Minutes

Minutes of the Planning, Performance & Review Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 8 December 2005 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members

• Richard Sumray (Chair)
• Reshard Auladin
• Richard Barnes (item 5 –15)
• Dee Doocey
• Karim Murji
• Rachel Whittaker (item 1 –13)

MPA officers

• Siobhan Coldwell (Head of Scrutiny and Review)
• Catherine Crawford (Chief Executive and Clerk)
• David Riddle (Deputy Chief Executive and Deputy Clerk)
• Jane Owen (Head of Planning and Performance)
• Liz Turner (Treasury)
• Ruth Hastings Iqball (Committee Officer)

MPS officers

• Richard Bryan (DAC, Director of Tasking)
• Phil Flower (Det Ch Supt, Directorate of Professional Standards)
• Tarique Ghaffur (AC, Specialist Crime)
• Alan Given (DAC, Performance)
• Alf Hitchcock (Commander, TPHQ)
• Paul Hoare (Det Superintendent, Drugs Directorate)
• Paul Minton (Commander, Strategic Development)
• Lawrence Morris (Strategic Advisor, Performance Management)
• Brian Paddick (DAC, Territorial Policing)
• Supt Pat Shiel (TP HQ Operations)
• Peter Spindler (Det Chief Superintendent, Child Abuse Investigation)

30. Apologies for absence

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Cindy Butts (Deputy Chair).

31. Declarations of interests

(Agenda item 2)

No declarations of interest were received.

32. Minutes of the joint meeting of Finance and Planning Performance and Review Committees - 10 October 2005

(Agenda item 3)

Resolved - That the minutes of the joint meeting, with the Finance committee, held on 10 October 2005 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

33. Minutes of the meeting held – 13 October 2005

(Agenda item 4)

Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2005 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

34. Best Value Review of Managing Demand 

(Agenda item 5)

Members received a report that provided an update on the Demand Management Best Value Review (DMBVR) implementation plan. It detailed the progress made and sought the Committee’s approval to amend selected recommendations. The Chair stated that it was one of the best reports he had seen in relation to a review and felt it demonstrated the MPS’s determination to improve this area of work.

Members asked how improvement in the resolution of non-emergency calls would be measured and were concerned by the reception of visitors to police stations. The DAC for Territorial Policing (TP) said the MPS was looking at having more local police offices, perhaps staffed by volunteers. He admitted that it was not always possible to staff front offices with station reception officers and it was unpopular duty for police officers. He informed members that DAC Rose Fitzpatrick was now lead for Diversity and Citizen Focus. He would discuss with her how customer experience could be evaluated and bring this back to the Committee.

Resolved - That

1. the proposed amendment to wording of the original DMBVR recommendation 16 proposed at the May PPRC be approved;
2. the completion of recommendations 2, 3, 7, and 17 be agreed; and
3. the ongoing work as detailed in the recommendation updates contained within the report and in the debate be approved.

35. Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships 

(Agenda item 6)

Members received a report that provided an update on progress made in the implementation of the recommendations made by the MPA Scrutiny Panel relating to the MPS. In addition, it identified recent or impending changes to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs). Members were informed that the MPS’s Modernisation Programme was taking some of the recommendations forward. It was agreed that this should be the last such report, and the work now be carried by relevant committees.

Resolved - That members note the implementation of Authority’s recommendations as contained in the Scrutiny Report.

36. Security clearance processes improvement review -implementation report

(Agenda item 7)

A report was received providing the first update on the Security Clearance Processes Implementation Plan (SCPIP) and the progress being made in delivering its recommendations. It also informed members of the wider vision for vetting resulting from the MPS Service Review. As some of the detail of the vetting procedure was confidential, members were invited to provide any questions they might have answered in a confidential briefing.

Resolved - That

1. progress in implementing the original SCPIP be noted and endorsed;
2. the four recommendations be agreed as completed; and
3. the proposed amendment to the scope and reach of the SIR detailed in paragraph B8 of the report be approved.

37. MPS rape performance 

(Agenda item 8)

The scrutiny report listed 38 recommendations in relation to rape investigation by the MPS. Members received a report detailing progress on each of these in its appendix; of the 38, 33 were now considered complete.

Members were informed that the report contained the executive summary to the MPS’s rape review report that had yet to be published. It had yet to be cleared by the MPS’s Management Board and the Commissioner has asked that additional data be included. The Chair commented that that he had requested that the report should be submitted to this Committee and agreed to delay it so that the full report should be available and discussed. The report to this Committee did not deal with some areas that were requested, including detective skills, secondary reporting and links with domestic violence. More information was needed in order to understand why convictions remained low and to deal with the sensitive issue of vulnerable people.

Resolved – That

1. the report be received; and
2. a further report be received at the next meeting.

38. Corporate performance report: financial year April 2005 to October 2005 

(Agenda item 9)

This report provided an overview of MPS performance for the period April 2005 to October 2005. Its structure was aligned with the performance headings set out in the Policing Performance and Assessment Framework (PPAF).

In relation to the increase in gun crime, members were informed the Cdr Cressida Dick was looking at hotspot boroughs. Operation Trident was increasingly finding young people engaged in gun crime. Very often there was no intelligence on them as they had not been involved in crime before.

Members asked if there was a difference between the gun crime dealt with by Operations Trident (victim and perpetrator black) and Operation Trafalgar (all other gun crime) and about the supply of guns. It was agreed that members would be supplied with borough-by-borough detail of gun crime. Operation Trident shootings were often caused by squabbles over turf, drugs and ‘respect’. Members were informed that in the majority of shootings the victim and perpetrator were from the same ethnic background. Guns used were often converted replica guns, which came overland or were bought via the Internet. Semi automatic guns were also coming from eastern Europe.

In answer to questions about increase in violent crime, members were informed some of the increase in was due to early intervention by the police. Previously a fight would go unreported; if the police became involved one, two or more crime reports would result.

It was noted that Safer Neighbourhood policing did not impact on robbery. Members felt that the public need to know it was not the panacea for all types of crime.

Resolved – That

1. the report be noted; and
2. members be supplied with borough-by-borough detail of gun crime.

39. Central Operations management information 

(Agenda item 10)

Members received a report summarizing Central Operations (CO) performance against key objectives from 1 April 2005 to 30 September 2005. The Chair felt the report was a good start to receiving management information about CO, although there were some queries over some of the figures in the report.

Questions were asked about funded tasking and a further report on this was offered to a future meeting of the Committee. The proposed reduction in the strength of the dogs, mounted and marine support branches were noted members, although it was acknowledged this was the not the place to discuss decisions taken elsewhere.

Questions were asked about the number of discarded detected camera offences. Members were informed that half were discarded because they were under the MPS’s threshold for prosecution, but a further 9% were discarded because the statutory lime limit for prosecution had been exceeded. This was in part due to the loss of 50 staff at the processing centre at Marlow House, although this problem was now being dealt with.

Resolved - That

1. the report be received, and
2. the proposed reduction in the strength of the dogs, mounted and marine support branches noted.

40. Policing in schools 

(Agenda item 11)

The Safer Schools Partnership (SSP) was set up in response to the Prime Minister’s Street Crime Action Group initiative to combat youth crime and had been in operation since April 2002. Members received a report highlighting current developments within the SSP and how police community support officers (PCSOs) and police officers within Safer Neighbourhood teams were linking with the 167 SSP currently officers working in 280 schools across London. Members discussed the reception of SSP officers by schools and were told most schools were pleased to welcome them, although parents could misinterpret their presence in schools.

Resolved - That members support the work being carried out by the school officers.

41. Child Abuse Investigation Command – child protection update 

(Agenda item 12)

The Committee received a report updating it on the steps being taken to identify and reduce faith-related child abuse. It also commented on the implications of Service Modernisation on Child Abuse Investigation Command (SCD5), provided an update on activities to combat child trafficking, reported on Operation Safetynet and related activities tackling paedophilia and provided an update on the specific implications for SCD5 of implementing the Children Act.

Questions were asked about child trafficking and members were informed that the term child migration was preferred. Children were not referred to as ‘trafficked’ unless they were exploited. Criminal activity and exploitation, was more likely to be exploitation of the UK for free education, welfare benefits or free healthcare. Several cultures engaged in private fostering, which although was not illegal, was unregulated. Victoria Climbié was such a child.

Members requested a briefing note providing an update on the 26 recommendations from Operation Paladin and asked about the funding of the command. They were informed that there was no provision in the MPS budget and additional funding was being sought from the Home Office and immigration service. .

Resolved – That

1. the report be received; and .
2. a briefing note be provided giving an update on the 26 recommendations from Operation Paladin.

42. Drugs and crime 

(Agenda item 13)

This report provided an update on various areas of drug related ability in the MPS. It 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 Chair stated that he felt MPS lack of coordination on this issue had led to the missing of some key crime reduction initiatives. The subject need joined up thinking and a strategic approach with proper targets. He had been surprised to learn that only four boroughs had drug squads. Members felt MPS performance might be improved if it received the profits from convictions. It was also felt that it was not the police alone who should deal with drug crime. One problem that needed to be overcome was that drugs were not part of key targets that the MPS had to meet.

Resolved – That

1. the report be received; and
2. follow up work be done across the MPS on a more ‘joined up’ action against drug crime, to be reported to this Committee in due course.

43. Update on the planning process 2006/2007 

(Agenda item 14)

Members received a report outlining the progress on the development of the high level objectives that would underpin the operational corporate priorities for inclusion in the Annual Policing Plan 2006/2007. The Annual Policing Plan would form part of the one-year delivery mechanism for the three year Corporate Strategy agreed by the MPS’s Management Board and MPA in September 2005. The report also identified the high-level objectives that would deliver the Policing and Performance Assessment Framework (PPAF) and Public Service Agreement measures and identified the areas where improved performance was required. The report also provided an update on the published final version of the National Community Safety Plan (NCSP), which includes the National Policing Plan as part of the NCSP.

Members agreed that the wording 'Safer Neighbourhoods' in the policing plan should be reviewed to avoid confusion

Resolved - That

1. members would provide feedback on the proposed high-level objectives; and
2. the development activity required to undertake the target setting process be noted

44. Criminal justice update 

(Agenda item 15)

This report 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.

Resolved - That the report be received.

The meeting ended at 5.00 p.m.

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