Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

THE CAPACITY TO DELIVER
“… so the ability to have quality people who can identify what the issues are, to help the
Commissioner think them through and to liaise with all of these people I think is the only way
that the Commissioner could possibly hope to carry out his responsibilities properly.”
(Evidence of Nigel Whittaker.)
8.25 In looking at the structure below the Commissioner, Sir Michael could see a
case for grouping all the support functions under one person. He cited the various
strategic director models that operate within local authorities, although he had one
caveat that there should still be a functional expert below the strategic director so
that all senior managers had access to expert advice in the various fields.
8.26 Sir Michael also raised the issue of whether the Commissioner had to be a
police officer:
“I do not want to be too revolutionary and suggest that that second one is an easy question
to answer. I think it is much easier to answer, and we come across this in the Bain Review on
the fire service, where much less has been done in the fire service to develop managerial and
leadership skills, and therefore I think there is a rather weaker pool to choose from than there
is in the Police Service, where there has been some investment over a number of years in
developing the skills and experiences of potential members of high command …
“But still, I think there is a question there, and if you are going to get the best out of our public
services, then I think you need excellent leadership and managerial skills, and you do run a risk,
if you limit yourself, to saying, ‘And you have also got to have done this, and this and this’,
because in the end you have actually got a rather narrow field to choose from.”
8.27 We think that careful consideration needs to be given as to whether the MPS’
current top structure is the best model that can be devised to maximise operational
effectiveness.
We therefore recommend that the MPS and the Metropolitan Police Authority
create a police staff post, which would undertake the functions of a Chief
Operating Officer, to bring all the support services in the MPS (Finance,
Human Resources, Communications, Legal Services, Property, Information
Systems and Technology, Procurement, Logistical Services, etc.) together under
one individual who would be equal in status to the Deputy Commissioner with
a remit which spans the whole of the organisation.
8.28 This post would not be a return to the previous post of Receiver. We agree
with the Commissioner that the MPS has moved on. We envisage a suitably
qualified strategic manager who would have the authority to influence all areas of
the MPS’ operation.
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