The Police Committee
The Court of Common Council is the Police Authority for the
Square Mile as set out in the City of London Police Act 1839.
Under Section 56 of the Act, the Common Council set up a Police
Committee to carry the Act into effect and delegated to the Police
Committee all its functions under the Act (with the exception of
the appointment of the Commissioner), a system which still
continues notwithstanding subsequent legislation.
The Police Committee was previously made up of 17 Members (ie
local councillors) from the Court of Common Council, however, this
changed in April 2009, when two seats (from the 17) were taken up
by external members (ie non-elected Members). The reason for this
change was to strengthen the direct input by the various City
communities into the work of its police authority.
Members are elected to the Committee by their peers in the
Common Council and serve for four year terms which can be renewed.
View
the current Membership of the Police Committee here.
Members of the Police Committee are eligible to serve on other
Committees of the City Corporation, where they can gain knowledge
of its role as a Local Authority and the services it provides. This
enables them to take into account not only local views on policing,
but also to understand what impact the City Corporation’s functions
may have on policing issues, eg community services, housing,
licensing, road safety, etc.
View the scheduled meetings of the Police Committee here.
The Committee is subject to many of the same Standing Orders as
are applied to other Committees appointed by the Court of Common
Council, but there are some exceptions in relation to financial
issues. For example, the Police Committee is required to operate
within a cash-limited budget and, unlike other Service Committees,
may not request additional funds to be made available – other than
in the case of an extreme emergency.
Download the Standing Orders here
Court of Common Council (517kb)
The Police Committee meets six times a year to consider relevant
issues pertaining to its remit. It also appoints a Reference Sub
Committee to deal with any matters requiring attention between
meetings and there is a Police Complaints Sub Committee
specifically responsible for considering complaints made against
police officers.
View the
agendas,
public minutes and
reports for all meetings of the Police
Committee.
Special Interest Area (SIA) Scheme
The Police Committee is appointed on a non-ward basis, so there
is no specific representative for individual areas of the City.
Rather, the Committee runs a Special Interest Area Scheme, through
which Members take the lead in different areas, allowing particular
focus on important issues. The representatives for the SIAs are as
follows