Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

The Chairman welcomed Keith Bottomley to his first meeting of the Committee.

There were no declarations of interests.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the following meetings:

A Member asked whether the Committee would receive the final version of the Communications Plan. The Commissioner explained that this would be circulated to Members for information once it had been finalised.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2016 are approved as an accurate record, subject to the amendment of the word “could” to “would” in the final sentence of the third paragraph of Minute Item 4 (Outstanding References).

RESOLVED – That the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 2 December 2016 were noted.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk which set out Outstanding References from previous meetings.

The Commissioner explained that it would not be possible to provide the outcomes of the Barbican CCTV upgrade in January 2017, as work would still be ongoing. He explained that a report providing an update on this would be provided.

A Member commented that he had attended the Community Speedwatch event during the previous week, along with two other Members of the Court. The Member explained that those present had observed a marked change in behaviour from motorists once they noticed the presence of the Officers running the Speedwatch event. He asked whether it may be possible to purchase models of Police Officers and place these in areas where speeding was prevalent.

The Commissioner explained that this approach had been tried in other areas of the country, but was typically only effective in areas where high speeds were reached. He explained that the Force was investigating whether there was any infrastructure which could be installed to reduce speeding in the City, such as flashing speed notification signs.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner which provided an update on the Domestic Abuse Action Plan.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner which set out the Annual Review of Fees and Charges for 2016/17.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

a)     agrees to continue to operate at the 2015/16 rates, in parity with the Metropolitan Police Service.

b)     agrees to review the fees and charges and special service rates, subject to the Metropolitan Police Service figures for 2016/17 being approved through their appropriate Committee.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which advised Members of the eight charities which were proposed by the Chairman and Commissioner to receive grants from the Police Property Act Fund (the Fund) for 2016/17.

Members noted that, if grants continued to be made at the current rate, there would only be sufficient budget within the Fund to make grants for the next two years. Members discussed whether it may be appropriate to reduce the amount of grants which were made from the Fund, or to place a cap on the amount of any single donation. Members noted that some of these organisations may have begun to assume that they would continue to receive grant funding on an annual basis in perpetuity.

Following the discussion, Members agreed that donations should continue to be made at the current rate, but all recipients of grants should be advised that the Fund had a reducing amount of money available and should not rely on receiving further grants from the Fund.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

a)    Note the contents of the report; and

b)    Consider a one-off grant payment to the charities below:

                      i.        City of London Police Charity for Children (£2,500)

                    ii.        Royal Humane Society (£2,500)

                   iii.        Care of Police Survivors (£2,500)

                   iv.        First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (£1,500)

                    v.        Sheriffs’ Recorder’s Fund (£1,000)

                   vi.        Housing the Homeless Central Fund (£1,000)

                  vii.        JAN Trust (£1,000)

                viii.        Children’s Society (£1,000)

Report of the Director of the Built Environment. This report was considered and, in principle, approved by the Projects Sub-Committee on 23 November 2016, subject to further clarification being provided regarding the costs of actions to reach the next Gateway.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of the Built Environment in respect of the Eastern City Cluster Security Project.  Members noted that the report had been considered and approved, in principle, by the Projects Sub Committee of 23 November 2016, subject to further clarification being provided regarding the costs of actions to reach the next Gateway. 

The Chairman and Commissioner commented that it was vital that any proposals within the project were developed through close consultation with the City of London Police, including ensuring engagement at Chief Office level, to ensure that these proposals took appropriate account of the Police’s operational requirements.

Members also noted that it should not be necessary to seek a specific Anti-Terrorism Traffic Order (ATTRO) to cover the area, as there was an existing ATTRO which covered the whole City.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

A rota for the Special Interest Area Updates is attached.

Simon Duckworth explained to the Committee that the last meeting of the Economic Crime Board had been cancelled because the meeting would not have been quorate, although the agenda had, fortunately, only included items for information, rather than any decisions being required.

He also explained that economic crime had been a significant area of discussion at the most recent meeting of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and he could provide further information regarding this meeting during the non-public part of the meeting.

The Commissioner provided the Committee with an update regarding cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime, in particular the distinction between cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime. He explained that these were areas of crime which were growing significantly. As such, there was increasing funding to tackle these areas of crime, but it was also an area of increasing challenge.

Deputy Henry Pollard informed the Committee that HMIC’s national inspection of Counter Terrorism was due to commence in early 2017. He also informed the Committee that the Autumn PEEL effectiveness inspection had included a review of the extent to which the Police was meeting its obligation to the support the Strategic Policing Requirement and the finding had been that the Police’s response in this area was appropriate, with no concerns raised.

The Commissioner informed the Committee that the Home Office had indicated that they intended to add Economic Crime to the list of Strategic Policing Requirements.

A Member commented that it may be appropriate to amalgamate the Special Interest Areas for Anti-Social Behaviour & Community Engagement and for Public Order. The Chairman agreed that this should be considered when the SIA scheme was reviewed in May 2017.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and the Commissioner.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Chamberlain and the Commissioner which provided an update on the City of London Police (COLP) Medium Term Financial Plan up to 2019/20.

Members agreed that the proposed approach appeared to be appropriate, although there would continue to be significant challenges for the Police’s funding. Members commented that, if the funding situation did not improve, it may be necessary to consider ways in which the Corporation could increase its funding of the Police. Members noted that this issue may become particularly important once the Police’s reserves had been depleted. Members also commented that, given the Common Council elections in March 2017, it would be important that information of the Police’s funding position was included within the induction programme for new Members.

The Chamberlain explained that external consultants would be procured, funded by the Corporation, to evaluate future demand and identify if there were any areas where further efficiency savings could be found within the Police. It was anticipated that the initial proposals from this work should be available in Summer 2017.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

a)     notes the latest forecast outturn for 2016/17 of a deficit of £2.6m, funded by a drawdown in the Reserve to £1.5m.;

b)     notes the forecast budget deficit varying from £3.1m in 2017/18 to £5.9m in 2018/19 and £3.1m 2019/20 before mitigation;

c)     recommends to  the Court of Common Council the  relaxation of the reserve threshold of £4m and approve the use of reserves in 2016/17 totalling £2.6m and 2017/18 totalling £1.5m;

d)     agrees that the City Corporation should meet the revenue contribution to fund capital schemes already budgeted for in 2017/18 and 2018/19 of £1.4m and £1m respectively and that the additional headroom on business rate premium is applied to help meet the increased  budget pressures;

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk which advised Members of action taken by the Town Clerk under delegated authority or urgency, since the last meeting of the Committee, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, in accordance with Standing Order Nos. 41(a) and (b).

The decision taken was to approve, under the Business Travel Scheme, the Chairman’s travel to New York to attend the Financial Crimes and Cybersecurity Symposium on 16 and 17 November 2016.

The Chairman provided Members with information of the work undertaken as part of the visit. He explained that the visit had been extremely beneficial to himself and to the Commissioner in consolidating and strengthening relationships with colleagues in other Police forces around the world. The Chairman explained that the visit had demonstrated to him that the City of London Police was extremely highly regarded by other Police forces.

The Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee explained that he had been in New York at the same time as the Chairman of the Police Committee and suggested that, in future, it would be beneficial to seek to integrate international visits such as this to maximise the benefits.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

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 item(s) 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.

Items                                      Paragraph Numbers

15-26                                      3

Simon Duckworth provided an update on the Counter Terrorism Special Interest Area. Mr Duckworth also provided an update regarding the recent meeting of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting of the Police Committee held on 3 November 2016.

The non-public minutes of the Police Committee held on 3 November 2016 were approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the City Surveyor, Commissioner and Chamberlain. This report will be circulated separately.

The Committee considered and approved three joint reports of the Commissioner, City of London Police, the Chamberlain and the City Surveyor, which provided Members with a general update on the interlinked programmes within the Police Accommodation Strategy and sought approval for the next phases of work.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police which sought additional funding to reach the next Gateway of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP).

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police which set out the options to progress the project to create a national Fraudulent ID documents database.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Sub-Committee considered and approved a report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police which sought approval of a collaborative approach with a strategic partner to implement the Case, Custody, Crime and Intelligence Project.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee considered and approved a report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police in respect of procurement and funding for the Action and Know Fraud Centre.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee considered and approved a report which sought approval for the continued appointment of the existing provider of the Action Fraud National Fraud and Cyber Reporting Centre until the new Managed Service went live at the end of May 2017.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee noted a report of the Town Clerk which provided information of decisions taken under delegated authority since the Committee’s last meeting.

Commissioner to be heard.

The Commissioner provided an update on recent policing matters.

There were two questions.

Dates of future meetings

Future meetings of the Committee are scheduled for:

-       18 January 2017;

-       18 May 2017;

-       13 July 2017;

-       21 September 2017;

-       2 November 2017; and

-       15 December 2017.

There was one item of urgent business.