Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Melissa Collett and Jason Groves. Joanna Tufuo Abeyie was observing online.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 3 June 2025.

That the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on the 3 June be approved as a correct record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Commissioner.

The Chair expressed concern regarding slippages in addressing the outstanding references highlighted in the report and requested that written updates be provided in advance of the next meeting.

The Chair noted that the work referenced under Item 8 of the report (Action Fraud complaints) fell within the remit of the Economic and Cyber Crime Committee and should therefore be considered by that Committee instead.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided an update on Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) work within City of London Police.

A member noted that men and junior officers in frontline roles appeared to be less engaged with the relevant training programmes. The Member suggested introducing consequences for missed mandatory training sessions and implementing regular monitoring of quarterly training statistics.

Members discussed potential barriers to training completion, including shift patterns and issues with inaccurate reporting of training data.

The Chair emphasised the importance of developing a performance framework for the EDI Strategy to ensure a clear understanding of the impact and outcomes being sought. The Chair agreed to be part of a follow up discussion about expectations in terms of measurement and reporting.

Officers agreed that it would be helpful to have clarity on the specific requirements of the Committee.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided an update of professional standards, conduct, and vetting of the first quarter of 2025.

Members noted the increase in complaints; officers said that this reflected improved understanding of the complaints process rather than a decline in conduct standards. There was ongoing work to ensure complaint signposting and custody information remained up to date.

The Deputy Chair referred to a point in Appendix 2 regarding group membership, specifically freemasonry. It was suggested that a paper on the policy for declaring freemasonry, discussed at a previous meeting, should be reviewed. A member, also the Chair of the Police Authority Board, proposed writing to the Home Secretary to express concerns and seek resolution on this matter.

Officers reported that an internal review of inspection reports had recently been completed and agreed to present the findings to the Committee at its next meeting.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided an update on stop and search and the use of force in the first quarter of 2025.

Members noted a general increase in stop and search activity across the organisation, which was attributed to seasonal variations in offending. The Force reported that following the recent HMICFRS inspection, it had been assessed as “adequate” for stop and search procedures. This represented an improvement on previous findings and officers said that it positioned the Force well for future inspections.

Officers advised that work with the University of East London on data analysis was ongoing, with a further update to be provided at the next meeting. Members were also informed that a new Force Incident Manager role had been introduced to provide oversight and challenge around use of force reporting. Completion rates for use-of-force reporting had increased from 50% to 80% as a result of improved governance and awareness.

Members queried the reliability of data and sought assurance that historic underreporting issues had been resolved. Officers confirmed that significant progress had been made but that further work to improve data accuracy remained ongoing.

It was noted that the Force intended to carry out further analysis of the use of handcuffs, including demographic patterns, and to develop more granular data on the ages of juveniles subject to stop and search.

Members also noted the work of the Stop and Search Working Group, which includes Equality, Diversity and Inclusion representation, to ensure that community feedback and complaints are used to inform practice.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

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 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.

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 approve the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 3 June 2025.

That the non-public minutes and summary of the meeting held on the 3 June were approved.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided a random sample of police conduct reviews.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided information on a number of suspended officers in the first quarter of 2025.

There were no questions.

One item of non-public urgent business was raised.