Minutes

Minutes of the Planning, Performance & Review Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 13 October 2005 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Richard Sumray (Chair)
• Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair)
• Reshard Auladin
• Dee Doocey

MPA officers

• Annabel Adams (Deputy Treasurer)
• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive and Clerk) (items 11 to 15)
• David Riddle (Deputy Chief Executive and Deputy Clerk) (items 1 to 10)
• Jane Owen (Head of Planning and Performance)
• Siobhan Coldwell (Head of Scrutiny and Review)
• Ruth Hastings Iqball (Committee Officer)

MPS officers

• Suzanna Becks (DAC, Security and Protection) (item 8 - 11)
• Mark Benbow (Det Chief Superintendent, Criminal Justice)
• Alan Croney (Director of Property Services) (item 1-4 and 7)
• Simon Foy (Commander, NIM and Performance)
• Tarique Ghaffur (AC, Specialist Crime
• Lawrence Morris (Strategic Advisor, Performance Management)
• Brian Paddick (DAC, Territorial Policing)
• Peter Spindler (Det Chief Superintendent, SCD5 – Child Abuse Investigation)
• Jamie Stephen (Ch Superintendent, Anti Terrorist Branch) (item 1-4 and 7)

15. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Richard Barnes, Karim Murji and Rachel Whittaker (members).

16. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations of interest were received.

17. Minutes of the meeting held 14 July 2005

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2005 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

18. Chair and Members update (oral)

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair requested this item be removed from future agendas.

Resolved - That the item no longer appear on the agenda.

19. Lead member roles

(Agenda item 5)

(Note: this report was dealt with after item 7). This report asked committees to review and appoint their lead member positions, subject to confirmation by the full Authority. The Chair deferred its consideration until the members’ ‘away day’, the following day.

Resolved - That consideration of lead members roles be deferred until the members ‘away day’.

20. HMIC Going Local Inspections

(Agenda item 6)

Members received a report identifying the benefits realised during the inspection programme. It provided an outline of the new ‘Going Local 3’ process to be launched nationwide in 2006/2007, and stated how the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) intended to respond to the process. The work of Stephen Greenfield was praised. Members noted the way ahead and agreed inspections should become more strategic and less bureaucratic.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

21. Service improvement review of security guarding: final report and improvement plan

(Agenda item 7)

This item was dealt with after item 4, as the Director of Property Services had another meeting to attend. The report had been circulated to members with less than five clear working days’ notice, however Members agreed to receive it as an urgent item under the provisions of section 100B (4b) of the Local Government Act 1972 because it had been deferred from the July meeting of this Committee.

The Project Initiation Document for the Service Improvement Review (SIR) of Guarding had been given the approval of the committee in March 2005. The current report was the management summary of the Final Report. The Chair expressed disappointment that the full report, which though available to members, had not been circulated. Members were informed that this had been for commercial reasons. Members noted that unlike previous SIRs, this review did not detail costs and savings. It was explained that costs and savings were imprecise, and some costs were borne by outsourced providers, and that these contracts were due for renewal on 2007. The Chair felt that the Committee should approve the report not just note it as suggested by the recommendation contained in the report. However, members agreed that although the SIR needed doing and was well done this committee could only regard it as ‘work in progress’ until fuller costs and savings emerged in future reports. The report was approved in principle, on the understanding that it was not within the remit of this committee to approve any costs.

Resolved - That the report be approved in principle only, with reservations about the lack of information about costs and savings.

22. Custody capacity service improvement review – progress against the improvement plan

(Agenda item 8)

This report provided an update on the work of the Custody Directorate arising from the recommendations of the SIR concerning custody. Members were informed that it was planned to sell some of the police estate and build 30 or so custody complexes across the Metropolitan Police District at a neutral cost to both capital and revenue. Each complex would have 20 to 40 cells and the space to process prisoners more speedily.

Members were informed members that ACPO was considering enacting Operation Safeguard, the housing of HM Prison Service (HMPS) prisoners in police cells. There would be no financial cost to the MPS, but this would impact on cell capacity. HMPS capacity problems had already affected the MPS, and in the previous week the MPS had housed 47 prisoners. The Chair requested a report to Co-ordination and Policing Committee on this situation.

Members were please to note that detention times for Immigration Service detainees in police cells were falling.

Members were concerned by paragraph 32 of the report concerning the decision to arrest drunk and disorderly people under the Public Order Act, a notifiable crime. The Chair requested a briefing note, so that the Authority might better understand the issues involved.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted;
2. Co-ordination and Policing Committee receive a report on Operation Safeguard; and
3. members received a briefing note on disposal of the drunk and disorderly under the Public Order Act.

23. Corporate performance report: financial year; April 2005 to August 2005

(Agenda item 9)

A report was received providing an overview of MPS performance for the period April 2005 to August 2005, with comparisons to the corresponding period in 2004. The report structure was aligned with the performance headings set out in the Policing Performance and Assessment Framework (PPAF). Members were informed that the report showed an increasing number of ‘green traffic lights’ however there was an increase in violent crimes against the person, such as gun crime and robbery.

DAC, Territorial Policing, noted that there were fewer resources to combat street robbery. The solution to the unemployment and lack of youth provision that lay behind street and gun crime required a response by other agencies, in addition to policing. Increases in other crimes were caused by different criteria for reporting, for instance broken windows and doors on the ground floor were now recorded as attempted burglary, not criminal damage. Members noted that burglary had increased in Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) areas, leading them to conclude that though SNTs contributed to public reassurance, they could not affect all criminality. In answer to questions about the successes of Operation Strongbox in the past, members were informed that AC Godwin was considering reintroducing something similar in hotspot boroughs.

Members were informed that detections for rape and homophobic crime had to be agreed by the Crown Prosecution Service, who did not regard this as a priority. The Chair requested that a note be added to the performance data and undertook to raise the issue with the Haven Board.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

24. Specialist Operations management information

(Agenda item 10)

DAC, Security and Protection, introduced a report summarising Specialist Operation’s performance against its key objectives from 1 April 2005 to 31 August 2005. She noted that half the boroughs now had Counter Terrorist Intelligence Officers, with rollout due to be complete by the end of the year.

Members were concerned by use of stop and search under both section 44, Terrorism Act and sections 60, Criminal Justice and Public Order Act when the subsequent arrest rate was low. DAC, Security and Protection, stated that the aim was to disrupt terrorist activity, so its success could not be demonstrably measured although there was evidence that it effected behaviour and had offered reassurance in the wake of the terrorist activity in London. AC, TP added that the stops were carried out by territorial policing officers, who had been specifically briefed had that suspects could be of any ethnicity.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

25. Specialist Crime Directorate management information

(Agenda item 11)

(Note: this item was dealt with after item 9). Members received a summary of the Specialist Crime Directorate’s performance against key objectives from April to August 2005.

AC, Specialist Crime, noted that, if victims of the bus bomb were discounted, murder figures were down on last year. He report the Directorate’s successes in closing criminal networks, and combating drug crime and human trafficking.

Members were concerned about the 10% increase in gun crime, the increasing gun culture, the availability of guns and the reducing age of perpetrators and victims. AC, Specialist Crime, stated that he had tasked one of his commanders with looking at fresh ways of combating gun crime.

Members were concerned that Specialist Crime was losing 170 detectives as part of budget cuts, but understood that this was part of a bigger picture that would be dealt with by the Finance Committee and full Authority.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

26. National Crime Recording Standards update

(Agenda item 12)

(Note: this item was heard after item 15). The report had been circulated to members with less than five clear working days’ notice, however Members agreed to receive it as an urgent item under the provisions of section 100B (4b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Audit Commission had graded the MPS as below standard in October 2004 in its adherence to the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS). A plan had been implemented to improve performance. The report stated that progress has been made, and one of the tests had now been passed to an acceptable standard. A technical solution had been implemented to ensure that progress was made on another.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

27. Borough performance: 2005/06 financial year (April to August)

(Agenda item 13)

Members received a report providing an overview of key volume crime indicators in each borough from April 2005 to August 2005 compared with the same period in 2004. It included comment on some of the factors influencing performance, on the central support provided to under-performing boroughs, methods of sharing good practice and on the relative benefits of analysing performance data using iQuanta or other bases of comparison.

Members were informed that Newham, a borough whose performance had caused concern, was receiving assistance. A follow up report was requested on this in due course. In answer to questions members were informed that good practice was shared via a dedicated website.

The Chief Executive reported that the Home Office Police Support Unit was, controversially, considering giving extra support to CDRPs of failing partnerships.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

28. Child Abuse Investigation Command (The Children Act 2004)

(Agenda item 14)

This report provided members with an update on the implementation of the Children Act 2004, and the impact upon the MPS. The borough ‘Safeguarding Children Boards’ were likely to ask the MPS for a financial contribution. The Committee felt it was important that the Authority understood the obligations and impact of the Act and asked for a further report in the future. It was felt that assistance in kind should be offered rather than money.

Resolved - That the report be noted and a further report be received in due course.

29. Criminal justice update

(Agenda item 15)

Members received a report on the work being carried out by the Directorate of Criminal Justice. The efforts being made to shorten the number of days between arrest and sentencing of persistent young offenders were noted.

Resolved - That the report be noted.

The meeting ended at 4.30 p.m.

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