Minutes

Minutes of the Planning, Performance & Review Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 22 July 2002 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Richard Sumray (Chair)
• Anthony Arbour
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Lynne Featherstone
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Nicholas Long

MPA Officers

• Catherine Crawford (Clerk)
• Ken Hunt (Deputy Treasurer)
• Derrick Norton (Head of Strategic Planning & Review)
• Johanna Gillians (Senior Analyst)
• Simon Vile (Head of Secretariat)

MPS Officers

• Tarique Ghaffur (Assistant Commissioner)
• Tim Godwin (Deputy Assistant Commissioner)
• Diana Marchant (Head of Best Value Group)
• Carol McDonald (Head of Corporate Performance Analysis Unit)

Part 1

1. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

None

2. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No interests declared.

3. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting of the former Professional Standards and Performance Monitoring Committee held on 13 June 2002 be agreed and signed as a correct record, subject to the addition of Lynne Featherstone’s name to the list of those present and, in the third paragraph of item 105, the inclusion of the word ‘change’ after 0%.

Matters arising

With regards to item 110, it was agreed that a report on the case tracking project for Operation Safer Streets be brought to the September meeting of the committee.

4. Chair’s and Members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

There were no issues to report.

5. Terms of reference and work programme

(Agenda item 5)

The committee considered a report by the Clerk inviting discussion and decisions on the future operation of the committee and the possible contents of its work programme.

With regard to further performance scrutiny and policy review, members were asked to suggest topics for further scrutiny projects. Possible areas suggested by members and officers were: risk register; vehicle crime; public order issues; extractions from boroughs; specials and cadets. Members were asked to feed in any other suggestions over the coming month or two so that a decision could be taken on which to select.

Resolved –

1. That the committee’s terms of reference be noted;
2. that the Planning Panel need not continue as a body in its own right. Members of the committee would carry out the Panel’s functions, meeting as and when necessary specifically for planning issues;
3. that Reshard Auladin be appointed as lead member for Best Value;
4. that approval be given to the proposals contained in the report for regular papers to be submitted to the committee;
5. that monthly figures be circulated separately to members; and
6. that a report/presentation on the Criminal Justice White Paper be put to the committee’s next meeting.

6. Management arrangements for best value

(Agenda item 6)

The committee considered a report by the Clerk proposing changes to the way in which the MPA’s responsibility for securing continuous improvement is delivered and supported.

Resolved – That

1. the Authority commissions two best value reviews per year;
2. the chairs of MPS strategic committees be asked to nominate appropriate areas to review in 2003/04 for consideration by members (MPS to collate nominations and seek Management Board views before passing nominations to the MPA);
3. the role of MPA officers be extended to include direct links with MPS managers undertaking and supporting best value reviews;
4. the MPA and MPS consider and agree project management arrangements for each best value review (and subsequent implementation) on a case-by-case basis;
5. the MPS roles and resources for programme management and support duties be clarified and agreed with the MPA as a matter of urgency; and
6. the report is forwarded (with the committee’s decisions) to District Audit and HMIC to inform ongoing audit and inspection activity.

7. Best value update

(Agenda item 7)

The Committee considered an update report by the Clerk on actions agreed at the final meeting of the Best Value Programme Board.

A supplementary paper was also tabled comparing the proposed scope for the best value review of managing people and the efficiency and effectiveness review of human resources. Reshard Auladin suggested that retention might be a good area for the best value review.

Resolved – 

1. That the minutes of the final Best Value Programme Board, held on 23 May 2002, be approved;
2. that the progress on actions agreed at that meeting be noted; and
3. that retention be recommended to the Human Resources Committee as the subject for the best value review

8. Policing and performance plan 2003/04

(Agenda item 8)

The committee considered a report by the Commissioner on the development of the 2003/04 plan.

Members referred to the tensions inherent in having a degree of flexibility between corporate requirements and individual borough priorities. For instance, a bottom up approach should give boroughs the opportunity to review whether targets are still in line with crime & disorder reduction strategies. There were concerns at borough level about local targets being changed by the centre, but members recognised that bespoke borough targets must always be the result of a process of negotiation.

It was suggested that it would be useful to keep an audit of decision-making to arrive at a better understanding, for instance, of the actual extent of the flexibility given to borough commanders.

Although the national policing priorities were not due to be announced until November it was felt that the current timetable should be adhered to with the proviso that it might need to be revisited when the national policing plan was announced. The aspiration also remained in future to align the planning process more closely with the budget process.

Resolved – 

That the progress on developing the plan be noted.

9. Update on MPA/MPS strategic framework

(Agenda item 9)

The committee considered a report by the Commissioner summarising work on the development of a strategic framework for the MPS.

Members commented that the current draft of the document was a great improvement on the initial document. They did, however, make a number of detailed amendments to the text and layout. It was agreed that these would be reported to the full Authority at its next meeting when it was being asked to approve the strategic framework.

Resolved – 

1. that the progress on developing ‘Towards the Safest City’ be noted; and
2. that the comments and amendments made by members at the meeting be reported to the next meeting of the full Authority and taken into account in the production of the final version of this strategic framework.

10. May performance report

(Agenda item 10)

The committee considered a report by the Commissioner summarising MPS performance against policing plan objectives for 2002/03.

The Chair commented on the importance of the committee receiving the latest data wherever possible. He recognised that the current scheduling of committee meetings made this problematic in that generally the meetings were scheduled for the day before the MPS’ performance review committee. It might, therefore, be necessary to review the committee dates. Lynne Featherstone had earlier commented on the fact that at least one of the committee’s meetings clashed with LFEPA, of which she was also a member.

The response time for 999 calls was raised as a matter of continuing concern. The MPS representatives commented on the problems of civil staff retention and the current budget structure as contributory factors. Some members expressed concern that when the Authority had agreed recommendations for £10m savings on the civil staff budget as part of the 2001/02 budget exercise, members had been assured that the savings would not have this effect. The Chair asked for a report to the next meeting of the committee on the current and ongoing performance issues related to the civil staff budget saving, for instance in terms of the backfilling of civil posts by police officers.

The Chair also expressed concern about the rape judicial disposal performance figures, particularly if this suggested that Project Sapphire was not having the intended impact. He asked for a report to the committee on this.

Resolved – 

1. That the report be noted;
2. that the dates of future committee meetings be reviewed to see if any changes are possible to tie in better with the MPS timetable for the production of performance data;
3. that a report on the performance issues related to the civil staff budget savings, particularly with regard to emergency response, be put to the next meeting of the committee; and
4. that a report on rape judicial disposal performance be made to the committee.

11. Trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation in the United Kingdom

(Agenda item 11)

The committee considered a report by the Commissioner outlining the work of the Clubs and Vice Unit and its role in London and on the national and international stages.

Members recognised the need for greater partnership working to tackle this growing problem and that the Authority could take a lead on this. The Authority could also help by pressing for changes to sentencing guidelines.

Resolved – 

1. That a further report/presentation be made to the next meeting of the committee in September, to be followed by a report to the full Authority. The report to the committee should include further details of the role and input of other agencies, such as health and social services; and
2. that the Authority should press for revised sentencing guidelines and increased tariffs

12. Sustainability of Safer Streets

(Agenda item 12)

The committee considered a report by the Commissioner on the sustainability of Operation Safer Streets.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

13. MPS performance against drugs

(Agenda item 13)

The committee considered a report by the Commissioner on MPS performance against drug targets.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

14. Burglary performance

(Agenda item 14)

The committee considered a report by the Commissioner on performance against burglary targets.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

The meeting ended at 12.23 p.m.

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