Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of the Human Resources Committee held at Romney House, Marsham Street, SW1 on 07 March 2002.

Present:

Members:

Rachel Whittaker (Chair)
Cecile Lothian (Deputy Chair)
Anthony Arbour
Cindy Butts
Nicholas Long
Graham Tope
Abdal Ullah

MPA staff:

Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
Alan Johnson (Head of Human Resources)
Elizabeth Turner (Management Accountant)
John Crompton (Committee Services)

MPS staff:

Jenny Deere (Director HR Selection)
Chris Haselden (Head of HR Strategic Management)
Trevor Lawrence (Director Property Services)
Peter Loughborough (Director, Training and Development)
Chris McDonald (Strand Leader Development and Organisation Improvement Team)
Denise Milani (Director, Development and Organisation Improvement Team)
Mike Shurety (Director, HR Services)
Martin Tiplady (Director, HR)
Chief Supt. Heather Valentine (OCU Commander, Training School)
Craig Watkins (Head of Business Support, Finance Dept)

Part 1

82. Apologies

(Agenda item 1)

An apology was received from Bernard Hogan-Howe (Assistant Commissioner, HR).

83. Minutes: 10 January 2002

(Agenda item 2)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 10 January 2002 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Members asked whether the Clerk had received a reply to the letter concerning information given to the press. It was noted that the matter had been dealt with by means of a report to the meeting of the full Authority.

84. Draft minutes of the Remuneration Sub-committee 15 January 2002

(Agenda item 5)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting be noted.

85. Chair’s and Members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair reported on a meeting with the Christian Police Association that had been held earlier in the day. At that meeting, and at the Diversity Strategy Board, the question of support for the staff associations had been raised. The Chair asked for a report on this topic to be submitted to a future meeting.

The Chair also reported that a volunteer was being sought to act as lead member on the best value review of managing people and asked anyone interested to speak to her. 
Cindy Butts reported on a meeting she had attended in her capacity as link member with the Black Police Association.

Cecile Lothian had chaired a training workshop that had looked at the HMIC recommendations on probationer training and the best value review of police training. The Chair asked that a report be submitted in six months.

Abdal Ullah reported on a very useful meeting he had with a senior visiting Muslim police officer.

Resolved - That the Chair and Members update be noted.

86. Human Resources planning and priorities 2002/03

(Agenda item 5)

A report was submitted which updated the Committee on progress with the planning process within the Human Resources Directorate in order to support the corporate operational priorities and objectives in the policing and performance plan 2002/03. In Appendix 3 the Committee noted that the deadline by which all MPS staff will have received CRR training should be shown as 31 December 2003

Resolved – That

1. the significant human resources enabling objectives that will support the corporate operational priorities and specific objectives of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), as set out in the draft Policing and Performance Plan for 2002/03 be noted;
2. the progress report on the development of the HR Directorate Business and Performance Plan for 2002/03 be received and noted:
3. it be noted that the final plan will be submitted to the Committee when complete and further progress reports will be provided as necessary, and
4. The following comments on the expanded range of human resources enabling objectives in the draft HR Directorate Business and Performance Plan be noted:

• objective 2 heading to be amended by substituting “recruit and training for “establish”
• objective 31 - report to be submitted to a future meeting on how compliance with the competency framework would be measured.
• objective 48 The Committee to note that the reference to the merger with the Royal Parks police at objective 48 was very tentative as the proposal had yet to be discussed by the Authority, and could be removed at this time.

88. Efficiency and effectiveness review programme

(Agenda item 6)

The final report by Accenture on overtime was submitted.

The Committee noted that an Accenture workshop for members was due to take place on 18 March.

Members indicated that in implementing the recommendations the following aspects should be examined: the apparently illogical statement concerning the number of deception cases investigated in Hackney discussed at paragraph 30 and the effects of the freeze on overtime budgets (paragraph 38)

Resolved - That the recommendations made by Accenture in their report on overtime be noted.

87. Recruitment and retention

(Agenda item 7)

Members considered a report informing them of progress and related issues concerning police and civil staff recruitment and retention against budgeted workforce targets for 2001/2002.

The Director, Development and Organisation Improvement Team (DOIT) provided an outline on the work of the team and its contribution to the enabling objectives in support of the policing plan. In reply to questions, the Director stressed that interventions were constantly being introduced and refined to ensure that the VEM recruitment targets would be met. This would include a focus on retention.

The Director (DOIT) undertook to supply a copy of the workplan to Members

Resolved - That the report be noted.

88. Civil staff pay and grading review

(Agenda item 8)

A report was submitted which provided an update on the civil staff pay and grading review.

Resolved - That the report be noted and a further report be submitted in four months.

89. Police negotiating board update

(Agenda item 9)

A report was submitted which set out details of the main topics discussed at meetings of the Police Negotiating Board and the Police Advisory Board.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

90. Starter homes initiative

(Agenda item 10)

A report was received which provided details of the criteria for prioritising applications from police and civil staff and information about the payment of the administration fee.

The Committee noted that the question of the administration fee was due to be considered by the Co-ordination and Urgency Committee (CUC) on 12 March. The MPS confirmed that the cost (£1600 per unit) was justified as part of the retention strategy. On this basis, the HR Committee agreed to support the proposal going to the CUC Committee.

In reply to questions, the Director of Property Services advised that once the scheme was running (which was envisaged to be at the beginning of the next financial year) the timescale for officers who wished to take advantage of the scheme should be similar to the usual property purchase process.

Resolved –

1. the criteria for prioritising applications be endorsed
2. that the cost of the administration be noted and the CUC be advised that the Committee supported the proposal for funding.

93. Community Support Officers

(Agenda item 11)

A report was submitted which set out details of the proposal to introduce a scheme to recruit and deploy community support officers, which was one of the proposals in the Police Reform Bill.

Supt Mark Gore attended for consideration of this item.

In reply to questions, the Committee noted that the community support officers would be Members of the civil staff. The training had been drawn up in accordance with the national Competencies Framework. The proposed training for the auxiliaries was two weeks shorter than that for traffic wardens as traffic wardens had a wider range of responsibilities. The project team was carrying out detailed work in conjunction with the Finance Department to assess the full cost implications of employing the community support officers.

The Committee noted that the provision of accommodation for the auxiliaries within police stations and other MPS buildings was also being examined in consultation with the Property Services Department.

The Clerk reminded the Committee that in its submission to the Home Office on the legislation the Authority had raised a specific query about the employment status about auxiliaries, and said she would follow up this point.

Resolved – That the report be noted and further reports be submitted as the legislation progresses.

94. Review of MPS grievance procedure

(Agenda item 12)

A report was submitted which provided a progress report on the review of the MPS grievance procedure. A new draft policy was submitted for information.

The Director of HR Selection advised that the retention task force was due to submit its findings on the outcome of staff surveys, etc. at the end of March and a report would be submitted to the Committee.

The Clerk pointed out that the policy was silent on whether there was any role for the Authority and it should be amended to state explicitly whether or not there was a role.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

95. Pressure on training facilities at Peel Centre

(Agenda item 13)

A report was submitted which outlined the impact of the increased numbers of recruits at Peel Centre and reported measures taken to reduce that impact.

In reply to questions on the option of a shift system mentioned at paragraph 13, the Committee was advised that the suggested hours of operation would be 7.00 to 15.00, and 12.00 to 20.00 with the intention that trainees would attend early and late shifts in alternate weeks. It was felt that the hours were not particularly onerous and ought not deter potential entrants, and indeed would give the new police officers an early introduction to shift working.

The Director of Property Services confirmed that there were health and safety concerns at the tower block, which needed to be addressed in the short term. There were budgetary implications in carrying out these refurbishment works that would be addressed in reports submitted to other MPA fora.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

96. Progress on HR related HMIC recommendations

(Agenda item 14)

A report was submitted on the human resources recommendations contained in HMIC inspection reports. It included information on the latest position on the recommendations for action contained in the MPS inspection report 2000/0-1 and on the outstanding recommendations from earlier inspections.

Resolved – That the report be noted and the MPA actions in appendix 4 be agreed.

97. Training for the senior command course

(Agenda item 15)

At a full Authority meeting it was agreed that a report be submitted to the Human Resources Committee on the points of concern raised in a discussion about the content and appropriateness of the senior command course.

Resolved - That the report be noted and a further report on the National Police Leadership Development Programme be submitted in six months.

Withdrawal of reports -

The Committee noted that the two items in the exempt section of the agenda (agenda items 17 and 18) had been withdrawn.

Meeting closed at 5.15 p.m.

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