Home Office Grant Funding Roads Policing ANPR 2021/22

This paper seeks approval for the acceptance of £1,360,000 of Home Office (HO) grant funding for Roads Policing Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) function in support of Operation Orochi and County Lines activity. The funding is time limited to be spent within 2021/22. The funding will be used in the main for officer pay and overtime, equipment and training.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to approve acceptance of the Home Office funding grant of £1,360,000 to enhance the MPS Road Policing (ANPR) response to County Lines and Violence & undertake a range of activities to combat Violence and Exploitation associated with County Lines drugs supply.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. MOPAC approved receipt of Home Office grant funding of £6.6m for 2021/22 for the continuance of the then existing Operation Orochi County Lines activity in June 2021 [PCD990].

1.2. The Home Office has now identified additional funding of £1.36m for investment in Roads Policing Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) activity in support of Operation Orochi and County Lines.

2. Issues for consideration

2.1. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) states that accepting this grant funding contributes to the MOPAC Police & Crime Plan 2017-2021 as the intelligence & operational delivery stemming from enhanced ANPR capability will directly support the MPS capability to tackle serious youth violence linked to urban street gangs and Organised Crime Groups, impacting upon our London Communities.

2.2. The grant will be used to fund 2 police officer posts and 2 police staff (ANPR engineer) posts within Met Intelligence, the purchase of additional ANPR camera equipment (both static and fixed deployable), mobile car-kits, training/courses & equipment and fund overtime to for existing teams to act upon additional intelligence generated.

2.3. In addition to this £1.36m grant funding the Home Office has also allocated a further £4.7m funding to the wider Operation Orochi function in support of County Lines activity. This £4.7m will provide the capacity for elements of the work funded by this £1.36m grant to be continued into 2022/23.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The acceptance of the HO funding of £1,360,000 does not require any match funding by MOPAC.

3.2. If HO funding for this stream of work is not available after 31 March 2022 the posts created will be funded by the £4.7m wider Operation Orochi grant. None of the other proposed spend will create any significant liability. County Lines remains referenced in all recent communications as a key pillar of the UK’s drug strategy and future investment.

3.3. The Met have assured that the acquisition of equipment is by way of existing compliant procurement procedures.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. Under Schedule 3, paragraph 7 (1) Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) MOPAC has incidental powers to “do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the functions of the Office.” Paragraph 7 (2) (a) provides that this includes entering into contracts and other agreements. The Met assure that these powers are sufficiently broad to permit MOPAC to enter into the grant agreement.

4.2. Para 4.8 of the MOPAC Scheme of Consent and Delegation provides the DMPC with delegated power to approve all offers made of grant funding.

5. GDPR and Data Privacy

5.1. MOPAC will adhere to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensure that any organisations who are commissioned to do work with or on behalf of MOPAC are fully compliant with the policy and understand their GDPR responsibilities.

5.2. Operational deployment of ANPR cameras in support of this project will be subject to the existing DPIA and Community impact assessments to ensure compliance with the DPA 2018 the ICO and Camera Surveillance guidelines.

6. Equality Comments

6.1. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

6.2. The Met assure that following an equality screening no positive or negative impact has been identified to any individual and/or group safeguarded by a protected characteristic and those who are not.

7. Background/supporting papers

• Appendix 1 MPS Paper Road Policing/ANPR - Serious Violence & County Lines (£1.36m Grant)