A Fair Police Service for London’s Communities

Philip Powell
Director of Communications, Metropolitan Police Authority

The Metropolitan Police Authority exists to make sure that London’s police are accountable for the services they provide to people in the capital. The MPA has achieved real benefits for the people of London. There are now over 30,300 police officers, the largest number ever, and London was first to introduce Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). Over 1,700 PCSOs now provide extra public reassurance and tackle anti-social behaviour that affects our communities.

The MPA has 23 members, 12 elected London Assembly Members, 4 Magistrates and 7 independent members, all appointed for four years. Each member is closely associated with one of London’s boroughs and is responsible for liaising with local police and others working to reduce crime locally. Members meet regularly in committee to discuss police policy and monitor performance. They recommend changes that deliver improvements and meet the needs of London’s communities. The Authority believes that working in partnership is the most effective way to achieve our aim of making London the safest city. The Authority promotes equality and diversity within the police service and is working in partnership to ensure all those who live and work in the capital are treated with respect.

The Authority’s job is to:

Listening to Londoners

A vital part of the MPA’s role is to consult with Londoners about the police, their performance and how this can be improved. Consultation helps the MPA learn what should be set as priorities for the police in the year ahead.

Ways of consulting include:

Safer London Panel

The Authority’s own citizens panel is made up of 3,000 people chosen to reflect London’s population. They are asked to give their views on specific issues about how London is policed.

Community engagement in every borough

The MPA is committed to ensuring that every borough in London has a means for people to communicate with their local police. This usually takes the form of a Community Police Consultative Group, but in some areas different methods are being developed. The MPA takes part in numerous events and organises community engagement programmes across the capital. Details of these events are published on our website www.mpa.gov.uk.

MPA public meetings

MPA committee meetings are open to the public and everyone is welcome to attend. Dates, times and reports for these meetings are published on the MPA website and are also available from public libraries.

Policing London

Since the terrorist attacks on London on 7 and 21 July of this year, the men and women of the Metropolitan Police - police officers and police staff - have worked hard to ensure the continuing safety of Londoners and visitors alike. And they have worked alongside the MPA to ensure that our rollout of the groundbreaking Safer Neighbourhoods initiative (dedicated local community teams of uniformed police officers and community safety officers) across the whole of London continues ahead of schedule. And we continue to share a vision to make London the safest major city in the world.

Managing the Metropolitan Police Service budget

The MPA has overall responsibility for the budget of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). Planning and managing the annual police budget of over £2.7 billion is one of the Authority’s core responsibilities. About 78% of the budget comes from central government, the rest from council tax raised in London by the Mayor.

The Metropolitan Police Service draws up a detailed budget submission, drawing on the work undertaken for the medium-term financial plan to identify future commitments, known savings or areas of reduction, while also highlighting new initiatives. The MPA scrutinises and considers each year’s budget, with reference to ‘affordability’, how the budget fits in with the MPA’s priorities and taking into account the Mayor’s priorities. It then recommends a budget submission to the Mayor, highlighting how the MPA budget fits with the Annual Policing Plan and the Mayoral policies, priorities and strategies.

A key responsibility of the MPA is budgetary control. Budget monitoring reports are submitted to the MPA on a regular basis as it is important that the MPA is aware of variations in actual or anticipated spend against the approved budget, together with proposals for remedial action if under or overspends are anticipated.