Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Simon Duckworth, Alderman Emma Edhem and Chris Hayward.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 16 May 2019.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 16 May 2019 be approved.

Joint Report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

Members considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner regarding outstanding references from previous meetings and the following points were made.

8/2018/P – City of London Police Communications Strategy

·         The Chairman noted that the report scheduled at Item 10 that day had been withdrawn and would be submitted to a future meeting.

17/2019/P – Term Limits for Police Authority Board Members

·         In response to a comment from a Member, the Town Clerk agreed to bring forward an options paper on term limits to the October 2019 meeting of the Board.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

To receive the draft minutes of the Performance and Resource Management Committee meeting held on 21 June 2019.

RESOLVED, that the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the Performance and Resource Management Committee meeting held on 21 June 2019 be received.

To receive the draft minutes of the Police Pensions Board meeting held on 12 June 2019 and the recommendation regarding the appointment of a Deputy Chairman contained therein at Item 3.

RESOLVED, that the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the Police Pensions Board meeting held on 12 June 2019 be received, and the recommendation from the Board that John Todd be appointed Police Pensions Board Deputy Chairman be approved.

To receive the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the Professional Standards and Integrity Committee meeting held on 3 June 2019.

RESOLVED, that the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the Professional Standards and Integrity meeting held on 3 June 2019 be received.

Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary to be heard.

Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMIC) was heard, and the following points were made.

·         HMIC noted the positive performance of the Force in the recent PEEL inspection.

·         The Chairman noted that he was writing to the Home Office that day to update the relevant Minister regarding the Force’s response to the PEEL inspection.

·         In response to a question, HMIC and the Commissioner noted that City Schools within the PEEL inspection report were interpreted to mean those within the Square Mile, rather than the Authority’s wider Family of City Schools which included independent schools and academies that were situated outside the Square Mile.

·         In response to a question, HMIC noted that, from an inspection perspective, he did not want to see Forces overemphasising outcomes. HMICFRS was on hand to give advice to Forces to ensure alignment between Authorities, Forces, and HMICFRS.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding the HMICFRS Integrated PEEL Inspection – Action Plan and the following points were made.

·         In response to a question, the Commissioner confirmed that the Force was implementing a new process to ensure the Force’s counter-corruption effort was up to standard.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner TO FOLLOW.

The Town Clerk noted that this report had been withdrawn.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an Annual report of the Commissioner regarding Professional Standards Activity 2018/19 and the following points were made.

·         A Member queried whether, in future iterations, comparisons could be made with peer Forces with regards to performance.

·         The Chair of the Professional Standards and Integrity Committee thanked Detective Chief Superintendent Maria Woodall for her service as Head of Professional Standards.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Community Scrutiny Group (CSG) and Independent Advisory Group (IAG) arrangements and the following points were made.

·         A Member commented that he had attended a recent Community Scrutiny Group meeting and suggested that Force responsibility for supporting both the CSG and IAG should be the primary focus of an individual’s role, rather than an additional responsibility for an existing post-holder.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.  

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding Community Engagement and the following points were made.

·         A Member welcomed the update regarding Operation Luscombe and requested confirmation on when a review of the operation would be conducted.

·         The Chairman welcomed the fact the Counter Terrorism Security Adviser Team would be fully staffed as of July 2019, and the work being done on the Force’s approach to Safeguarding and Vulnerability, and Anti-Social behaviour.

·         In response to a question, the Commissioner confirmed that a review of lessons learned from the London Bridge Terror Attack would be implemented fully once the inquest had concluded.

·         In response to a question, the Commissioner confirmed that the Force was content to focus its Cyber Griffin activity on City businesses.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding Equality and Inclusion.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding the Special Interest Area Scheme 2019/20.

RESOLVED, that

·         The Special Interest Area Scheme 2019/20 be agreed.

·         The following appointments be made:

Report of the Remembrancer.

Members considered a report of the Remembrancer regarding the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Chamberlain.

This report was scrutinised by the Police Pensions Board at its meeting on 12 June 2019.

Members considered a report of the Chamberlain regarding the City of London Police Pensions Board – Review of Activities for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner.

This report was scrutinised by the Performance and Resource Management Committee at its meeting on 21 June 2019.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding the Revenue and Capital Budget Outturn Report 2018/19 and the following points were made.

·         The Chamberlain noted that the £5.4m overspend had been off-set by mitigations and the planned increase in the Business Rate Premium.

·         In response to a question, the Chief Operating and Chief Financial Officer confirmed that the Force had a provision to deal with bad debt.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner.

This report was scrutinised by the Performance and Resource Management Committee at its meeting on 21 June 2019.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Budget Monitoring for Month 2 2019/20 and the following points were made.

·         The Commissioner noted that there was a conversation to be had regarding the affordability of the Force workforce, given that the current establishment was working with a vacancy rate which brought with it significant pressures.

·         In response to a question, the Chief Operating and Chief Financial Officer noted that the report had not been prepared on an accruals basis. She would review the format of the report ahead of the September 2019 meeting, taking into account further comments from Members regarding the potential to include data such as variance, and a format that readily provided detail on the year-to-date position against the agreed budget.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Facilitation of Protests outside the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey)

A Member was heard regarding his concern, and concerns expressed to him by local businesses and stakeholders, regarding the perceived facilitation of a protest by supporters of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon outside the Central Criminal Court, specifically the parking of a double-decker bus outside the court building and, on a previous occasion, the erection of a speaking platform. The Member questioned whether these measures were necessary. Reference was made to a recent resolution on the issue arising from the Policy and Resources Committee.

The Commissioner was heard in reply, noting that the approach taken to the recent protest involving Stephen Yaxley-Lennon had allowed business to continue within the Court building, which had been a key policing objective. The Commissioner was not aware of any specific complaints being made to the City of London Police but accepted that the protest had proved disruptive to the immediate area outside the court building. The Commissioner noted that any plan for policing a protest had to be objective and could not be informed by a subjective view of a person’s politics.

The Commissioner concluded by noting that the decision to licence the speaking stage had been one made by the local authority, and that decision was informed by the assessment of threat/risk arising from the protest. There was a case to be made that the risk of disorder was minimised through policing the protestors in a specific area where they wished to congregate. With that in mind, it should be noted that the displacement of the double decker bus away from the court building had a negative impact on the flow of traffic along Lower Thames Street.

The T/Commander (Operations) added that the policing plan for the Old Bailey had been informed by views of persons

There was no other 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 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 Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 16 May 2019.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 16 May 2019 be approved.

Joint Report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

Members considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner regarding non-public outstanding references.

To receive the draft non-public minutes of the Performance and Resource Management Committee meeting held on 21 June 2019.

RESOLVED, that the draft non-public minutes of the Performance and Resource Management Committee meeting held on 21 June 2019 be received.

To receive the draft non-public minutes of the Professional Standards and Integrity Committee meeting held on 3 June 2019.

RESOLVED, that the draft non-public minutes of the Professional Standards and Integrity Committee meeting held on 3 June 2019 be received.

The Commissioner and the Treasurer to be heard.

The Commissioner and Treasurer were heard regarding the Medium-Tern Financial Plan.

The Commissioner to be heard.

The Commissioner was heard regarding a number of current issues.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a Gateway 6 Issue report of the Commissioner regarding the Action and Know Fraud Centre.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding Ethical Partnerships Funding Strategy.

The Commissioner to be heard.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding the Transform Programme: Target Operating Model.

Report of the Commissioner.

This report was scrutinised by the Performance and Resource Management Committee at its meeting on 21 June 2019.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding the Transform Programme: Updated Estimate of Cash Releasing Benefits and Enhanced Income Generation.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding the National Enabling Programme – Design Refresh.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding a Memorandum of Agreement for the Police National Enabling Programme between the City of London Corporation and Police ICT Company for 2019/20.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding the City of London Police Vehicle Fleet.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding the City of London Police Risk Register.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding the Police Accommodation Strategy.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a Gateway 6 Issue report of the Commissioner regarding the Police Accommodation Strategy: Decant – Relocation of Force Control Room.  

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a Gateway 6 Issue report of the Commissioner regarding the Police Accommodation Strategy: Decant – Forensic Services Interim Location (Relocation of Fingerprint Laboratory).

Report of the City Surveyor.

Members considered a request for delegated authority from the City Surveyor regarding Wood Street and Snow Hill – Authority to Approve Recommended Disposal Offers Received.

Joint Report of the Chamberlain and Commissioner.

Members considered a joint report of the Chamberlain and Commissioner regarding the City of London Police IT Modernisation Programme.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding action taken between meetings.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members considered a summary report of the Town Clerk regarding City of London Police Business at City of London Corporation Committees.

There were no questions.

TO BE PUT ON AGENDA FRONT SHEET UNDER TOWN CLERK NAME THEN REMOVED FROM HERE

Dates of future meetings

Future meetings of the Committee are scheduled for:

-       18 May 2017;

-       13 July 2017;

-       21 September 2017;

-       2 November 2017; and

-       15 December 2017.

There was no other business.