PRESS RELEASE : New £14 million investment proposed by Mayor to accelerate cultural reform of the Met Police [January 2023]

The press release issued by the Mayor of London on 26 January 2023.

• New City Hall funded Leadership Academy to be funded for all Met leaders and line managers to raise standards across the Met Police service

• Additional resources to boost Met call handling and improve the service provided to Londoners who call 999 and help the force out of HMICFRS Special Measures

• New investment to support the Met Commissioner’s plans to reform and turn key recommendations from Casey review in action

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today set out proposals for £14.2million of new funding to raise standards, improve performance and rebuild the trust and confidence of all of London’s communities in the Met Police service.

The funding – part of the Mayor’s 2023/2024 budget proposals – would be used to support the Met’s ‘Turnaround Plan’ which sets out how the force will achieve its mission to rebuild trust, reduce crime and improve standards over the next two years.

Nearly £12million of the proposed new investment from City Hall would be used to support the Commissioner’s drive for higher standards in the Met, including the creation of a new Met Leadership Academy.

The Leadership Academy would provide enhanced training for Met leaders and line managers, strengthening their capability to ensure the high standards expected by policing and the public are achieved. This action is a key part of the Met’s recently announced Turnaround Plan and the renewed focus on modernising training and developing a strong cohort of leaders in every policing department across the capital.

The Leadership Academy will also empower Met leaders to identify officers whose performance is not meeting the high standards set and give them the training to tackle issues around discipline and performance more effectively. This includes improving the working environment for all officers and staff and taking action against officers with “repeated or patterns of unacceptable behaviour” in support of key recommendations from the interim Baroness Casey review.

The investment will also include increase the number HR staff within the Met to better support Met leaders and line managers to tackle performance and standards issues at source, accelerating the work the Commissioner is leading on to make the Met a workplace where everyone is supported and proud to be a part of.

A further £2.5million from City Hall would be used to improve the training and resilience of the Met’s Command and Control Centre (MetCC), which handles more than six million emergency calls and online queries from the public each year. This action follows the findings of the HMICFRS PEEL inspection, which found that the Met needed to improve how it responds to calls from the public.

The Mayor’s funding proposals are part of a package of measures designed to support the Met to exit Special Measures as quickly as possible and to accelerate the root and branch reforms and systemic change to the Met’s performance and culture.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “I’m determined to continue doing everything in my power to make policing in London better and to support the work that has started to deliver the urgent reforms and step change in culture and performance Londoners deserve. This means empowering the Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, to reduce crime further, raise standards, and restore trust between the police and the communities the Met serves.

“To do this we need strong leaders in the Met who not only acknowledge the scale of the problems, but have the training and confidence to take the action needed to raise standards. That’s why I’m announcing plans to fund a new Leadership Academy for all Met leaders in every team across our capital.

“This will play a key part in ensuring the Met can successfully turn the recommendations from Baroness Casey’s interim review into real and lasting action. I see police reform as a critical part of my mayoralty. And I will not be satisfied until Londoners have the police service they deserve – one that is representative, trusted and delivers the highest possible service to every community in our city.

“The extra funding I have proposed today will also ensure that Londoners who contact the Met for help receive the quality of care and attention they deserve.”