Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy Doug Barrow, Tijs Broeke and Deputy James Thomson.

There were no declarations

To agree the public minutes of the last meeting, held on 22 September 2017

The Sub-Committee considered the public minutes from the last meeting, held on 22 September 2017.

RESOLVED – That the minutes be approved.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Town Clerk that summarised the outstanding actions from previous meetings.

OR1 – Agenda Packs

The Sub-Committee discussed the proposition of reducing the security marking of future Professional Standards and Integrity Sub-Committee agenda standard items from “Confidential” to “Non-Public”.  It was agreed that since the evolution of the case summaries significantly reduced the incidence of sensitive information, the standing content of the agendas should be taken into consideration by the Professional Standards Department of CoLP to be marked safely as “Non-Public”.  It was agreed that this would both improve transparency, and improve timeliness and ease of access for Members to read reports ahead of meetings.  The new marking would enable the Town Clerk to post agenda packs directly to attendees, as well as circulate them digitally via email.  The Director of Professional Standards confirmed that she was going to have a meeting with her predecessor on 4 December to discuss any possible security implications this would pose for CoLP, with a sight to confirming the change ahead of the publication of the agenda for the next meeting on 5 March 2018. (1)  A Member noted the omission of ethnicity of the complainants since the revision of the Case and Complaints report to the summarised version.

OR2 – Staff Survey Report

The Chairman requested that the further Staff Survey update coming to Police Committee on 15 December be circulated to all Sub-Committee members not on the Grand Committee. (2)

OR3 – London Police Challenge Forum Minutes

The Head of Strategic Development explained that the minutes that were expected to have been signed off and circulated before the end of November, had not yet been released.  The Assistant Commissioner confirmed that he would be in contact with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in the week commencing

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that provided Members with information on the submitted reports at Item 6 and Item 7; Q2 Integrity Dashboard and Code of Ethics Update.

The Head of Strategic Development explained that the Integrity Standards Board (ISB) met on 30 November, one day before this Sub-Committee, and so would verbally update Members.

The Head of Strategic Development explained that there were no major concerning trends to note.  There were some small issues such as those related to internal telephones.  He explained that NICHE system issues were discussed, and that NCRS audits were ongoing, with none raising any Professional Standards & Integrity concerns in 2017.

The Head of Strategic Development explained that the London Police Challenge Forum (LPCF) which operated nationally, had now moved towards division into regional panels.  All three London Forces opted to be part of the West of England/Wales regional panel, which was chaired by a highly regarded panel chair based in Bath.  He explained that national policy debate was to a significant extent informed by these panels.  There had been three panels held so far, with no MPS representative and just one CoLP representative raising an issue.  He explained that there was an urge for CoLP to better utilise their representatives at these panels moving forward.  To this end, the plan would be to have a re-launch in January 2018, taking on board the learning to date around communications.

In reference to paragraph 11 of the report, the Head of Strategic Development explained that any issues raised by Force Crime and Incident Registrar (FCIR) audits would sent to the Integrity Standards Board.  He clarified that CoLP protocol dictates that recording methods always undergo a risk assessment.  He emphasised that it was important that issues which are not problematic remain

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that summarised the data measuring the CoLP’s Integrity in Q2 of 2017-18.

The Chairman noted that Measure 7 – Number of PSD investigations principally arising from the use of force recorded “-“ rather than “0” for Q2, which was misleading as it could be perceived to have not been recorded.

The Chairman noted that Measure 15 – Number of procurement purchases assessed by PSD for investigationjumped from “1” to “2” in Q2, and yet there was only a single recorded in all of 2016.  The Head of Strategic Development explained that reporting had improved significantly and this should give increased confidence in its accuracy.

A Member enquired whether the “0” figures for Measure 14 – Number of management issues arising from re-vetting of the workforce were accurate for Q1 and Q2.  The Head of Strategic Development explained that many of the processes are not yet marked as complete due to the lengthy nature of processing the forms and financial data.  However, he reassured Members that increased efforts in following up by HR have cleared a significant amount of the backlog that existed.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that provided updates on the Police Integrity Development and Delivery Plan.

The Head of Strategic Development explained that there were two “AMBER” measures outstanding:

1.5 To define the Force approach to corruption within appropriate Standard Operating Procedures and supporting statements would be completed as soon as possible.

1.6 To have established a process to support the Force’s participation in the London Panel Challenge Forum (Ethics Associates) would be completed in April 2018 with the updating of the website. (7)

The Chairman enquired as to the release of the next Professional Standards Newsletter, and the Head of Strategic Development confirmed that it would likely be signed off by the Assistant Commissioner to be circulated in the week or two following this meeting.

A Member enquired as to the status of the Senior Leadership Team.  The Head of Strategic Development explained that it was addressed in the Staff Survey plan for 2018.  The Assistant Commissioner confirmed that a selection process had just been run for 4 internal and 1 external individuals to fill temporary roles.  He confirmed that all current temporary staff had been encouraged to apply for the formal assessment process.  The Chairman illustrated concerns over staff remaining in temporary roles for long periods of time.  A Member asked if the updated information would be circulated outside of the CoLP, as there is a security risk if individuals attempt to contact those no longer in post because they have not been made aware of the changes.  The Assistant Commissioner confirmed that CoLP would provide an update on Force leadership changes following their meeting on 6 December. (8)

A Member explained that the National Association of Legally Qualified Chairpersons for Police Misconduct Panels had recently been formed, to which they were a member, and noted that there were no CoLP representatives present.  The Assistant Commissioner confirmed that the CoLP were aware of the Panel, and would seek to engage with it.  (9)

There was no other 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 1 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.

To agree the confidential minutes of the last meeting, held on 22 September 2017.

The Sub-Committee considered the confidential minutes from the last meeting, held on 22 September 2017.

RESOLVED – That the confidential minutes from the last meeting be approved.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Town Clerk that summarised the confidential outstanding actions from previous meetings.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.</AI2><AI3>

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that summarised statistical information regarding professional standards and integrity measures over the last Quarter.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.<AI12>

11. 

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that detailed complaint investigations of the Professional Standards Department in the last period.

The Sub-Committee discussed case complaint summaries for cases in which the complaints were upheld.

The Sub-Committee discussed case complaint summaries for cases in which the complaints were not upheld.

The Sub-Committee discussed case complaint summaries for cases in which a local resolution was found.

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that summarised the IPCC Police Complaints Bulletin for the period 1 April - 30 September 2017.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.<AI9>

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that provided a glossary of terms used by the Professional Standards Department.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

There were no further questions.

There was no further business.