• Question by: Elly Baker
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Thank you. Assembly Member Baker, please? Elly Baker AM: Thank you, Chair. My questions are on recruitment. We have had some wider questions on that subject and so they are going to be directed at the Commissioner but, Mr Mayor, if there is anything that you want to comment on, then please do come in. We heard earlier on about the challenge you are facing in terms of recruitment and that you feel you are getting close to levels of sustainability in terms of pure numbers. I am interested in, in detail, how you are managing...

• Question by: Nick Rogers
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Thank you. Assembly Member Rogers, please? Nick Rogers AM: Thank you, Chair. Commissioner, just to pick up on some of the points you were discussing with my colleague Assembly Member Best which reference the Estates Strategy. This is something that I have been asking questions about since I was elected back in 2021 to the Mayor and to the Deputy Mayor [for Policing and Crime]. Your predecessor as well had lots of arcane discussions about locker sizes and locations and all that sort of thing. My sense is that the Estates Strategy has gone through many...

• Question by: Joanne McCartney
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Assembly Member McCartney, please? Joanne McCartney AM: Thank you. My question is to the Commissioner to start. I want to ask about VAWG. The [Baroness Louise] Casey Report clearly stated that women do not get the support and protection that they deserve from the MPS and she declared the force institutionally misogynistic and, certainly, there is a real issue with culture. I would particularly like to know what are you doing to monitor and improve performance and how are you judging that?

• Question by: Emma Best
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Assembly Member Best? Emma Best AM: Thank you. Mr Mayor, in July of this year [2023], the Assembly passed a motion unanimously, asking for an update on your plans for Uxbridge police station following your letter two weeks before the by-election there suggesting it would be saved. Could you provide us an update, please?

• Question by: Len Duvall OBE
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Thank you. Assembly Member Duvall, please? Len Duvall AM: Just on the back of the earlier question about planning for future events, I was very taken with what you said earlier on in your opening remarks. Could you just quickly outline to the Assembly how you plan to deal with the accusations which I think sometimes are unfair about impartiality of policing demonstrations of when you should intervene and when you do not? You talked about pragmatism around that, but what is the plan? It must be important in terms of retaining trust and confidence of...

• Question by: Neil Garratt
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Thank you for that, even though you are a minute late, Assembly Members. The next Assembly Member to be called is Assembly Member Garratt, please. Neil Garratt AM: Morning. Commissioner, since the terror attacks in Israel on 7 October [2023], we have had what now seems to be quite regular and frequent marches in London. I was curious whether there was a plan for what would happen at Remembrance weekend, which is coming up, where there are other events planned. Was there a thought on how those marches and some of those other events would interact?

• Question by: Anne Clarke
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Assembly Member Clarke, please? Anne Clarke AM: Good morning. Commissioner, I was really pleased to hear you hold up the actions in Barnet with ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ on the Grahame Park estate and I commend you for your work on that. I am wondering if you could comment. What we have been hearing this morning and what you are hearing throughout is the MPS has a job to rebuild trust and confidence with Londoners. ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ very much relies upon working with communities, working with the local council. How has the MPS worked to build...

• Question by: Tony Devenish
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): Assembly Member Devenish, please? Tony Devenish AM: Thank you, Chair. I would not normally want to criticise another Assembly Member, but I have to say I was honoured to be at the St Mary’s National Health Service site visit yesterday. Assembly Member (AM) [Caroline] Russell and I were clearly at a different visit. The point that was missed by AM Russell is the children who were injured by police dogs and police officers were those being arrested. That is the point and I think she may have missed that point. Anyway, I do not need a...

• Question by: Leonie Cooper
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): The next speaker is Assembly Member Cooper. Keith Prince AM: Tony [Devenish AM] wants to come in as well. Léonie Cooper AM: Thanks very much, Chair. Good morning, Mr Mayor. It was very nice to accompany you in Tooting on the visit to look at the work of the VRU. I wondered if you could update us a bit on the work of the Unit since 2019 and what the impact has been. I have noticed knife crime has started to rise since the pandemic, but I also notice it has not gone back above pre-pandemic...

• Question by: Caroline Russell
• Meeting date: 02 November 2023

Andrew Boff AM (Chair): The next questioner is Assembly Member Russell, please. Caroline Russell AM: Thank you, Chair, and good morning, Commissioner. Good morning, Mr Mayor. I want to start by picking up on something I saw in the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) monthly report to the Police and Crime Committee. The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime [Sophie Linden] reported that she met with Redthread on 25 October [2023] to discuss, and I quote, “concerns re hospitalisation of children following the Met’s use of force”. I happened to be on a Health Committee visit to St...