Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner updating on the impact of fraud on the City of London community.

A Member commented that fraud was rising and, with reference to the combined sentencing length of 219 years stated in paragraph 7, that the focus needed to be on victims.  A Member questioned whether or not it was possible to advise the public on the efficiency of fraud reduction. The Commissioner responded to say that assessing this would not be straightforward and welcomed Members’ input.

A Member noted that according to paragraph 6, approximately 10% of all investigations into City-based offenders reached a point of outcome.  The member questioned whether this should be considered as sufficient, or that it required improvement.  The Commissioner explained that the numbers did not necessarily equate directly to a measure of effectiveness as some investigations would be more significant in size than others.  The Commissioner stated that demonstrating effectiveness in this area was always a challenge, and that it was very hard to draw conclusions from figures and statistics as we rarely have access to all the information and wider scope of fraudulent activity.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.