunal
Terms of a settlement were agreed.

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