Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Human Resources Committee held at Romney House, Marsham Street, SW1 on 21 June 2001.

Present:

Members:

• Rachel Whittaker (Chair)
• Angela Slaven (Deputy Chair)
• Anthony Arbour
• Nicholas Long

MPA staff:

• Peter Martin (Treasurer)
• Ken Hunt (Deputy Treasurer)
• Alan Johnson (Head of Human Resources)
• Simon Vile (Head of Secretariat)
• Johanna Gillians (Senior Analyst)
• Graham Spencer (Human Resources). 

MPS staff:

• Peter Clarke (DAC & Acting Director, Personnel)
• Chris Haselden (MPS Performance Management)
• John Lansley (Chief Superintendent)
• Mike Shurety (Assistant Director of Personnel)
• Linda Van den Hende (Business Director Occupational Health)
• Ian Wardrop

Also present Robin Wilkinson (APA), members of the press/media and public.

Part 1

121. Apologies

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies were received from the following Members of the committee: Cindy Butts, Cecile Lothian, Graham Tope and Abdal Ullah. Apologies were also received from Catherine Crawford (Clerk of the MPA) and Alan Johnson (MPA Head of Human Resources and Professional Standards).

122. Minutes: 21 June 2001

(Agenda item 2)

With reference to item 120 (health and safety developments), Nicholas Long asked for clarification on a report he had seen which said that £2.3m had been set aside for training. The Director of Occupational Health responded that this figure was an estimate of the training requirement, not an actual budget provision. She further reported that the MPS had now received six improvement notices from the Health & Safety Executive, two of which related to training and required the production of a training plan by 31 August 2001. Any decisions on the extent of and funding for training would, therefore, be dependent on this plan. Members considered that the MPA should be consulted on the training plan before it was finalised and asked that the MPS liaise with the Clerk on how this could be achieved. It was also suggested that all Members of the Committee should receive a copy of the information pack produced for the health & safety seminar on 19 June.

Resolved:

1. the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 17 May 2001 be confirmed and signed as a correct record; and
2. the MPS discuss with the Clerk how the MPA can be consulted before the training plan referred to in the body of this minute is finalised and submitted to the Health & Safety Executive.

123. Minutes of the Remuneration Sub-Committee - 17 May 2001

(Agenda item 3)

The public minutes of the Remuneration Sub-Committee held on 17 May 2001 were noted.

124. Chair and members' updates (verbal report)

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair reported her attendance at a health and safety seminar.

Nicholas Long informed the committee that he and Jennette Arnold had now produced their report on staff facilities at police stations. He asked that this be presented to the September meeting of the committee together with a response from the MPS to the report’s findings and proposals.

125. MPA support organisation out turn 2000/01 and budget 2001/02

(Agenda item 6)

The Committee received a report setting out the final out turn position for the MPA support organisation and providing information on the composition of the 2001/02 budget. Additional financial information was tabled at the meeting.

Resolved 

1. the report be noted; and
2. monitoring reports to be made to each meeting of the committee, in view of the fact that the committee will now be meeting on a two-monthly cycle.

126. Personnel management information

(Agenda item 7)

The committee received a report that provided a range of personnel related management information to the end of April 2001.

Nicholas Long suggested that long-term sickness figures should be addressed separately to provide a better comparison between traffic warden sickness rates and those for police officers and civil staff. There also appeared to be some discrepancies between sickness rates given to Members at a meeting with the Traffic Warden Service and those provided corporately – the MPA Policy Officer was asked to look into why this might be.

With regard to police recruitment, the Committee was informed that various steps were being taken or proposed to speed up the recruitment process. A report would be presented to the committee's September meeting, which would include a flow chart showing which procedures could be dealt with concurrently rather than consecutively. This would be made available to the MPA.

Resolved that the report be noted.

127. Remuneration Sub-Committee membership

(Agenda item 5)

Resolved that Anthony Arbour, Toby Harris, Angela Slaven and Rachel Whittaker be appointed as members of the Remuneration Sub-Committee for the current year.

128. MPS civil staff – location allowance boundaries

(Agenda item 8)

The Committee considered a report on some issues raised in relation to location allowance boundaries following the committee's approval at its meeting on 19 April 2001 of new zones and rates.

The Chair reported that John Biggs, the Member who had raised these issues at a meeting of the full Authority, did not feel that the report before the committee adequately addressed those concerns and had asked it to be withdrawn.

Resolved that the current location allowance boundaries and allowance rates remain unchanged.

129. Police officers – increase to increase to certain allowances

(Agenda item 9)

The committee considered a report seeking authority to increase certain allowances that were outside the remit of the Police Negotiating Board (PNB) or which had been delegated to police authorities by the PNB.

Resolved that

1. the special escort allowance paid to officers employed on these duties be increased by the 3% rate of increase applied to other allowances negotiated through the PNB in 2000/01;
2. the motor cycle allowance payable for the use of private motor cycles on official business be increased by approximately 33% to reflect the absence of increases in the past 10 years;
3. the Clerk and the Treasurer be authorised to agree future increases in these allowances provided that the increases match those agreed by the PNB for nationally negotiated allowances. This delegation to be exercised on the basis that any significant or potentially contentious issues will be reported to the committee for decision; and that decisions taken under this delegated authority will be reported to the Finance, Planning and Best Value Committee for information; and
4. a report be presented to the committee on the range of allowances available to police officers and any issues concerning these that the committee should be aware of.

130. Employment tribunal data

(Agenda item 10)

The committee considered a report providing data about Employment Tribunal cases from 1999 to 2001.

The Deputy Director of Personnel commented that it was difficult to quantify the possible size of a claim at the outset, because it was not until further into the process that the strength of a claim could be assessed. He was, however, working with the Director of Professional Standards to try to identify those cases that were likely to be the most sensitive or costly. He also clarified that where cases were shown as having been withdrawn, no payment had been made.

Members expressed an interest in receiving a copy of the current edition of the MPS Personnel Department's "Getting It Right" Newsletter.

Resolved that the report be noted and its format used for further reports.

131. Funding for MPS recruit training

(Agenda item 11)

The committee considered a report on current work to cost recruit training at the Peel Centre, Hendon and on progress in making an initial claim to the Home Office for recognition of this expenditure as a cost falling uniquely on the Metropolitan Police Service. This report had also been considered and approved by the Finance, Planning and Best Value Committee on 19 June.

The committee were concerned that the present funding position was inequitable and disadvantaged the MPS. They felt that the issue should be pursued robustly with the Home Office.

Resolved that the report be noted and the Treasurer be asked to write formally to the Home Office requesting additional funding for recruit training.

132. National Police Service Leadership Development Board

(Agenda item 12)

Robin Wilkinson of the Association of Police Authorities attended to brief the committee on the establishment of this Board and the various related issues and programmes, such as the Accelerated Promotion Scheme and the Senior Appointments Panel.

The Senior Appointments Panel (SAP) was intended to co-ordinate the appointments process in a positive way, for instance in terms of overseeing the processes adopted by police authorities, identifying possible future leaders and discussing their career paths, as well as carrying out a low level sift of applicants for senior appointments in terms of basic competencies. Police authorities would remain responsible for appointments. Members recognised that further thought was needed on what implications the work of the SAP might have on senior appointments to the MPS. It was agreed that the Chair should meet with MPA and MPS officers to discuss these, for report back to the committee. The Chair reported that the new MPS Director of Personnel was to be a member of the SAP.

Members also had questions and concerns about the proposed National Leadership Development Board programmes, such as the Accelerated Promotion Scheme and the extended interview programme. These concerned, for instance, the extent to which these were national or locally owned schemes; whether there was sufficient flexibility to allow for more than a single point of entry; and whether the training was focussed on the right rank. There was also some concern that Members were being asked to note the report without having any details of the financial implications of the proposals. It was agreed that the Chair and other interested Members should meet with relevant officers to discuss the implications of the Leadership Development Programme in more detail.

Resolved that

1. the report be noted and updates on developments presented to the committee; and
2. meetings be arranged, as referred to in the body of the minute, to discuss further the implications of the Senior Appointments Panel and the Leadership Development Programme.

133. Development of occupational health performance indicators

(Agenda item 13)

The committee considered a report proposing performance indicators for monitoring the occupational health function, together with other performance monitoring in this area.

In agreeing the proposals in the report, Members also highlighted the need to develop indicators that addressed response times.

Resolved that

1. the committee should receive a twice-yearly in depth report on sickness, including a breakdown of short-term and long-term sickness and the impact of occupational health on long-term sickness levels;
2. in addition to the indicators shown in paragraphs 10 and 11 of the report, consideration should also be given to developing indicators on response times; and
3. the committee should receive a twice-yearly report on the occupational health function, including information on indicators useful for performance monitoring.

134. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 14)

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 paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 is likely to be made known.

135. MPA/MPS personnel developments

(Agenda item 15)

An oral report was made on recent personnel developments.

136. Exempt minutes of the Remuneration Sub-Committee

(Agenda item 16)

The exempt minutes of the meeting of the Remuneration Sub-Committee held on 17 May 2001 were noted.

The meeting ended at 4.10 p.m.

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