Agenda and minutes

The Clerk noted that this was an informal meeting. Any views reached by the Board would have to be considered by the Town Clerk after the meeting in accordance with the Court of Common Council’s Covid Approval Procedure who will make a formal decision having considered all relevant matters. This process reflects the current position in respect of the holding of formal Local and Police Authority meetings and the Court of Common Council’s decision of 15th April 2021 to continue with virtual meetings and take formal decisions through a delegation to the Town Clerk and other officers nominated by him after the informal meeting has taken place and the will of the Committee is known in open session. Details of all decisions taken under the Covid Approval Procedure will be available online via the City Corporation’s webpages

There were no apologies. Deputy Keith Bottomley noted that he needed to depart the meeting at 10.30am.

There were none.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 16 April 2021.

It was clarified that the Chair’s candidature for the APPC was supported by the Board, but it was for the APPC to make an appointment at its Annual General Meeting, scheduled for July 2021.

It was noted that following the April meetings, the Deputy Chair had nominated Alderman Timothy Hailes (Chair of the Resource, Risk & Estates (Police) Committee) to take their place on the Capital Buildings Committee.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 16 April 2021, are approved as an accurate record.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 20 April 2021.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 20 April 2021, are approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

Members received a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner which set out Outstanding References from previous meetings of the Board.

• 8/2021/P – A date was being progressed.
• 11/2021/P – A schedule of events and communications with the APCC would be shared would be shared with the SPPC in September 2021.
• 13/2021/P – Progress had been slightly held back due to the need to ensure that the Force’s website to linked in with the national policing webpages. The Commissioner gave assurances that the website will be fully up-to-date by the end of May.
• 15/2021/P – The Chair wished to proceed at pace to fill these vacancies.

RESOLVED – That the Committee notes the report.

The Chair to be heard.

Members received a verbal update from the Chair.

PCC elections – potential implications

Significant changes were expected at the recent PCC elections on 6 May; however, the changes were more significant than many expected. Of the 41 PCC, PFCC, and Mayoral elections, the Conservatives won 29, Labour 11, and Plaid Cymru 1. There were now no independent PCCs.

Paddy Tipping, a Labour PCC (and current Chair of APCC) lost his election for PCC in Nottinghamshire, highlighting the increasingly political feel of the PCC elections. The balance of power had shifted significantly (with one political party dominating for the first time). It meant that there will be an interesting context to hold the election of the new APCC Chair, the impact on membership of the APCC Board, and the distribution of portfolio responsibilities.

The Chair was interested to see how Government and Ministers interacted with the APCC and PCCs. He felt that there was a real risk that politics will play a greater role in future and that this may be problematic.

Given the low number of Labour PCCs that have been elected, it is likely the previous convention of splitting leads and deputies of portfolios along party lines would have to be adjusted. The Chair was engaging concerned parties with regards to acting as the APCC Lead on Economic Crime and Cyber.

The elections had also led to changes on the Board of APCC. The Chair had indicated his willingness to take on the role of Statutory Director of APCC for the position reserved for Other Policing Bodies. 

With regard to APCC engagement, in order to push Economic and Cyber Crime further up the national agenda, the Chair was looking at the following:

• Writing to PCCs to raise the issue of fraud and cybercrime and the need to include this

Commissioner & Chief Officers to be heard.

Members received a verbal update from the Commissioner.

Numbers of people in the City had started to increase both in the day and evenings. Whilst crime levels for some crime types were approaching levels pre-lockdown, the volume of reports remained low (50% lower than the previous year). Despite this, the Force was not complacent and implemented the Policing Plan to ensure the City did not exceed pre-lockdown crime figures.

There was increased activity with the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in response to protests and other public order matters. Officers were deployed on eight occasions in recent weeks, but this was a manageable level.

The 20 May 2021 a high visibility day was planned to work in partnership with the City Security Council. This was organised to welcome people back to the City (workers, visitors), by engaging with people through various stands, bike marking events etc. This helped to promote the return to the City by highlighting the continued safety provided by the Force and partner security organisations.

The Force was looking at plans to ensure its own working environments were suitably equipped and safe for the mixed economy of employees working from home and in the office.

Following a question raised at the recent Court of Common Council meeting, a concern over the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in the west of the City had been drawn to the Commissioner’s attention. The local policing model, Chief Inspector and Sector Inspector were leading the response by meeting with partners and the Corporation to look at prevention opportunities. The nature of the issue made the matter challenging but not impossible. The Commissioner encouraged more people to submit ASB or crime reports to the Force, so they have a richer picture of what is taking place, enabling them to take appropriate tasking action in response.

Commissioner and Chief Officers to be heard.

Members received a verbal update from the Commissioner and Chief Officers.

There continued to be a significant level of fraud reporting in January – March 2021. This was being managed as best as possible, with a focus on victim response and experience.

Since the last meeting the Economic & Cyber Crime Committee had met. This group would routinely scrutinise with work of NLF in greater detail.

Members received a verbal update from the Commissioner and Chief Officers.

There continued to be a significant level of fraud reporting in January – March 2021. This was being managed as well as possible, with a focus on victim response and experience.

Since the last meeting, the Economic & Cyber Crime Committee had met. This group would routinely scrutinise the work of NLF in greater detail.

A workshop on NLF was held before the Board meeting.

Regarding communications and engagement, a weekly strategic communications and engagement group meeting was being held. This involved leads from the COLP Media Team, Corporate Affairs, policy at the Force, Innovation and Growth and COL Communications. There had been some media activity as a result on pension and holiday fraud.

Other engagements planned included Policing Plan Priorities and releases around Cyber Resilience, The Force was working on round tables with RUSI on the Online Harms Bill to which Members will be invited. The Force were looking to improve and drive information packs out to PCCs and report this through ECCC and COLPAB as appropriate.

RESOLVED, that the update be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding equalities and inclusion.

Members requested that measurements and targets be introduced to ensure they were able to monitor progress. It was suggested that benchmark data might be available from other forces (e.g. Met, Manchester, Birmingham).

It was noted by a Member that the Special Constabulary had not made the same progress as the Regular Force in recruiting BAME and female officers. The Commissioner responded to say that he thought that one of the reasons would have been because there had been a hiatus on Specials recruitment during the Covid pandemic but he confirmed that he would investigate the matter and report possible causes for this after the meeting in a note to Members 18/2021/P. He noted, however, that the Special Constabulary rely heavily on volunteers that work in the City. This pool of volunteers dwindled with people working from home in the pandemic.

The Chair of Professional Standards & Integrity noted that whilst work to improve equality & inclusion in the Force went beyond recruitment, what had been presented came as a robust and welcome start. She encouraged the Force to ensure that the whole workforce is not alienated by changes made and that these be seen as positive moves for the benefit of all, rather than isolating individual groups for special treatment.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

Members considered a gateway report of the Chamberlain regarding the Audio-Visual Refresh for City of London Police.

Officers clarified that the project was funded by the capital loan scheme. The project provided good value for money as it would allow for 23 meeting and 4 pod rooms to be fitted out. With the exception of some re-cabling, this would not be a fixed asset and could be moved into new facilities if/as required with ongoing COLP accommodation works.

The Commissioner assured Members that there would be a mixed economy of staff on site and working from home but that this would be managed appropriately.

RESOLVED, that Members,

• Approve a project budget of £123.2k (excluding risk)
• Approve a costed risk provision of £12.3k with draw down to be delegated to CoLP Chief Operating Officer; and
• That Option 1 for the installation of audio-visual equipment to the City of London Police estate be approved.

There were no questions.

There were no items of 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 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 20 April 2021.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 20 April 2021, are approved as an accurate record.

Joint Report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

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

The Chair to be heard.

Members received a verbal update from the Chair.

The Commissioner & Chief Officers to be heard.

Members received a verbal update from the Commissioner.

Commissioner & Chief Officers to be heard.

Members received a verbal update from the Commissioner and Chief Officers.

The Fraud Action Plan had been commissioned by the Home Secretary and would be developed for October 2021. This would sit alongside the spending review. A presentation would be brought through ECCC to help describe what the ecosystem looks like between the various different organisations involved.

Whist this presentation would be delivered for the benefit of ECCC, the Chairman asked if all PAB members could be invited. 10/2021/NP.

RESOLVED, that the update be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding the Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting and Analysis Service – Next Generation and Current Service Update.

COLP was awaiting the final documentation from the Treasury within the forthcoming 10 days, with the tender prepared to launch on 1 June 2021. In the meantime, the Team had been using the delay to quality assure the tender pack, ensuring all requirements tie together, with main options outlined and cyber aspects strengthened.

Plans were underway to improve the IBM position, to make the best of the system in place for the time being.

There were questions on financial planning discussions that had been explored at a previous meeting – Chris Bell agreed to follow these up with Graham Packham and a fuller resource update would be submitted to RREC in September 2021. 11/2021/NP.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Chamberlain.

Members considered a Gateway 1-5 report of the Chamberlain regarding the Law Enforcement Community Network (LECN).

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding the City of London Police Risk Register Update.

There were no questions.

There were no items of urgent business.

To agree the confidential minutes of the meeting held on 20 April 2021.

RESOLVED, that the confidential minutes of the meeting held on 20 April 2021, be approved as an accurate record.