MPS Partnership Plus Scheme

Section 92 of the Police Act 1996 enables London borough councils to make grants to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). This enables Local Authorities to purchase additional police officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

The MPS currently operates the ‘Met Patrol Plus’ scheme which provides officers on a ‘buy one get one free’ basis. In the Commissioner’s view, for reasons of cost and inflexibility, this scheme is no longer sustainable.

The Commissioner has proposed a new scheme named ‘Partnership Plus’. This new scheme will allow Local Authorities to purchase officers at a reduced rate of £57,000 per constable, representing a discount of over 21% on their full cost. This will alleviate the difficulties of cost and inflexibility to the MPS whilst maintaining the principle that Local Authorities can continue to invest in local policing.

This decision seeks agreement to enable the Commissioner’s new Partnership Plus scheme, which will formally open on the 1 April 2019.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to endorse the proposed terms for the Commissioner’s Partnership Plus scheme.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. Both MOPAC and the MPS are committed to working in partnership with Local Authorities. However, in the Commissioner’s view the existing Met Patrol Plus scheme is no longer sustainable.

1.2. The Government has forced the MPS to make savings of £850m, with a further £263m worth of cuts still required by 2022-23. These cuts are having a real impact, forcing officer numbers down from 33,260 in March 2010, to 29,869 in February 2019.

1.3. Under Met Patrol Plus officers are provided on a so-called ‘buy one get one free’ basis to local authorities. These ‘free’ officers cost the MPS an additional £9 million each year – an amount which due to Government cuts isn’t sustainable.

1.4. At a time when the MPS is facing increasing demands, a lack of government funding and falling officer numbers, the Commissioner has also been clear that greater flexibility is needed over police officers in order to respond to critical instances - such as violent crime.

1.5. Therefore, the Commissioner has proposed a revised the scheme, alleviating the issues of cost and inflexibility, while maintaining the principle that local authorities can invest in local policing.

1.6. This new scheme, called Partnership Plus, will allow Local Authorities to purchase additional police officers at a reduced rate - allowing local authorities to focus the work of officers to their local priorities. It will ultimately replace the existing Met Patrol Plus scheme as existing contracts come to an end.

1.7. The introduction of Partnership Plus is an operational decision made by the Commissioner as it relates to the deployment of officers.

1.8. The terms by which Partnership Plus will operate are set out in the next section.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. The Partnership Plus Scheme will be available to local authorities with effect from 1 April 2019. The scheme will allow Local Authorities to purchase police officers on a three-year agreement at a reduced rate of £57,000 per constable, £70,500 per sergeant and £86,000 per inspector; this represents a discount of over 21% of the full cost of a police officer.

2.2. Police officers may be purchased by a Local Authority or Business Improvement District (provided the Local Authority remains the primary contractual party – this is a point of law as stipulated by the Police Act 1996) to address local priorities.

2.3. Any purchased officers will be additional to the Basic Command Unit (BCU) workforce complement and will be ring-fenced from normal aid provision or other local abstraction but will be available to the MPS for High Demand Days.

2.4. The number of High Demand Days will vary each year, as they are event driven, but will typically constitute around 5% of effective working days and could include events such as New Years Eve, Notting Hill Carnival, Million Masked March & Remembrance Sunday.

2.5. All new Partnership Plus agreements will be subject to approval by the Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Local Policing. As part of the governance process, consideration will be given to the priorities and objectives of the additional officers, the corporate and local target strength position and supervision ratios although this list is not exhaustive and other factors may also be considered.

2.6. Agreements will be offered on an initial 3-year term with a reciprocal 6-month termination period. Purchases of a total of 8 or more officers will require the inclusion of a supervisory rank.

2.7. There will also be a 3-month transition period - beginning at the end of March - to enable local authorities, whose contracts expire at 31 March 2019, time to decide whether to invest in the new scheme. This will enable the Local Authorities to fully consider the terms of the new Scheme, existing budgets and take their future options for funding through their internal governance process. This will ensure that there is no break between the old and new schemes.

2.8. The MPS will honour all existing Met Patrol Plus agreements until their natural expiry date.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The proposed charge per police officer has been calculated to result in a broadly cost neutral basis to the MPS. Therefore, whilst the assumption is that Local Authority purchases will be limited to current funding levels, there is potential to supply further funded officers to meet demand. All requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, subject to internal governance.

3.2. Under the Partnership Plus scheme, the charges per officer for 2019/20 are outlined in the table below. For completeness, the table also includes the full cost of police officers for comparison.

3.3. As officers are proposed to be charged at a rate that is less than full cost recovery per officer supplied, the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) will need to agree to the proposed terms of the new Partnership Plus Scheme to comply with 9(7) of the MOPAC Financial Regulations.

3.4. Note that the figure of £72,280 includes both the constable pay costs and additional support costs:

4. Legal Comments

4.1. Section 92(2) of the Police Act 1996 (“The Act”) provides that the Council of a London Borough which falls within the Metropolitan Police District may make grants to MOPAC. Further, Section 92(3) of the Act provides that such grants may be made unconditionally or with agreement of the Commissioner, subject to conditions.

4.2. An Agreement pursuant to S92 of the Act has been drafted, which sets out the terms and conditions for the provision of officers and other resources to the London Local Authorities, and is based on a standard three year term. It makes clear the operational control of the additional officers remains with the Commissioner, and that these officers may be abstracted in the case of an Emergency or High Demand Aid (without financial penalty) or any other operational requirements (with financial penalty) if required. This flexibility ensures the operational resilience and safety of London.

4.3. MOPAC will need to approve the final Scheme, as MOPAC has overall responsibility for making arrangements for the proper administration of the police fund, and it is responsible for securing the maintenance of the MPS and securing that the MPS is efficient and effective. Paragraph 9(7) of the MOPAC Financial Regulations requires all agreements for the provision of services to other organisations to be on the basis of full cost recovery at least, except with the specific approval of the MOPAC. The proposed Partnership Plus Scheme provides each officer at less than full cost recovery and will therefore require specific approval by MOPAC.

5. GDPR and Data Privacy

5.1. The project does not use personally identifiable data therefore there are no GDPR issues to be considered.

6. Equality Comments

6.1 All local authority applications for Partnership Plus officers will be considered equally and provision of officers will reflect local objectives.



6.2 Officers will be recruited into these additional roles in accordance with existing HR regulations and policies.

7. Background/supporting papers

7.1. A supporting FAQ has been provided.