Complaints management information

Report: 7
Date: 15 November 2007
By: AC Operational Services on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

This report includes data for the 12 months to September 2007. It focuses on the key changes or exceptions within the data, as trends are slow to change. The majority of figures used are based on 12-month rolling averages, which ensure that the trends are less affected by natural variation.

Workload

There has been an increase of 4% in the number of public complaint allegations being recorded over the past 12 months from a monthly rolling average of 661 to 685. [NB. These rolling averages illustrate longer-term trends and contain data for 24 months, which include 871 residual allegations arising from extraordinary events such as the Pro-Hunt demonstration, and more recently, the Danish Cartoon protest and the Parliament Square protest].

The number of conduct matter allegations recorded over the same period shows only minor variation and the monthly average is now 95 per month.

Timeliness

The percentage of conduct matters over 120 days reduced to 27% in September 2007, this comes after an upward trend over previous months, the highest being 48% recorded in May 2007.

The average number of days to complete a public complaint investigation remains below the threshold of 90-days. It has remained at a similar level since December 2005 and was at 78 days in September 2007.

The average number of days to complete an investigation into a conduct matter continues to improve and it also remains below the threshold of 90-days. It reduced by 10%, from a peak of 82 days in October 2006 to 74 days in September 2007.

The average number of days between the decision and the holding of a misconduct hearing or final disposal is additionally below the threshold of 100-days and, at 85 days in September 2007.

A. Recommendations

That members note the report and the illustration of trends in the report and the Borough performance information contained in Appendices 1 and 2.

B. Supporting information

1. Appendix 1 contains data relating to Borough or Operational Command Unit performance.

2. Appendix 2 contains diversity information in respect of the Borough or Operational Command Units.

3. Appendix 3 contains details of the outcome of the thematic analysis of “failure in duty” complaints, identifying common themes and learning points.

Allegations Recorded

Chart 1 - (see supporting material) Allegations recorded public complaints and conduct matters - 12 month rolling average,  illustrates both the ‘actual’ number of allegations recorded each month together with the 12-month rolling averages. The rolling average smoothes out natural variation and is more indicative of the trends involved. Due to the process of recording allegations it is possible that the latest ‘actual’ monthly figure may be between 10% and 15% too low.

2. There has been an increase of 4% in the number of public complaint allegations being recorded over the past 12 months from a monthly average of 661 to 685.

3. These rolling averages contain data for 24 months in total and cover the two periods October 2005 to September 2006 and October 2006 to September 2007.

Table illustrates the effect that the 871 residual allegations, arising from extraordinary events, have on the long-term trends such as the Pro-Hunt march, the Danish Cartoon protest and Parliament Square demonstration.

* The remaining Pro-Hunt allegations (421) were recorded prior to October 2005

4. It should be noted that, although these allegations appear in the averages for the period up to the end of September 2007 they are not included in the ‘actual’ data after November 2006.

5. Over the 12 months to September 2007, the average number of conduct matter allegations recorded each month has stabilised at 95. This is a slight increase of 7% from the previous rolling 12-month average (89 allegations).

6. Failure in Duty allegations have risen steadily. At the end of 2005/06 such allegations had risen by over 1000 and represented 38% of all allegations recorded in comparison to 27% in both 2003/04 and 2004/05. At the end of 2006/07 such allegations represented 38% of the total. Thematic analysis into Failures in Duty complaints has now been completed. Details of the analysis, identifying common themes and learning points are provided in Appendix 3 of this report.

7. Incivility allegations have also risen in numerical terms since the inception of the IPCC in April 2004, but reduced as a proportion of all allegations from 22% of the total in 2003/04 to 18% at the end of 2006/07. For the current financial year to date, incivility allegations account for 19% of all allegations.

8. Oppressive Behaviour allegations that had previously risen significantly due to the ‘Pro-Hunt’ demonstrations now appear to be on the decline as a proportion of the overall total. In 2004/05 they represented 38%, which reduced to 30% in 2005/06. This has carried through to the end of 2006/07 when they were 29% of the total. They are at a similar level of 30% for the current financial year to date.

9. Chart 2 - (see supporting material)  illustrates the ‘actual’ number of public complaints recorded over the period September 2006 to October 2007 converted to a per 100 officers figure. It is also broken down by allegation sub-type, and split into quarterly periods.

10. The table below illustrates the numbers of allegations, per 100 officers, by type and whether a period is above the MPS period average in which case the figures will be in both blue and bold text. The MPS total number of allegations, per 100 officers, over the 12-month period is also shown for comparison.

Table of allegations per 100 officers, by type

11. Although there are allegation types that appear above the period averages they are not significantly so and do not indicate any immediate causes for concern.

Timeliness - Public Complaints

Chart 3 - (see supporting material) Average days taken to complete full investigation & all other results (12 Month Rolling Average)

Meeting Target - Investigating complaints within the 90-day threshold (77 days)

12. The average number of days to complete a public complaint was 77 days in September 2007. Overall, the number of days has remained at a similar level since December 2005 and below the threshold of 90 days.

Meeting Target - A month on month reduction in the average number of days to complete an investigation (1% decrease on the previous month)

13. There was a reduction of 1% in the average number of days taken to complete an investigation in September 2007 (78 to 77 days). This is the first reduction since May 2007, again this was by 1% (79 to 78 days).

14. This target is an aspiration but it must be balanced in that excessive speed will reduce quality and thus frustrate any gain by encouraging dissatisfaction of the complainant and subsequent appeal to the IPCC

15. Presently, the potential to improve significantly further in this area is unlikely, as the current level has been achieved through changes to business processes and practices. However, the work being undertaken by DPS in respect of the changes to legislation brought about by the Taylor Review will afford another opportunity to review these practices. Current information suggests that the legislation will not now receive Royal Assent until Spring 2008.

Chart 4 - (see supporting material) Average days taken to submit dispensation/discontinuance requests to the IPCC (12 month rolling average)

Missing target - Missing target - Submitting requests for Dispensations / Discontinuances to the IPCC within a 60 day target (70 days)

16. Since August 2006, the average number of days taken to submit a dispensation or discontinuance request to the IPCC has remained fairly static ranging between 69 and 71 days.

Chart 5 - (see supporting material) Average days taken to achieve a local resolution ( 12 month rolling average)

Meeting target - Average days taken to achieve a Local Resolution within a 60 day Target (50 days)

17. Since August 2006, the average number of days taken to achieve a local resolution remains fairly static varying between a maximum of 51 days and a minimum of 49 days. This is currently within the 60-day target.

18. Analysis of local resolutions reveals that, in the 12-months to September 2007, Boroughs themselves have achieved 58% of the local resolutions, the remaining 42% were by DPS staff. The proportion of local resolutions undertaken by DPS has decreased, when compared to the previous 12 months, where it was previously 56%.

Chart 6 - (see supporting material) Percentage of cases over 120-days* old – Public Complaints / Conduct Matters (actual data month end)

Missing target - A reduction in the percentage of public complaint cases over 120-days* old (0% decrease on the previous month)

19. DPS continue to make efforts to reduce the percentage of public complaint cases over 120-days* old. It has remained fairly static over the last 12 months varying between a sustained low of 21% between October 2006 and January 2007 to a current high of 24% in September 2007 (186 of 774 cases).

20. By drilling down into the figures it is apparent that the majority of the cases that now are over 120-days old are those that are the responsibility of either the Human Resources i.e. Police Staff investigations (88% or 120 cases), External/Outside force investigations (100% or 2 cases) or IPCC investigations (100% or 4 cases).

21. Human Resources are in the process of resulting and finalising police staff cases over 120 days. Over September, the number of live cases has reduced by 15 cases (133 to 120). The number of all live cases HR is responsible for has also reduced, by 40 cases (213 to 173). This is as a result of improving the chase up and monitoring process.

22. To illustrate the impact such cases have on this target, the performance of DPS Investigations Command has been illustrated separately on the chart. This shows that 10% of the cases (39 cases) within their responsibility are over 120-days old.

* This indicator will be changed to 90-days in later reports but to do so requires a programming change to the source system. Work on this is currently ongoing as part of the TRIBUNE Phase 3 upgrade.

Conduct Matters

Chart 7 - ( see supporting material) Average days taken to complete an investigation (12 Month Rolling Average)

Meeting target - The average number of days to complete an investigation (74 against a 90 threshold)

23. The average number of days to complete a conduct matter investigation, illustrated above, remains below the threshold of 90-days. It reduced by 10%, from a peak of 82 days in October 2006 to 74 in September 2006.

Meeting target - A reduction in the percentage of conduct matter cases over 120-days* old (8% decrease on the previous month)

24. Conduct Matters over 120-days* has reduced to 27% in September 2007, this is back to a similar level recorded in October 2006 (28%). The reported reduction comes after a high of 48% recorded in May 2007.

25. Research revealed that the increase between February 2007 and July 2007 was due to a number of Police Staff investigations (suspensions) being recorded on the complaints system, the majority of which are over 120-days old. The reduction shown in September can also be accounted to Police Staff investigations, as reported previously, Human Resources are resulting and finalising cases over 120 days. Over September, the number of cases has reduced by 12 (24 to 12).

26. Cases that are the responsibility of DPS Investigations Command have been illustrated on the chart, which shows that 21% of cases (19 cases) that they are responsible for are over 120-days old.

* This indicator will be changed to 90-days in later reports but to do so requires a programming change to the source system. Work on this is currently ongoing as part of the TRIBUNE Phase 3 upgrade.

Misconduct

Chart 8 - (see supporting material) Misconduct Average number of days from decision to hearing or final disposal (12 Month Rolling Average)

Meeting target - Average days to reach Misconduct decisions (85 against 100 threshold)

27. The average number of days between the decision to hold a misconduct hearing or reach a final disposal remains below the revised threshold of 100-days.

External Partners – CPS Decision making

Chart 9 - (see - supporting material) Average number of days from report to receipt of decision from CPS (12 Month Rolling Average)

28. The chart above, illustrates the timeliness of the CPS decision-making in respect of the Specialist Investigation work, such as Deaths Following Police Contact and Discharge of Police Firearms and the more routine complaint and conduct investigations of the Borough Support Units.

External Partners – IPCC Decision making

Chart 10 - (see supporting material) Average number of days from report submission to receipt of decision from IPCC (12 Month Rolling Average)

29. The chart above reveals the average time taken for the IPCC to reach decisions in dispensation and discontinuance cases.

Chart 11 - (see supporting material) Number of appeals made to the IPCC by type and outcome (12 Month Rolling Average)

30. The chart above shows the number of appeals made to the IPCC where a decision has been received from the Commission within the last 12 months. It illustrates the type of appeal being made and the validity of that appeal as determined by the IPCC. The chart above now includes the IPCC decision of ‘not valid’; this option was introduced with the new version of Tribune so that IPCC decisions could be accurately recorded. ‘Not valid’ would be used if an appeal is received outside the appeal period or was not relating to the appeal categories. Work will be commencing to manually ‘back record convert’ the data held manually into the new Tribune fields. A reconciliation exercise with the IPCC will also be done to ensure Tribune is up to date and accurate.

Outcome Trends

Chart 12 - (see supporting material) Public Complaints Finalised allegation by result (12 Month Rolling Average)

31. The average percentage of local resolutions stands at 32% for both September 2006 and September 2007, which remains considerably below the aspirational target of 50%. Whilst the proportions of the other outcomes affect this figure, it is likely to remain low until BOCUs are able to take on more responsibility for the resolution of their own complaints and undertake lower level investigations.

32. There are however tensions between the desire to see more issues being dealt with locally e.g. Local Resolutions and the scrutiny DPS is under to improve timeliness. DPS investigators losing close control over a complaint being investigated/resolved on borough can adversely impact on their timeliness and the inclination is for them to recall the file and deal with it themselves.

Borough (BOCU) / Operational Command Unit (OCU) Performance – Public Complaints: Allegations and People.

33. At each PSCC, members will be presented with a comparative analysis of public complaint data relating to groups of BOCUs in relation to MPS professional standards matters.

34. Like boroughs have been grouped together based on demographics and volume crime. Both of these factors are likely to affect complaints. By using these five family groups and converting ‘actual’ numbers of complaints recorded into a ‘per 100 officers’ figure enables more accurate comparisons to be made.

35. There is a further group exception to this that the DPS have called Group 6, which consists of TP non-Borough based units and non-TP Operational Command Units.

36. The ‘actual’ figures appear in the Borough Support Management Information (BSMI) report, which is made available to the MPA as a separate document and which could be circulated to members if required by MPA officers.

37. To publish the actual figures in this document would make the report unwieldy due to the amount of additional pages necessary to incorporate the expanded information. Furthermore, it would divert from the purpose for which both of these documents were designed i.e. the strategic overview of this report and the detail of BSMI.

38. This information provides a benchmark against which the Authority will be able to judge DPS’s Professional Standards Support Programme (PSSP) in the future by looking for variations in performance from this report to the next occasion the same family group appears.

39. Variations in performance of each of the boroughs when compared to their peers are highlighted in both blue and bold text. Variations could be for any number of reasons such as a particular operation/initiative being run on the borough or environmental factors such as the number of licensed premises, entertainment venues or shopping centres. The demographics in relation to both the resident and transient population and the length of service and experience of the officers concerned will also be relevant factors.

40. It should be noted that, once the ‘per 100 officers’ element is introduced to the data, some of the numbers are small which makes it difficult to draw any significant conclusions from them.

41. Because a Borough or Command Unit is different from their peers does not automatically mean that they are worse.

42. The Professional Standards Support Program (PSSP) incorporates a ‘tasking’ process whereby information in relation to public complaints, conduct matters, civil actions, accident claims and intelligence are assessed in order to ascertain what intervention activities are most appropriate to assist the boroughs with. The borough requiring the most assistance will have a ‘profile’ compiled on it based on all the information previously mentioned but in greater detail by drilling down into the data to establish the exact nature and likely cause of the variation.

43. The Prevention & Organisational Learning Command (POL) will then work with the borough in question, through the PSSP process, to define an action plan that will bring the BOCU closer to the average of similar boroughs in their group.

44. The group of boroughs under focus for this period are from Group 1. The data and associated analysis is presented in Appendix 1.

C. Race and equality impact

Appendix 2 includes MPS data in respect of diversity relating to both complainants and officers that is compared against the family of Boroughs or Operational Command Units in focus.

D. Financial implications

None

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Dave Emmett, Performance Analyst, Amy Howells, Performance Analyst and Hamish Campbell, Detective Chief Superintendent

For more information contact:

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

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