Minutes

Minutes of the Planning, Performance & Review Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 22 April 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members:

• Richard Sumray (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin (Deputy Chair)
• Elizabeth Howlett
• Sir John Quinton.

MPA Officers:

• David Riddle (Deputy Clerk)
• Elizabeth Turner (Treasury)
• Jane Owen (Head of Planning and Performance)
• Sally Palmer (Scrutiny and Review)
• Yvonne Peart (Committee Officer)

MPS Officers:

• DAC Richard Bryan (Planning and Performance)
• DAC Brian Paddick (Territorial Policing Support)
• Cmdr Alfred Hitchcock (Specialist Crime)
• T/Cmdr Simon Bray (Specialist Crime)
• Lawrence Morris (Corporate Performance Analysis Unit)
• Mark Benbow (Head of Criminal Justice)
• John Zlotnicki (Head of Corporate Planning)
• Ch Insp Steve Wisbey (TPHQ)
• Ian Angus (SCD5)
• Supt David Chinchen (DOI)
• Chas Bailey (Consultation Unit) .

Part 1

79. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Lynne Featherstone and Tony Arbour.

80. Declarations of interest

(Agenda item 2)

No interests were declared.

81. Minutes Of The Planning, Performance And Review – 12 February 2004

(Agenda item 3)

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2004.

The Chair reported that work around detection rates continues and that he had agreed to defer a further report on this subject to 12 July 2004 in order that clarity could be sought on the issues before being presented to the Committee.

Resolved – That the minutes of the Planning, Performance and Review Committee held on 12 February 2004 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

82. Records Management Best Value Review Implementation Update

(Agenda item 4)

The Committee received a report that provided an update on the progress of the Records Management Best Value Review (RMBVR) Implementation Plan. The report included a review of work to progress electronic document and records management (EDRM) and proposed a revised approach and timetable in the light of the findings from a feasibility study.

The MPS reported that they have proposed changes to the RMBVR recommendation to move towards the electronic management of records. A File Plan would need to be progressed before consideration could be given to a business case for EDRM. A File Plan is a standard classification of records throughout the organisation where all records would be named identically to that of other forces.

Members asked the MPS to ensure that when progressing the MPS File Plan through the Information Management Business Change Programme that they do not lose focus of the implementation of the RMBVR recommendation.

Resolved – That

1. the costs and realised benefits arising from the implementation of the recommendations be noted;
2. the changes to the Implementation Plan detailed in this report in respect of the business case for technology to support the management of electronic records be approved;
3. reports on the remaining activity to be delivered from the RMBVR Improvement Plan are received at six monthly intervals; and
4. a further report be presented to a future Committee which quantifies the cashable savings.

83. February 2004 Performance Report

(Agenda item 5)

The Committee considered a report that outlined the MPS performance against policing plan objectives for 2003-4. Members noted that the MPS were achieving above the targets set for burglary. They also noted that the target set for PCSO sickness and dealing with persistent young offenders were not being met and expressed deep concern with the percentages for public satisfaction and racist crime.

The Chair asked that consideration be given to the release of annual crime statistics when scheduling future meetings of this Committee in order that the figures could be incorporated into the PPRC Annual report. He also stated that there were discrepancies in the criminal justice figures and requested that further work is carried out and links with other departments be established to address the data conflicts and ensure that the figures are current, accurate and consistent.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

84. Response Times

(Agenda item 6)

Members considered a report that provided information on the MPS emergency response times and examined the reasons for varying performance and the action being taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the MPS in responding to calls from the public.

The MPS reported that there have been improvements in response time figures and that this varied between boroughs. Issues that impact on performance are terrorism, collisions, staff shortages, probationers, availability of driving lessons, ability to train drivers, staff turnover and MPS growth. It was also highlighted that the skills and experience of communications staff also impacted on performance, as it would take 12 to 18 months before these staff would be fully competent in their role and their ability to grade calls would impact on the ability to respond.

Members expressed concern that terrorism and collisions were used as an explanation for poor performance and stated that the MPS need to meet the demands of terrorism and at the same time deliver a service. They were also discontent that the report indicated that at a high level of collisions are required in order to achieve a high level of response when officers should to be trained to respond quickly without collisions.

The Chair commented that a more consistent approach in how calls are graded is required across boroughs and remarked that this was also a recommendation of the best value review of managing demand that there be more clarity around this issue. He suggested that more preplanning is required on how deployment is carried out in order to tackle the periods when there is an increase in demand for response. He also said that it is inevitable that there would be teething problems with the implementation C3i, but asked the MPS to be cautious during implementation to avoid putting the system into disrepute and to ensure that response times did not suffer.

The Chair thanked the MPS for the report and said that he found the additional information very helpful particularly around the size of boroughs.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted; and

2. a further report be presented to the Committee shortly after the implementation of C3i.

85. Organised Immigration Crime – Operation Paladin

(Agenda item 7)

This item was withdrawn.

86. Child Protection Group Update – (Green Paper)

(Agenda item 8)

The Committee considered a report that provided an update on implications of The Children’s Bill 2004, and the current budget considerations with regard to supporting Local Child Protection Committees (LCPC) and Operation Paladin.

The Chair commented that in his view the Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) should be an overview body for developing specific partnerships around young people and that appropriate MPS representation on this Board is paramount. He also stated that it was also important to establish effective communications with SCD5, boroughs and borough commanders.

Commenting on information sharing the Chair said that to ensure that the definitions are resolved and that LCPCs are efficiently operated the MPA and MPS need to be continually engaged and also build on their involvement.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

87. Specialist Crime Directorate Management Information

(Agenda item 9)

Members received a report that summarised Specialist Crime Directorate’s performance against their key objectives from April 2003 to February 2004.

Members noted that there had been improvements in the reduction of commercial robbery. There was a slight increase in Trident related shootings and the performance figures for forensics are good.

Referring to the detection rates for homicides members noted that the year to date figures of 98% also include old cases, although they understood that this was due to continuing investigations they requested information on the clear up rates for murders that occurred this year. It was noted that the detection of homicides is good news and the MPS were urged by members to use the information contained in the report to show improvements in performance.

Commenting on the performance figures for forensics, the Chair noted that the data related only to one area of forensics and asked that the objectives be brought together to enable monitoring of the overall performance.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted; and
2. a further report be presented to a future Committee highlighting this year’s performance for homicide clear ups.

88. Criminal Justice

(Agenda item 10)

The MPS received a report that provided an update on the work being carried out by the department of Criminal Justice with the ultimate aim of bringing more offences to justice.

The MPS reported that Case Progression Units (CPU) are now in five boroughs and would shortly be rolled out to a further six boroughs with the expectation that CPUs would be in all thirty-two London boroughs by end July 2004.

Members reiterated their concerns that the improvements made to the criminal justice system are not feeding through to the courts and highlighted a number of areas where the benefits are not being realised. The members that sit in court extended an invitation to the MPS to attend to bear witness to the issues that continuously arise.

Resolved – That the report be noted

89. MPA and MPS Consultation Strategy 2005/06, Policing Plan Priorities

(Agenda item 11)

The Committee received a report that summarised the complementary methods by which the MPA and MPS would seek the viewpoints of Londoners in informing the 2005/06 Policing Plan. The MPA Consultation Committee referred the report to PPRC for review and comment.

The Deputy Clerk reported that consultation between MPA and MPS were facilitated earlier than in previous year’s to enable the consultations to influence the planning process. This would ensure that the outcomes are delivered on time and it also avoided the summer holiday period in order to achieve a good response.

The MPS reported that MPA had supplied an extra element to the planning process, which was more comprehensive in comparison to previous years.

Members reiterated the importance of getting the timescales right to ensure that people that have made themselves available to engage with the process can be assured that it could influence the priorities.

The Chair commented that the MPA Citizens Panel would supply a large number of participants and in the long-term this would be beneficial to the process as they are recruited for a three-year period and then a further rolling three-year period enabling them to give consideration to the changes. Referring to the Public Attitude Survey, the Chair said that further work is required on the PPAF measures to enable comparisons with other forces and find the best fit for the MPS.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

90. Planning Performance And Review Committee (PPRC) Annual Report 2003/04

(Agenda item 12)

The Committee considered a draft annual report for PPRC for July 2003 to March 2004. It described the main projects, topics considered and achievements of the committee for the year. This report will be a key input in the Authority’s overall Annual Report. Additional statically results will be released on 23 April 2004 and will be included in the report.

Members stressed the importance of considering the availability of information when scheduling dates for this committee. The achievements identified in the report were noted and members asked that additional information be included that would reflect the breadth of issues dealt with by the Committee. The MPA initial involvement with the planning process has had significant influence on child protection, finance, intelligence, serious crime and territorial policing and continues to make advancements on planning and performance.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted; and
2. the suggested amendments be made to the draft report.

The meeting ended at 11.50 a.m.

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