Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Tijs Broeke, Simon Duckworth and Deborah Oliver. The Town Clerk noted that Deputy Henry Pollard would be leaving the meeting at midday.

There were no declarations.

To consider the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 5 June 2020.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 5 June 2020 be approved, subject to the following amendments:

·         Nick Bensted-Smith having sent apologies at Item 1 (Apologies).

·         Graeme Biggar being noted as Director General of the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) at Item 5 (Chairman’s Public Updates).

·         Reference to the Away Day at Item 5 (Chairman’s Public Updates) be amended to the July 2020 meeting of the Board.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

Members considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner regarding outstanding references and the following points were made.

30/2019/P – CyberGriffin Evaluation Report

·         The Deputy Chief Executive noted that the issue of carry-forward of funding had yet to be resolved and that a substantive update would be provided at the July 2020 meeting.

31/2019/P – Road Safety Figures and 32/2019/P – Road Danger Reduction Plan

·         The Special Interest Area (SIA) Member noted that she was content with the progress made on these two references and that a report was due in July 2020.

34/2019/P – Review of new scrutiny body

·         In response to a question, the Commissioner agreed to confirm whether the Independent Advisory and Scrutiny Group (IASG) had met during COVID-19.

3/2020/P – Review of Terms of Reference

·         Members were mindful the recent rollover of terms until April 2021 due to COVID-19 and RESOLVED, that it be recommended to the Court of Common Council that changes to maximum term limits should take effect from that date, rather than July 2020.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

The Chairman to be heard.

The Chairman was heard in public session and made the following points.

Police Authority Member Briefings

·         The Chairman welcomed the attendance of over 30 Members of the Court of Common Council at an online briefing on 18 June 2020 with the Commissioner on equality, diversity and inclusion in the City of London Police, and noted that a second briefing was scheduled for 26 June 2020, following which a read-out of both briefings would be issued to the Court.

Home Affairs Select Committee – MacPherson Review: 20 Years On

·         The Chairman noted that the Select Committee had announced earlier that month that its inquiry into the MacPherson Review: 20 Years On would be resumed shortly.

Operation TAMAR

·         The Chairman noted that both he and the Deputy Chairman received daily updates from the Commissioner regarding the Force’s response to COVID-19 (Op TAMAR).

City of London Police Authority Informal Workshops

·         The Chairman concluded by noting that he and the Deputy Chairman had been holding a series of informal workshops with the Deputy Chief Executive and Commissioner to discuss joint activities between the Force and Authority, such as Special Interest Areas and governance structures e.g. the format and terms of references of the Board’s committees. Members would be given full oversight of any proposed changes in due course.  

The Commissioner and Chief Officers to be heard.

The Commissioner was heard in public session and the following points were made.

Reading Terrorist Incident

·         The Commissioner noted the minute of silence held earlier at 10.00am for victims of the terrorist incident in Reading on 21 June 2020, adding that it was a stark reminder of the threat of terrorism in the UK. The incident was being investigated by Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, and the Force had reviewed its current security plans in light of the incident.

Operation TAMAR

·         The Commissioner reported that sickness levels across the Force remained low. Across the City, there was a slow re-opening of businesses taking place, with around 260 premises including café, retail and pubs offering offsales reopened. New Change remained broadly closed for business. Intelligence suggested that many businesses were working towards reopening in September 2020.

Public Order

·         There has been further protests in support of Black Lives Matter on the weekend of 20/21 June, with no significant public order issues reported. Members were asked to note that since the advent of protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, it was estimated that 220,000 persons had engaged in protest in the UK with minimal arrests made. The Force did face a challenge in policing protests given that protesting in groups contravened COVID-19 guidance on distancing.

National Lead Force

·         The Commissioner reported that he had participated in a call with the Home Secretary on 15 June 2020 that had included the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and representatives from National Police Chiefs Council. Topics under discussion included the impact of COVID-19 on the City and the national issue of fraud.

·         In terms of fraud, calls to Action Know Fraud had returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, and COVID-19 remained a significant methodology for fraudsters. Investment fraud and online sales fraud had also increased, although

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding the Draft Annual Report 2019/20 and the following points were made.

·         The Chairman invited Members to submit any detailed comments and typographical corrections to the Force via the clerk.

·         In response to comments, the Commissioner agreed to clarify wording around the report being produced in-house at no cost – this section was meant to note that the report had been produced without using an expensive external agency option. The Commissioner also undertook to cross-reference the statistics quoted within the report with other reporting made to the Board, noting that any disjoint was likely due to more up-to-date figures being included in recent reports.

·         In response to further comments, the Commissioner undertook to review whether Stop & Search could be usefully referenced within the report, and the reason behind sexual offences being recorded in a variety of disparate columns within the report rather than as a coherent set.

·         The Commissioner also agreed to consider whether the detection rate could be included in the report alongside the crime rate, the latter of which was a reporting obligation.

·         Given some of the proposed amendments were significant, it was agreed that authority be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman to approve the finalised report ahead of its submission to the Court of Common Council in July 2020.

RESOLVED, that subject to the comments made, authority be delegated to the Town Clerk to approve, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, the Annual Report 2019/20 for submission to the Court of Common Council.  

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a HMICFRS Inspection Update report of the Commissioner and the following points were made.

·         The Chairman noted that on-site HMICFRS inspections had ceased during lockdown. He felt that the progress made on recommendations outlined within the report was healthy, with those outstanding due for completion within six months.

·         The Commissioner noted that the purpose of the report was to provide Members with assurance that the Force took HMICRS recommendations seriously. On-site inspections were not expected to recommence before the end of 2020.

·         In response to a comment, the Commissioner reassured Members that work to address PEEL 2018/19 Recommendation (2) Feedback from vulnerable victims had been refocused following its extension to June 2020 and that concrete progress would take place imminently.

·         In response to a comment regarding the collection of equality data (Crime Data Integrity Inspection 2019 Recommendation (5)) the Commissioner replied that the Force had started collecting data around age and gender, and software and procedures were being updated to allow the collection of data regarding race and disability.

·         In terms of Integrated Offender Management Recommendation 9 and further inputs for safeguarding the ‘voice of the child’, the Commissioner agreed to provide feedback to the Lead Member outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Policing Plan 2019/20 – Performance against measures for end Q4 and the following points were made.

·         The Commissioner noted that the increase in crime was disappointing although cautioned against direct comparison with national figures due to local variations. Members were asked to note that violent crime was static and that the crime trend immediately before COVID-19 had been plateauing. Increased crime figures were also due in part to the vacancy rate carried by the Force which were now being recruited to. Lastly, the Force’s detection rate was healthy.

·         A Lead Member commented that whilst offences for 2019/20 appeared to be down, this was due to specialist activity by the Force. In reply, the Commissioner noted that whilst the Force was in receipt of funding from Transport for London to undertake Roads Policing measures, it had lacked officers to undertake that activity due to the vacancy rate.

·         A Member expressed disappointment over the number of cycling incidents (65 in 2018/19 vs 102 in 2019/20) given the level of concerns raised by the public regarding cycling. The Commissioner again noted that this was an area that has been adversely affected by the vacancy rate.

·         The Chairman welcomed the ASB Highlight Report provided as an appendix.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Human Resources Monitoring Information – 1 October 2019 – 31 March 2020 and the following points were made.

·         The Commissioner noted that the Force was giving added focus to reviewing the reasons given by officers and staff for leaving the Force.

·         The Chairman noted that he would welcome an update on how quickly the vacancy rate could be closed now the Force had resumed recruitment, and that future reporting include the level of staff and officer attrition broken down by department and by job level.

·         In response to a comment regarding Force BAME officers and staff, the Commissioner noted that the Force was handicapped by the fact it had not recruited probationers since 2010. The challenge was now to improve BAME recruitment and retention. Of the March 2020 probationary intake, one-third were BAME background and the scheduled July 2020 intake had a similar percentage of BAME background.

·         In response to a request, the Commissioner agreed to amend future reports to ensure tribunal data related to those lodged during the year, closed during the year, and those that remained ‘live’ during the year.

·         The Commissioner concluded by noting that Force staff would be encouraged to engage with the City of London Corporation staff survey.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management.

Members considered an update report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management (City of London Corporation) regarding Internal Audit and the following points were made.

·         In response to a question, the Head of Audit and Risk Management confirmed that the Force was continuing to review whether Procurement Contract Management should sit with the Force or with the Authority – it was an issue that could usefully be included in discussions around shared services.

·         In response to a question, the Head of Audit and Risk Management confirmed that work was ongoing on Transform Phase 2 with a report due in August 2020.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Chamberlain.

Members considered a report of the City of London Police Pensions Board – Review of Activities for the period 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020 and the following points were made.

·         A Member who served as Chairman of the Police Pensions Board noted that his term as Chairman was coming to an end and that an Employee Member of the Board was due to become Chairman, as per the Police Pension Regulations 2015. An Employer Member would become Deputy Chairman. Candidates had made expressions of interest for both roles.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Speeding Enforcement via Speed Cameras

In response to a question, the Commissioner noted that officers had been out on the ground during lockdown to enforce speed limits and statistics in support of that could be provided outside of the meeting. Staff tasked with processing camera activations had been working from home, with some limitations. A Member noted that a Detective Superintendent from the Metropolitan Police Roads and Transport Policing Command had issued a Tweet that she would refer to the Force reporting a 281% on-year increase in speeding offences and queried whether this increase would correspond with offences in the City.

Delegated Authority – Capital Budget

The Town Clerk noted that the Board had considered the Force’s Provisional Revenue and Capital Budgets at its February 2020 meeting, and that some further work was required to finalise the Capital Budget ahead of its submission to the City’s Resource Allocation Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED, that authority be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman to consider the Force’s finalised Capital Budget ahead of submission to the Resource Allocation Sub (Policy and Resources) Committee in July 2020.

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 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 I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To consider the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2020.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2020 be approved.

Joint Report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

Members considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner regarding non-public outstanding references.

The Chairman to be heard.

The Chairman was heard in non-public session.

The Commissioner and Chief Officers to be heard.

The Commissioner was heard in non-public session.

The Chief Executive and the Commissioner to be heard.

The Deputy Chief Executive provided an update on Shared Services.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding the Transform Programme, including an implementation plan.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a Gateway 2 report of the Commissioner regarding Body Worn Video Refresh.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a Gateway 5 Issue report of the Commissioner regarding HR Integrated Time Management and e-Expenses.

At this point of the meeting, two hours having elapsed, Members agreed to extend the meeting until all items of business had been considered, in line with Standing Order 40 of the Court of Common Council.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a Gateway 1/2/3/4 report of the Commissioner regarding the eDiscovery Project.

Joint report of the Director of the Built Environment and Commissioner.

Members considered a joint Gateway 4c report of the Director of the Built Environment and Commissioner regarding Secure City.

There were no non-public questions.

There were two items of other business – a late update report of the Commissioner regarding Mackey Review Recommendations, and a confidential item.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a late update report of the Commissioner regarding Mackey Review Recommendations.

The Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive were heard in confidential session.