Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Alderman Neil Redcliffe.

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2013 (to follow).

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the inquorate meeting held on 6 February 2013 be agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2012 be agreed as an accurate record.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner outlining the progress of the Economic Crime & Fraud Training Academy.

The Commissioner explained that Academy continues to build on its excellence to develop a national, international and global brand. Members were informed that the next meeting of the Gold Group will discuss a market testing paper covering costing, pricing and programme content options for the Fraud Academy.  It was stated that the Chamberlain’s Department had been attending the meetings of the Gold Group and it was hoped that interested Members would also attend future meetings. The Force would be sending out an invite for Members to attend future meetings. 

Members were informed about the proposed Academy training package being delivered to specialist fraud officers in Nigeria. The potential profit generated from providing the training was discussed and it was agreed that a cost/revenue/profit analysis would be produced and would be included in the Academy Business Plan for 2014/15-2016/17. The Business Plan was provisionally agreed to be brought forward to Members at the next meeting.

The Chairman sought assurance that all courses delivered by the Fraud Academy would be properly resourced in order to maximise the benefits to the clients and to maintain service quality. 

The Commissioner added that further items to be included in the Academy Business Plan include a summary of where the current operations of the Academy stand along with costs,  a strategy for return on investment and a national marketing plan.

The Commissioner advised that Members could attend future events of the British Standards Institution (BSi). The Force and Town Clerk undertook to provide details of future events to Members.

RESOLVED – That the Fraud Academy Business Plan be produced for the next meeting of the Sub Committee.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner updating on the progress to date and planned strategies to develop a Regional Fraud Team (RFT) capability and secure future funding as part of the National Capability Programme.

The Commander of Economic Crime explained that the numbers of reported fraud, reported through Action Fraud, are increasing and expected to increase more. A Member expressed concern over the fact that only around 10% of the 25% of reported crime allocated back to forces for investigation based on current case acceptance criteria were actually being investigated. It was suggested that the low levels of investigation could result in a significant increase in complaints from unsatisfied victims over time. This would have implications for the City of London Police as many of the complaints will be logged as the Force’s through Action Fraud. It was agreed that more information on this area of concern would be brought to the Sub Committee at a future meeting.

RECEIVED.

Report of the Commissioner (copy attached).

The Sub Committee received a report of the Commissioner updating on the final performance report summarising the 2012/13 annual achievement of National Lead Force (NLF) against its agreed Key Performance Areas (KPA) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

The Commissioner advised that the CoLP/Crown Prosecution Services Central Fraud Division (CFD) joint initiative to measure the quality of NLF investigations will be implemented in the first quarter of 2013-14. The Commander of Economic Crime added that discussions had been held with the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) around establishing targets related to the quality of cases presented. A Member raised a question in regards to the value of fraud (KPI 3.1) and the Commander of Economic Crime stated that the value of fraud can vary, and as a result there is now a focus in case criteria to focus more on damage caused by fraud rather than on the value of the fraud committed.

RECEIVED.

The Chairman raised the issue with Members on the timings of the Sub Committee meetings to ensure quorum, as this occurrence continued to be a concern. Members and officers agreed that the meetings should take place to coincide with Police Committee meeting dates, except when preceded by meetings of another Police Sub Committee.

The Chairman stated he would be in contact with Members to ensure that the meeting times were suitable for them to attend. The Town Clerk undertook to amend all future 2013 and 2014 meeting dates of the Sub Committee.

There were no items of urgent business.

MOTION – That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of 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 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item No.                                                          Exempt Paragraph(s)

10                                                                                3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2013 (to follow).

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2012 were considered.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.