Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the Chairman, Simon Duckworth, Emma Edhem and Christopher Hayward.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED - The minutes of the last meeting were approved.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 18 May 2017.

The chairman of the Police Pensions Board updated members on the addition of new member Alexander Barr to the board, and explained that he had made a valuable contribution.

The Commissioner explained to Members that following recent statements from the Pensions Regulator expressing concern over the administration of police pensions nationally, the importance of the role of the Police Pensions Board was cemented.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the last meeting on 10 May 2017 be received.

To receive draft minutes from the last meeting of the Economic Crime Board on 9 June 2017.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the last meeting on 30 May 2017 be received.

To receive the draft minutes from the last meeting of the Performance & Resource Management Sub (Police) Committee on 30 May 2017.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the last meeting on 9 June 2017 be received.

To receive draft minutes from the last meeting of the Police Pensions Board on 10 May 2017.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the last meeting on 5 June 2017 be received.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk that set out the Outstanding References from previous meetings of the Committee.

4/5.      CoLP Annual Report – Rough Sleepers/ CoLP Annual Report – Performance & Measures

The Commissioner explained that the Police Committee Annual Report had been delayed from the July meeting to the September meeting of the Court of Common Council.  This was due to a number of outstanding aspects that warranted inclusion.

11.       Revenue & Capital Budgets

The Director of Financial Services explained that he would provide an update to the Committee for this outstanding reference under item 15 of the agenda.

12.       ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies) Update

The Commissioner explained that this work would be expected to reach completion in the coming weeks and a report would be submitted to the September Committee.

RESOLVED – That the list of Outstanding References be noted and updated.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk that recommended the Police Committee agree to increase the number of external Members it is permitted to appoint to certain of its Sub-Committees.

It also recommended the appointment of five external appointments to be co-opted by the Police Committee to the Economic Crime Board, Professional Standards & Integrity Sub-Committee and the Performance & Resource Management Sub-Committee for 2017/18.

Members discussed the possibility of applicants for the Police Grand Committee vacancy being eligible and appropriate for consideration for the Professional Standards & integrity Sub-committee vacancy.

Members also discussed the composition of panel members, and agreed that an external panel member would need to be appointed for the interview process.

RESOLVED – That the recommendations be approved.

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner that provided a comprehensive overview of activities relating to Police Professional Standards over the year 2016/17.  The Commissioner explained that the overall findings were positive.

The Chairman of the Professional Standards & Integrity Sub-Committee explained that the two main areas to focus on improvement were in capacity-related issues that lead to complaints, and also those issues arising from lack of attention to details.

The Deputy Chairman asked the Commissioner for an update on the status of the staff survey.  The Commissioner explained that a new process had been put in place for staff surveys and that Chief Superintendent Evans was overseeing this.  He explained that the response was higher than the average for public sector surveys.  The Commissioner explained that the survey results are due to come out in July, and that they planned to address one of the major past criticisms which was a lack of communication of the results.  A summary report would be available at the September Committee. (1)

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

Joint report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services and the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a joint report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services and the Commissioner of Police that outlined the importance of the City of London Police and the City of London Corporation working together to improve the health and wellbeing of people in the Square Mile.

A Member asked why there had been such significant delays with regards to the implementation of signage.  The Temporary Commander of Operations explained that the delays were caused by the requirement for planning permission from various third parties such as English Heritage.

A Member noted his disappointment at the fact that the report did not make any mention of the Safer City Partnership, considering the significant contribution of work that had been made on its behalf.

RESOLVED – That the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police updating Members on the status of the City of London Police Risk Register.

The Commissioner explained that there had been a recent change from AMBER to RED for Strategic Risk No.10 – Failure of ASC System since publication of the report.  This was as a result of a lack of data causing it to be categorised as a critical risk.  However, the Commissioner explained that attention was being given to resolving the issue.

A Member questioned the lack of risk mitigation present in the report.  The Commissioner agreed to pass on further information to the Member. (2)

A Member queried whether the fact that many of the risks marked as RED were a cause for concern and portrayed a force under stress.  The Member asked for reassurance that the CoLP were managing to sustain operating effectively.  The Member explained that there seemed to be a number of significant operations ongoing that, if failing, would pose significant risks.  This Member stated that there needed to be increased visibility on the management of these projects for this reason.  The Commissioner explained that only the ‘AMBER/RED’ risks were included within the table and so the outlook is significantly better than portrayed by the table within the report.  He explained that although the force itself is not ‘RED’, it is facing challenges during a current phase of transformation.

It was agreed that there needed to be a separate monthly update on the Police Accommodation project progress. (3)

The Committee Members gave their thanks to the Casualty Bureau for their assistance in responding to the recent violent attacks in London Bridge.

The Commissioner explained that there was a planned debriefing session in which they would ask two primary queries – “What capacity have we got?”

Verbal update from Members on two Special Interest Areas: Anti-Social Behaviour & Community Engagement and Equality Diversity & Human Rights

The Committee heard a verbal update from a Member on two Special Interest Areas:

Equality, Diversity & Human Rights

The SIA lead for Equality, Diversity & Human Rights explained that the CoLP lead officer for this SIA has now moved roles and so there would be a loss in useful communication for a period until his replacement is active. The Temporary Commander of Operations explained that the Inspector in question was now in a conduit role intermediating between the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police.  A Member explained that this vacancy needed to be filled as soon as possible.  The SIA lead explained that the previous appointment took four months to recruit, and put forth the suggestion that the role might be open to civilians.

The lead explained that there were plans for the creation of a faith forum within the City of London.  A Member suggested that this might already be in existence in some form, and so there would likely be foundations already in place that could be developed in this regard.

The lead explained that an HR business partner had been assigned to each staff network.

The lead explained that there is currently an Equality/Diversity Strategy in place, though this had not been updated on the CoLP website. (4)

The lead explained that the BME statistics for the CoLP were worse than those of the Metropolitan Police, and that the recruitment of probation officers was an area that needed particular attention.  Probation panels are set to move towards an overall assessment of skills.

Anti-Social Behaviour & Community Engagement

The SIA lead explained that reporting methods for Anti-Social Behaviour have developed, leading to an increase in the number of incidents being reported.

RESOLVED – That the SIA Lead for Equality, Diversity & Human Rights and Anti-Social Behaviour & Community Engagement be

There were no questions.

The Committee received a note of resolution from Port Health & Environmental Services Committee relating to the issue of illegal street traders within the City of London.

The note explained that the Port Health & Environmental Services Committee had received a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection which sought approval on an action plan to stop these traders from operating.  It was explained that there had been an increase in the number of violent incidents occurring when these traders were asked to cease their activities which had resulted in the requirement of Police assistance.

The Commissioner explained that in the event that it was established that violence is occurring, then the City of London Police would indeed commit appropriate response in order to resolve the issue.  The Commissioner explained that no extra resources could be committed to an action plan of this nature without further consideration into evidence of violence taking place.  If it was not evident that the incidents had escalated to violence then the issue should remain under the jurisdiction of Markets and Consumer Protection.

Members stated their approval of the issue being raised and in discussion suggested an increased focus from enforcement officers where possible in order to have a significant deterrent effect with minimal consumption of resources.  The Commissioner agreed to take the discussion points into account when looking into the matter further.

It was agreed to send a resolution in response to the Port Health & Environmental Services Committee to communicate the discussion alongside the Commissioner’s statements. (5)

RESOLVED – That the resolution be sent to the Port Health & Environmental Services Committee.

There was no further urgent 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 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 1 of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 18 May 2017.

The Committee considered the minutes from the previous meeting held on 18May 2017.

To receive the draft non-public minutes from the last meeting of the Police Pensions Board on 10 May 2017

To receive the draft non-public minutes from the last meeting of the Performance & Resource Management Sub-Committee held on 9 June 2017.

To receive the draft non-public minutes from the last meeting of the Economic Crime Board held on 9 June 2017.

Report of the Town Clerk

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk that summarised all actions taken under delegated authority and urgency proceedings by the Town Clerk since the last meeting.

Joint report of the Chamberlain and Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a joint report of the Commissioner of Police and the Chamberlain that updated Members on revenue and capital outturn for 2016/17.

The Commissioner noted that underspending in comparison to predictions illustrated poor forecasting, but that this could be viewed as an anomaly caused by increased levels of scrutiny in the last quarter on non-pay spending. The Deputy Chairman noted that the balance of spending was wrong if there was a net underspend on staff costs and a net overspend on ‘back-office’ costs.  The Commissioner assured Members that a new process for monitoring this balance of spending had now been implemented to mitigate this.

The Director of Financial Services explained that as there had not been any Home Office Police funding review as of yet, this meant that it was unlikely that there would be any increased funding for 2018/2019.  A Member asked if the CoLP had submitted a letter requesting increased funding from the Home Office.  The Commissioner confirmed that this had not been done.

The Commissioner explained that there had been a high level timeline put in place that would ensure successful management and delivery of the numerous projects over the coming 2-3 years such as the Control Room upgrade and Police Accommodation.  An update would be submitted to the September meeting. (6)

A Member asked for clarification on the net overspend associated with Central Costs.  The Commissioner explained that a reduction in income generated was caused by fewer officers operating on secondment than previously expected.  The Director of Financial Services explained that certain costs, such as salaries, could not be categorised as capital project costs beyond Gateway 1-4.

A Member asked a question about the sums quoted for General Reserves and POCA Reserve Balances detailed within Table 3 of the report.  In reference to the

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police regarding the Ring of Steel Stabilisation and Compliance Project [iMS-DRS].

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Committee considered a report of the commissioner of Police regarding the Integrated Command and Control System Upgrade to ESN-Readiness (ESN-R).

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner of Police regarding the Action and Know Fraud Centre.

The Committee considered a joint report of the City Surveyor, Chamberlain and the Commissioner of Police regarding the Police Accommodation Strategy programme.

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner of Police seeking Members’ approval for a number of recommendations regarding the Police Accommodation Strategy.

The Committee considered a report of the Commissioner of Police seeking Members’ approval for a number of recommendations to allocate budgets facilitating the Relocation of the Force Control Room as part of the Police Accommodation Strategy.

Joint report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor.

The Committee received a report of the Comptroller and City Solicitor detailing the response to the Taxi drivers’ demonstrations at Bank Junction in January 2017.

Commissioner to be heard.

The Committee heard an update from the Commissioner of Police outlining recent and upcoming issues facing the City of London Police since the last meeting of the Committee.

There were no questions.

Provision of a Uniform Managed Service for City of London Police Stages 1&2 Report

Report of the Chamberlain and the Corporate Services Category Board

The Committee received a late report of the Chamberlain and the Corporate Services Category Board that was considered by Members.