Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Martha Grekos, Dawn Wight, Helen Fentimen and the Deputy Chair Tijs Broeke.

The Chair noted that it was the first meeting of the Committee for newly appointed Chief Operating Officer and the Deputy Chief Finance Officer of the Police Authority. These Officers introduced themselves to the Committee and provided a short presentation on their experience. The Chair noted he was happy to see the upskilling of these key areas.  

There were no declarations received.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on 27^th of May 2022.

The Committee considered the draft public minutes of the last meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on the 27^th of May 2022.

The Town Clerk noted that Martin O’Regan had been in attendance and that the record would be updated accordingly.

The Chair noted from the minutes the key conclusions from the previous meeting of the Committee that there was a requirement for City of London Police to achieve an effective establishment which was within budget, prudent financial management of the Force was a political priority for the Committee and that there continued to be concern regarding the management of capital projects spending.

RESOLVED- That the public minutes of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee meeting held on the 27th of May be approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner on the outstanding actions from the last meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.  

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the City of London Police Business Planning Process Review.

The Chair noted that he continued to have concerns on the connection between the Policing Plan and staffing numbers. In addition, the Chair noted that it was important that outcomes from the City of London Corporation projects process review be incorporated effectively into the process for police projects management.  The Chair of the Police Authority Board commented that it was vital that all the various policy documents were appropriately interconnected and, in response to an Officer’s suggestion, agreed that early engagement with Police Authority Board on the City of London Policing Plan for 2023-24 would be appreciated.

Responding to a Committee Member’s question Officers noted that the HMICFRS Force Management Statement needed to, as far as possible, bring benefit and operational value to the Force.

Officers confirmed that this was the first year of the Business Plan so it was expected that the process would be improved and made more efficient going forward. The Force would take learnings from this year’s process to feed into future years. The Chair observed that it was important to ensure that process was not considered more important than outcome.

RESOVLED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the Q1 Revenue & Capital Budget Monitoring 2022/23.            

Introducing the report Officers noted that there were significant financial pressures and risks for the Revenue and Capital Budget which would need to be considered going forward. Moreover, it was observed that there were considerable financial pressures on the previous position reported in June on the Medium-Term Financial Plan. The Chair commented that he was happy with the progress on the Q1 Revenue and Capital Budget noting that some of the risks were not fully mitigatable. It was highlighted that, as the seventy three percent of the City of London Police’s budget was spent on staffing, the proposed pay deal and inflation were key risks to manage.

The Chair highlighted the Operational Property and Projects Sub-Committee decision for all projects to be reviewed in relation to inflationary pressures and, therefore, the potential effect on some police related projects. 

The Police Authority Board Chair commented that there needed to be oversight role for the Board and the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee to determine how Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) funds were allocated. It was agreed that a report on the governance of the POCA funds would be presented to November meeting of the Committee as part of the MTFP update due to that meeting.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the Q1 Workforce /HR Monitoring Report- 2022-23.

In response to concerns expressed by the Committee, Officers explained the measures undertaken to mitigate operational impact of any staffing areas currently understrength.

The Committee discussed the comparatively poor diversity levels within the City of London Police in comparison to other UK Police Forces and requested that suggestions on how best to tackle this issue be prepared for consideration by the Professional Standard’s and Integrity Committee. Officers responded to say that the Force was doing everything that it could to attract recruits from diverse backgrounds as part of the Police Uplift Programme and the intakes in August 2022 had a high percentage of ethnic minorities. It was also emphasised by Officers that the pool from which the Force was recruiting, was the same for all forces nationally and that is part of the problem.

Following a suggestion by a Member of the Committee for secondment options for pupil barristers into the City of London Police officers confirmed that the Force was already exploring this as part of the Police uplift Programme Engagement.  

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner providing the Chief Finance Officer’s update.

The Police Authority Board Chair commented that it would be helpful for the newly appointed  Force Chief Operating Officer to also provide an update to the Committee in future either by way of a separate report or contributing to the Chief Finance Officer’s report.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of Head of Internal Audit.

The Committee received a report of the Head of Internal Audit on the Internal Audit Update.

Resolved- That the report be noted.  

Report of the Commissioner.

To be read in conjunction with non-public appendix at Item 21.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the City of London Police Risk Update.

Responding to a query from a Member of the Committee it was confirmed that the change in the risk scoring was to ensure that the Force’s risks were in line with the City of London Corporation’s risk register format.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

There were no questions received in the public session.

There was no urgent business considered in the public session.

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 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 non-public minutes of the meeting of the Resource, Risk and Estates Committee held on 27th of May 2022.

The Committee considered the non-public minutes of the Resource Risk and Estates Committee meeting held on the 27th of May.

RESOLVED- That the non-public minutes of the Resource Risk and Estates Committee meeting held on the 27^th of May be approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

The Committee received a joint report of Commissioner and Town Clerk on the non-public actions outstanding from the last meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Joint report of the City Surveyor and Commissioner.

The Committee received a joint report of the Commissioner and City Surveyor on the Future Police Estate Portfolio Update. 

RESOLVED- That the report be noted

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the PACCTS/ NPCC Joint Budget Survey.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted. 

Report of the Commisioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the City of London Police Retention Measures.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided the Security report on the Information Security Risks.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

There were no questions received in the non-public session.

Non-public appendix to be read in conjunction with Item 10.

There was one item of urgent business considered in the non-public session.