Contents
Report 9 of the 10 Nov 03 meeting of the Professional Standards & Complaints Committee and provides an update and current statistical information on service confidence procedure.
Warning: This is archived material and may be out of date. The Metropolitan Police Authority has been replaced by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPC).
See the MOPC website for further information.
Service confidence procedure
Report: 9
Date: 10 November 2003
By: Commissioner
Summary
The Service Confidence Procedure (SCP) was implemented in August 2000 and was reviewed in early 2003. This report provides an update and current statistical information.
A. Recommendation
That the report be noted.
B. Supporting information
1. Management Board approved the MPS SCP in June 2000.
2. The SCP was reviewed in early 2003 by T/DAC Hagon and DCI Simon Cousins and approved by Management Board. The procedures continues to be:
- Current
- Robust and supports the needs of the MPS; and
- It is formatted to take account of the MPS Policy Development Framework requirements.
3. The use of the SCP has been challenged by Judicial Review and the Court upheld the right of Chief Officers to ‘manage’ their staff (Exempt Appendix 1).
4. The following is an analysis of the use of the SCP since June 2000. As can be seen staff that have been made subject to the process have in a number of cases regained the’ confidence of the service’. Additionally a number of staff that have been submitted for inclusion within the SCP have not been included. This shows the integrity of the procedure.
| MPS-Service Confidence Procedure (SCP) (ongoing totals) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 00 to Nov 02 | Dec 02 |
Jan 03 |
Feb 03 |
Mar 03 |
Apr 03 |
May 03 |
Jun 03 |
|
| Number of occasions SCP Initiated | 34 | 34 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 37 |
| Initiations involving female staff | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Initiations involving VEM staff members | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| MPS staff CURRENTLY subject to SCP | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 15 |
| MPS staff currently being investigated for possible inclusion in the SCP | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| MPS staff who have been made subject of the SCP, who have been removed from the procedure | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| MPS staff who have resigned from the MPS whilst subject to the SCP | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Not made subject to SCP | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Resigned during Process | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| July 03 |
Aug 03 |
Sep 03 |
Oct 03 |
Nov 03 |
Dec 03 |
Jan 04 |
Feb 04 |
|
| Number of occasions SCP initiated | 42 | 42 | 44 | |||||
| Initiations involving female staff | 2 | 2 | 3 | |||||
| Initiations involving VEM staff members | 2 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| MPS staff CURRENTLY subject to SCP (staff with 30+ years service) | 19 (1) |
20 (1) | 22 (1) | |||||
| MPS staff currently being investigated for possible inclusion in the SCP | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| MPS staff who have been made subject of the SCP, who have been removed from the procedure (rehabilitated) | 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||
| MPS staff who have resigned from the MPS whilst subject to the SCP (staff with 30 yrs + service) | 7 (3) |
7 (3) | 7 (3) | |||||
| Not made subject to SCP | 8 | 8 | 8 | |||||
| Resigned during process | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Appeals made against Inclusion | 6 | |||||||
| Appeals upheld | 1 | |||||||
| Appeals pending | 1 | |||||||
5. The detailed use of the procedures has an impact on individuals and the details of specific cases will be ‘exempt’ and discussed in closed session (Exempt Appendix 2 and Appendix 3).
C. Equality and diversity implications
The SCP is monitored for equality and diversity issues. A breakdown of the impact the procedure has in respect of equality and diversity issues is shown on the grid shown above. There is no evidence that the procedure has any disproportionate effect on any section of MPS staff.
D. Financial implications
1. Staff who are subject to the SCP may have restrictions placed on them, which are aimed at protecting the individual, the MPS and the public. They are often not allowed to be in the evidential chain or undertake intelligence roles. This often means staff have to be employed in administrative posts which are roles not normally undertaken by police officers.
2. It is necessary to continue to spend time and effort finding suitable roles for staff who are made subject to the SCP.
3. At the current time 14 officers are in restricted roles. They are being paid total salaries of approx £500,000 per year.
4. A form of ‘administrative dismissal’ would negate the need to use the SCP in a number of cases.
E. Background papers
- ‘Service Confidence Operating Procedure’ presented to the Committee on 28th April 2003.
F. Contact details
Report author: DAC Stephen Roberts, Director of Professional Standards, MPS.
For more information contact:
MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18
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