Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner.

The Committee noted the report of the Commissioner for April to June 2023 setting out the assessment of the City of London Police (CoLP) against the National Lead Force (NLF) aims and objectives as set out in the National Lead Force Plan 2020-2023 (NLF Plan).

On Outcome 1: Members noted improvements in headcount and call-answering times,and commented on the apparent discrepancy between a call abandonment rate of 33% (which had improved) and a satisfaction rate of 96% that clearly did not take into account those who had abandoned the call. The meeting heard that the satisfaction rate did not reflect the fact that cases were not necessarily subsequently investigated and that there was merit in developing a different metric to reflect the overall trajectory of the experience (in response to a question on the development of better measurement strategies). A Member commented that the Monday to Friday service of operation for telephone advice was sub-optimal, and the meeting heard that the aim was to expand the provision, thereby improving the user experience.

On Outcome 3: A Member sought clarification on whether the bottleneck could be attributed to the judiciary. The Committee noted that capacity was one of the many considerations on whether to progress a situation to the court, noting also that in many cases junior barristers were tasked with assessing cases for prosecution - and that there was merit in providing training on evidence for police officers. The meeting heard that three bottlenecks existed: police forces screening out crime (work is ongoing to improve prioritisation activity); disclosure challenges; and pressures on the CPS generally. The Committee noted recent investments in the new City of London law courts at Salisbury Square (see action point 5/2023/P). On Covid-related loan fraud: the meeting heard that these are public sector fraud incidents (rather than fraud against business/people which is the remit of the CoLP) though the CoLP has a supporting role in handling Covid-related loan crimes.  In response to a question on asset recovery progress, the meeting heard that the CoLP was expecting to receive 100+ additional financial investigators alongside other resources to enhance asset recovery.

On Outcome 5: Members commented that further Economic and Cybercrime Academy training was helpful in raising the profile of the CoLP as well as enhancing capabilities.