Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy Doug Barrow.

The Chairman noted that this would be Lucy Sandford’s final meeting of the Performance and Resource Management Sub-Committee and thanked her for her valuable contribution.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the last meeting, held on 1 February 2018.

The Sub-Committee considered the minutes of the last meeting, held on 1 February 2018.

The Chairman noted that, under Item 12 – Deep Dive: CR23 Police Funding Risk, the “Business Rate Premium” should be referred to rather than the “Premium Rates”.

The Chairman noted that, under Item 7 – Projects and Programmes Presentation, the Assistant Commissioner had explained that Police telephony had suffered from significant issues.  He asked for an update on their status and the Assistant Commissioner confirmed that this had been actioned and the issues were expected to be resolved by September of this year. (1)

RESOLVED – That the minutes be approved.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Town Clerk that summarised the actions from the last meeting, held on 1 February 2018.

Reporting Schedule

The Chairman noted that the proposed meeting schedule had been circulated some time ago but was awaiting confirmation from the Chamberlain’s department before meeting dates could be confirmed.  The Chamberlain explained that they would confirm these in the next few days. (2)

Public Order Open Day

The Chairman asked what the Member uptake on the event on 20 June was.  The Town Clerk agreed to confirm and feed back on this. (3)

Programme Management Capability

The Chamberlain explained that the Project Management Office within the Town Clerk’s Department were undertaking work to improve the project management across the whole organisation.  She explained that they would employ tools to ensure that project processes could be monitored and understood by those who were not finance experts.

A Member noted that meetings of the Police Accommodation Programme did not appear to have financial oversight and asked if this was now going to happen.  It was noted that the Chamberlain was now personally sitting on the project board, providing oversight especially for any major projects such as this.

A Member asked if this would apply to the IT Transformation Programme.  The Chamberlain explained that the priority would be to focus on the most major projects, with the engagement of a project/programme accountant on relevant projects though if it was felt that there was a shortfall in financial expertise on a project then they would be obliged to act.  The Member noted that the Police IT Transformation would be a significant programme and asked if this would be allocated a specific resource.  The Chairman agreed, referencing a previous report to this sub-committee that quoted a projected cost of £10-20m.  The Chamberlain

Report fo the Chamberlain

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Chamberlain that provided Members with an update on the work of Internal Audit undertaken for the City of London Police since the last report in February 2018.

The Chamberlain explained that they were currently finalising the audit, with the Audit Plan being reviewed by the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner.  He confirmed that he would feed back on progress in due course.

The Chairman noted that it was disappointing that a number of recommendations had still not been implemented and their target completion dates had been revised from March to September.  He asked that increased efforts be made to action these as soon as possible.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that a number of the outstanding recommendations were minimal, could be completed relatively easily and offered to provide further details of these if required outside the meeting.  A Member stated that they were glad of this.

A Member asked for an explanation of the Leavers’ Salary Overpayments recommendation highlighted within the report appendix 2.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that there had been a clerical error in which an email was missed, leading to accidental overpayments.  The Member noted that there were two instances of this and noted that this was very concerning.  The Chamberlain explained that they were now confident that the issue leading to the error in both cases had now been resolved.

A Member noted the number of recommendations relating to Police-seized goods.  The Chairman requested that the CoLP provide a brief update note on this to Members prior to the next meeting. (5)

The Chairman noted that Programme Management benefits realisation tracking was marked as a RED risk and asked for confirmation of when this would commence.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that work with consultants had been undertaken, with the system now

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Chamberlain that provided Members with an update on the work of Internal Audit undertaken for the City of London Police since the last report in February 2018.

The Chamberlain explained that they were currently finalising the audit, with the Audit Plan being reviewed by the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner.  He confirmed that he would feed back on progress in due course.

The Chairman noted that it was disappointing that a number of recommendations had still not been implemented and their target completion dates had been revised from March to September.  He asked that increased efforts be made to action these as soon as possible.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that a number of the outstanding recommendations were minimal, could be completed relatively easily and offered to provide further details of these if required outside the meeting.  A Member stated that they were glad of this.

A Member asked for an explanation of the Leavers’ Salary Overpayments recommendation highlighted within the report appendix 2.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that there had been a clerical error in which an email was missed, leading to accidental overpayments.  The Member noted that there were two instances of this and noted that this was very concerning.  The Chamberlain explained that they were now confident that the issue leading to the error in both cases had now been resolved.

A Member noted the number of recommendations relating to Police-seized goods.  The Chairman requested that the CoLP provide a brief update note on this to Members prior to the next meeting. (5)

The Chairman noted that Programme Management benefits realisation tracking was marked as a RED risk and asked for confirmation of when this would commence.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that work with consultants had been undertaken, with the system now

Report of the Commissioner

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that provided Members with an overview of activity undertaken in response to reports published by HMICFRS.

The Chairman noted that the recent inspection report had rated all items as good, as well as CoLP’s response to the London Bridge terror attacks.

The Assistant Commissioner emphasised that it was very important to recognise the challenge that CoLP had faced over the last year so they were very pleased with the outcome of this inspection.  He noted that only two Police Forces in the country were rated as “outstanding”, and only Durham Police Force in all areas.

The Head of Strategic Development explained that the new form of Integrated PEEL Assessments will commence in September, with a focus on organised crime.

The Chairman illustrated his approval of the positive results and the ambition to strive for “outstanding”.

The Chairman requested to be given sight of a current draft of the workforce plan as referenced within the report, due for publication in September 2018. (15). 

A Member asked if we were working towards a 5-year workforce plan and the Assistant Commissioner confirmed that they were working with a rolling plan as a live document, subject to significant changes over the next 6 months.  He confirmed that the plan would be submitted to this sub-committee.  The Chairman reiterated that he wanted to be given sight of a draft before it is submitted to the November meeting.

The Chairman noted that the recommendation around disclosure issues was rated as a RED risk, not GREEN as had been promised at the previous meeting.  The Head of Strategic Development explained that it should be marked as GREEN.  The Chairman asked for the action taken to implement this recommendation to be confirmed. (16)

The Chairman queried the RED

There were no questions

There was no further 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 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the last meeting, held on 1 February 2018.

The Sub-Committee considered the non-public minutes of the last meeting, held on 1 February 2018.

RESOLVED – That the minutes be approved.

Report of the Commissioner

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that updated Members on the progress relating to the Demand and Value for Money Review.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

There were no non-public questions.

There was one urgent non-public item of business.