Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy Keith Knowles and Deputy Richard Regan.

The Chairman took the opportunity to welcome Ian Dyson in his new role as Assistant Commissioner and also to formally thank the outgoing Assistant Commissioner, Frank Armstrong, for all his hard work and dedication over the past twelve years.

There were none.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 (copy attached).

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 were approved and agreed as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

(1) National Police Air Service (p4) – it was noted that the Section 22a agreement had now been signed.

(2) Charity Collections (p6) – The Chairman advised that the he had agreed for the Committee’s resolution to the Policy & Resources Committee to be deferred, as the regulatory body for street charity collections had recently released some new guidance which would need to be taken in to account. Accordingly, the resolution would now be considered along with an accompanying report in November.

          To receive the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 (copy attached).

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 were received.

Presentation and report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee received a report and presentation of the Commissioner providing information on the new City of London Police Application (App), which had been the subject of some concerns at the previous meeting, specifically with regard to the legal issues surrounding the App.

The Commissioner provided a short summary of the App’s functions and the ways in which it worked, stressing the importance to modern Forces of utilising social media effectively. Whilst the features of the App were not anticipated to be of major operational use, the element which helped to give an indication to the Force of crowd density and movement could prove useful in crowd control situations, and the ability to use the App to communicate information and updates to people would assist in enhancing the Force’s community engagement. With regard to queries as to the funding of the App, the Commissioner confirmed that its development had been met entirely through a European Commission grant and the Force had not had to contribute any costs themselves. It was clarified that the development of a similar App for Android devices had not been budgeted although it would be considered should it prove a success.

Reassurances were also given as to the legal basis for the mechanism by which the App collected data, with the Comptroller & City Solicitor’s Department having been satisfied that clear permission requests and safeguards were in place and the App having also satisfied stringent European Commission standards and safeguarding checks by the London School of Economics.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

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

The Lead Member for Equality Diversity and Human Rights (EDHR) commented positively on the reference to recent dialogue between the Force and the Independent Advisory Group, highlighting the strong links between community engagement and EDHR issues.

A Member asked if the Force could provide any information as to feedback received around the fraud prevention advice given on hard to reach, vulnerable and elderly groups, and the Assistant Commissioner undertook to come back to the Member in due course.

In response to a Member’s query regarding distribution of emails with information about serious incidents in the City, the Assistant Commissioner advised that it had been noted that different departments operated slightly different distribution lists when disseminating information, resulting in some individuals not receiving all relevant messages. However, he reassured Members that the Force was currently in the process of centralising all contact lists in to a single database so as to resolve this issue.

The Chairman commented that he had received a number of complaints regarding the prevalence of aggressive begging in the City and asked for a report to be prepared for a future meeting outlining what policies and targets were currently in place and what was being done to combat the issue, particularly in conjunction with the City Corporation and Broadway charity. The Assistant Commissioner gave assurances that the Force had been working hard in this area in the past few months and undertook to submit a report as requested.

RECEIVED.

The Lead Member took the opportunity to thank Beryl Cooper, the former Project Officer in the EDHR unit, for all her hard work over the years, and wished her well in her new role. The Member also expressed her gratitude to the outgoing Assistant Commissioner Frank Armstrong for his contribution in the past year since taking over the EDHR portfolio.

The EDHR Manager commented that good progress was currently being made, with the imminent introduction of equality impact assessments a key step. The Chairman commented that, given the importance of the area, it might be useful to have report to a forthcoming meeting updating the Committee on progress made to date and setting out key developments, which the Commissioner undertook to provide.

RECEIVED.

To confirm the appointment of Alderman Neil Redcliffe as the co-opted Member to the Economic Crime Board.

The appointment of Alderman Neil Redcliffe as the co-opted Member to the Economic Crime Board was confirmed.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk concerning an invitation from the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime for a representative of the City of London Police Committee to take part in the “MOPAC Challenge”, a mechanism whereby the Deputy Mayor scrutinises the work of the Commissioner.

Following discussion, the Committee agreed to seek further information on what this would entail and receive the report at this time.

RECEIVED.

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

The Committee considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner outlining the feedback received as part of HMIC’s integrity re-inspection and setting out the various mechanisms and systems the Force proposed to introduce in response to the recommendations made.

A Member expressed concern at the proposal to record all declined offers of hospitality, commenting that he personally received a large number of invitations which were declined and would require a disproportionate amount of time to record. He assumed that the Commissioner’s office would be just as likely to receive a high number of requests and thus, hoped that common sense could be applied to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

With reference to the Member’s comments, the Commissioner recognised that the the Force and the Corporation operated in an environment which was very different from other places. He accepted that issue needed to be managed sensibly, although he felt strongly that it was important to keep a record of all invitations to ensure as much transparency as possible. 

RESOLVED: That the measures outlined in the report being introduced by the Force and the Committee to strengthen the mechanisms to monitor and manage issues concerning police integrity be noted and endorsed.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner providing Members with an update on changes to the City of London Police ACPO portfolios following a Force review and also providing information regarding ongoing ACPO recruitment plans.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner setting out details of the new Strategic Policing Requirement and proposing the introduction of a strategic framework and Working Group to assist the Force in evidencing and challenging itself against the requirement.

The Commissioner emphasised the importance of ensuring a structured system was in place to guarantee that the Force was fully compliant with the requirement, recommending that a Lead Member be appointed to assist given the importance attached. Given the Deputy Chairman’s experience in the area having served on the Force’s Protective Services Group for several years, the Commissioner suggested that it might be appropriate for him to be appointed to the role, and Simon Duckworth confirmed that he would be happy to do so.

RESOLVED: That:-

·      the Force’s proposal to set up a Strategic Policing Requirement Working Group to assess and direct activity be endorsed; and,

·      Simon Duckworth be appointed Lead Member for the SPR Working Group, which will serve to involve the Police Authority in providing independent scrutiny and challenge.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner providing quarterly information on financial performance. Members were advised that at the end of quarter 1 the Force’s net revenue expenditure was £1.359 M (9%) over profile.

The Director of Corporate Services advised that the overspend was due to an issue concerning the recording of activity related to Dedicated Security Post funding which had since been rectified; a revised form had now been submitted which should see the correct level of funding being received. The Chamberlain took the opportunity to inform Members that the anticipated draw-down from reserves this year was now £1.5 M, down from £3.8 M, which was of course a positive development.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner setting out proposed annual adjustments to the fees and charges at Bernard Morgan House.

A Member suggested that it might be appropriate to study the variances in rates at budget hotels in the area on different days, which altered in relation to demand. He proposed that, should it transpire that occupancy rates at Bernard Morgan House fluctuated similarly on certain days, it could be worth altering the fees and charges on certain days so as to become more competitive and increase occupancy rates. The Director of Corporate Services thanked the Member for his suggestion and advised he would explore whether or not there was sufficient data to allow for a comparative analysis and undertake this if so.

RESOLVED: That Members note the content of the report and approve the increase in

charges by 2.6% with effect from 1st November 2012.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner regarding the schedule of fees and charges for the financial year 2012/13.

RESOLVED: That Members agree the revised charges as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

(N.B. Please see also Non-Public Appendix - Item 22 on the Non-Public

agenda)

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner providing a revised assessment of certain risk profiles within the Force’s Risk Register, specifically in relation to Economic Crime.

A Member expressed concern that the report appeared to suggest that the Force’s risk register was retrospective, observing that this would be of no use whatsoever given that the purpose of risk registers was to help identify and mitigate future risks. He also noted that there was no reference made to addressing the issue of staff morale, which he had queried at the last meeting.

The Assistant Commissioner clarified that the reference to ‘retrospective’ aspect of the register in fact referred to the action taken over the past year to mitigate rather than the risk register itself and apologised for the confusion. He also undertook to address the morale issue.

A Member suggested that an outstanding references report be introduced by the Town Clerk in an effort to ensure such items were highlighted in future and not missed, which the Chairman agreed would be a sensible course of action.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner advising Members of progress made in developing and applying health and safety policy throughout the Force during the period 2011/12.

The Director of Corporate Services advised that two issues at the Force currently sat on the Audit & Risk Management Committee’s health and safety “top ten” risk register, these being an issue relating to fire risks in certain police buildings and another regarding airwave radio coverage in the Liverpool Street Station area. Assurances were given that good progress was being made in resolving these issues.

A Member expressed concern that this information had not been provided in the executive summary of the report, stressing that a separate verbal introduction to every report was neither desirable nor should it be necessary. He further noted that reference was made to some sixteen actions for the Force to undertake which were at no point set out or explained, which was clearly not conducive to allowing efficient scrutiny to take place. It was also noted that there was no context or comparative numbers from other Forces or similar sized organisations provided to allow the Committee to judge whether or not performance was good or bad.

The Chairman asked the Force to take on board Members’ comments and bear them in mind when producing future reports.

RECEIVED.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

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.

Item No.                                                                     Exempt Paragraphs

              19a                                                                                          3

              19b                                                                                     1, 2 & 5

              20                                                                                            7

21                                                                                            4

22                                                                                            7

25                                                                                            1

RESOLVED: - That under Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business 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 as follows:-

Item No                                                                       Exempt Paragraphs

19a                                                                                             3

19b                                                                                         1, 2 & 5

20                                                                                               7

21                                                                                               4

22                                                                                               7

25                                                                                               1      

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 (copy attached).

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 were approved.

          To receive the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 (copy attached).

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 11 July 2012 were received.

Commissioner to be heard.

The Commissioner 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 providing an update on

progress made to date with the City First Change Programme.

Non-public appendix to Item No.14, report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The non-public appendix to Item No.14 was noted.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.