Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Doug Barrow, Ben Murphy and Deputy James Thomson.

There were no declarations.

To approve the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 21 January 2019.

RESOLVED, that the public minute and non-public summary of the meeting held on 21 January 2019 be approved as a correct record.

Joint Report of the Commissioner and Town Clerk.

Members considered a joint report of the Town Clerk and the Commissioner regarding outstanding references and the following points were made.

1/2017/P – Fraudulent Cryptocurrencies / City of London Police Website

·         The Town Clerk noted that Action Fraud could be better sign-posted on the City of London Police website.

2/2017/P – Cyber Training for Members

·         The Town Clerk noted that Member briefing sessions had been convened for 15 May, 29 May, 19 June and 1 July.

4/2018/P – Action Fraud and Customer Experience

·         The Commander (Economic Crime) noted that Members would receive a presentation at their next meeting.

6/2019/P – National Lead Force Performance / Webchat Numbers

·         The Commander (Economic Crime) noted that IBM had provided a roadmap towards resolution of the issue causing a drop in webchat numbers (obscure chat icon on screen) but that resolution of this issue had a lower priority than other areas for resolution on the new website. The reference would therefore remain live.

7/2019/P – National Lead Force Performance / Reporting and Monitoring Model

·         The Commander (Economic Crime) noted that the Force had worked hard for the past six-nine months to raise the profile of fraud, and that a refresh of the reporting and monitoring model formed part of that effort. A refreshed reporting and monitoring model would improve any bids for funding.

8/2019/P – National Lead Force Performance / Communications

·         The Commander (Economic Crime) noted that the Force’s communications approach employed a variety of channels including Facebook and LinkedIn.

13/2019/P – Brexit / Engagement with short-term office space providers

·         The Commander (Economic Crime) noted that she was comfortable with the preparations undertaken by the Economic Crime Directorate to date in response to Brexit.

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding National Lead Force Performance for the 11 months to 28 February 2019 and the following points were made.

Pursue

·         In response to a question, the Commander (Economic Crime) noted that a judicial outcome was a term that applied to a variety of types of outcome including the issuing of a summons or a ticket, or a case where the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue the case further.

·         In response to a question, the Commander (Economic Crime) noted that the trend of rising crime was not unique to fraud, which is why it was important for fraud to be recognised as a critical area within the criminal justice landscape. In achieving that recognition, it was imperative for the Force to develop a focused, intelligence-led response.

·         The Commander (Economic Crime) noted that it was a positive step for the Force to be included in relevant Home Office decision-making Boards.

·         The Chairman noted that the October 2018 spike in crime reports recorded in the National Dissemination Table was a legacy issue due to old data being disseminated to local Forces.

·         In response to a question, the Commander (Economic Crime) noted that the breakdown between dissemination and crime reporting was complicated by the fact that outcomes were often reported in a different year to when the crime was first reported. This meant it was important to develop an approach that would allow quicker dissemination. This would be supported by Home Office funding to link Force IT systems with local Forces across the UK.

·         In response to a question, the Commander (Economic Crime) noted that new data would be available from June 2019, but that Members should be mindful of the accompanying cultural shift in how this data was reported and disseminated.

·         In response to

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 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 of business on the grounds they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2019.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 21 January 2019 be approved as a correct record.

Joint Report of the Commissioner and Town Clerk.

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

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding the Economic Crime Academy.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Economic Crime Victim Care Unit Performance to February 2019.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Economic Crime Directorate Staff Numbers as at 28 February 2019.

There were no non-public questions.

There were three items of other business. 

Report of the Commissioner.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding the Performance Framework 2019/20.