Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Nick Bensted-Smith and Tijs Broeke.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 23 November 2018.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 23 November 2018 be approved as a correct record.

Joint Report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding public outstanding references from previous meetings and the following points were made.

14/2018/P – Police Telephony

·         Members noted that this reference had been completed and could be closed.

15/2018/P – FOI Requests

·         Members noted that the outstanding backlog of cases now stood at 16, and that the reference would remain open until all cases had been closed.

16/2018/P – Inspection – Initial Police Response to Hate Crime

·         Members noted that this reference had been completed and could be closed.

17/2018/P – Stop and Search Data

·         Members noted that this reference had been completed and could be closed. The Assistant Commissioner noted at Q3 data would be published mid-February 2019.

18/2018/P – Stop and Search Training

·         The Assistant Commissioner noted that 26 officers and staff remained to be trained, and that the delay was due to operational pressures. The remaining officers and staff would be trained by March 2019.

20/2018/P – Staff Survey

·         The Assistant Commissioner agreed to circulate the action plan and headline messaging arising from the staff survey.

22/2018/P – Police Bank Accounts

·         The Assistant Commissioner noted that, contrary to the written update, this reference remained open.

Members noted that the remaining references were complete and could therefore be closed.

·         24/2018/P (Detection Rates)

·         25/2018/P (Measure 5 – Countering Fraud)

·         26/2018/P (Briefing Note regarding steps to reduce crime.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members agreed to vary the order of items on the agenda so that Item 8 (Revenue Budget Monitoring to December 2018) was considered next.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner of Police regarding Revenue Budget Monitoring to December 2018 and the following points were made.

·         The Interim Director of Finance noted that the revenue budget monitoring process had been challenging given the errors made in the original budget process. The reporting format had now been changed to reflect a pay/non-pay format. Members were reminded of the bottom-line overspend in the revised budget, with additional budget pressures such as the Force’s Rail Travel Scheme. Members were also reminded that the Force’s capital budgets remained to be reviewed.

·         In response to a request, the Interim Director of Finance agreed to circulate the additional budget schedule to Members outside of the meeting.

·         The Interim Director of Finance noted that of the £750k of planned income through the Force’s Corporate Plan, £500k had been achieved. There had been some shortfall in reaching income targets where the Force had experienced capacity issues.

·         The Deputy Treasurer noted that the Authority had concerns regarding the Force’s spend on overtime as set out within appendix 2 – at December 2018, the Force had already reached 88% of forecast spend. The Deputy Treasurer noted that the Authority would welcome, as mitigation, assurance from the Force that this item of spend was being actively monitored.

·         The Deputy Treasurer concluded by noting that, from the Authority’s perspective, key risks going forward included securing Home Office funding as part of the Medium-Term Financial Plan and leave/time off in lieu.

·         The Chairman noted that he shared the concerns expressed by the Deputy Treasurer and would welcome any assurances that could be provided from the Force regarding how these risks were being mitigated.

Joint Report of the Chamberlain and the Commissioner of Police - TO FOLLOW.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner of Police regarding Revenue and Capital Budgets for 2019/20 and the following points were made.

·         The Interim Director of Finance noted that the Force would be mindful of planned Transform savings.

·         The Deputy Treasurer noted the planned Business Rate Premium increase from £8.8m in 2018/19 to £13m in 2019/20. She noted that, as it stood, the 2019/20 budgets did not factor in any planned risk, and therefore any further requests for funding from the Force to the Authority would be subject to a great deal of scrutiny – the Authority would want to be clear what additionality any further funding would provide the Force.

·         The Chairman noted that it was imperative that the Force provided the Authority with a detailed Demand report that could be scrutinised.

·         A Member noted that any further request for funding should be scrutinised alongside the Force’s forecast spend.

·         The Deputy Treasurer noted that the transfer from Reserves provided in 2018/19 was intended to bridge an identified funding gap. It was important, from the Force’s perspective, that any increase in the Business Rate Premium, if agreed by the Court of Common Council, be linked to Force additionality.

·         Members requested that future revenue and capital budget reporting include relevant sections on budget monitoring and a summary of risks.

RESOLVED, that Members

·         Note the latest projected outturn position for the 2018/19 revenue budget;

·         Note the provisional 2019/20 revenue budget;

·         Note that a business case for additional resources will be submitted to a future meeting.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner of Police regarding Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) Inspection and the following points were made.

·         The Commissioner of Police noted there were 15 outstanding recommendations, down from 24 at the time Members considered the last update report. There were 12 new ‘Green’ recommendations to report to the Sub-Committee. The Force had been notified for three forthcoming inspections around Counter-Terrorism (Prevent), Cyber, and Crime Date Integrity.

·         The Chairman of the Police Committee noted that he would raise the pace of forthcoming inspections at the next Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) meeting.

·         The Chairman noted that he would welcome additional detail within future reporting on whether recommendations were open, closed or progressed, and that clarity be sought on deadlines for delivery on recommendations where these had not been explicitly provided by HMICFRS.

·         In response to a question, the Assistant Commissioner of Police noted that the Force was considered a national lead on mental health due to the on-street triage approach.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner of Police regarding Third Quarter (Q3) performance against measures set out in the Policing Plan 2018-21 and the following points were made.

·         The Assistant Commissioner noted that the number of offences recorded overall equated to 3.6 per day. The Force was paying attention to the increase in Violent Crime (Measure 6) and Acquisitive Crime (Measure 9).

·         The Assistant Commissioner continued, noting that the Force had improved the way in which it improved its response to, and recording of, crime and as a result he was confident existing processes would be graded Good by any forthcoming inspections.

·         The Assistant Commissioner noted that the increase in crime outlined within the report should be considered in the context of a 250k increase in crimes nationally – in this context, the Force’s performance was arguably satisfactory and compared favourably with its closest relevant peer.

·         Nevertheless, daily briefings of Non-Commissioner Officers (NCOs) were designed to set expectations around appropriate management of crime. For example, whilst a crime such as shoplifting featured as a low priority on the overall threat, harm and risk matrix, the Force was mindful of the degree of confidence City residents and business would have in the Force would be depend on the Force’s response to such crimes.

·         In response to a question, the Assistant Commissioner confirmed that the Force had ambitions to utilise Artificial Intelligence to inform its response to crime.

·         In response to a question, the Assistant Commissioner noted that the increase in public disorder was largely due to issues around alcohol and the Night Time Economy (NTE) and the fact that the Force was being more proactive in addressing those issues.

·         In response to a comment from a Member regarding the Force’s capacity to address recent increases in crime across some Measures,

There were no questions.

There was one item of other business.

Report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management (Police Authority).

Members considered an update report of the Head of Audit and Risk Management regarding the internal audit work conducted with the Force and the following points were made.

·         The Head of Audit and Risk Management noted that an action plan had been provided by the Force to mitigate the identified recommendations arising from the Authority’s Internal Audit team. Four recommendations were currently graded Red, and 49 Amber.

·         In response to a query from a Member, the Head of Audit and Risk Management noted that a range of performance indicators had been agreed in consultation with the Commissioner and, as a result, it was felt sensible to defer 35 days of planned internal audit work.

·         The Assistant Commissioner and the Head of Audit and Risk Management confirmed they were content with the identified internal audit priorities.

·         In response to a question, the Assistant Commissioner confirmed work was being undertaken to address those recommendations where scheduled deadlines for completion had been missed.

·         In response to a question, the Head of Audit and Risk Management confirmed that Action and Know Fraud would be subject to an internal audit.

·         The Deputy Treasurer noted that the Force’s Internal Audit team should also review any mitigating actions being undertaken by the Force.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

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 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 meeting held on 23 November 2018.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2018 be approved as a correct record subject to a typographical amendment being made.  

Joint Report of the Town Clerk and the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding non-public outstanding references.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding the City of London Police’s Annual Efficiency Savings / Transform Programme.

At this point of the meeting, two hours having elapsed, Members agreed to continue the meeting until all items of business had been considered in line with Standing Order 40 of the Court of Common Council.

There were no non-public questions.

There was one item of non-public urgent business.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner of Police regarding the Action and Know Fraud Project.