Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk.

N.B. this item is accompanied by a non-public appendix (Appendix 5).

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding City of London Police Authority – Governance. The Town Clerk noted that implementation of the report’s recommendations would be overseen by a fortnightly officer-level strategy meeting.

RESOLVED, that Members agree the following proposals,

Governance

·         Rename the Police Committee as the Police Authority Board in order to reflect Members’ statutory responsibilities in respect of City of London Police and ensure it is better understood that the Board is responsible for overseeing on behalf of the Court of Common Council the activities of the Police Authority as a whole.

·         Review of the terms of reference for all committees within the aegis of the recalibrated Police Authority Board (e.g. Police Committee, Economic Crime Board, Performance and Resource Management Sub-Committee, Professional Standards and Integrity Sub-Committee, Police Pensions Board and Police Accommodation Working Party) to ensure a proportionate and complementary distribution of responsibilities as well as frequency of meetings.

·         Ensure all the terms of reference and other Committees with responsibility for Police Authority matters (including Policy and Resources, Finance, Efficiency and Performance Sub-Committee, Audit and Risk, Establishment) as well as the Court of Common Council, specify these responsibilities and where appropriate, that Police Authority business is demarcated on agendas

·         Ensure the Police Authority Board received all reports covering Police Authority matters seen by other Committees with responsibility for Police Authority matters (and that, where appropriate, such reports reference Corporate Plan outcomes).

·         Review the role and number of co-opted Members for all Police Committees and Sub-Committees, including whether to co-opt relevant Grand Committee Chairman (or their representatives) onto specific committees and, in particular, how to include Home Office representation on the Economic Crime Board.

·         Request that City of London Police review the role and terms of reference of the Community Scrutiny Group (CSG) and Independent Advisory Group (ISG) including whether the Police Authority is appropriately represented on both groups, and whether Special Interest Area Leads are sufficiently involved in the groups’ work; and

·         Review Police Authority engagement with the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) including appropriate attendance of meetings by Police Authority Members, the circulation of APCC documents within the Police Authority, and how best to disseminate feedback from APCC meetings.

Special Interest Areas (SIAs)

·         Review the current SIAs to ensure that these are appropriately prioritised and aligned with the City of London Police Policing Plan;

·         Review the current SIA scheme as part of the annual report to the May Police Committee to ensure that it is fit-for-purpose;

·         Ensure all SIA Leads have an opportunity to provide early input to and feedback on the formulation of the City of London Police Policing Plan.

Officer Support

·               Review the policy and technical support provided to Police Authority Members, specifically for SIA Leads, to strengthen oversight and scrutiny of the Force;

·               Review Police Authority communications to ensure all Members are regularly briefed on Police Authority matters and, where appropriate, significant City of London Police operations, as well as the activities of the Police Authority Chairman and Deputy Chairman;

·               Further strengthen the briefings process for Police committee chairmen prior to committee meetings;

·               Introduce service level agreements (SLAs) between the Police Authority and key City Corporation Departments (including Comptrollers’, Human Resources, and City Surveyors’) to provide surety of professional support for Police Authority Members and officers on related Police Authority matters, both for SIA Leads and issues which arise on an ad hoc basis, and to monitor the relative work of City of London Police and the Police Authority in key service areas;

·               Request a designated Police Authority budget against which spending on Police Authority activities across the City Corporation can be reported to relevant committees, as well as benchmarked against other police authorities (e.g. MOPAC);

·               Commission the City Corporation’s Corporate Strategy & Performance Team to review City of London Police performance data and provide reports to Police Authority Members and committees to enhance scrutiny of the City of London Police Policing Plan;

·               Commission the City Corporation’s Strategy & Performance Team to review the Corporation’s current consultation and community engagement arrangements with regard to the policing of the City and provide reports on community feedback to Police Authority Members to help inform priority setting for the City of London Police Policing Plan and to enhance Member oversight and scrutiny of the Force;

·               Improve the coordination of officer activity supporting the Police Authority by holding a monthly meeting of key Police Authority officers (chaired by the Police Authority Chief Executive/Deputy Chief Executive) to help with agenda planning across all relevant Committees, as well as the development of committee workplans; and

·               Convene a quarterly meeting of Police committee chairmen and deputy chairmen to discuss agenda planning and committee workplans, as well as a quarterly ‘Police Authority Strategy’ meeting for the Police Authority Chairman, Police Authority Deputy Chairmen, Police Authority Chief Executive, Police Authority Treasurer, and Police Commissioner.