Minutes

Minutes of the an meeting of the Co-ordination and Policing Committee held on Thursday 6 December 2007 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Len Duvall (Chair)
• Jennette Arnold
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Richard Barnes (item 1-12)
• Faith Boardman
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair) (item 1-13)
• Toby Harris
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Karim Murji
• Aneeta Prem
• John Roberts
• Graham Tope
• Rachel Whittaker

MPA officers

• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive)
• Ken Hunt (Treasurer)
• David Riddle (Deputy Chief Executive)
• Mike Shurety (Interim Head of HR) (item 13)
• Ruth Hastings Iqball (Committee Services)

MPS officers

• Ian Blair (Commissioner)
• Hamish Campbell (Deputy Ch Supt, Directorate of Professional Standards)
• Steve Farquharson (Group Director, Directorate of Information)
• William Griffiths (Director, Leadership Development)
• Diana Marchant (Director of Business Development, Territorial Policing (TP))
• Anne McMeel (Director, Strategic Finance)
• Steve Roberts (DAC and Deputy Director, HR)
• Mark Simmons (Commander, TP)
• Martin Stevens (A/Det Ch Supt, Safer Neighbourhoods, TP)

Part 1

61. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence was received from Kirsten Hearn and Damian Hockney.

62. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

In relation to agenda item 5, ‘Safer London Foundation – award of grant for 2007/08’, two members noted their personal interest. Toby Harris stated that he served on the Board of the Foundation and John Roberts stated that the Stop and Search Review Board, of which he was Chair, had received an award from the Foundation. In relation to agenda item 7 ‘IQ Portfolio report’, Toby Harris noted that as an advisor to technical companies, he could have possibly offered advice to a company involved in the project. 

Resolved – That declarations of interest be received.

63. Minutes: Co-ordination and Policing Committee -1 November 2007 (Part 1)

(Agenda item 3)

The second paragraph of agenda item 5 was amended to read, “Members referred to practical difficulties that could arise in the case of Orders that covered a wide area….” With this amendment, the minutes were agreed.

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2007 (part 1) be confirmed and signed as a correct record subject to the change outlined above.

64. Stockwell scrutiny

(Agenda item 4)

The Committee received a report asking it to approve the terms of reference for the proposed Stockwell Scrutiny and to confirm its membership.

The Deputy Chief Executive stated that a member had proposed some changes to the published report. She had suggested that an extra recommendation be made “The Committee must have full access to all documentation to enable its members to carry out a thorough scrutiny.” She also suggested no. 3 of A1 in appendix 1 “Draft Terms of Reference” be amended to read “whether lessons have been learnt from the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell on 21 July 2005 and whether the subsequent handling of information has been incorporated into procedures, practices and command structures by the Metropolitan Police Service and other agencies”. It was also suggested that no 5 be amended to “what further action is needed, by the MPS, the MPA or other agencies to secure sustainable improvements in policy and practice”. These changes were agreed. It was also agreed that the Scrutiny should look at the relationship between the MPS and press, as a follow up to its Media Scrutiny. 

It was agreed the following members would serve on the Scrutiny: Jennette Arnold, Faith Boardman, Dee Doocey and Len Duval (as Chair). Another member had also wished to be member, but needed to discuss with the Deputy Chief Executive if this was appropriate. The Scrutiny would take place towards at the end of January. 

Resolved – That 

1. the terms of reference for the Stockwell scrutiny, as set out in Appendix 1 and amended as above be approved subject to any amendments agreed by the Committee; and
2. Jennette Arnold, Faith Boardman, Dee Doocey and Len Duval (and possibly one other member) participate in the scrutiny.

65. Safer London Foundation – award of grant for 2007/08

(Agenda item 5)

A report was received asking the Committee to confirm a grant of £175,000 to the Safer London Foundation for the year 2007/8 towards their core costs. In answer to questions, members were informed that the Foundation still held funds, the Deputy Chief Executive stated that the foundation had £755,000 in the bank, the bulk of which had been donated by sponsors and endowments but most of these funds were committed. 

Resolved – That 

1. a grant of £175,000 be awarded to the Safer London Foundation for the year 2007/8; and that an indicative allocation £100,000 be confirmed for 2008/9; and 
2. payment of the grant for 2007/8 be subject to submission of approved and audited accounts for 2006/7.

66. Policing review – accountability

(Agenda item 6)

This report, introduced by the Chief Executive, outlined a draft MPA position on the police accountability strand of the Sir Ronnie Flanagan Review. Members were asked to consider the arguments in the report, which were based on numerous discussions they had had since the MPS/MPA away day in May 2007 and agree a position for the Chair of the Authority to submit to the Review by the 15 December. Members had already agreed the joint response of the MPS and MPA on the three other strands: reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, neighbourhood policing and resources earlier in the year.

The Chair stated that there was an issue about pan London oversight and that the MPA should be working with London boroughs and encouraging them to work with the police in fighting crime. He noted that the staffing of Safer Neighbourhoods teams was more permanent than that of borough senior management teams. He added that he would like to see more sustainable policies with partners taken forward and that he certainly did not want to see boroughs having their own police services. He also suggested that in the future consideration could be given to giving partners a choice of borough commander. 

Members were reassured by the Chair’s comments and believed that good partnerships with boroughs were more important now that police services were moving to service level agreements, but were concerned about the tone of section B. In regard to para 12, it was noted that the Mayor could appoint a Deputy Chair, the MPA was free to appoint more if required. It was noted that the guidance from the Home Office promised in the House of Lords was still awaited. 

The Commissioner noted that there was a distinction between neighbourhood engagement and accountability. There was a fundamental requirement for the MPS to act as a whole, citing the example of policing of the Olympic games, which could not be negotiated with 30 boroughs. 

A member noted that (paragraph 12) that the MPA did not have a Mayor. She felt that the report’s arguments needed to be supported by better evidence. The Chair agreed that boroughs partners were not interested in the bigger picture and that joint tasking was in consistent in quality and this needed illustrating in the response. Another member felt that the report should distinguish between different forms of accountability i.e. area agreements, hiring and firing, local resolution and discipline and local budgeting and financing. The Chair noted that BOCU commanders could not be ‘hired and fired’ locally, 

The Chief Executive undertook to circulate a final draft of the response before it was sent.

Resolved – That 

1. members consider the position and agree changes; and
2. agree that the Chair submit an agreed position on behalf of the Authority to the Flanagan Review team by the 15 December 2007, following circulation of the draft to members.

67. IQ portfolio report

(Agenda item 7)

The Committee received a report providing a summary of progress on the IQ Portfolio. The Portfolio was on track to continue to deliver benefits throughout 2007 and beyond.

Resolved – That this report be noted as a record of progress on the IQ Portfolio.

68. Together and the Leadership Academy

(Agenda item 8)

Members received a report providing members with an overview of the ongoing progress of the MPS Leadership Academy, a fundamental aspect of the Together approach. The report also illustrated how the Leadership Academy was contributing towards the success of the MPS in delivering the strategic outcomes and performance ambitions coordinated under the Met Modernisation Programme (MMP).

Members asked how many senior staff (i.e. Chief Superintendent, Band A and above) had been through the Programme. They were told that the delivery trajectory was outlined in table 3, but it was hoped that it would be about 90% before March. It was also noted that staff were going through the Programme before promotion. 

In response to questions, the Director, Leadership Development, provided more information about the staff survey ‘Your views count’. Members were told that 4000 staff would be surveyed every quarter, but a meaningful analysis of the data could only be provided when 12 months worth of data was provided. Members also where informed how the Programme was addressing the needs of line managers and how trainers trying to run courses at maximum capacity. It was also noted that MPS Management Board members attended programme leaders events. When asked about the tracking of training, they were told that course attendees returned after nine months to review their progress and were members of ‘learning sets’. All programmes had outside input. 

Questions were asked about the programmes equality impact assessment. The Chair requested that a note be sent to members on this. 

Resolved – That 

1. the report be noted; and 
2. a briefing note be sent to members on the Programme’s equality impact assessment. 

69. Borough Partnerships

(Agenda item 9)

Members received a report outlining a proposal that would involve local authorities making a two-year financial contribution to the cost of providing up to 320 police officers within their areas to support the delivery of LAA performance targets. The Chair was unhappy with this report. It was agreed that the report be revised and submitted to the next meeting. 

Resolved – That the report be revised and resubmitted to the January meeting of the Coordination and Policing Committee.

70. MPA partnership funding

(Agenda item 10)

This report provided an overview of the distribution of the MPA Partnership Fund for the 2006/07 financial year. Members agreed they could be able see other borough budgets, in addition to that of their own link borough. It was also agreed that the funding should be spent to support corporate initiatives and be divided equally amongst all boroughs. They noted the existing fund was not large, but gave BOCU commanders some funding to bring to their partnerships. 

The Chair suggested that the MPA should seek to increase the amount of funding in the coming year. Members agreed that it was a time to think about where the partnership funding should go next, for example in the development of an innovation fund. 

Resolved - That members note the content of the report as to the distribution of the MPA Partnership Fund across the 32 London boroughs.

71 Training accommodation – future implications of Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (ipldp) and other training

(Agenda item 11)

Members received a report on training accommodation and future implications for the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP) and other training.

The DAC and Deputy Director, HR, stated that it had been intended that training move from Hendon, however this had not happened. The demand profile of courses had changed and more special constable and PCSO course were held there. He also added that there was now no residential training at Hendon. A report was requested on the Hendon Estate at a future meeting.

Members also asked about passing out parades, which had been reintroduced at Hendon because they were liked by recruits and their families and symbolically marked a person becoming a police officer.

Resolved – That 

1. the report be noted; and
2. a report be received on the Hendon Estate at a future meeting.

72. Integrated Prosecution Teams

(Agenda item 12)

A report on the proposal to introduce Integrated Prosecution Teams (IPTs) within the MPS was introduced. Members were disappointed in the report as despite the Finance Committee’s request, the full business case of the IPT Programme was not attached. The Chair agreed that that discussion should be deferred until a fuller report be received by the Authority.

Members requested that this report assess if the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) could deliver the Programme, noting that CPS more skilled staff had been involved in the pilots. They also requested that it cover issues of security and asked if CPS staff were vetted to the same standard as MPS staff, how many CPS staff would need to be accommodated and if CPS staff had common standards of accommodation with MPS staff, and what was the Programme’s exit strategy. Members also noted (para 8) that although the proposals would enable the CPS to dispose of its property assets, no agreement had been made as to how the MPS or MPA would gain any benefit.

Resolved – That the resolution in the report not be approved and a further report be received by the Authority.

73. MPA staff equal pay audit

(Agenda item 13)

The Committee received a report setting out the arrangements for, and the outcome of, the MPA staff equal pay audit agreed as part of the 2006-07 pay negotiations. In answer to questions, members were informed that the report cost in excess of £5000 in payment to consultants. They were surprised to note that one of the recommendations was that the consultants be employed to do more work. 

Resolved - That the report be noted.

74. Any other urgent business

(Agenda item 14)

No urgent business was received.

75. Exclusion of press and public 

(Agenda item 15)

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

• 76. IQ portfolio report – appendix 1
  (Agenda item 16)
  The exempt appendix was considered with item 7.
• 77. Request for financial assistance
  (Agenda item 17)
• 17a Mediation
  It felt that the Committee could not make a decision based upon the information contained in the report and that a further report should be produced and a decision made under the urgency powers as outlined in Standing Orders
• 17b Civil litigation: proposed mediation
  Members support the suggested settlement outlined in the report 
• 78. Minutes: Co-ordination and Policing Committee -1 November 2007 (Part 2)
  (Agenda item 18)
  With regard to agenda item 14, Police Reform and Special Priority Payments, Rachel Whittaker stated that she had ‘abstained’ not ‘dissented’ from the resolutions. With this amendment, the minutes were agreed.

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