Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Mark Boleat.

The Chairman welcomed James Goodsell, a new Policy Officer in the Town Clerk’s department, who had recently joined to support the Police Committee. He would be leading on a number of police authority functions, some of which were previously carried out by Ignacio Falcon, who was thanked by the Committee for his support and assistance.

There were no declarations of interest.

Matters Arising

(p. 6 – Item 10) Road Safety – Six-monthly update

The Chairman requested that the Road Safety Team provide an update at the next meeting of the Safer City Partnership on a recent accident that had occurred in the City.

Matters Arising

(p. 12 – Item 6) Work on Integrity

The Assistant Commissioner informed Members that the Force was developing an Integrity Dashboard that would be brought to the next meeting of the Professional Standards and Integrity Sub Committee and the December 2013 meeting of the Police Committee.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

Matters Arising

COTAG Passes

The Town Clerk updated Members that due to the cost of renewing all COTAG passes, passes would be amended as new passes were issued. The right to access incident sites via a COTAG pass would not be permitted.

East Coast Information Services (ECIS)

The Commissioner stated that he was optimistic he would be able to present a future options paper for the upgrade of the IT services in January 2014.

Independent Custody Visitor Scheme (ICV)

A Member of the ICV Panel reported, that in future, details would be sent to the Panel of when the Snow Hill Police Station Custody Suite was in use by City residents.

CoLP website

The Commander of Operations clarified that there would be occasions when photos of members of the Police Engagement Team would not be listed. More work was being undertaken to ensure the website information was completed.

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

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

The number of counter-terrorism briefings with businesses was clarified and the events had been well attended.

(p 18 - Item ) Operation Fennell

The Chairman remarked that mental health was important factor to consider with regards to begging and the Commander of Operations remarked that the Force used an innovative approach to examine the root causes behind begging that included a joined-up relationship to working with the Health and Well Being Board.

(p. 21 – Item 16) Transient Community and / Visitors

The Chairman queried as to whether the work of the Force to reduce cycle crime was having an impact to which the Commander of Operations advised that the work of the street intervention team and Police Community Support Officer’s would be seen next year and the Force would be planning projects six months in advance. In response to a Member query, the Commander of Operations stated he would share further information on the development and outcomes of this project as it progressed.

To receive a report of the Equalities, Diversity and Human Rights Manager.

The Committee received a report of the Equality and Diversity Manager that presented the updated Members on the independent review of the Force’s performance against the Integrating Level of the Equality Standard for Police completed in July 2013.

Members were updated that the Force would receive an interim report on its participation in the Workplace Equality Index. The Force would also continue to improve its practice around LGB staff and Stonewall would provide feedback on the Force’s performance.

It was noted that recruitment for a new Member for the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) would be required after a former member had stepped down. The Equality and Diversity Manager would be meeting with the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Independent Advisory Group to ensure that a more stringent process for recruitment of Members to the IAG would occur in the future, one similar to the process for the recruitment of Independent Members of Police Committee.

The Lead Member for Road Safety and Casualty Reduction provided and update which highlighted the following:

The 20mph speed limit in all City streets had been approved by the Court of Common Council. The Force would be involved in the enforcement of the regulations going forward and Transport for London would be contributing funding for monitoring of heavy goods transport. The Force was exploring better use of CoLP bicycles in order to become more visible.

The Commander of Operations noted there was a road safety day occurring on the 30^th of October which would be advertised to Members.

A Member queried as to if it was possible to educate pedestrians through advertisements on the City’s rubbish bins on environmental awareness to reduce avoid accidents. It was agreed this education was also important for cyclists in the City. The Lead Member for Road Safety and Casualty Reduction advised that the Force was undertaking the development of road safety training with stakeholders, a policy area that had been subject to reductions across London boroughs. It was noted a joint report by the Force and the City Corporation that highlighted the work being done to improve road safety would be provided as part of the six-monthly update to the Committee.

In response to this Special Interest Area update, the Chairman requested that at the next meeting of the Committee, interim reports on each Special Interest Areas be produced for the next Committee that highlighted what was on track to be achieved, and to highlight the communication occurring between Members and the Force.

To receive a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Commissioner of Police requested by the Chairman’s to provide an overview of the work of the Public Protection (PPU) and the Safer City Partnership (SCP) to respond to issues of domestic abuse.

The Chairman informed Members that this was a timely report which had been completed prior to a HMIC inspection. He stated that he was pleased with the report which presented the professional and victim focused approach of the Force. It was noted, in response to a query from the Chairman, that on all occasions all victims of domestic abuse were seen, even if non City residents.

In response to a question on the number of PPU staff, the Commander of Operations advised that the unit also dealt with missing persons and serious sexual offences. Specialist training and specialist skills were required for this work and, in addition, specialist training on dealing with instances of domestic abuse was given across the Force.

To receive a report of the City Remembrancer.

The Committee received a report of the City Remembrancer which provided an overview of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, due to be active in the next month, and identified those issues most likely to be of relevance to the City.

The Committee had received a report in April 2013, which highlighted the role of the National Crime Agency (NCA), which the Force had been working with in shadow form. It was highlighted that the Director General of the NCA would have the power to make a request of a police force that would be required to be approved by the relevant Minister and special need.

The Commissioner stated that there was a great deal of uncertainty of how authority would translate once the Act was operational and there had been discussion of how Forces would be tasked and the CoLP was awaiting a response to this query. The Force was already working with the shadow form of the Economic Crime Command. The Remembrancer  undertook to brief the Chairman further on this process.

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which presented the financial position of the Force to the end of the first quarter 2013/14. It was noted the second quarter report would be received at the December meeting of the Committee.

The Assistant Commissioner noted that the latest year end forecast was for the Police to be within budget by £0.1m rather than the £0.4m indicated in the report. The budgeted grant income that was still subject to confirmation had reduced from £7.3 million to £2.7 million and therefore the financial risks were receding.

A Member queried as to the number of full time staff and the Commander of Operations replied that the numbers listed were partly affected by the differing charging models. The Commissioner referred to the Force’s relatively strong financial reserves at this time and indicated that it would be useful to articulate how these reserves were being set against specific financial risks.  He therefore intended to bring a report to a future Committee on this subject.

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which advised Members on the progress made in developing and applying the Health and Safety policy through the Force. 

The Commissioner noted that due to staff changes there had been a lack of continuity which had resulted in the non-completion of annual Corporation Risk Management documentation. He suggested health and safety management performance would now be monitored at the corporate level at the Force’s Performance Management Group to ensure that potential under reporting did not occur in the future. It was agreed a future monitoring report would be received by the Performance and Resource Management Sub Committee at its February meeting.

The Commissioner stated work was underway to ensure the Annual Certificate of Safety Assurance, which demonstrated the Force’s commitment to Health and Safety and was dated February 2012, would be completed by January 2014.

The Chamberlain and Commissioner of Police to be heard.

The Committee received verbal updates from the Chamberlain and the Commissioner which outlined the progress being made on the Force Accommodation project. 

The Chamberlain advised that detailed work had been undertaken to establish the occupancy of Guildhall Yard East and it was anticipated that Force staff would be able to move in next year.

It was noted that a Gateway 4 (detailed option appraisal) project report was due to be submitted to the next meeting of the Project Sub Committee and Finance Committee.

The Commissioner advised that, due to the Force’s available reserves and the increased pressure across CoL budgets, it would be appropriate for the Force to contribute some funds to the costs of the programme management.  The Commissioner added that reserves were approximately £15 million, and Members and officers discussed the robust reserve methodology that had been developed by the Force. It was noted that the proposed contribution to the Accommodation project would be approximately £1 million phased over 3 years. The contribution would be specifically for the development of operational requirements associated with the accommodation strategy rather than for the delivery of the accommodation itself.  The Chamberlain welcomed this partnership approach to funding. 

Members agreed with the proposal noting the Commissioner’s previous comments under item 8 that a report would be prepared to articulate the strategy for Police reserves.

To receive a report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report which updated Members on action taken by the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman since the last meeting of the Committee. Approval had been granted under section 60 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 for the mutual aid deployment of CoLP officers to Northern Ireland to assist in parades policing.

Members queried as to how many officers from the Force were deployed to which it was advised 30 officers had been sent in two tranches.

Questions were raised as follows-

In response to a query from a Member on the recent coverage of the cost of the performing rights licenses held by Police forces, the Commissioner advised that the cost incurred by the Force for the licence was in the region of £1,700. He felt that that the license, which allowed staff to listen to the radio in the workplace, was important to maintain morale in the workplace and the Chamberlain in consultation with the Town Clerk undertook to circulate details of which other City departments or services were paying fees to the Performing Rights Society for performing rights licenses and the associated cost.

A Member asked the Force to explain how the communications strategy for the Force operated, and how broad its social media reach was. The Commander of Operations clarified the existing Force Twitter accounts and Members observed that it was important for residents and businesses to be able to receive CoLP information quickly, which could be done through various Force Twitter feeds. The Chairman suggested, and it was agreed, that a report would be brought to a future meeting of the Committee to outline the Force’s criteria and policies for communicating with key audiences using social media, provide an update on the development of apps, and what impact these communications tools were having in helping to reduce crime.

The Chairman queried as to how the 20 mph speed limit in the City would be enforced to which the Commander of Operations advised that speed cameras would be used, further enforcement supported by the implementation of the speed limit in other boroughs, self-enforcement, and other methods could be employed if needed. It was noted that new speed limit within in the City would not be operational for another 8-12 months.

The following items of urgent business were raised –

The Chairman reminded of upcoming events of interest to Members of the Committee including the Police Committee workshops, Force commendation ceremonies,  the next meeting of the Safer City Partnership and the Police Committee Dinner.

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.

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 1 of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item No                    Exempt Paragraphs        

15                                3

16                                3

17                                3

18                                3

19                                3

20                                3

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which updated Members on the work undertaken to implement the Income Generation Strategy presented to the Committee in January 2012.

To consider a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner of Police which sought to grant consent for the Force to pursue a collaboration request in accordance with the Police Act 1996 in respect to the provision of driver training.

The Commissioner of Police to be heard.

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

Questions were raised in respect of the following –

Force deployment to Northern Ireland during the parades policing season.

Investigations relating to City of London Police officers.

There were no items of urgent business.