Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Mark Boleat, Simon Duckworth, Bob Duffield, and Deputy Keith Knowles.

Don Randall and Helen Marshall both declared a personal and prejudicial interest in respect of item 5 and consequently withdrew from the room at discussion of this item.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 2 November 2012 (copy attached).

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 2 November 2012 were approved.

To receive the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 2 November 2012 (copy attached).

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 2 November 2012 were received. The Town Clerk drew Members’ attention to an amendment to the minutes to reflect that the Force representatives at the meeting had been AC Ian Dyson and Hayley Williams and not those listed on page 7.

The Chairman commented on the importance of the area of professional standards in the wake of the publication of the Leveson Report, and a Member suggested that given this it might be appropriate for an annual monitoring report providing key statistics to come to the Grand Committee, alongside the existing arrangement of minutes coming for information. It was agreed that such a report should be submitted each summer to fit best with monitoring cycles, and it was also noted that the Sub-Committee maintained the ability to report any issues that arose to the full Police Committee whenever appropriate.

To receive the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 14 November 2012 (copy attached).

The public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 14 November 2012 were received.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk highlighting those outstanding actions identified in the minutes from previous meetings.

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

The Commander referenced the mention of Centre for the Protections of the National Infrastructure (CPNI) pilot scheme, advising that the pilot was currently on its last day and early indications were that it had been a success, with a further update to be provided in the New Year.

On the issue of suicides in the City, it was advised that the Force was now working jointly with the Samaritans in an effort to provide services and reach people in the workplace, which it was hoped would help alleviate some of the problems. It was noted that this work would be picked up by the new Health & Wellbeing Board.

The work of the Safer City Partnership was also referenced, and the Lead Member commented that he would like to see the direction of the Partnership’s work included in the report in future.

RECEIVED.

The Commissioner gave an update on the current position in respect of EDHR, advising that a number of officers had recently received specialist training concerning LGBT issues so that they were able to act as diversity advisers for operational work. The Force was also undertaking a stocktake to ascertain the level of training of all staff and identify potential for further learning, and a detailed equality impact assessment for the City First Programme was also being undertaken.

The EDHR Manager advised that she would shortly be arranging a training session for Police Committee members and would be in contact in due course.

RECEIVED.

The Town Clerk read out a statement submitted by the Deputy Chairman, updating Members on his Special Interest Area work in the field of counter-terrorism, detailing the Force’s engagement in weekly security briefings at New Scotland Yard and emphasising the benefit of having officers embedded and seconded in various security branches, which ensured that the City continually played its part and was up to speed with all relevant measures. Members were also advised of the regular contact that both he and the Commissioner enjoyed at Director-level with Thames House.

The Lead Member for Health & Safety also took the opportunity to advise of regular meetings he held with the Assistant Commissioner.

It was noted that fuller updates would be provided for each Area as part of the annual report in the spring.

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk notifying Members that the terms of office of the two external members on the Committee were due to expire in May 2013 and detailing the options surrounding the recruitment process with a view to filling the vacancies.

All Members present voiced their praise for the ability and commitment that the two current external Members possessed.

The Committee considered the proposals for a recruitment process and whether this was the most appropriate way forward, bearing in mind that the two incumbents were eligible to re-apply, and that it was possible for them to be re-appointed without the need for a selection process. This was particularly significant seeing the strong skills and performance which the incumbents had demonstrated over the past four years.

Members consequently agreed that a Panel should be appointed to consider, in the first instance, whether the two incumbents should be re-appointed. The panel should also be asked to consider the possibility of staggering their terms of office to ensure a degree of continuity in the future.

The EDHR Manager commented that the involvement of external Members should be considered as an opportunity for the Committee to reach out to all sectors of society. She reminded the Committee of its commitments to show due regard to providing equality of opportunities to those in minority communities.

RESOLVED: That:-

a)    a Panel should be appointed to consider, in the first instance, whether the two incumbents should be re-appointed, including the possibility of staggering their terms of office;

b)    the Police Committee Membership Scheme be amended in accordance with Appendix A (paragraph 19 in particular), to reflect necessary changes to the membership of the selection panel; and

c)    a Member of the Police Committee be appointed as third member of the selection panel,

Report of the Town Clerk (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk informing Members of applications for grants from the Police Property Act Fund during 2012 and asking the Committee to consider each request, in addition to four further grants suggested by individual Members.

Given previous discussions around the issues of begging and suicide in the City, Members suggested that it might also be appropriate to aware grants to Broadway and the Samaritans to assist them with their work, and these were agreed in addition to those grants proposed in the report.

RESOLVED: That Members:-

(a)   note the contents of the report;

(b)   approve one-off grants of £1,000 to each of the following charities:-

i.      The Royal Humane Society: (CC Reg. No. 231469);

ii.     Supporting Families after Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM): (CC Reg. No. 1000598);

iii.    City of London Widows and Orphans Fund: (CC Reg. No. 208175);

iv.    First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (CC Reg. No. 249360);

v.    Alongside You (CC Reg. No. 1129336)

vi.    City of London Police Charity for Children (CC. Reg. 294362)

vii.   The Hampstead Marie Curie Hospice (CC Reg. No. 207994)

viii. Broadway Homelessness and Support (CC Reg. No. 274403)

ix.    Samaritans (CC Reg. No. 219432)

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner summarising the findings of the recent joint HM Inspectorate of Prisons and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary unannounced inspection of the City Police’s custody suites at Snow Hill and Bishopsgate Police Stations, and detailing the proposed response.

The Assistant Commissioner commented that he was generally pleased with the report and, whilst there was of course room for improvement, it was important to note that the standard of inspection had been very high and it had of course been an unannounced visit. He also noted that a number of other custody suites across the country had been forced to close as a result of these inspections. It was advised that a number of the recommendations made by HMIC had already been implemented and those outstanding actions relating to the fabric of the building would be addressed by the new estate, as the high cost of refitting some cells and creating an exercise yard was prohibitive in advance of the anticipated accommodation change.

A Member, also the Lead Member for Custody Visiting, sought clarity over the £300,000 figure quoted to implement the recommended building changes, asking if a breakdown of costs could be provided. She suggested that there must be some interim works which could be done given that it was likely to be some time before the new police estate was ready, particularly with reference to the installation of call bells accessible to detained persons in wheelchairs. It was suggested that the possibility of installing lowered call bells in just one or two cells be explored as a cheaper interim solution, and the Assistant Commissioner undertook to look in to the costs which would be associated with this, and also to provide a further more general report in due course updating on progress made

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner detailing key statistics in relation to road traffic casualties and collisions and identifying those measures in place to mitigate the risks of these, as well as including updates around the Force’s partnership working and outcomes.

It was noted that the volume of collisions in the City had risen in recent years and, with the number of people cycling in the City expected to continue to increase, addressing the issue was of high importance. Reference was also made to the role played by careless pedestrians, and issues around motorcycles, which were involved in a high proportion of accidents but not the responsible party in the majority of cases, and so were vulnerable to irresponsible behaviour by other road users. Both enforcement and education would be key in improving road safety, with a view to achieving a long-term impact.

Reference was made to Operation Atrium, which had seen 482 fixed penalty notices issued in October alone and resulted in around 50% of those issued notices attending the Force’s educational programmes as a result, demonstrating the good effect such initiatives could achieve. The need to become less insular and better join-up with national structures to pick up on learning and best practice was also stressed, as was the importance of partnership working, particularly with the Corporation, to do more to deliver a holistic approach to the issue.

In respect of joined-up working with the Corporation, it was advised that in mid-January all key officers would be attending half-day workshop and that a number of areas where duplication or gaps existed had already been identified, which could be targeted or officers could be co-located so as to improve delivery and drive fundamental changes. A report similar to the one presented today would also be going to

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 2 the Force’s net revenue expenditure was £1.2million (5%) under profile.

The Director of Corporate Services reminded Members that the budget was predicated upon a transfer of £3.8million from reserves and so this meant that the forecast was in reality an overspend of around £2million. In addition, the Government had advised that further funding cuts of around 2% were expected in 2014/15, and so in this context the current budget was prudent and did not represent an underspend, despite initial appearances.

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

              13a                                                                                          3

              13b                                                                                   1,2 & 5

              13c                                                                                          4

              14                                                                                            7

              15                                                                                            3

              16                                                                                            3

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

13a                                                                                  3

13b                                                                           1, 2 & 5

13c                                                                                 4

14                                                                                   7

15                                                                                   3

16                                                                                    3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2012 (copy attached).

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2012 were approved, subject to the amendment of a typographical error at item 11.

To receive the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2012 (copy attached).

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2012 were received.

To receive the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2012 (copy attached).

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 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 advising Members of the various current initiatives undertaken by the Force in order to maximise income generation.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner relative to the procurement of uniforms.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.