Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mark Boleat.

There were none.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 15 February 2013 (copy attached).

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 15 February 2013 were approved.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk highlighting those outstanding actions identified in the minutes from previous meetings.

A Member, who was one of the two External Members of the Police Committee, commented that she had not received a communication relating to the Force’s work with Samaritans, as referenced to in the document. She sought assurances from the Town Clerk that the system would be improved to ensure that External Members were not missed off key communications sent to Committee. The Town Clerk undertook to do so.

Report of the Commissioner of Police (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner providing an update on recent community engagement activities, community priorities and forthcoming events.

In introducing the item, the Assistant Commissioner commented that this report reflected a newly implemented structure of the Engagement Teams, in line with the City First model.

He also pointed out that the T/Commander for Economic Crime was in discussions with the Lead Member for Community Engagement to consider the best approach to engage with businesses around the Force’s national responsibilities.

A Member sought further information about the mechanism to inform Members of the updated list of police officers serving in their respective Wards and the Committee instructed the Town Clerk to follow up this issue.

The Chairman also commented on the success of the Building Accreditation Scheme, an initiative led by the Crime Prevention Association and requested the Town Clerk to circulate a note to all Members with information on the Scheme.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted.

The Equalities and Diversity Manager was heard on the good feedback which she had received after the recent Diversity training session, which had focused on crime affecting minority and vulnerable groups. She advised that preparations were in-hand to set a date for a follow-up session in the summer, and that this would concentrate on custody and disability. Alderman Gowman took the opportunity to thank the Equalities and Diversity Manager for arranging the event, as well as PC Asif Sadiq and John Unsworth who had contributed to the session.

The Chairman echoed the Alderman’s comments and advised the Committee that he had requested a note on our work on Hajj Fraud to be included in an upcoming version of Members’ briefings.

The Committee noted that a report would be submitted to the next meeting setting out proposals for the Scheme for the coming year, and providing an update on the work that had taken place over the course of the preceding one. The Deputy Chairman commented that the Committee should consider making this a six-monthly report. 

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk providing Members with an update about the work of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), an organisation of which the City of London Corporation had become a constituent member. The APCC was the successor body of the former Association of Police Authorities (APA), and came into existence officially on 1 April 2013. The report outlined the governance and leadership structures of the APCC, and informed Members of funding and membership arrangements.

The Deputy Chairman, who was the Committee’s representative on the Association, was heard on the experience of chairing the Shadow and Transitional Boards that had overseen the establishment of the APCC until March 2013. He commented on the successful positioning by the City of London Corporation in the Association, and the effective working relationships which it had forged with the Committee and City Corporation officers during this process.

A discussion took place about the risks of agenda politicisation and the efforts to ensure that PCCs priorities reflected the Strategic Policing Requirement. Also, prompted by a question concerning decision-making, the Deputy Chairman explained how the APCCs structures would allow for collective negotiation but not ‘adjudication’, in contrast with the operation of the APA.

The report also informed the Committee of a decision taken using urgency procedures (pursuant to Standing Order no.41b) to agree the City of London’s membership of the Association at an annual fee of £19,750. This decision had been approved by the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Senior Member of the Police Committee on 15 March 2013.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk outlining the key findings of a study by the National Audit Office (NAO) on how police procurement is currently undertaken nationally and whether the Home Office was effective in discharging its responsibility to support forces in this area. The study concludes that there were tensions between the Home Office’s strategies to increase collaboration and centralised procurement, and the Government’s aim to increase local autonomy and accountability for police forces.

The study echoed some of the concerns held by a number of local policing bodies, including the City of London Corporation, about the way ‘aggregated procurement’ was being developed in the police service. The report advised how officers had been working to ensure that national procurement policies gave sufficient flexibility to forces to achieve the best value for money.

RESOLVED – That the report be received and its contents noted.

Report of the Commissioner of Police (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner covering two key areas of police reform - the Winsor Review and the changes to the national governance structure.

The Winsor Review had been published in two parts and made recommendations on matters relating to deployment of officers and staff (including shift allowances, overtime, etc);  post and performance related pay (including special priority payments, threshold payments and bonuses), how officers enter and leave the police service, pay progression, whether the typical service length should be made more flexible and, lastly, how officers and staff pay and conditions of service are decided.

The Force had already implemented many recommendations whereas others were being considered by the Force Strategic Management Board, for example, those concerning the overnight allowance. The report highlighted that not all the recommendations had been agreed and some were still subject to national consultation, negotiation and arbitration. In terms of financial impact so far the position for the force was expected to be cost neutral. However, in general terms, a negative financial impact was expected on individual officers and staff.

The report also provided information on changes to the national governance structure, including the creation of the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Force’s involvement in the Economic Crime Command Board (ECCB) and associated sub groups. The report also referred to the creation of a Police Information Communications and Technology (ICT) Company, the College of Policing and the winding up of the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA).

In response to a Member’s question, the Commissioner clarified that the police pension arrangements had been the subject of a separate review by Lord Hutton, published in 2011.

A Member remarked that the implementation of the Winsor Review had been identified in the risk register and queried whether the intention was to provide

Report of the Commissioner of Police (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioning seeking authority to enter a collaboration agreement between the City Police and the Metropolitan Police, enabling the Commissioners of the two forces to authorise use of surveillance and investigation in accordance with the RIPA powers in their counterpart forces.

The provisions of RIPA heavily regulate these activities. By allowing each Commissioner to authorise the aforementioned activity in the other’s force area, the collaboration agreements hopes to enhance operational effectiveness and expedience of authorisations within an agreed framework of notification, oversight and intelligence checks to be completed which will minimise operational risk.

There was considerable debate concerning the use of RIPA provisions in the Force’s work, and the T/Commander reassured Members that the powers were available on a highly select set of circumstances. It was confirmed that the City of London Police usually dealt with some twenty of such cases a year.

RESOLVED - That:-

a)            the pursuing of a formal collaboration agreement, within the definition of the Police Act 1996, covering arrangements for Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) applications and authorisations between the Metropolitan Police Service and the City of London Police be approved; and

b)            the Comptroller & City Solicitor and the Commissioner be instructed to settle suitable terms for a Collaboration Agreement under Sections 22A and 23of the Act between the City of London and City of London Police and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

City of London Members and Staff Passes

A Member queried what the basis was for the message on the back of COTAG passes which read ‘Authorised to Access any major site by the Commissioner of City of London Police’ and whether this was still valid. The Town Clerk undertook to provide further information to the Member.

Review of Police Cautions

A Member asked whether the City of London Police had responded to the consultation on Police Cautions, and whether it was possible for Members to read the response. The Assistant Commissioner confirmed that the Force had undertaken an analysis of the proposal and he was happy to provide this to all Members of the Committee.

There were none.

MOTION - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item No.                                                         Exempt Paragraphs

                12                                                                         3       

                13                                                                         1       

                14                                                                          1, 2 & 7  

                15                                                                               3 

                18                                                                               1

RESOLVED – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held 15 February 2013.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 15 February 2013 were approved.

To receive the notes of the meeting held on 27 March 2013 and to agree the recommendations therein (copy attached).

The Committee received the notes of the Police Leadership Team meeting held on 27 March 2013.

Commissioner to be heard.

The Commissioner was heard concerning on-going and successful operations undertaken by the City of London Police.

Report of the Commissioner of Police (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Committee providing Members with an update on the progress of the Police Accommodation Project.

There were none.

There were none.