Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from the Chairman Deputy Henry Pollard, Mark Boleat, Simon Duckworth, Alderman Alison Gowman and Helen Marshall.  From the City of London Police apologies were received from Commander Steve Head.

The Deputy Chairman welcomed Inspector James Wileman of the State of Jersey Police to the meeting who was attending as an observer whilst seconded to the City of London Police.

The Deputy Chairman took the opportunity to thank Xanthe Couture of the Town Clerk’s Department for her service to the Committee and its Sub Committees over the past year. He also welcomed Katie Odling of the Town Clerk’s Department who would be serving as the Clerk to the Committee and its three Sub Committees going forward.

There were no declarations of interest.

Matters Arising

Lift at Bishopgate Police Station – The Deputy Chairman informed Members that the lift had now been repaired and was now in working order.

Item 9 – Corporate Governance – Scheme of Delegations and Standing Orders

The Deputy Chairman remarked that there were concerns within the Force over existing pay scales and recruiting candidates to specialised posts and he would undertake to speak to the Chairman of Policy and Resources on the matter. It was also an issue that was seen to be affecting recruitment to other areas of the Corporation such as IT.

Item 10 – Barbican Highwalk CCTV

Members and officers discussed the update that had been circulated to Members on the matter by the Town Clerk. A Member remarked that the area in question was a public footpath and the installation of CCTV could assist in positively identifying individuals in instances of criminal offences. The Police stated they would support the installation of CCTV and Members were reassured that work was being done in this area and a report would be brought back to the Committee on the matter in the future.

Item 10 – Barbican event cancellation

The Commander of Operations informed Members that the event had been rescheduled, subject to the necessary risk assessment and approvals for temporary events, and a further meeting with the Town Clerk would take place. Members raised concerned that Barbican residents had not been adequately informed about the event cancellation and also the subsequent concert which took place, the Commander of Operations advised that due to the nature of the concert the Police had also received no advance notice.

Matters Arising

Item 14 – Charity collectors – The Deputy Chairman updated the Committee on the City’s policy and processes on instances of aggressive street charity collectors, which had been raised at the last meeting of Performance and Resource Management Sub Committee. Members agreed the City’s policy and monitoring in this area was sufficient and the Commander of Operations advised the number of complaints receive were low, and it was not an issue of concern for which more action taken by the City was required.

Matters Arising

The Deputy Chairman informed Members that given the increasing work of the Economic Crime Board, at the next Police Committee meeting the Sub Committee would be recommended to hold four meetings a year instead of three.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk which updated Members on the progress of outstanding reports and actions to be taken.

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

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police which updated Members on recent community engagement activities, community priorities and forthcoming events.

The Deputy Chairman advised that the Chairman of Policy had offered the expertise of the Department of Economic Development to support the Police’s work in undertaking surveys of the business community.

With regard to supporting beggars to gain assistance, the Deputy Chairman queried that an information card produced by the City’s Department of Community and Children’s Services, which provided contact details for support services, be recirculated to new Members of the Court of Common Council.

The Commissioner asked Members whether the Community Engagement Update would be more effective and informative if received as a quarterly report to the Committee, and this would provide the opportunity to include updates on the meetings the Force held across the City’s wards in a more appropriate timescale. Members agreed with this proposal and it was resolved the report would be received at every other meeting of the Committee, and this process would be reviewed at the meeting in April 2015.

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

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received an update from the Assistant Commissioner on the Force’s work in Equality, Diversity and Human Rights (EDHR) areas.

The Assistant Commissioner noted that the future report would be brought to the Committee which outlined a full evaluation of the Disability Equality Standard.

The results of the Force Equality Survey were discussed, and the Assistant Commissioner stated the survey results provided insight into what measures the Force could be implementing to improve equalities within the workplace. A Stonewall Equality Index delivery plan would be included as part of a future EDHR update. This would include costs of implementing Stonewall Index measures that would be defined at the next Force Quality Service/EDHR Board meeting attended by the Police Committee Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Lead Member.

There was also work underway within the Force to re-launch the LGBT support group, for which a volunteer had come forward. 

A Member queried the support and services available for Force staff that may have mental health concerns and the Assistant Commissioner replied that the Occupational Health Service gathered information on trends and staff numbers affected by mental health issues and provided support in this area. Members requested a monitoring report on the numbers of Force staff who had mental health and stress issues, and it was noted the Director of Corporate Services would produce updates in these areas received in the HR Monitoring Report at the next Performance and Resource Sub Committee.

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

There were no updates.

To receive a report of the Chamberlain.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain which informed Members that the Accommodation programme was making good progress.

The Deputy Chairman queried the progress being made regarding plans for the firing range and the Commissioner advised that the matter was under discussion and all options were being considered, such as collaboration within other forces and other suppliers, and possible outcomes could include that the Firearms range would be a bespoke or revenue costed service.

Members remarked that the delivery of Wood Street required a strong team of consultants to ensure that it was developed to ensure the best operational use was achieved whilst remaining with the parameters of the English Heritage Schedule. The Commissioner informed Members that at this stage it was likely that Wood Street would support and house the custody unit.

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

There were no questions.

The following urgent items of business were raised –

Commendation ceremonies

The Deputy Chairman remarked that the Force commendation ceremonies were the highlight of the year and gave Members the opportunity to learn of the accomplishments of Force officers and civilian staff and strongly encouraged Members to attend future ceremonies as they arose.

The Deputy Chairman requested that citations made regarding the officers presented at the most recent commendation ceremony be circulated to Members and the Town Clerk undertook to do so.

Force mobile working

A Member queried if the Force could, when possible, arrange a demonstration of the mobile working IT tools officers would be using to a future meeting of the Committee, such as mobile printers.

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.

RESOLVED – 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

10a)                                         3 & 7

10b)                                         3

10c)                                         7

11                                            7

12                                            3

13                                            3

14                                            3

15                                            7

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided an overview of the Force’s response and capability in policing the night time economy.

To consider a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner of Police which sought approval to proceed with the preferred vendor for the design and planning phase for Force mobile working.

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee receive a report of the Commissioner of Police which provided Members with an update and overview of the Force IT Modernisation Programme.

To consider a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner of Police which sought approval for several aspects of the Know and Action Fraud transfer agreement.

Commissioner to be heard.

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

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.