Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Alderman Ian Luder and Alderman Alison Gowman.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive a report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Town Clerk which updated Members on outstanding items arising from the last meeting.

Business Continuity-post ECIS

The Chairman remarked that there had been concerns around the Force’s IT provisions that would be addressed at the Police Committee meeting on 28^th February 2014.

A Member asked if the IT risk report received at the Force’s Risk Assurance Group would be presented to Members, and the Assistant Commissioner replied that this strategic risk was overseen as part of the Force’s corporate risk monitoring process included in the Force’s Risk Register received at Committee separately twice a year. The Chairman requested that it be received for information at the next relevant Sub Committee meeting, likely to be the September 2014 meeting.

RESOLVED ­– That the report be received its content noted.

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police which updated Members on the progress made in developing and applying Health and Safety policy throughout the Force since September 2013.

Following comments from the Chairman, the Town Clerk and officers undertook to ensure that future tables presented as part of reports be of a larger print size for readability.

Members asked to view trends to compare to the Force current sickness rate, and the Assistant Commissioner stated the Force was below the national average at 7 days per year. There were some cases included which were cases of protracted long term sickness, and accounted for 50 percent of sickness absence recorded. The Town Clerk noted that there were 5.95 sickness absences days per calendar year within City of London Corporation staff. Going forward, officers advised that long term sickness absence would be noted within reporting.

The targets listed as Amber, the Assistant Commissioner advised were on track to be met and the Chairman was satisfied with the progress being made.

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

To receive a report of the Chamberlain

The Sub Committee received a report of the Chamberlain which updated Members on the current work being undertaken by Internal Audit.

The Chairman queried if the Chamberlain was on track to meet the 25 audit days remaining in the financial year to which the Chamberlain was satisfied that this would occur. The Chamberlain’s Department had additional staff working on the Force’s Internal Audit and reporting would be completed by the 31^st March 2014. The past issues related to staff absence had also been resolved and there were now plans in place to assure processes could be agreed despite potential staff leave periods.

The Chamberlain advised they could circulate the report that would be received at the Audit and Risk Committee that outlined the risk assessment undertaken to decide the number of audit days, and the Town Clerk undertook to do so.

The Assistant Commissioner remarked that he was satisfied with the Chamberlain’s audit programme and was in line with the Force Risk Register. He explained that the integrity dashboard was also able to collect monitoring information relevant to the risk register.

Officers informed the Sub-Committee that not all crime reporting was monitored through Internal Audit, but through HMIC independent national scrutiny functions and there was an annual inspection of data quality undertaken. The Director of Corporate Services informed the Sub Committee that further Gateway project reports to update on the accommodation project would be considered at the Police Committee, and he had been meeting with the Chamberlain on progress to date. It was hoped that final plans for Force accommodation would be received at Grand Committee in the next six months, and a verbal update at the next meeting of the Police Committee.

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

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police, which had been completed at the request of the Chairman and informed Members of the schedule of current inspections and the consultation proposals for inspections in 2014-2015.

Members and the Assistant Commissioner discussed the HMIC inspection of the Force and the Chairman and Members were supportive that the process was constructive and the Force had a strong dialogue with the HMIC.

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

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police which updated Members on the Force’s position with regards to the national HMIC Stop and Search inspection.

The Assistant Commissioner reassured Members that the Force had completed significant work around Stop and Search, and the Force had established the Stop and Search Community Scrutiny Group since the last report to the Sub Committee in November 2013. The Assistant Commissioner informed Members that intelligent policing methods were being used and it was important they were used properly to effectively tackle street crime.

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

To receive a report of the Commissiner of Police.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police which informed Members on the Force initiatives to improve performance against the Victim Satisfaction Policing Plan target, and the Chairman gave his support for this planning and work in this area.

The Assistant Commissioner advised Members that although the Force was not going to meet the 90 percent satisfaction victim satisfaction target, it was rated in the top three Forces nationally for victim satisfaction. The Force had established an action plan internally and was reviewing the service to ensure there was a victim focused approach within the process.

The Chairman and the Assistant Commissioner discussed the Force’s recommendations to improve the service for victims of crime, which included that an Officer in Case was now assigned to provide meaningful updates to the victim. In response to a query from the Chairman on whether this was the best use of officer resources, the Assistant Commissioner advised this activity would be monitored against cost implications and number of police posts.

A Member queried the victim of crime satisfaction response rate, of which figures were listed in the non-public Third Quarter Performance in the Policing Plan 2013-16, and Members sought to be informed of the number of individuals surveyed.

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

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police which informed Members of steps taken since the last meeting to provide independent scrutiny of the Value for Money (VfM) process in the Force.

The Assistant Commissioner explained that meetings were planned with the HMIC, to support developing a new methodology for assessing VfM. Proposals had also been received from three external companies, with one selected that would submit a further cost proposal to the Force, to explore alternative approaches to developing VfM benchmarking of services. The Chamberlain was confident the external company would provide a service bespoke to the Force and the Chairman was pleased to know the process was moving forward.

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

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub Committee received a report which summarised performance against Policing Plan targets for the second quarter of 2013-14 financial year. 24 of the targets were on track to be met (green), two were graded as amber and two had been graded as red.

The Assistant Commissioner noted that the levels of victim-based acquisitive crime (1.4.1b) had improved and reduced 2.7% against the same period last year. There was also a plan in place to deal with seizing uninsured vehicles and unlicensed drivers in the City and the target would be achieved by year end.

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

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub Committee considered a report which presented the proposed measures to support delivery of the 2014 -15 Policing Plan.

The Assistant Commissioner noted the Policing Plan had been considered at the Police Committee and the measures were now for approval by the Sub Committee.

The Assistant Commissioner would advise on the outcomes of crimes recorded for 2014, and the figures listed in Appendix D (page 119) acted as a baseline comparator.

The Chairman thanked the Force for their work in this area and it was asked that the Town Clerk circulate a previous report the Force had completed on the policy around charity workers who sought street donations in the City of London.

RESOLVED – That Members consider and approve the measures attached at Appendix A as the policing plan measures for 2014-15.

There were no other questions.

The following items of urgent business was raised –

Charity collectors  - A Member queried the CoL and Police’s policy around aggressive charity collectors in the City, and it was noted previous work had been done in this issue, which the Police’s Chief of Staff explained was not a Police matter and had been addressed in previous reports. The Town Clerk undertook to circulate the relevant reports to Members via email.

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                             Paragraph

17                                3

18                                7

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2013.

The Sub Committee received the appendix to the Third Quarter Performance against Targets in the Policing Plan 2013-16.

To receive a report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police which provided Members with a detailed overview of the nature and type of violent crime being committed in the City.

There were no other questions.

There were no items of urgent business.