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London's communities to be consulted over new strategy to modernise police facilities
Plans to modernise police facilities are to be published for each of the capital's 32 boroughs and will offer local communities the unique opportunity to make their voices heard in the drive to make the police service more responsive to their needs.
The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) are undertaking a major improvement programme for the Metropolitan Police estate.
An Asset Management Plan (AMP) for each borough will outline the local strategy to improve facilities, including the provision of front counters, patrol bases, custody centres, Safer Neighbourhoods team bases, and office accommodation, as well as ensuring the buildings are fully accessible in line with legislation. A significant feature of the AMPs, which aim to explain the changes and how they will directly benefit policing, will be a period of local consultation, actively seeking feedback form the community.
Aneeta Prem, lead member for estates issues for the Metropolitan Police Authority, said:
"Effective policing cannot be delivered without the right property to operate from. The MPA places great value on modernising the estate to provide the best possible facilities that will enable our police service to respond to the urgent needs of Londoners.
"The Authority is crucially aware of the importance communities attach to local police facilities and the need to communicate prospective changes. The Asset Management Plans (AMP) that will be rolled out in every borough in the coming months are specifically intended as consultation tools and will ask Londoners specific questions about facilities in their area and what can be done to improve these.
"Each borough AMP outlines the key themes which we want stakeholders and the local community to express their views on. This period of consultation will last three months following publication of the AMP, the process to be led by the borough commander. Once the community's views have been collected, the Met will then carefully consider the comments to help inform a revised version of the document and implement change to improve policing in the borough.
"It is the first time this has been done in London and is an exciting opportunity for Londoners to help us make the police service better. We firmly believe we need to engage with Londoners to explain the enormous benefits of the changes we propose and win their support for a better, more effective police service for everyone across the entire capital."
Significant improvements to the estate have been made since the MPA published 'Building Towards The Safest City' in 2003 setting out the need for modernisation. However, many buildings pre-date 1940, are not suitable for modern working practices, are expensive to run and inefficient. Police numbers have also grown substantially in recent years, which together with the roll out of the Safer Neighbourhods initiative across each of the 32 boroughs, has placed extra demands on space and facilities.
The estate must adapt to meet these and other emerging challenges to ensure it is fit for use and provides the best possible environment for police officers and staff to respond to Londoners' needs.
The Property for Policing Programme sets out to deliver more effective policing by:
* Ensuring the public has accessible and friendly police facilities in the heart of local communities, closer to crime hotspots and compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act. More Safer Neighbourhoods' team bases will open within local communities, bringing the police closer to the public.
* Providing a single Custody Centre in most boroughs. This will create 30 to 40 custody cells in one place, with all the appropriate facilities required on one site. This will provide safe and modern facilities for employees and detainees and free up officers' time for front-line duties.
* Building new Patrol Bases in easily accessible locations, where we can. This will speed up response times and enable officers to spend more time patrolling the streets.
* Creating more space to accommodate growing numbers of officers and staff within the MPS. This will involve refurbishing some facilities, relocating or replacing others and opening new accommodation.
* Providing modern working conditions for our officers and staff and so increasing their productivity.
Notes to Editors
1. Borough Asset Management Plans are available as they are
completed for publication on the MPA website: http://www.mpa.gov.uk/issues/estate/default.htm
2. They are also available under each individual
borough's webpage on the MPS website: http://www.met.police.uk/[borough name]
Website: http://www.mpa.gov.uk
