Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Doug Barrow and Deputy Keith Knowles.

There were none.

Order of the Court of Common Council, 19 April 2012, appointing the Committee and approving its Terms of Reference (to be tabled).

The Order of the Court of Common Council 19 April 2012 appointing the Committee and setting its Terms of Reference was received.

To elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 29.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No.29. The Town Clerk read a list of Members eligible to stand and Henry Pollard, being the only Member who expressed his willingness to serve, was duly elected as Chairman of the Committee for the ensuring year.

To elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30.

The Committee proceeded to elect a Deputy Chairman in accordance with Standing Order No. 30. Simon Duckworth, as the immediate past Chairman, in Common Council and willing to serve, was accordingly declared as the Deputy Chairman for the ensuing year.

Vote of Thanks to the Past Chairman

Deputy Joyce Nash paid tribute to Simon Duckworth, the immediate past Chairman.

resolved UNANIMOUSLY:

          That at the conclusion of his four year term of office as Chairman of the Police Committee, his colleagues wish to express to

SIMON D’OLIER DUCKWORTH, DL

          their sincere thanks and appreciation for his most exceptional dedication to the work of the Police Committee.  

          SIMON has fostered a positive environment for change which has brought about a more modern and dynamic form of policing governance. One key milestone was the introduction of two members from outside the Common Council, thus furthering the Committee’s ability to represent and engage with our business and resident communities. He was also instrumental in driving forward a more rigorous and structured system to monitor and scrutinise the performance of the Force through the creation of more focused and effective Sub-Committees.

HE has provided the Committee with a consistent, reasoned and visionary strategic direction. He played an essential role in the two most recent senior appointments made at the Force, thus shaping the new style of leadership needed to secure the continued delivery of excellent policing services to the Square Mile and the nation. This very aim has been a foremost theme of his Chairmanship, despite the financial and operational challenges faced by the police service during in this testing year for London.

IN this regard, utmost recognition should be given to Simon’s unparalleled commitment to ensure the City remained at the heart of the national policing agenda. His unfailing endeavours to argue the City’s

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 16 March 2012 (copy attached).

          The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 16 March 2012 were approved and agreed as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

(1)EDHR(p2) – The Lead Member advised that the statement of policy connected to the Force’s Quality of Service and Equality, Diversity and Human Rights (EDHR) Strategy had now been published.

          The Chairman expressed his thanks on behalf of the Committee to Deputy John Barker, Vivienne Littlechild, Robert Merrett and Alderman Simon Walsh for their contributions over the past years now that their service on the Committee had come to an end.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning the appointment of Members to Sub-Committees and various other internal and external bodies for the ensuing year.

The Chairman reminded Members of the decision reached at the January meeting of the Committee, where it was agreed that the Sub-Committees should each comprise five Members with the option of co-opting a further person, so as to help spread the workload more evenly among Members. With this in mind, he also made reference to the previous convention that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Police Committee sat on each of the Sub-Committees, commenting that, whilst it was of course appropriate to maintain the ability for them to attend every meeting,  they should not be automatic Members of each Sub-Committee.

In terms of membership, the Town Clerk had received expressions of interest from Members about which Sub-Committees they would be interested in serving on and, using these expressions of interest, a method of distributing the membership to ensure balanced Sub-Committees in terms of numbers and skills had been sought. With this in mind, the Chairman proposed the memberships for the three Sub-Committees and these were agreed.

The co-option of individuals to each Sub-Committee was also discussed, and it was proposed that, in light of her active and keen involvement as a Member of the Professional Standards & Complaints Sub-Committee in the recent past, Vivienne Littlechild would be an ideal candidate. It was consequently agreed that she be invited to sit on Sub-Committee as a co-opted Member.

With regard to the Performance & Resource Management Sub-Committee, the Chairman referenced discussions which had taken place in past few months in respect of ways to better share communication between the Police Committee and the Audit & Risk Management Committee. Given the Sub-Committee’s particular remit, it was suggested that

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner of Police setting out proposed arrangements and appointments for the Police Committee Special Interest Area (SIA) Scheme for 2012/13. The report also informed of key developments in each of the areas over the past year and provided an overview of the priorities for each special interest area over the next twelve months to assist the individual Lead Members to better scrutinise progress and measure success.

The suggestion to stop the Specialist Crime SIA from the Scheme was discussed and it was felt on balance that this area meshed well with that of Public Protection; it was subsequently agreed to merge the two areas with the Chairman taking the role of Lead Member.

The division of the Community Engagement portfolio so as to create a Lead Member each for both the residential community and the business community was discussed, with it agreed that Don Randall should continue as the Lead for the business community. He subsequently offered to cover both roles for the interim period until such time as a suitable Member for the community engagement role was identified and the division of work areas could be finalised.

In respect of the new Public Order & Road Safety SIA, Alderman Gowman indicated that she felt her role as the Committee’s representative on the Streets & Walkways Sub-Committee linked well and it was agreed that she should be the Lead Member.

A suggestion was made that Members should be reminded when the annual review was coming up so as to facilitate greater involvement in the preparation of the update reports; further, the reports should contain a list identifying those priorities which had been set out for the area the previous year so as to allow progress made to be measured more effectively.

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

With regard to appendix B, it was noted that no feedback from the Crime Prevention Association meeting had been recorded; the Assistant Commissioner commented that he was presenting at the next meeting and would ensure feedback was included.

RESOLVED: That the report be received and its content noted.

The Lead Member took the opportunity to mention a report that had recently been received by the Community & Children’s Services Committee concerning an inspection into safeguarding services which commended the City of London Police for their excellent and proactive work, with a Portsoken Ward Officer singled out for particular praise.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner outlining the recommendations made by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary following their recent report on the issue of Police Integrity and setting out the current position for the City of London Police in managing integrity issues through its Professional Standards Department.

A Member noted that the report stated that all instances of offers of hospitality should be recorded even if declined and expressed concern that this appeared excessive and impractical; he commented that he personally received a large number of invitations of which he was never even aware of, as they were dealt with by his Executive Assistant. Recording ever single offer declined would require a significant and disproportionate amount of time and he urged that common sense be applied.

          The register of hospitality on the Force’s website was also mentioned, with a Member commenting that it recorded only up until July 2011 and should be updated so as to ensure transparency. The Commissioner gave assurances that he personally reviewed a hard copy of the register on a monthly basis so knew that the information was kept up to date and scrutinised, and advised that he would look in to the issue and take appropriate action.

RESOLVED: That the report be received and its content noted.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner (copy attached).

          The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner detailing work undertaken to date in identifying areas for collaboration and shared services between the City of London Corporation and City of London Police.

          The Commissioner commented that in some areas collaboration and change was sought not in order to save money, but rather in order to enhance the effectiveness and resilience of the particular service.

RESOLVED: That:-

·      a shared service for Occupational Health be approved;

·      a pilot scheme for call-handling be endorsed; and

·      progress of work in the areas of Public Relations, Human Resources and Information Systems be noted.

          Committee Dates

          A Member made reference to the meeting scheduled for 21 September 2012, commenting that it clashed with a St Matthew’s Day event and asking if consideration could be given to rescheduling it given the number of Members who might be involved. The Chairman advised that he would be looking at this and a number of other future dates, as he was aware that a number of changes to dates may be appropriate.

There were no additional, urgent items of business for consideration.

MOTION: That under Section 100A 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 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

          Item No.                                                                       Exempt Paragraphs

                   15a                                                                                                 3

                   15b                                                                                                 3

                   16                                                                                                    7

                   17                                                                                                    4

                   18                                                                                                    7

                   19                                                                                                    3   

                   20                                                                                                    3

RESOLVED--That under Section 100A 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.

            Item No.                                                                     Exempt Paragraphs

                             15a                                                                                  3

                             15b                                                                                  3

                             16                                                                                     7

                             17                                                                                     4

                             18                                                                                     7

                             19                                                                                     3                                 

                             20                                                                                     3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2012 (copy attached).

The Committee approved the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2012.

To receive the note of the Leadership Team meeting held on 2 April 2012 (copy attached).

The Committee received the notes of the Leadership Team Meeting note of 2 March 2012.

Commissioner to be heard.

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

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner presenting an update on the City First Change Programme, summarising the current position and outlining the next steps.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

          The Committee received a report of the Commissioner providing an update on preparations made to date with regards the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the various Diamond Jubilee events.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee agreed a report of the Commissioner relative to the provision of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) capability.

Report of the City Surveyor (copy attached).

The Committee agreed a report of the City Surveyor concerning an agreement with Orange Personal Communications Services Limited.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.