§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress towards implementing the change to the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District to make them coterminous with the boundaries of the London boroughs. [117309]
§ Mr. StrawThe change to the boundaries takes effect on 1 April, as planned. The responsibility for policing those parts of Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey which are currently within the Metropolitan Police District will pass from the Metropolitan Police to the respective county forces.
Essex Police, Hertfordshire Constabulary, Surrey Police, their Police Authorities, and the Metropolitan Police have prepared for the changeover in a thorough and professional manner. A great deal of detailed work has been put in since I announced the change in June 1998. I commend them for their close co-operation, and I am confident that there will be a smooth transfer of responsibilities. People in the transferring areas need have no concerns about disruption to their local policing service.
The funding for the three county Police Authorities will be increased from April to reflect their enlarged areas. In addition, we are making special payments out of the police grant totalling £10 million to go towards costs arising out of the transfer.
I am confident that the benefits of the boundaries change will soon show through. I decided to change the boundaries for three main reasons.
First, it makes it easier for the criminal justice agencies in the area to work together in the fight to reduce crime. Local councils and other agencies will no longer have to work with two different police forces when discharging their responsibilities under the Crime and Disorder Act 212W 1998. This is an important step towards aligning boundaries in the criminal justice system, thereby improving efficiency and effectiveness.
Secondly, the change supports democratic accountability. It gives local people a say, through their county Police Authority, in the way their area is policed. People in the transferring areas will not have a vote in the forthcoming election for London's Assembly members, who will be in the majority on the new Metropolitan Police Authority. It is right that these areas be policed by county forces whose Police Authorities, with councillor members in the majority, already provide local democratic accountability.
Thirdly, the change allows the Metropolitan Police to focus its efforts on the huge task of policing the nation's capital.
The Metropolitan Police have policed the transferring areas since the time of Sir Robert Peel. I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of all the officers and civil staff of the Metropolitan Police who have worked in these areas over the years. They deserve the Government's thanks, and the thanks of the local communities.
§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Metropolitan Police Commissioner's Policing and Performance Plan for 2000–01 will be published. [117310]
§ Mr. StrawThe Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that he will be publishing details of his Policing and Performance Plan for 2000–01 on the Metropolitan police websitehttp://www.met.police.uk on Friday 31 March.
Advertisements have also been placed in the London press summarising key performance data and targets set out in the Plan.
Some of the performance data for 1999–2000 are provisional. Audited data will be included in a hard copy version of the Plan to be published in June.
The Policing and Performance Plan combines the requirements of an annual Policing Plan, an annual Efficiency Plan and, for the first time, an annual Best Value Performance Plan.
The Plan sets out the Metropolitan police's two key priorities for 2000–01: reducing crime and disorder and diversity. The Plan sets out the Metropolitan police's crime reduction targets—a two per cent, reduction in burglary, stopping the increasing level of street crime and an eight per cent. reduction in vehicle crime—together with key activities for delivery. It also contains a suite of Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) with a summary of the Metropolitan police's performance against those BVPIs for which historical data is available and targets for future performance. The Plan also sets out a five-year plan of Best Value reviews. The areas selected for review in the coming year are; investigating and detecting crime; combating bureaucracy and managing information; and consultation.
The Plan also sets out the means by which the Metropolitan police aims to exceed the two per cent, efficiency gains required by the Government from all police forces.
213WThe Commissioner will report on performance against the Plan to me, in my capacity as the Metropolitan police's police authority, and to the Metropolitan Police Committee, until 3 July, when the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) is established.
I believe that the Commissioner's Plan will enable the MPA to make an effective start by providing a solid basis for monitoring and interrogating the Metropolitan police's performance as the foundation for the Plan the MPA will develop for 2001–02.