Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Nicholas Bensted-Smith, Lucy Frew and Tom Sleigh.

There were no declarations.

To agree the minutes and summary of the meeting held on 5 February 2016.

The public minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2016 were approved.

Report of the Remembrancer.

The Board considered a report of the Remembrancer concerning the provisions of the Investigatory Powers Bill.

In response to a query on why the City of London Police (CoLP) was not included amongst the bodies able to apply for a warrant such as the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Metropolitan Police, the Commander explained that the cost of intercepting information prohibited the CoLP from acting independently. However, it worked closely with the NCA and would work with the Agency on matters such as this.

RESOLVED – That the content of the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Board considered a report of the Commissioner of the City of London Police summarising the quantitative and qualitative performance of the Force as the National Lead Force for Fraud for the fourth quarter of 2015/16 and for 2015/16 overall.

The Commander was heard in support of the report and proceeded to take Members through the various elements of the paper.  Detailed discussion ensued during which a number of comments were made. This included the following:-

Whilst the customer satisfaction figures had reduced since last year, they were dependent on people being willing to complete a survey after each case. People were becoming more survey weary and as a consequence the level of participation had fallen making it more difficult to capture relevant information.

Reference was made to the reduction of crime reports and the Board noted that this had occurred as a result of a gap in the service caused by BSS going into administration. It was of the view that the paragraph would have benefitted from the inclusion of a footnote, particularly as monitoring reports such this were also perused by HMIC.

The Chairman of the Police Committee referred to the use of social media and it becoming a more effective way of disseminating information and messages. He felt that the use of social media was now so main stream more effort should be made with regard to its use. In addition, the merits and benefits it could make nationally should be communicated to the HMIC and the Home Office in due course. Members supported his sentiments and noted that Action Fraud attracted nearly 25,000 followers on twitter whereas a survey attracted far less participants. It was agreed that the Police Committee should be asked to consider whether more resources and emphasis should be placed on the use

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

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 1 of the 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 the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Item Nos.                                                           Paragraph(s) in Schedule 12A

9 - 12                                                                                       3 and 7

Part 2 – Non-Public Agenda

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2016.

The non-public minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2016 were approved.

Matters Arising - Fact Sheet

A Member questioned whether the fact sheet referred to at the February meeting had been circulated. The Commander confirmed that it had been circulated shortly after the last meeting.

Director of Markets & Consumer Protection

The Board considered and agreed a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection, proposing the recruitment of an additional Trading Standards Officer to assist with the development of Operation Broadway across Greater London for a fixed period of time.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Board considered and noted the content of a report of the Commissioner of Police concerning the progress of the Economic Crime Academy.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Board considered and noted the content of a report of the Commissioner of Police updating it on the activities of the City of London Police in its capacity a National Lead Force.

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.