Professional Standards and Complaints Committee Workplan 2004-5

Report: 8
Date: 07 October 04
By: Commissioner

Summary

A draft work plan is attached for consideration by members. It is recognised that this list is not exhaustive and issues will arise during 2004-5 that members will wish to discuss or bring forward for discussion.

A. Recommendations

That subject to members’ comments, the attached work plan for 2004-5 is endorsed.

B. Supporting information

1. The Professional Standards and Complaints Committee (PSCC) is responsible for holding the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) to account in respect of all professional standards issues and carrying out, on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA), the Authority’s statutory responsibilities in this regard. The terms of reference for the PSCC have been agreed by the Full Authority to be as follows:

• · To satisfy the Authority’s statutory duty to monitor MPS complaints procedures.
• · To consider high profile and sensitive cases in line with the MPA/MPS protocol. Where a claim for compensation has been made, the Committee will:

1. receive a quarterly information report on compensation cases settled by the Commissioner
2. consider, for recommendation to the Authority, those cases which require a decision by the Authority to settle a claim for compensation. (However, where a decision cannot wait for the next meeting of the Committee, a report proposing settlement will be put direct to the full Authority).

• To keep the strategies of the MPS Directorate of Professional Standards under review.
• To exercise the Authority’s responsibilities in respect of reports, allegations or complaints against ACPO rank police officers, in accordance with the appropriate regulations.
• To consider any matters relating to Police Appeal Tribunals and to arrange for the appointment of Authority Members to serve on Tribunals as and when required.
• To have due regard, in exercising the committee’s responsibilities, to equal opportunities generally, the general duty of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the requirements of any other equalities legislation.

2. Members of the PSCC are asked to note these terms of reference any amendments would have to be agreed by the full Authority. In addition, there is a sub committee to receive regular reports on complaints, allegations and reports concerning Association of Chief Police Officer (ACPO) rank police officers. The terms of reference for the sub-committee are:

• To investigate and deal with any allegations, report and complaints about the conduct of officers of ACPO rank in accordance with appropriate regulations.
• To consider all matters relating to discipline against ACPO rank officers, within police regulations.
• The sub-committee will comprise any three members of the Professional Standards and Complaints Committee appointed by the Clerk under delegated authority (i.e. the membership may differ from meeting to meeting). All three members must be present for the meeting to be quorate

3. In order to meet the terms of reference, the following regular papers to the committee are proposed below.

Complaints management information

4. This is a report to every meeting outlining performance against an agreed set of performance measures covering all areas of professional standards, e.g. for example numbers recorded, results of complaints, complaints diversity information, timeliness etc). The paper provides the opportunity for the Authority to monitor performance and focuses on the key changes or exceptions within the data, as trends are slow to change.

Professional Standards Strategy

1. There will be a report to every meeting on a different strand of the Professional Standards Strategy. There are five strands to the strategy, namely:

• Leadership and supervision
• Security of information and intelligence
• Recognition of the diversity of our communities and staff
• Identifying and reacting to organisational and individual learning
• Maintaining the threat of detection, prevention and management of risk

Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) Strategic Impact Assessment (SIA)

2. There will be a report to every meeting updating members on the six strands of the SIA, namely:

• The threat to individual and organisational integrity
• Information and Intelligence leakage
• Substance misuse
• Risks in recruit selection
• Lack of coherent, actionable professional standards information at Borough/OCU level
• Increasing risks posed by the developing security industry

Morris Inquiry

3. The Morris Inquiry, chaired by Sir Bill Morris, into the handling of internal investigations and grievances within the MPS is due to report later in the year. Depending on the timing of publication, the Committee may want to have a special meeting to consider the Report, and it is likely that a programme of work will need to be prepared to deal with the MPA and MPS responses to the report and the implementation of the recommendations.

Member statutory duty to monitor MPS complaints procedures

4. Arising out of the Morris Inquiry, work will be done to enhance the performance of the Authority’s statutory duty to have oversight of MPS complaints procedures.

5. A regime for ‘dip-sampling’ a variety of completed complaint cases will need to be put in place. It is proposed as a first step that Members should have a briefing from an HMIC specialist. Members may also want to visit the Internal Investigation Command (IIC) in Putney at an early opportunity, outside of the formal meeting procedure, to discuss the role of the IIC and review some completed cases.

6. In its evidence to the Morris Inquiry, the Authority representatives suggested that the Authority could spend more time taking the views of other stakeholder organisations about their perception of the effectiveness of the complaints process, e.g. the Independent Advisory Group (IAG), the lawyers groups representing complainants etc. Members may wish to consider inviting such organisations to one or more meetings of the Committee.

7. Also in evidence to Morris, it was identified that there could be benefit in the Committee periodically reviewing borough performance in relation to complaints, and also reviewing analyses of complaints by type, to gain an insight into how complaints reflect service deleivery issues. These matters will be covered in Reports to future meetings.

Role of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC)

8. The Committee may wish to invite the regional HMI to a meeting later in the year to take his advice on matters such as good practice in other forces, the link between a force’s record on complaints, e.g. numbers, timeliness, resolution etc, and general force management arrangements, and in benchmarking the performance of the MPS against its peers.

Summary of exceptional and significant cases

9. The committee will receive a report at each meeting on exceptional or significant cases, namely:

• Civil litigation cases
• Cases before Employment Tribunals
• Accident claims
• Riot damage claims
• Ex gratia payments to contractors
• Other cases that may develop and are yet to be specified

10. In addition to these regular reports, reports will be received as required on complaints, reports or allegations against ACPO officers and on matters relating to Police Appeal Tribunals; an annual report will be provided by the MPA secretariat on such cases.

Role of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)

11. The Committee may wish to invite the Chair or another representative of the IPCC to a meeting to discuss the role of the Commission and how the tripartite relationship with the MPS and MPA will work.

Professional Standards allocation, spend and forecast 2003/4 and 2004/5

12. This report will provide information about the budget spend for 2003-04 and allocation and forecast expenditure for 2004-05.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur’s report on race and diversity in the MPS

13. Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur’s report on race and diversity in the MPS was completed in March 2004. It is suggested there should be at least one report dealing with the professional standards aspects of the report itself, e.g. disproportionality in the numbers of black and minority staff in complaints and discipline cases, and the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) response, together with the action taken to implement the relevant recommendations.

Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) investigation into the police service of England and Wales

14. The CRE’s interim investigation is expected to be completed in February 2005, and the interim report was published June 2004. It is suggested there should be at least one report dealing with any professional standards aspects of any correspondence from the CRE or the final report itself and the DPS response, together with the action taken to implement any relevant recommendations.
Miscellaneous reports

15. Members will wish to discuss requirements for future work and papers to be received. For example, some suggestions for papers updating reports that went to PSCC last year are:

• Sanction guidelines to MPS disciplinary panel members
• PCA guidelines on investigating allegations of racial discriminatory behaviour
• The use of training for police officers and police staff around the main causes of public complaints
• The use of alternative dispute resolution procedures and independent conciliation in the police complaints process

C. Equality and diversity implications

There are no direct diversity implications. The authors in each report will properly reflect the diversity implications and the equalities impact of any proposals.

D. Financial implications

There are no direct financial implications.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author:  Alan Johnson, MPA

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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