• Question by: Tony Devenish
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Tony Devenish AM: Thank you. My questions are for Sir Mark, please. Eighty days into the job and clearly you are talking about good signals that things are getting better in policing in London, and I want to pick two topics, please. The first is obviously anti-Semitism, and AM Pidgeon has already mentioned the terrible incident last year in Hanukkah on Oxford Street. Is there any progress, please, on that investigation? You realise it is not specifically the investigation itself; it is the signal that that sends in terms of fighting anti-Semitism.

• Question by: Sem Moema
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Sem Moema AM: Thank you. My first question is to Sir Mark. What support has HMICFRS been providing to the MPS since it was placed in special measures?

• Question by: Keith Prince
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Keith Prince AM: Good morning, Mr Mayor. Did I hear you correctly when you said that knife crime was down since 2016? Was that the year you used?

• Question by: Anne Clarke
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Anne Clarke AM: Thank you, Chair. Good morning. I never thought Shaun Bailey and I would be asking similar questions, but there we are. He has spoken this morning quite simply about the VRU and the indicators suggest that this is going in the right way in terms of reducing youth violence. However, it is of little comfort to families affected by the attacks over the weekend. What more can London do to tackle serious youth violence?

• Question by: Lord Bailey of Paddington
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Shaun Bailey AM: Thank you, Chair. Trust and confidence in the police in the Black community is at an all-time low, and we can all agree that disproportionality is a big part of that. The disproportionality is the rate at which our children get murdered, and the amount of Black children and people who are involved as both perpetrator and victim of crime. Given this, what plan do the police have to take some of these weapons off the streets? I address that to Sir Mark first.

• Question by: Marina Ahmad
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Marina Ahmad AM: Thank you, Chair. Mr Mayor, as you know, the City Hall strategy about violence against women and girls has been published this year. Could you tell us what the challenges and the successes have been to date?

• Question by: Caroline Pidgeon
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM: Lovely, thank you. Baroness Casey’s interim report found much wrong in the MPS, and in particular, systems and behaviours that are racist and sexist. I want to start with you, Sir Mark, because I put this to the Mayor the other week. The report gave an example of one borough team where 37% of female employees had experienced unwanted sexual advances or touching in the last six months. What are you going to do to tackle this disgusting behaviour?

• Question by: Susan Hall
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Susan Hall AM: Thank you. May I say first of all, Sir Mark, thank you for your robust answers to Assembly Member Russell. There is no doubt that politicians do mean well, but it is absolutely vital that we look at things in the round. I really applaud your robust answers. To be fair, Sir Steve House had started to row back, and I am pleased to see that you are saying what you are because figures on both sides of an argument need to be looked at. Thank you for that; I was thrilled to hear that. Mr Mayor...

• Question by: Unmesh Desai
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Unmesh Desai AM: Thank you, Chair. Commissioner, my question is to you. Trust and confidence in the MPS in London is a key issue currently. How are you working to restore the trust of all Londoners? I appreciate that you have partially answered this question in response to the question from the Chair, but can you be more specific and give some examples, especially with regard to regaining the trust of Black Londoners, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Londoners, women Londoners, etcetera ?

• Question by: Caroline Russell
• Meeting date: 01 December 2022

Caroline Russell AM: Thank you very much, Chair. My question is for the Commissioner. In October 2022, when you first appeared in front of the Police and Crime Committee, we spoke about diversion as opposed to criminalisation for the possession of cannabis. One of the things you said you did in your time in Surrey back in 2011 was “to be one of the driving forces nationally in building a different approach with out-of-court disposals.” You described how that eventually became community resolutions. It is clear that you see the benefits of diversion for people who are stopped with cannabis...