Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Trey Campbell-Simon and Andrew Dinsmore.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as an accurate record and note any outstanding actions.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 July 2023 were agreed as an accurate record.

The Committee will continue its discussion about the future of policing in Hammersmith & Fulham following the Baroness Casey Review – with contributions from the Metropolitan Police, Councillors and residents.

The Chair remarked that further to the detailed discussion of the same subject at the last meeting, it was an opportune time for the Committee to review how the New Met for London Plan (NMFL) had been implemented locally. He welcomed Superintendent Craig Knight and Chief Inspector Tom Orchard to the meeting and invited them to give a presentation.

Superintendent Craig Knight briefed members that development of the NMFL model was ongoing as it incorporated local community views. The quarterly NMFL meeting held the day before in Shepherd Bush was a case in point.  The Met, according to the Casey Review, had challenges in terms of culture, trust and confidence of the community, and gender issues involving women and girls.  He said trust and confidence had been fundamental since 1829 when the Met was founded on the basis of policing by consent. He further noted that £530 million had been invested into policing under the NMFL Plan to bring about root and branch changes across London, including reviewing the right ways for effective responses to the reporting of crimes, and recruiting an additional 500 Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). Superintendent Knight believed that with the command team in place in the next few months, local policing would be led in a more focused way. 

Superintendent Knight further highlighted that the NMFL Plan aimed at uplifting public protection, safeguarding children and young people, and supporting crime victims, as enshrined in the legislation.  The evidence-based practices of targeting the top 100 violence against women and girls (VAWG) offenders would help reduce those who caused much more harm than the average offenders. As regards the ongoing violence on the streets, the Met would review the proactive asset under the Basic Command Unit (BCU) and he believed H&F should have a fair share.  Summing up his presentation, Superintendent Knight said he was pleased to receive significant positive feedback at the said NMFL meeting which would help the Met rebuild trust and confidence among the local residents they served. 

Workforce recruitment, vetting and retention

In reply to Councillor Omid Miri’s question about the team structure and tenure of the Met within H&F, Superintendent Knight introduced the hierarchy under the BCU Commander. Being a superintendent responsible for neighbourhood policing at H&F with Chief Inspector Tom Orchard as his deputy, he said that his current tenure in H&F was 2 years, after which he hoped to continue serving H&F while refreshing his skills set on operating policing and public order command. The post requirement for inspectors was one year and he expected they could work longer at H&F while maintaining their personal development.

The Chair asked about the steps taken to make the Met more diverse, in light of declining public trust and confidence. Superintendent Knight referred to the recruitment challenges and said that although the funding to recruit 500 additional PCSOs was in place, the issue of trust and confidence remained among potential applicants. Highlighting the challenging role as a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To note the following dates of future meetings:

·       7 Feb 2024

·       24 Apr 2024

The following dates of future meetings were noted:

· 7 Feb 2024

· 24 Apr 2024