Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the Deputy Chair Tijs Broeke, James Tumbridge, Deputy Graham Packham, Deputy Graeme Doshi-Smith and the Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee Deputy Christopher Hayward.

The Chair Deputy James Thomson made a declaration as non-executive board member of Economic and Cyber Crime Academy and as a member of the Serious Fraud Office board.   

To agree the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the previous meeting of the Economic and Cyber Crime Committee held on the 13^th of May 2022.

The Committee considered the draft public minutes and non-public summary of the previous meeting of the Economic and Cyber Crime Committee held on the 13^th of May.

RESOLVED- That the public minutes of the previous meeting of the Economic and Cyber Crime Committee held on the 13th of May be approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Commissioner and Town Clerk.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner on the public outstanding references from the last meeting of the Committee.

Further to action 12/2021/P Officers provided an update on the engagement with FinTech firms, including the scheduled events over the next quarter. The Chair added that lots of good work in this area was being completed which was not all captured in the note provided to the Committee. It was noted that there was an event being planned to take place in January 2023.

Updating on the action 6/2022/P regarding the number of Action Fraud Call Handlers Officers confirmed that this number was now at its highest level and there was an expectation of an improvement in the service as a result.

Following an update on action 1/2022/P regarding the City of London Police involvement with insurance companies it was noted that a discussion with the new head of the Association of British Insurance would be undertaken with an update to the next meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director for Innovation and Growth.

The Committee received a report of the Executive Director Innovation and Growth on the Innovation and Growth Update of Cyber & Economic Crime related activities.

The Chair commented that further progress on this project should not be delayed in order to fit in with the City of London Corporation’s governance processes and instructed Officers to take this forward as promptly as possible.

Replying to a Member’s query the process for the development of technology adoption from the Cyber Innovation Challenge was outlined to the Committee.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the National Lead Force Performance Report Q1 April- June 2022. The Committee received an accompanying presentation from Officers on the City of London Police’s role as National Lead Force for fraud.

In response to a Member’s query Officers confirmed that there was a dedicated team in place with responsibility for the recovery of assets. 

Following a request from the Committee, Officers undertook to include a metric on the number of call handlers and response times to the Service’s success measures. 

A Member requested further information on the process for establishing future trends in fraud. Officers confirmed the extensive process for establishing these trends including engagement with effected business and national bodies to develop a cross sector perspective.

Officers confirmed, in response to concerns expressed by the Committee, that a fully funded City of London Police communication team with responsibility for effective communication of matters relating to the fraud and cyber crime. In addition, the specific methodology for engagement with small and medium size businesses was explained.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided the National Lead Force update.

Responding to a Member’s query it was confirmed that an update on the work for cyber crimes which are not financial in nature would be provided in future reports.

Following discussion by the Committee Officers outlined the proactive and reactive policies for removing websites involved in the criminal activity including the use of artificial intelligence. The Chair noted that, in the long term, this action would likely be led by artificial intelligence systems.

The Committee discussed the possibility for tougher sentences for fraud related offences and requested that Officers explore opportunities for providing this feedback to the Government.

Replying to the Chair’s comment the national work of the Economic and Cyber Crime Academy was explained to the Committee. In addition, it was confirmed that the Academy was in part, funded by POCA funds.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner which provided an update on Cyber Griffin.

The Committee discussed how best to make the Cyber Griffin initiative nationally integrated and requested that Officers develop a strategic option on this for the Committee’s consideration.

Responding to a Member’s query the sector-by-sector engagement strategy was explained noting that continuous work was being undertaken to make this engagement more impactful and valuable.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Following the Chair’s question an update on Economic and Cyber Crime Member reference group was provided to the Committee. It was noted that, whilst the reference group was designed to facilitate wider Member engagement beyond the Committee, Committee Members should also be invited to the reference groups meeting.

There was no urgent business considered in the public session.

MOTION - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) 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 item(s) 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 draft non-public minutes of the previous meeting of the Economic and Cyber Crime Committee held on the 13^th of May 2022.

The Committee considered the draft non-public minutes of the previous meeting of the Economic and Cyber Crime Committee held on the 13^th of May.

RESOLVED- That the non-public minutes of the previous meeting of the Economic and Cyber Crime Committee held on the 13th of May be approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Commissioner and Town Clerk.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner on the non-public outstanding refences from the previous meeting.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted. 

Joint report of the Commissioner and Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the Strategic Communications and Engagement Quarterly Update Economic and Cyber Crime.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.  

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the NPCC Cyber Crime Portfolio Cyber Crime Plan 2022-23.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the NPCC Cyber Crime Portfolio cryptocurrencies and virtual assets.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the NPCC Cyber Crime Programme Benefits Evaluation 2021-22.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee received a report of the Commissioner on the Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting and Analysis Service Next Generation and Current Service update.

The Committee agreed to suspend Standing Order 40 and extend the meeting beyond two hours.

RESOLVED- That the report be noted.

There was one question received in the non-public session.

There was no urgent business considered in the non-public session.