Minutes

Minutes of the Professional Standards & Complaints Committee of the Metropolitan Police Authority held on 11 March 2004 at 10 Dean Farrar Street, London, SW1H 0NY.

Present

Members:

• Reshard Auladin (Chair), Elizabeth Howlett (Deputy Chair) (items 1-7), Richard Sumray, Rachel Whittaker (from item 7) and Cecile Wright

MPA Officers:

• Alan Johnson (Head of Human Resources and Professional Standards)
• Nick Baker (Committee Services)

MPS Officers:

• DAC Steve Roberts (Director of Professional Standards)

Part 1

46. Apologies

(Agenda item 1)

Apologies for absence were received from Jennette Arnold, Nicholas Long and David Riddle (Deputy Clerk).

47. Declarations of interests from members of the committee

(Agenda item 2)

Members gave no declarations of interests.

48. Minutes

(Agenda item 3)

The Committee received the minutes of the Professional Standards and Complaints Committee meeting held on 12 January 2004 and noted the minutes (Part 1) of the ACPO Conduct Sub-Committee meetings held on 11 December 2003 and 12 January 2004.

Members noted at the meeting of the ACPO Conduct Sub-Committee held on 12 January 2004, that Reshard Auladin had been appointed Chair of the Sub Committee until the annual meeting of the Authority in July 2004.

Arising from minute 34, the Chair requested that the review of the oversight function by members be concluded as soon as possible. He requested that the review also include the possibility of reverting to the previous method of oversight.

Resolved – That the minutes of the Professional Standards and Complaints Committee meeting held on 12 January 2004 be agreed and signed as a correct record, and the minutes (Part 1) of the ACPO Conduct Sub-Committee meetings held on 11 December 2003 and 12 January 2004 be noted.

49. Chair’s and members’ update

(Agenda item 4)

The Chair reported back on his and other members’ attendance to give evidence at the Morris Inquiry.

50. Complaints Management Information (MI)

(Agenda item 5)

At the last meeting of the Committee, it was resolved to defer this report to the March meeting of the Committee.

Members considered the report that gave data for the 12 months to January 2004 and which focused on the key changes or exceptions within data.

Members noted that complaint allegations have declined by approximately 10% from February 2003 to January 2004. The number of public complaint cases under investigation has dropped by 16% from 572 cases in February 2003 to 479 cases in January 2004.

In relation to public complaint investigations over 120 days old members were informed that there had been a reduction from 182, 32% of the total ‘live, to 144, 30% of the total ‘live’.

Confirmation was given that in relation to unit performance against expectations, advice and best practice as well as liaison with borough commanders across London was undertaken.

The Chair requested a report for the next meeting on the quality assurance work being carried out on this data by the Directorate of Professional Standards.

Resolved – That

1. members note the report and the illustration of trends given at Appendix 1 to the report; and
2. a quality assurance report on unit performance against expectation, advice and best practice on public complaint data be presented to the next meting of the Committee.

51. Exclusion of press and public

(Agenda item 6)

A resolution was put to exclude the press and public from the meeting during items 7 to 10 they were likely to disclose exempt information as described in Schedule 12(a) (1) and (14) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Resolved – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during discussion of agenda items 7 to 10.

Part 2

Summary of exempt items

52. Directorate of Professional Standards and Anti-corruption

(Agenda item 7)

The Committee considered a report that informed members of the role of the Directorate of Professional Standards in dealing with anti-corruption.

53. Misconduct hearings

(Agenda item 8)

Members received a report that outlined the misconduct hearing process.

54. Quarterly summary of exceptional and significant case results

(Agenda item 9)

A report was received that outlined a summary of exceptional and significant case results.

55. ACPO Conduct Sub-committee

(Agenda item 10)

The Committee noted the minutes (Part 2) of the Sub-Committee meetings held on 11 December 2003 and 12 January 2004.

The Committee closed at 12.30 p.m.

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