Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Alderman Alison Gowman, Deputy Joyce Nash and Deputy Henry Pollard.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 8 December 2015.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2015 be approved.

Matters Arising

5.         HMIC Inspection Update – Workforce Model

Members were informed that the notes requested in relation to ROI’s and the provision of mental health in custody had been circulated.

6.         Internal Audit Update Report – Police Invoices on hold

To be added to the outstanding references.

Report of the Town Clerk.

RESOLVED – That the list of outstanding references be noted.

4.         The Chamberlain advised that a detailed response to this outstanding reference would be circulated within two weeks following clarification from the Chairman on exactly what was required.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police relating to the Policing Plan measures for 2016/17. 

Members noted that at the Policing Plan workshop held in December 2015, it was agreed in principle to carry forward the current measures. This was proposed in the interests of consistency and being able to report meaningful trend information over the medium term. That proposal was also raised more formally at the January meeting of the Police Committee, where the plan was approved, subject to the approval of measures by the Sub Committee.

Members raised a number of comments in relation to the use of the word level instead of numbers, the number of surveys being undertaken as a measuring tool and how reliable these were, the need to target cyclists as well as motorists and whether or not ‘narrative assessment’ involved external scrutiny.

In response to a question from the Chair concerning a measure for rough sleepers, the Commissioner advised that this had not been raised as an issue of concern within the community. Rough sleepers also came under the responsibility of the local authority and not the Police.

The Sub-Committee also asked for the inclusion of a measure for victims of anti-social behaviour, and agreed to revisit and review the measure for Cybercrime after 6 months.

RESOLVED - That the report be noted and the measures approved.

Report of the Head of Internal Audit.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management updating on the work of Internal Audit that had been undertaken for the City of London Police since the last report to the committee in December 2015.

The Sub-Committee was informed that work on the 2015-16 planned internal audit plan, which included eight full reviews and two grant claim verifications, was nearing completion.

In response to a question concerning why the number of days allocated for each review was not given as it had been in previous years, the Head of Internal Audit and Risk advised that this was not always helpful as reviews could overrun, or more likely be completed early, and it was necessary to try and allocate the appropriate number of hours to each audit.

In response to a further question concerning whether the work would be completed by 31 March 2016, Members noted that resources were now in place to achieve this.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police which provided an overview of the City of London Police response to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary’s (HMIC) continuing programme of inspections and published reports.

The Commissioner reported that progress had been made in most areas with the exception of those where they were still waiting for a national indicator to compare against.

During the discussion members questioned the status of a number of ‘amber’ indicators which clearly should have been ‘red’ as they had not yet been implemented, as well as the scheduling of a number of ‘due dates’ which had already passed. The Chairman also asked if in future the summary could also include which recommendations were outstanding or overdue.

In response to a question concerning the outcomes for children who had been in police custody the Commissioner advised that the number passing through the City Police was extremely low – one a month would be considered high. The Commissioner further advised that the Public Protection Unit were working with City Youth Services to establish if they could help gain an understanding of the experiences of children in custody in the City.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police summarising Force performance against the measures in the Policing Plan 2015-18 for the period 1^st April 2015 – 31^st December 2015 and including a broad overview of wider Force performance.

The Chairman questioned the definition of trends described as ‘Stable’ which gave no indication of whether the position was a stable good or bad, and suggested that these be amended to give a more accurate description.

In respect of Measure 2 - the level of community confidence that the City of London is protected from terrorism – Members expressed concern that that this had decreased from 72.2% to 62%. 

The Commissioner advised that the third quarter survey had taken place almost immediately after the terrorist attacks in Paris. Those respondents who registered low confidence and who left contact details were subsequently contacted by the Force to gain a better understanding of why they lacked confidence that the City is protected from terrorism. The results were consistent with previous quarters with many citing factors that were outside of the Force’s control.

The Commissioner further advised that a second question was also posed for the quarter three asking whether people feel reassured by the work done by the City of London Police to protect the City of London from terrorism. That response to that question was very different, with 89.4% of respondents saying they felt reassured. 

In response to a question concerning Measure 6 and the levels of victim based violent crime which continued to increase, the Commissioner reported that this was entirely comparable to the rest of London and the UK and the Force continued to deploy targeted operations based on intelligence. The Commissioner also assured the Sub-Committee that this would remain a priority area at the Performance Management

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 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 the non-public minute of the meeting held on 24 February 2016 be approved.