Our plan to deliver 'A New Met for London'

When Sir Robert Peel founded the Met in 1829, he did so on the basis of policing by consent. The idea was that for a police service to be effective, it must operate with the support and trust of the people it serves. That is as true today as it was 200 years ago – and underpins our mission to deliver More Trust, Less Crime, High Standards.

We want the public to trust in the work we’re doing and see how we're fighting crime in their communities and keeping people safe. We’re building A New Met for London where communities know their local officers, help to shape their policing priorities and work with them to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour; and when victims call us for help, they’re satisfied with our response.

We’ll build on the work we’ve done and keep serious violence low. We’ll solve more rapes, domestic violence, child abuse and other cases of predatory offending, and we’ll target the most dangerous offenders to take them off the streets before they can harm again. We'll reduce disproportionality when crime and our use of powers falls unevenly across London's communities.

You’ll see the people who fall short of our high standards being dealt with swiftly and robustly. You’ll see officers, staff and volunteers that are well trained, equipped and led.

I care deeply about making this mission a success. I’ve been candid from day one about the scale of reform needed to tackle systemic failures. The data tells us that the majority of Londoners still trust us, more so than many other professions, but confidence has fallen sharply over recent years. Our failures over recent years have dented trust in the Met and we must repair that.

We’ve heard the voices of those who’ve been let down by the Met. Unreservedly, we apologise.

Whether you’re a woman or a member of London’s LGBT+ community, whether you’re disabled or you’re from a Black or ethnic minority background – we’ve heard the concerns you’ve raised. We're sorry, and we will change.

Our people come into work every day and do extraordinary things because they care greatly about the city and the people they protect. Day in and day out we see acts of kindness, bravery, dedication, and sacrifice from the 45,000 people in the Met. People who are driven by a desire to make the world around them a better place. We need to reform for them too.

The appointment of Baroness Casey by the previous Commissioner was an important step and her report is a catalyst for reform. Officers, staff and volunteers joined the service because they care about their communities: they've voiced their anger and frustrations and we join them in the call for change. Many have been discriminated against by colleagues. Many are frustrated that they aren’t always equipped or resourced to deliver the service the public deserve. Their determination to speak out, and their resolution for change only strengthen my conviction that the Met can, and will, turn around public trust.

A New Met for London sets out our three priorities for reform: community crime-fighting, culture change and fixing our foundations.

Community crime-fighting is how we cut crime, rebuild trust and restore our bond with communities. We’ll put more officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) into local neighbourhoods and make sure they're delivering against the priorities of Londoners. We'll work with them to fight crime and anti-social behaviour, bringing all the specialist resources of the Met together to make a difference in the highest crime, lowest trust communities.

Culture change will be delivered across the Met to embed the values of policing by consent and build a strong culture focused on delivering for London, maintaining high standards and learning from others. We'll become a police service that does not discriminate – tackling racism, misogyny and homophobia – and better reflects the diversity of the city we serve.

Fixing our foundations is how we’ll set up our people to succeed. We’ll organise and deploy our people better, and give them the training, equipment and tools they need to cut crime. We’ll equip them with the data and technology they need to use their powers precisely while maintaining trust and upholding high standards.

This plan is the product of more than 10,000 interactions with Londoners, our people, and partners from across the city. It represents what they’ve told us they want us to focus on.

It builds on the progress we’ve made to date. We're seeing tangible results on some of the crime types we know matter the most to the public.

• Residential burglary is down 6.3% in the last 12 months, compared to the previous year, and we're attending more calls.
• We’re answering calls from the public faster.
• We've maintained lower homicide rates compared to pre-pandemic levels.
• We've charged more than 500 cases of rape and serious sexual offences in the last 12 months compared to the previous year, as we increasingly target the most dangerous men.
• We’ve cleared our backlog of online child abuse cases.
• We're getting c. 10% fewer calls for anti-social behaviour.
• We’re undertaking the strongest doubling down on standards for half a century.

We’ve launched new training schemes to make the Met more diverse. We’ve invested in new technology and begun the work to exploit data better to police more precisely. We've reformed the training of new officers and staff so it’s more practical and less academic.

Every part of A New Met for London is deliverable – but, if we're going to really deliver for London at the pace the public wants, we'll require a collective effort. The criminal justice system has major backlogs and national prosecutions are falling. Rising demand across the public sector means my officers are called to look after people who need proper care from specialist professionals.

Chief Constables’ powers to deal with misconduct are too weak. Recruiting and retaining the skilled and dedicated people we need is increasingly challenging given pay and other pressures in London, and we need a sustainable funding solution. The Met’s budget per head of population has in real terms fallen by 28% since 2010. Compared to Sydney and New York we have close to 50% less funding per head of population. Between 2010 and 2022, real terms pay of officers has reduced by almost 17%. Part of the work to reform the Met must include collaboration across Government to fix some of these issues.

The majority of our people care about their mission and keeping London safe – we ask you to collaborate with us as we reform. Together we will succeed in delivering A New Met for London.

Read a summary of the plan.

Read the plan in full.