Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Douglas Barrow, Tijs Broeke and Alderman Emma Edhem.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes of the meeting held on 5^th February 2021.

RESOLVED - that the public minutes of the meeting held on 5^th February 2021 be approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

Members received a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner regarding references and the following points were made:

14/2019/P - 18 September 2019 Item 6 – Integrity Dashboard and Code of Ethics Update

Future meeting dates of London Police Challenge Forum to be provided to the Committee.

• Members agreed to remove this from the References. There was uncertainty about their future status, and it was unlikely that Challenge Forums would be held in the foreseeable future. Officers would update the Chair if this changed.

1/2020/P - 2 March 2020 Item 5 - Integrity Dashboard and Code of Ethics Update

Case studies arising from London Police Challenge Forum Meetings to be circulated to Committee

•  CoLP have recently held an internal only challenge panel – the results of which will be published on intranet soon – this will be circulated/highlighted to Members when available.

2/2020/P - 2 March 2020 Item 5 Integrity - Dashboard and Code of Ethics Update

Committee to be advised when next Victim Satisfaction Survey will be conducted (Feb 2021 update) Whilst a Report had been submitted recently to the Police’s Performance Management Group, the number of responses this quarter – 14, had been significantly lower than the longer term quarterly average; therefore, it would be difficult to glean as great an insight as usual. The Chair asked officers to submit a (hopefully) fuller quarterly Report for the next meeting of the Committee in May.

• Officers informed Members that the most recent quarter’s data had not yet been published – full data would be made available for next the meeting of the Committee in September

10/2020/P - 14 September 2020 Questions – External Scrutiny - IASG reports to be submitted to PSI Committee

IASG reports to be submitted to PSI Committee and an ISAG meeting

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner concerning Stop and Search and the Use of Force.

The Chair reflected that it was good to see the City of London Police near the top in terms of positive statistics (38% positive outcomes) and welcomed officer’s comments on the need to avoid complacency.  

The Chair stressed that Stop and Search was a very sensitive area that had a big impact on the health of the relationship between the Police and local communities; she queried whether the 38% positive outcome rate could be improved upon.

Officers responded that they recognised and welcomed the high expectations for the City of London Police and would be working hard to drive the conversation rate up, however, it should be noted that the average conversion rate across UK forces was significantly lower, at 12 – 15%, so the Force was working from a position of strength.

Officers added that alongside the work to improve the conversion rate, the manner and conduct of stop and search was a key focus, when individuals were stopped and searched this needed to be done in a courteous and professional manner at all times, it was also reiterated that Stop and Search was driven by intelligence sourced from victims and witnesses of crime.

In response to a separate query, officers pointed out that those officers who had undertaken Project Servator training have a higher conversion rate when conducting stop and searches, it should be noted that, Servator requires significant training which isn’t, in its entirety, practical to roll out to the entire Force (n.b. some aspects of Servator are being embedded in training for new recruits). In addition, it should also be highlighted that Servator Police teams often have a longer run up time to pre-plan operations, whereas, other officers

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner concerning the Equality and Inclusion Action Plan.

In response to comments around the current outlook for recruitment, retention and progression, the Assistant Commissioner responded that CoLP now had the widest representation in its history; whilst work was still needed, both recruitment and progression rates for those from a BAME background have been very positive recently.

Noting the usefulness of the Inclusive Employers Report, the Chair requested that a summary of the Report’s findings is brought back to the Committee for its next meeting.

In response to a query, officers confirmed that the external consultant’s (who was working with the Head of Strategic Development) contract has been extended for a little longer, this was a positive step as they had brough significant added value to the work in this area.

The Chair thanked officers for the Report and commented that some further consideration needed to go into making sure that we think more about community engagement outside of the Force’s statutory requirements (e.g. engagement with schools).

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report. 

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee considered a Report of the Commissioner concerning the Integrity Standards Board and the Code of Ethics.

The Chair requested that officers include the updated Integrity Standard Board (ISB) Dashboard for information at the next meeting of the Committee. This will reflect the data presented to the next meeting of the ISB on 9^th June.

The Police Authority Team proposed that Members might like to submit dilemmas to the Police to consider at the Code of Ethics Panels, officers would circulate information about this to Members in due course. Officers added that Members are welcome to attend the Ethics Sessions to either observe or participate.

RESOLVED – that the Committee noted the Report.

The Committee received a set of glossary terms for information.

There were no questions.

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 of business on the grounds 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 of business on the grounds 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 5th February 2021.

RESOLVED - that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5^th February 2021 be approved as an accurate record

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

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

Oral presentation of the Assistant Commissioner.

The Committee received a presentation of the Commissioner concerning the Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) Act 2021.  

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police concerning Action Fraud Statistics for Quarter 4 (1st January 2021 – 31^st March 2021).

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report concerning the Professional Standards Statistics for Quarter 4 (1st January 2021 – 31st March 2021).

Report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police.

The Committee received a Report of the Commissioner providing a sample of recent Professional Standards Directorate cases.

Members considered cases with no case to answer/not upheld.

Members considered cases dealt with under Complaint and Conduct Regulations 2019.

There were no questions.

There was no other Business.