Project summary - Borough Commanders

Project name: Borough Commanders

MPA lead officer: Alan Johnson

Met Forward work strand: Met Connect

Project summary

Each of London’s 32 borough commanders is a crucial appointment. Getting this right can drive exceptional performance, and getting it wrong can cause community concerns. Concerns have been raised about the lack of continuity where officers fill the position for a matter of months before being promoted and moving on, causing disruption to the community they serve. We are working with the Commissioner to review the appointment process, specifically involving local stakeholders. We also have an expectation that borough commanders will normally stay in post for a minimum of three years.

Project objectives

• A role description is provided for the post of borough commander and for the role of the link borough commander.
• The involvement of local authorities, MPA link members and partners, in the appointments process in order to inform the final decision of the MPA and MPS.
• The introduction of a minimum posting period of three years for borough commander roles, unless of course there are exceptional reasons as to why they can’t remain on borough.
• The involvement of local authorities and partners in assessing the performance and contribution of each borough commander.
• As part of any wider review of funding, to consider how borough commanders and their local partners may have a level of greater responsibility for expenditure, raising funds and buying-in services to support operational policing and improve the quality of policing.
• To contribute to the delivery of the three key outcomes of Met Forward – fight crime and reduce criminality, increase confidence in policing and give us better value for money.

Authority’s role to deliver work strand

MPA members, through the Human Resources and Remuneration Sub-committee will regularly hold the MPS to account for the delivery of the objectives outlined above.

What will success look like?

In a MORI poll on attitudes to policing 28% of respondents felt the MPS were most accountable to their London Boroughs, but 63% felt they should be most accountable to London Boroughs. The MPA will want to improve performance.

Each borough commanders, appointed from July 2009 will have the skills and commitment to serve three years on their borough. As a consequence they will be more accountable to local people and communities for reducing crime, increasing public confidence and ensuring value for money.

Responsible MPA committee

Human Resources and Remuneration Sub-committee, which reports to the Communities, Equalities and People Committee

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