Estate matters

 The Metropolitan Police Authority owns or leases all the buildings used by the Metropolitan Police in London and we recognise the vital role the estate plays in supporting the delivery of effective and efficient policing across the capital.

The Metropolitan Police estate is broad and varied, ranging from local police stations to emergency call centres, training facilities, garages for the fleet, stabling for police horses, and document/evidence storage depots. It amounts to around 900 operational buildings, in all just under one million square metres of premises, used by 50,000 police officers, Police Community Support Officers, Special Constables and staff.

We know the estate is ageing and many buildings are inappropriately located for today’s communities. To deliver an excellent police service, our buildings have to meet both today’s requirements as well as our future demands. Simply upgrading or renewing individual parts of the estate is no longer an option and there is an urgent need for major change.

MPA estate strategy

The MPA established an estate panel, comprising Authority members together with MPA and MPS staff, to review its estate strategy. The new MPA/MPS Estate Strategy 2010-2014, which supersedes all previous strategies, was approved in October 2010.

Making policing more accessible to the public and based in local communities is central to the MPA strategy.

The Authority holds the position, made clear by the Mayor of London, that no buildings with front counter facilities, where London’s communities can engage in face to face contact with the police, will be closed without fully operational, improved facilities being opened first. No communities are losing a police station – when stations are replaced local communities will benefit from an improved, better located and up to date facility for the to contact their local police.

The estate strategy is complemented by a separate town planning strategy, “Planning for Future Police Estate Development” (May 2005) which provides guidance for local authorities on the need to make adequate provision through the planning system for police estate development.

MPA estate panel

The estate panel meets regularly to lead on the effective monitoring and scrutiny of the estate and related issues, advising and making recommendations to the MPA Finance and Resources Committee on proposals about acquisitions, disposals and proposed changes to the estate where formal committee approval is required. It also acts as a ‘sounding board’ to enable the MPS to discuss estate related proposals with the MPA prior to more formal consideration.

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