Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Deputy Doug Barrow, Simon Duckworth, Andrew Lentin, Deputy Henry Pollard and Deputy James Thomson.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 6 July 2018.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 6 July 2018 be approved as a correct record.

The Chairman welcomed Commander Karen Baxter to her first meeting of the Economic Crime Board. Commander Baxter was heard regarding her background and her plans for the Economic Crime Directorate (ECD), on conclusion of which the following points were made.

·         A Member commented that, in his view, the pursuit of perpetrators of economic crime was an area for development. The Commander agreed but noted that with over 800k reports of economic crime the ECD needed to ensure its intelligence-led approach to pursuing perpetrators was suitably robust.

·         A Member queried whether ECD could review the potential to secure private sector funding from developing tech industries. The Commander agreed, noting that it would be possible for ECD to tap into work that private sector firms were already undertaking.

·         A Member noted that the pace of technological change was so fast that it was necessary to ensure there was a triangulation between regulatory bodies, trading standards and the Police to ensure an effective response to economic crime.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding outstanding references from previous meetings and the following points were made.

1 – Fraudulent Cryptocurrencies

·         In response to an update from the Commissioner noting that advice regarding fraudulent cryptocurrencies had been uploaded on to the City of London Police website, the Chairman requested that this reference be retained for the foreseeable future so that it could be periodically reviewed by the Board.

2 – Cyber Training

·         The Commissioner noted that a training session had been scheduled for 15 December 2018.

3 – Economic Crime Victims Unit

·         The Chairman noted that this was now a standing agenda item and so this reference could be closed.

The Chairman noted that the following references were on the agenda at that meeting and could therefore be closed.

·         4 – Quarter Date Staff Estimates

·         5 – Demand, outcome and trends report

·         6 – Glossary of Terms

·         7 – Surveys

·         8 – Explanation of recruitment challenges

RESOLVED, that the report be received.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding National Lead Force Performance for the six months to 30 September 2018 and the following points were made.

Pursue

·         The Commissioner noted the 15% increase of reported crimes to Action Fraud compared to the previous year and added that this was a positive development as each reported crime added to a more complete intelligence picture. The Force was currently supporting 11,000 victims, undertaking 559 investigations, and monitoring 54 organised crime groups.

·         The response to a question from a Member regarding public engagement, the Commissioner replied that work needed to be undertaken to create a clear narrative that economic crime was as much a policing issue as was anti-social behaviour. Moreover, the scale of economic crime was massive – for example, banks often absorbed credit card fraud on behalf of their customers but did not report this as the impact of economic crime.

·         A Member referenced a recent report by Which? that noted the scale of economic crime and queried whether the Economic Crime Board had a role in highlighting the issue with central Government. In response, the Commander noted that fraud was a relatively complex and dry subject which meant the narrative around economic crime needed to change. The ECD would be publishing economic crime statistics quarterly and annually and was reaching out to partners such as Police and Crime Commissioners.

·         In response to a further question on the role of the Board in shaping that narrative, the Commander noted that this was a discussion item for a future meeting.

·         In response to an observation from a Member that Action Fraud was not as user-friendly as it could be, the Commissioner noted that the new Action Fraud system had gone live six weeks previously with a refreshed dashboard and a function that

There were no questions.

There was no other business.

Motion – that under Section 100A (4) 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 100A (4) 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 6 July 2018.

RESOLVED, that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 6 July 2018 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding non-public outstanding references from previous meetings.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered a report of the Commissioner regarding Economic Crime Directorate (ECD) Staff Numbers as at 30 September 2018.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

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

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding the Economic Crime Victim Care Unit (ECVU) as at 30 September 2018.

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

Members considered an update report of the Commissioner regarding Restricted Activity.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.