How are you ensuring that Londoners receive value for money from the Metropolitan Police?

My top priority continues to be keeping Londoners safe, and I have a duty to secure the efficiency and effectiveness of the MPS. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and the MPS pursue value for money in everything they do, but you do not have to just take my word for it; there are independent external assessments of how well the MPS now uses its resources and achieves value for money. HMICFRS in their police efficiency and effectiveness reports have said the MPS is good at making use of the resources available to it. Its latest published report states that, and I quote, “The MPS is good at meeting current demand and using resources. It works closely with other organisations to understand demand”. It also says that the MPS “understands what the public wants and uses this feedback to change the services it provides. It sets and manages its budgets well.”.

The external auditors’ annual report notes that, and I quote,

“MOPAC and the MPS have put in place effective arrangements to improve economy, efficiency and effectiveness. This includes making effective use of data to inform business decisions and using a performance framework and other tools to drive organisational performance to meet strategic objectives.”

The auditors recognise that the MPS has already undertaken considerable work to review all arrangements around transformation and change management. As a result of the Government’s cuts in policing the MPS has already delivered significant savings, in excess of £1 billion since 2012/2013, through a variety of programmes.

The MPS transformation programme is one of the largest seen in the UK public sector. It has combined significant efficiencies in the MPS estate with investments to optimise operational activity and increase productivity through streamlining central headquarter functions. Significant savings have also been achieved by improving commercial awareness. For example, £300,000 of savings has been achieved by cancelling obsolete information technology (IT) systems, with a further £6.6 million in the pipeline.

However, providing value for money cannot make up for the significant underfunding the MPS has had to endure. The Government’s police uplift programme did not allocate the 6,000 additional officers that the previous Commissioner judged to be necessary. I continue to lobby for a greater allocation of resources to London policing, and call on the Government to address the shortfall in the National and International Capital Cities (NICC) grant which, by the Home Office’s own admission, currently underfunds the MPS by £159 million per year.

Thank you for your answer, Mr Mayor. Good morning.

Good morning.

Can you tell me what level of resource is being spent on improving sanction detection rates? The trend is downward across many indicators, and we want to focus on where value can be gained.

There is no carve‑out in relation to the MPS budget for sanction detection rates because it is not just a policing issue. It also means greater ‘joined‑up‑ness’ with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and it is also to do with the backlog in relation to courts. I think there are 16,000 trials currently waiting in the Crown Court. It is a cross‑criminal justice system (CJS) function in relation to improving sanction detection rates rather than a carve‑out in relation to the MPS’ own budget.

Is MOPAC doing any particular piece of work on helping to improve sanction detection rates in general? That figure might be easier to identify.

The best example of where MOPAC is doing work with sanction detection rates is in relation to violence against women and girls. Assembly Member Pidgeon referred to the really poor conviction rates on rape. That is a good example where the combination of the Independent Sexual Violence Advisers () we are funding and the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) help with attrition in relation to allegations of sexual offences. Having an adviser with you when you make a complaint is a good way of keeping that person involved in the prosecution, which helps with the sanction detection rates. That is the best example in relation to specific work MOPAC is doing in relation to sanction detection rates.

There are other examples. In the past, you were not guaranteed a visit from a police officer; now, even if you report a burglary online, if you want a visit from a police officer, they will come for a burglary. That also assists in relation to keeping a person involved in a potential prosecution, because it may just be that you are reporting it for a reference number in relation to an insurance claim. Those are not specifically for sanction detection rates, but they will help in relation to sanction detection rates.

Your focus has been rightly on violent crime, that is correct, of your time of being Mayor, but could we ask for MOPAC to do specific work around sanction detection rates around things like robbery, knife crime, and so on? You pointed out what has been done around rape and there is some success there. If we were to do another specific piece of work to help sanction detection rates in those areas, do you believe it would help?

I have no problem at all in the Police and Crime Committee, which may be the correct forum for these conversations to take place, to speak to the acting Commissioner ‑‑ I know he is keen on particularly robbery as well. You will appreciate during the pandemic we saw some improvements there because there were fewer reports of robbery, because there were fewer people in the West End, for argument’s sake. Whether we can build on that progress going forward as well, I am more than happy to ask the acting Commissioner with the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime to come along to the Police and Crime Committee to discuss other things we can be doing to improve sanction detection rates. Just to reassure you, it is also a national initiative as well. I know the Home Secretary is quite concerned in relation to the 43 forces nationally. The sanction detections have not been as high as they should be. I am more than happy for them to come back to the Police and Crime Committee to explore with the Committee what more work can be done there.

OK, thank you. Thank you, Chair.