Police and Crime Plan 2025-2029

Bearing down on crime and making London safer for everyone is my top priority as Mayor. This Plan is about how we can deliver on my commitment to continue being both tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime. 

Thanks to our approach since 2016 - despite our city’s population rising by over one million and the MPS having to make more than £1bn of savings since 2012/13 due to central government underfunding - we have seen knife crime with injury affecting under 25-year-olds fall by nearly a quarter (24 per cent), homicide by 11 per cent, violence with injury by 7 per cent and burglary by more than a fifth (22 per cent)Reference:1.  But crime in our city is still far too high and we have seen concerning increases in some neighbourhood crime types, particularly robbery and theft.

In this draft Plan we set out how we will work to tackle and prevent these crimes and make London safer for everyone. As Mayor, I’ve doubled police funding from City Hall, which has helped to put 1,300 more neighbourhood police officers on the streets – and I will continue to invest record amounts from City Hall in policing during this Police and Crime Plan period.

The new Government has also taken important steps to increase funding for the MPS. This will help keep officers on the streets and better support the MPS in delivering the unique responsibilities it has in policing the nation’s capital – an issue I have lobbied on consistently since becoming Mayor. I welcome this additional investment, but I have always been clear that it will take time to address the impact of more than a decade of underfunding by the previous government in policing and other services that play a part in keeping London safe. I will continue to work closely with the Government and the MPS Commissioner in the lead up to the Spending Review next year - and for the duration of this Police and Crime Plan period - on the additional national investment London needs.

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) remains at epidemic proportions in our country, with the National Police Chiefs’ Council estimating that two million women in England & Wales are victims of VAWG every yearReference:2. In 2025, I will publish a refreshed VAWG Strategy for London, setting out how we will continue to tackle the perpetrators of these appalling crimes, address the misogynistic attitudes and behaviours that underpin them and ensure that victims and survivors are properly supported.

Trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has been severely damaged by a series of horrific incidents and the stark findings in Baroness Casey’s review. As Mayor, I’ve ensured the MPS is now on a path of far-reaching reform, and we are starting to see progress. But there’s still much more to do to rebuild public trust and ensure police officers respond to the needs and concerns of London’s communities.

I see police reform as a critical part of my Mayoralty and I will not be satisfied until Londoners have the police service they deserve – one that is trusted, always puts communities first, is representative of London and delivers the highest possible service to every community in our city.

More work is also needed to ensure that all victims of crime in our city receive a high-quality service at every stage in their case – and that their entitlements under the Victims’ Code are delivered consistently. Alongside London’s tireless Independent Victims’ Commissioner, Claire Waxman OBE, I will continue to scrutinise, challenge, invest and innovate to make things better for victims of crime in our city. 

Safety matters to all of us, and I encourage Londoners to look through this draft Plan to make our city safer over the next four years and to take the opportunity to feed in your views. With your input, we can refine this Plan to ensure it reflects the needs and wishes of Londoners as we continue to work together to build a fairer, safer London for everyone.

I’m proud to have been recently appointed by the Mayor as London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, and to have the opportunity to introduce this draft Police and Crime Plan.

London is a global city with a growing resident population - which is further boosted by a large number of tourists and daily commuters. It is our national seat of Government and a global centre of business, culture and sport. It is one of the most vibrant and diverse places on earth. All of these things make London the great city it is – but also present unique challenges for the MPS and all the other agencies and organisations with a role in its safety and security.

Thanks to their hard work London has lower rates of violent crime compared to other cities nationally and internationally. Since 2016 important progress has been made, with the numbers of homicides, people under the age of 25 injured with knives and burglaries all down.

However, knife crime and other forms of violence remain too high. Acquisitive crimes – particularly robbery – have seen significant increases since the COVID-19 pandemic. And VAWG remains at epidemic levels nationally.   

Moreover, too many Londoners do not feel that they can trust their police service.  While some progress has been made, there is much to be done to reform the MPS and ensure that it commands the trust and confidence of all of London’s communities.

We confront these challenges at a time of real pressure on the public finances in London and nationally, and the consultation for this draft Police and Crime Plan coincides with the consultation on the Mayor’s budget for 2026/27. The MPS has made more than £1.2bn in gross savings since 2012/13. Since his election in 2016, the Mayor has raised the amount of money he can raise for policing through council tax by the maximum allowed by the Government each year and has diverted business rates funding – provided by the Government for other purposes – to support the MPS budget. But the majority of MPS funding comes from central Government – and over the years the level of this central funding has not kept pace with the real costs of policing London. With the Mayor and the Commissioner, I will do everything I can to maximise the value of every pound at our disposal – and be transparent with Londoners about the decisions we make to do so. 

This document sets out how we will work over the next four years to build on the progress that has been made since the Mayor came to office, and how we will tackle issues of greatest concern.

Our aims are that:

• London is safe;
• Londoners feel safe; and
• Children and young Londoners are safe from harm.

We will concentrate on three key programmes of work to achieve these aims. They are:

• Reducing violence and criminal exploitation;
• Increasing trust and confidence in the MPS; and
• Improving the criminal justice system and supporting victims.

Delivering these programmes and achieving these aims will involve all of the many agencies, organisations and groups in London with a role in safety and security, including MOPAC, the GLA, the MPS and other emergency services, local councils, the criminal justice system, TfL, community and voluntary groups, and businesses. 

Over the coming weeks, my team and I will be reaching out to Londoners and partner agencies to get their views on this draft document. We are providing a variety of convenient ways in which Londoners can take part, including online via Talk London, via online meetings, via email, through Freepost, at in-person meetings and at in-person workshops. To find out more about how to take part in the consultation, please look on our website to find out what is happening and when.

What we learn from these consultations will genuinely make a difference, not only to the final Plan – which will be published in Spring 2025 – but to the way we work at the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC). We want to do everything we can to make London a safer city for all, and with the input of Londoners, we can make sure that our resources are focused on the things that matter most.

The Mayor’s overarching ambition for policing and community safety is for Londoners to be safe and feel safe in their city. Lower crime and a higher sense of safety will help to make London an even better place to live, raise a family, study, work, start a business and enjoy the many sporting and cultural assets our city hosts. It will contribute to better physical and mental health for Londoners and promote community cohesion and economic prosperity.

Reducing crime in a lasting way takes time. The underlying causes of crime are complex and often generations in the making. Meanwhile, the MPS and the other agencies and organisations with a central role in cutting crime continue to feel the effects of more than a decade of funding shortfalls which will take years to recover from.

Over the last eight years, London has made important steps forward in reducing crime, but there is still a long way to go. That’s why our commitment to tackling crime and the causes of crime must be sustained beyond the four-year period of this Police and Crime Plan.  

The Mayor therefore welcomes the Government’s commitment to longer-term national safety and security missions, to a preventative, partnership approach to crime reduction, and to investing in policing and the wider apparatus of law and order in the years ahead. This will take time to embed, and we are committed to playing our full part in London.

Likewise, the Mayor has welcomed the announcement of a White Paper on police reform, due to be published in Spring 2025. This has the potential to significantly influence the long-term safety of London, and MOPAC will engage as fully as possible in its development.  

This draft Plan sets out the priority areas of focus in London for the next four years, how we will work with the Government on longer-term strategic ambitions and key areas for reform that we will highlight as part of the White Paper consultation.

National crime data from the Office for National Statistics shows that a person is less likely to be a victim of violent crime in London than they are in the rest of England & Wales. Londoners are, on average, also less likely to be a victim of a violence with injury offence than across the rest of England and WalesReference:3. Research from University College London showed that the homicide rate in London in 2021 was nearly four times lower than in New York and lower than other major global cities including Barcelona, Berlin, Chicago, Madrid, Los Angeles, Paris and TorontoReference:4.

However, some types of violence in London have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis that followed. Research commissioned by the Mayor and conducted by the London School of Economics (LSE) revealed a clear link between a 10 per cent rise in the cost of living and increases in violence, robberies, shoplifting, burglary and theft during 2023 – with all offences rising by eight per cent when the cost of living roseReference:5. Findings from MOPAC’s Public Attitude Survey show that 70% of respondents place tackling knife and gun crime in their top three priorities for London.

Violent crime causes serious harm to Londoners and to their sense of safety, and the Mayor wants the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the criminal justice system, local authorities, TfL and other partner agencies to prioritise efforts on reducing these offences.

It is widely accepted that deprivation and other structural factors are key drivers of serious violence. Violent crime in London is heavily clustered in a small number of neighbourhoods that tend to have high and entrenched deprivation. Young Black men are disproportionately likely to be affected by violent crime. Without in any way excusing criminality, a lack of access to education and good quality employment increases the risk of children and young adults being drawn into offending or gang-related activities, in particular drug dealing as a way of making money.

Criminal exploitation disproportionately affects vulnerable groups such as children exposed to violence or drugs in the home – feeding a self-perpetuating cycle of vulnerability, violence and exploitation. We know from the Public Attitude Survey that women in London feel less safe than men, particularly at night.

There are no quick or easy fixes. By taking a public health approach to tackling the complex underlying causes of violence; supporting the MPS and the criminal justice system to take strong action against perpetrators; working together to identify and divert people at risk of violence towards a more positive future; and providing interventions to help people already caught up in violence and those who are vulnerable, for example due to addiction, to leave that life behind them, the Mayor will continue to leave no stone unturned in making London a safer city. 

During this Police and Crime Plan period, the Mayor’s priority aims are to:

• Reduce knife crime with injury in London, contributing to the Government’s national mission to halve knife crime in a decade – reducing levels of knife crime with injury in London below current levels by the end of this Police and Crime Plan period.
• Reduce robbery and knife-enabled robbery in London – reducing the numbers of these offences in London below current levels by the end of this Police and Crime Plan period.
• Bring more perpetrators of Violence Against Women and Girls to justice and increase preventative efforts to tackle misogyny, contributing to the Government’s national mission to halve VAWG in the next decade – we know that underreporting is an issue in relation to VAWG offences. For this reason, during this Police and Crime Plan period we aim to drive up reporting and improve charge rates for the most serious crime types.
• Protect people from criminal exploitation – strengthening agencies’ ability to identify and respond effectively with children and adults being – or at risk of being – criminally exploited.

By delivering these aims, the Mayor’s ambition is to reduce the number of victims of violent crime in London and reduce the overall harm caused by violence. Violent crime disproportionately affects marginalised communities and reducing it can also help address some of the root causes of social and economic inequality, improving opportunities for vulnerable populations and reducing systemic injustices.

There is also a potential virtuous circle between reductions in violent crime and increases in public confidence. Throughout this Police and Crime Plan period, MOPAC will work with the police, partner agencies and communities disproportionately affected by violence to address these crimes and their underlying causes.

To achieve these aims, the Mayor will:

Take a public health approach to tackling the causes of violence and lead a city-wide effort to prevent people from being drawn into violent crime.

Taking a public health approach, led by London’s Violence Reduction Unit

In 2019, the Mayor set up England and Wales’s first Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to tackle the underlying causes of violence in London through a public health approach. Over the last five years, working in partnership with local authorities and voluntary and community organisations, the VRU has funded and delivered up to 350,000 positive opportunities for children and young adults. Since it was set up in 2019, there has been a 24 per cent reduction in homicides, 27 per cent fall in knife injury of a person under-25, and a 17 per cent reduction in personal robberyReference:6.

The Mayor will continue to fund and support the VRU to lead a partnership approach to tackling violence that is rooted in prevention and early intervention. The Home Office has also provided funding to deliver targeted programmes through diversionary activities, youth work and mentoring. 

The public health approach model is built around using evidence, insight, data and listening to London’s diverse communities to build on what works to reduce violence. The VRU will continue to develop and adopt this approach to contribute to sustainable reductions in violence in the capital, centred on three strategic objectives: 

• A city in which children and young adults both feel safe and are safe.
• Taking a partnership approach to delivering solutions.
• Stabilising and reducing violence through prevention and enabling positive opportunities.

Violence is complex, with evidence showing links with poverty, deprivation and lack of opportunity. Austerity, the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis has cumulatively impacted young adults, families and communities.

The VRU will continue to tackle these underlying causes and the structural inequalities that exist in our society by investing in targeted interventions, positive opportunities and working in partnership with others. It will do this by advocating for children and young adults, families and communities as well as targeting its investment and support in programmes that follow ‘the journey of a child’.

The VRU will focus on keeping children and young adults safe both in and out of school, funding work to support a ‘whole family’ approach, investing in the life-changing work done by youth workers and mentors as part of a vital trusted adult relationship, funding positive opportunities into training and employment, and giving communities the support and investment to deliver interventions to tackle local concerns. 

The VRU’s extensive programme of prevention and diversionary work is set out and measured through its strategy and outcomes framework. This can be found here. A Partnership Reference Group, chaired by the Mayor and formed of organisations across education, health, voluntary and community sector, the police and local authorities, meets quarterly and oversees the VRU's work.

Supporting the work of Community Safety Partnerships

Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) are integral to the effort to prevent violence, crime and anti-social behaviour in London. There are 32 CSPs in London – bringing together representatives from the police, fire and rescue, local authorities, the health service, probation and transport – reflecting the principle that no one agency in isolation can prevent crime.

The Serious Violence Duty (SVD) came into effect nationally in January 2023 and ensures that councils and local services work together to better understand, develop and implement plans that prevent violence and reduce harm to communities. In London, each of the 32 Borough Community Safety Partnerships (CSP) are responsible for delivering the SVD at a local level.

The VRU has supported local authorities on the development of Serious Violence Strategic Needs Assessments and Serious Violence Strategies – two of the requirements of the SVD – allocating Home Office funding across all London boroughs to support the reach and impact of prevention work. Further research is being carried out to support a new pan-London strategic assessment of violence and to consider how further analysis could be improved to support London boroughs. The VRU will continue to review and work with local authorities to refresh or revise their strategies where necessary.

Developed and co-ordinated by the VRU, each of the 32 London boroughs also have Violence and Vulnerability Reduction Action Plans, which ensure that there is a level of consistency in work to reduce violence across London and provide opportunity to share good practice, research and evidence. The VRU will continue to support local CSPs to annually review and refresh their plans.

Robust and timely data is essential for the work of violence reduction, and MOPAC and the VRU will work to improve community safety partners’ access to a range of pan-London community safety data covering policing, health, transport and fire safety to better understand local issues and trends.

Working in partnership to reduce the harms caused by the illegal drugs trade

The illegal drugs market is a major driver of crime in London and a source of serious harm to the physical and psychological health of Londoners. Findings from the Public Attitude Survey show that 38% of Londoners place drugs and drug-related crime in their top three policing priorities. The Mayor continues to champion a public-health approach to tackling the harm drugs cause individuals, families and communities; and to contribute to the wider evidence base helping to inform policy and service delivery.

The Mayor's London Drugs Forum, jointly chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime and the Mayor's Senior Health Advisor, was set up in 2022 to strengthen co-ordination in the London response to illegal drugs and the harms they cause – and will continue to sit at the heart of this work during this Police and Crime Plan period. The Forum is a multi-agency partnership bringing together criminal justice and health agencies to develop an effective response to drug related harms and crimes across the city. Its vision is that there will be a reduction in both drug related crime and drug related deaths in London and that this can only be achieved through effective partnership working.

The London Drugs Forum will develop a new pan-London Drugs Action Plan to drive activity over this Police and Crime Plan period, informed by a Drugs Problem Profile being developed by MOPAC’s Evidence and Insight Unit.

The pan-London Drugs Action Plan will align with the MPS’s Drugs Action Plan and Delivery Plan, which sets out how they are using their resources and powers to take tough enforcement action against the individuals, street gangs and organised crime groups driving the illegal drugs trade in London – such as Operation Yamata; working in partnership to ensure that children and young adults being exploited by drugs gangs are protected; and through Project ADDER, ensuring that drug users are diverted to appropriate treatment and recovery services.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, the Independent London Drugs Commission will publish the findings of their research into the effectiveness of UK drugs laws relating to cannabis, focusing on reducing the harmful health and crime consequences associated with this drug. The Mayor will consider and respond publicly to their recommendations once published.

Support and oversee robust enforcement and partnership activities to reduce violent crime and protect people from exploitation

The MPS is central to the prevention and reduction of violence and criminal exploitation, and every day the men and women of the MPS confront serious danger and highly complex problems to keep others safe. The Mayor has backed the MPS with record funding from City Hall, and will continue to support the MPS and its work with local councils and other partner agencies in pursuing those responsible for violent crime on our streets and in domestic settings, and in removing deadly weapons from our communities.

Through the use of community intelligence and data, the MPS will continue to identify and pursue the most dangerous perpetrators in the city, as well as taking steps to prevent reoffending.

MOPAC’s 2022 Problem Profile of Violence, Gangs and Young People revealed that the majority (82%) of teenage homicides committed in the preceding two years involved the use of combat/Rambo-style knives, and the Mayor has consistently lobbied for tougher laws around the sale and possession of these weapons.  He has welcomed the Government’s early actions to do so, and the MPS will enforce these newly strengthened laws preventing the sale and possession of such weapons in London. MOPAC will engage with the MPS, retailers and Trading Standards to support them in enforcing age restrictions on the sale of knives.  

Mobile phones are highly valuable, easily portable devices and remain a primary target for robbers. Alongside targeted police work to tackle the perpetrators of these robberies, the Mayor and MPS Commissioner will work with the Home Office to continue and expand work with mobile phone companies and cloud providers to do more to ‘design-out’ the theft and robbery of their products – and, if necessary, call for legislative change.

The Mayor will continue to use his position to support and oversee the MPS in tackling the most harmful offenders using all of the tactics at its disposal in an effective way that commands the trust and confidence of Londoners. This includes supporting the intelligence-led and professionally conducted use of stop and search powers by officers, while ensuring that Londoners are able to see data and play a part in scrutinising its use, and by undertaking regular scrutiny of specialist policing tools such as VAWG 100 and the Violence Harm Assessment (VHA), an MPS tool to prevent and reduce violent crime by focusing resources on the most harmful violent offenders. MOPAC will also work with the MPS and Government to ensure that the laws and sentencing guidelines in place are as effective as possible in supporting the police to tackle dangerous individuals and groups and reduce violent crime.

MOPAC will use its oversight and convening roles to scrutinise and support the MPS’s use of the ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ approach to reduce violence in neighbourhoods. This involves the police pursuing and prosecuting gang members, maintaining a presence in the area to prevent other criminal groups from taking control and working with partners to tackle the underlying drivers of crime to create a safer community for people to live, work, socialise and thrive.

This draft Plan recognises the that often those caught up in offending are themselves victims of violence and exploitation. The MPS and other services play a vital role in being able to recognise those at risk and being able to work together to ensure they can be supported to be safe. This includes those with unique vulnerabilities such as care experience, neurodiversity, mental health needs, refugees, those with insecure immigration status, children and elderly people.

Over the last eight years, London has led the way in addressing this intersection of victimisation and offending. The MOPAC-commissioned London Gang Exit service provided support for children and young adults involved in, or at risk of, gang related violence or exploitation. Evaluation found that there was a significant reduction in the proportion of violent offenders in the 24 months after starting the programme, compared to before. 73% of children and young adults in MOPAC’s Rescue & Response programme reduced or completely stopped their involvement with County Lines. MOPAC-commissioned services will continue to play an important part in protecting people from criminal exploitation. The new London Violence and Exploitation Support Service funded by the Mayor builds on the success of London Gang Exit and Rescue & Response, providing specialist support to ensure all children and young adults, regardless of their background, can thrive free from violence and exploitation; including those being exploited by criminal networks.

For the first time, MOPAC will commission a new Appropriate Adult Service for Vulnerable Adults in London to safeguard the interests of vulnerable adults suspected of a criminal offence, ensure they are treated in a fair and just manner and are able to participate effectively. Backed with £1m investment from the Mayor, MOPAC and the VRU will also develop and deliver a range of activities to improve identification, awareness and support for girls and young women affected by gangs, violence and exploitation in London. 

MOPAC will continue to be an active partner on the London Safeguarding Children Partnership Executive, working collaboratively with partner agencies to enhance the safety and wellbeing of children in London.

MOPAC will work with partners to conduct a review of the  Reducing Criminalisation of Looked-After Children and Care Leavers Protocol, which sets out the roles and responsibilities of each group involved in the care of looked-after children and care leavers in reducing their involvement in crime. This includes children’s home carers, foster parents, police officers, the Crown Prosecution Service, health services and local authorities.

The MPS will deliver its five-year Children Strategy, which sets out how they will work with partners to keep children in London safe, build their trust and bring to justice those who abuse and exploit them. The MPS have made a full commitment to Child First within their Children Strategy. This means officers, in all their encounters with children, will see them as children first. MOPAC will support the Commissioner and hold him to account for its delivery.

To support the MPS to take stronger action against gangs luring children and young adults into violence and crime, MOPAC will engage with the Government to support the development of their pledge to create a new offence of criminal exploitation of children.

Homelessness and the lack of safe and secure housing are key factors linked to increased risk of offending and victimisation. This is especially true for those leaving prison without accommodation or returning to housing linked to risk of serious harm. Lack of appropriate housing is also a key barrier for those with health or substance misuse treatment needs or specific vulnerabilities who are unable to access the right local support without secure housing. The Mayor will bring partners together across London, using the GLA and MOPAC to convene those who can support improved housing outcomes for released prisoners, rough sleepers involved in crime and those who accommodation status is linked to risk of serious offending. This will include collaborating with criminal justice partners on the Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Plan of Action and working with both central and local partners who hold the statutory responsibility in these areas.

Through its support and oversight, MOPAC will continue to drive further improvement in the MPS’s response to criminal exploitation and vulnerable people. In 2023, HMICFRS conducted an inspection – commissioned by the Mayor - into how the MPS handles cases involving the criminal and sexual exploitation of children. They found three causes of concern. Bringing these issues to light has enabled the MPS to prioritise and drive the improvements needed. MOPAC will continue to oversee their delivery to ensure better outcomes for exploited and at-risk children. MOPAC will support the MPS to work with partners to review and improve the inter-agency response to missing children to address issues identified through inspections and reviews.

The Mayor will continue to stand up for migrant workers’ rights and protect them from exploitation, working with the Government in support of improvements in the response to modern slavery, sex trafficking and domestic servitude. MOPAC will work with the MPS, statutory and civil society partners throughout this Police and Crime Plan period to review and improve London’s response to modern slavery including for those most vulnerable to exploitation, including women, children and migrants.

Work with criminal justice agencies and other organisations to reduce reoffending by violent offenders

Preventing reoffending once a person convicted of a violent crime has completed their sentence is a necessary but complex pre-requisite of achieving overall reductions in violent crime. MOPAC and the MPS will continue to support an Integrated Offender Management (IOM) approach in London – targeting the most persistent offenders with a multi-agency response to manage their behaviour and reduce the impact of their offending on the community. The Mayor’s commitment in this area has included convening partners to develop London’s first IOM framework to improve quality and consistency and agree a focus on the most violent and harmful repeat offenders. A new performance system has shown that London IOM is reducing reoffending by individuals on this cohortReference:7.

MOPAC has led the way nationally in its innovative use of GPS tagging to ensure that perpetrators of crimes including knife crime, domestic abuse and stalking comply with the conditions of their sentence, and that their victims are protected. Evaluation of the London Knife Crime Tagging pilot showed that over two years the level of reoffending by those tagged was five percentage points lower than when compared to a matched group of offenders who were not tagged. MOPAC will work with criminal justice partners to invest in and further develop the effective use of electronic monitoring in London during this Police and Crime Plan period.

MOPAC, the London Prisons Group (LPG) and other criminal justice system partners will deliver the new pan-London Prison Violence Reduction Strategy, developed following a needs analysis conducted across London’s prisons. The Strategy will test three priorities for reducing violence within prisons and through the gate into London’s communities - improving information sharing, improving custodial processes and commissioning violence reduction services to address underlying factors behind violent offending. Following the conclusion and evaluation of the pilots in three London prisons, we will work with the Government to consider how these changes might be rolled out across the system.

The Mayor welcomes the Government’s national commitment that every young person caught in possession of a knife will be referred to a Youth Offending Team and receive a mandatory plan to prevent reoffending. In line with the Child First approach, MOPAC will work with justice partners to see this commitment is implemented effectively in London and continue its work with youth justice partners to improve outcomes in both custody and the community.

The Mayor will continue to support the Youth 2 Adult Hub pilot in Newham - a collaboration between MOPAC, the Ministry of Justice and London Probation which launched in 2022 to support young adults in the criminal justice system to more effectively address the underlying causes of their offending. Evaluation by Sheffield Hallam and Middlesex Universities found that staff and young adults involved are “overwhelmingly positive about the hub and unanimously agreed this type of bespoke service should be rolled out” across the country"Reference:8. During this Police and Crime Plan period, subject to continued positive evaluation findings, MOPAC will explore options for wider rollout of this pilot with the Ministry of Justice.

Take a public health approach to reducing Violence Against Women and Girls

The alarming scale of VAWG and the misogyny that normalises it is a national emergency, with the NPCC estimating that at least one in every twelve women in England and Wales will be a victim of VAWG each yearReference:9. Victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence continue to experience extremely poor justice outcomes, including re-traumatisation and court backlogs. Addressing VAWG and its root causes is therefore a core priority for the Mayor, MOPAC and our partners.

Since 2016, the Mayor has overseen £233 million investment into tackling VAWG, funding a wide range of impactful work across priority areas of preventing and reducing VAWG; supporting all victims and survivors; holding perpetrators to account; and building trust and confidence.   

The Mayor will publish a refreshed VAWG Strategy for London in 2025, setting out how we will continue to take a public health approach - changing the behaviour of men and boys and making our city safe for every woman and girl. Ensuring a coordinated approach to working closely with our statutory and voluntary sector partners is essential, as the causes of VAWG are multiple and complex.

The Strategy will consider how we will contribute to the Government’s national mission of halving VAWG in a decade.  This will also include a strong focus on tackling stalking, responding to the latest evidence in this area including MOPAC-commissioned research and the Stalking Super Complaint – and embedding work such as MOPAC’s roll out of stalking awareness training to CJS professionals.

While recognising that women and girls are disproportionately affected by crimes such as domestic abuse, sexual violence and harassment, the Mayor's VAWG Strategy will also recognise and respond to the prevalence and impact on male and gender-diverse victims of these appalling crimes in London. It will incorporate:

Holding perpetrators to account

Supporting and oversee the MPS and strengthening partnerships with other organisations to bring more perpetrators of VAWG to justice for their crimes. This also includes working with partners to provide effective interventions for perpetrators of VAWG including stalking.

Preventing and reducing VAWG

Addressing the harmful attitudes, behaviours and norms that are rooted in misogyny, and that enable and normalise VAWG in society.

Supporting all victims and survivors

Creating a holistic, survivor-centred approach to VAWG services and support the Criminal Justice System to tackle delays and embed a trauma-informed approach with VAWG expertise strengthened throughout.

Building trust and confidence amongst victims and survivors of VAWG

The MPS and the wider justice system must command the trust and confidence of victims and survivors of VAWG. Without it, offences will remain unreported, perpetrators will remain at large, and victims and survivors will miss out on available support.

Stand with communities against hatred and extremism, and work with agencies to strengthen London’s counter-terrorism efforts

London’s diversity is its greatest strength, and our capital remains a beacon of freedom and tolerance. Hatred – offline and online - must not be allowed to erode our vibrant community life in London. Hostility towards people because of who they are - or who they are perceived to be - must be called out and dealt with, and the Mayor remains committed to reducing hate crime in all its formsReference:10. The Mayor will continue to use his position and profile to celebrate diversity and stand against hatred and intolerance in London.

London’s communities are the first line of defence against hatred and extremism.  In the aftermath of devastating and tragic terrorist attacks in London during 2017, the Mayor launched his Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Programme. This delivered the most comprehensive city-wide engagement and review exercise in this policy area ever. One of the outcomes was the creation of the Mayor’s Shared Endeavour Fund in 2020 to provide financial support to civil society groups delivering projects which directly counter extremism, offer positive alternatives to vile ideologies and encourage others to stand up to hate and intolerance. In its first four years the Fund supported 94 projects which worked with over 141,000 Londoners. Independent evaluation has found that the Fund has consistently been “successful in supporting CSOs to build Londoners’ resilience to radicalisation and extremist recruitment and reduce intolerance, hate and extremism in the capital”. Achievements of projects supported in Call 4 of the Fund include: a 19% increase in beneficiaries’ awareness and concern about intolerance, hate and extremism; a 28% improvement in beneficiaries’ sense of belonging in their communities; a 36% improvement in beneficiaries’ tolerance for difference and diversity; a 24% increase in beneficiaries’ ability and intention to challenge prejudiced and hateful views and a 25% increase in beneficiaries’ ability to critically engage with information on social media.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, through the Shared Endeavour Fund the Mayor will invest in more community projects that strengthen communities against extremism, encourage more Londoners to stand up to hate, better protect those vulnerable to radicalisation and stop the spread of hateful ideologies.

As a global city, world events can often lead to tensions and crimes on the streets of London. The Mayor will continue to work with the MPS, CPS, communities and partner organisations to bear down on spikes in hate crime such as antisemitism and Islamophobia in London – both of which have increased following the conflict in the Middle East.

MOPAC will continue to convene statutory agencies, partners and communities to improve our collective response to hate crime, including investing in specialist support services for victims of Hate Crime; working with trusted partners and leading experts to provide free safety and security advice to places of worship; and by continuing to support the work of National Hate Crime Awareness Week. The Mayor has committed to establishing a Transport Hate Crime and VAWG Task Force to build on existing partnership efforts to tackle hate crime on public transport.

The threat of terrorism remains a reality for London and cities around the world. Since taking office, the Mayor has led extensive efforts to tackle extremist ideologies in London and to ensure that the city is as prepared as possible should an attack take place. The London CONTEST Board was established by MOPAC and London Councils in 2017 to be the primary forum for partners to co-ordinate and collaborate on activity to counter terrorism. Through the Board, during this Police and Crime Plan period MOPAC will work closely with the police, emergency services, security partners, TfL, businesses and communities to tackle the threat of terrorism, understanding how the threat has evolved and changed and how partners can work together to mitigate any risk and keep Londoners safe.

These are issues of national impact and national importance. The Mayor has welcomed the announcement by the Home Secretary that a review of the Counter-Extremism Strategy is to take place, which will include considering classifying misogyny as a form of extremism. MOPAC will fully engage and support this review where applicable and will ensure its work reflects the strong links between VAWG (including domestic abuse), male violence, and extremism in its work to tackle radicalisation in London.

Trust and confidence are fundamental to our system of policing by consent. The police wield unique powers on behalf of the state, including the powers to detain people and to use force on them. It is essential that police powers are used lawfully, proportionately and fairly - and that different groups within society feel equally engaged with, confident in, protected by and trusting of the police.

The trust and confidence of Londoners in their police service has been damaged by a series of appalling incidents and highly critical reports including Baroness Casey’s review into the culture and standards of the MPS. The Mayor has set in motion the most fundamental reform of policing in London in decades – and will not be satisfied until Londoners have the police service they deserve – one that is trusted, puts communities first, is representative of London and delivers the highest possible service to every community in our city.

The latest data from the Public Attitude Survey shows that in the 12 months to Q2 2024/25, 46% of Londoners said the police were doing a good job locally (our key measure of confidence), 72% of Londoners believed the MPS was an organisation they could trust, and 52% of Londoners believed the MPS was changing for the better. In national context, Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) data for the year ending June 2024 shows that confidence in the MPS (49%) is in line with the England & Wales average (48%) and higher than its most similar forces – Greater Manchester (43%), West Yorkshire (45%) and West Midlands (44%)Reference:11.

There is more to be done to increase trust and confidence and address disproportionality which persists. LGBT+ and White British Londoners report lower levels of confidence in the MPS. LGBT+, disabled, mixed-ethnicity and Black Londoners report lower levels of trust in their police serviceReference:12. Intersectional analysis by MOPAC has found that young Black women have the lowest levels of trust in policing.

Our work to improve trust and confidence in policing is based on years of research and evidence on what the key drivers are. Local engagement and treatment – the feeling that the police listen, understand and deal with issues that matter to communities; and are helpful, friendly, approachable, fair and respectful - is the strongest drivers of confidence. Police accountability and standards - feeling the MPS maintains high standards, responds to feedback, is held accountable and represents the communities it serves - is the strongest driver of trust. We know that perceptions of police effectiveness impact on both trust and confidence. It is important that the police and partners provide an effective service to all communities and tackle neighbourhood crime and ASB issues that matter most to local people. Police visibility and local information provision are also important elements of neighbourhood policing that shape both confidence and trust. External factors including personal security, community crime problems and individual demographics are also associated with confidence and trust. Find out more about the drivers of trust and confidence here.

Reflecting these principles, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, through his New Met for London reform plan, has set out his vision for reforming the MPS and delivering more trust, less crime and higher standards in London. Significant steps to reform the culture and standards of the MPS have since been taken – including the launch of its internal Culture Plan, publication of a new Race Action Plan committing the MPS to being an anti-racist organisation, the establishment of seven new local Professional Standards Units and the establishment of a new Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion Directorate. During this Police and Crime Plan period this work will be further sustained and embedded.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, the Mayor’s priority aims are to:

Increase Londoners’ trust and confidence in the MPS, in line with the Government’s ambition to rebuild confidence in policing nationally over the next decade.

Reduce gaps in the levels of trust and confidence between different groups – by increasing those figures for groups where trust and confidence is lowest.

Reduce Londoners’ level of concern about anti-social behaviour – this is important for quality of life and complements the Mayor’s broader ambition for victim-based crime to reduce in London.

By delivering these aims, the Mayor’s ambition is to increase the safety of Londoners, their sense of safety and their trust and confidence in the police service. In turn, there are both operational and crime reduction benefits to improving trust and confidence - those with higher levels of trust and confidence are more likely to report crime, provide intelligence and comply with policing.

To achieve these aims, the Mayor will:

Build trust through greater transparency and accountability

Building trust and confidence in policing through greater transparency and accountability remains at the heart of the Mayor’s agenda. Since 2016, he has taken action, including reviewing and overseeing the overhaul of the MPS Gangs Violence Matrix - and its transformation to the Violence Harm Assessment which is helping the Met pursue the most prolific offenders and, where appropriate, provide an opportunity to work with partners to support those who are vulnerable to violence, gangs and criminal exploitation. The Mayor’s 2020 Action Plan for Transparency, Accountability and Trust in Policing was published following extensive consultation with Black Londoners and has led to important reforms in policing practice and oversight in London, as well as influencing the National Police Chiefs Council’s Race Action Plan.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, MOPAC will continue to strengthen its oversight of policing across all the MPS’s areas of activity, increase community participation in police oversight and work closely with MPS colleagues to support them in delivering the reforms and improvements Londoners expect.

Overseeing and supporting reform of the MPS

The London Policing Board, established by the Mayor in response to one of Baroness Casey’s recommendations, will remain at the heart of our oversight of police reform. The London Policing Board brings members with a variety of expertise, skills, insights and experiences to support the Mayor in overseeing and supporting the MPS; and improves the openness and transparency by which the MPS is held to account. The Mayor will continue to Chair this Board throughout this term.

As well as the delivery of the New Met for London Plan, MOPAC – with the support of the London Policing Board - will also scrutinise the delivery of other key MPS strategies, including their London Race Action Plan, Children’s Strategy, VAWG Action Plan and Culture Plan.

MOPAC will continue to hold the MPS to account for implementing recommendations made by HMICFRS, including those in the PEEL inspection and in its review of the MPS’s handling of the criminal and sexual exploitation of children.

To provide further external assessment of the MPS’s progress in reforming during this Police and Crime Plan period, the Mayor will work with the MPS to commission an independent review of progress against the recommendations in Baroness Casey’s Review.

MOPAC will continue to support the work of the London Policing Ethics Panel, who provide impartial and expert advice to the Mayor and the MPS on the often-complex ethical issues surrounding policing and crime.

Contributing to a fairer, more transparent accountability system

The Mayor will continue to support measures to improve police accountability and the development of a system that has the confidence of police officers and the communities they serve. He has welcomed the Government’s proposals that better acknowledge the difficult role police officers have in keeping the public safe; strengthen the legal recourse the IOPC and victims have; and aim to improve the efficiency of the system for all involved.

MOPAC holds important statutory responsibilities to make sure that the accountability system is fair and transparent for police officers and communities – making an important contribution to achieving the Mayor’s aims in this Police and Crime Plan period. This includes:

• Administering the London Independent Custody Visiting scheme, in which volunteers visit MPS custody suites unannounced to check on standards of service and on the welfare of detainees.
• Handling Police Complaints Reviews, through which Londoners can request a review of the handling of a complaint by the MPS if they are dissatisfied with the outcome.
• Managing Police Appeal Tribunals, where police officers, police staff and volunteers can appeal a decision of gross misconduct by a police misconduct hearing. These tribunals are chaired by independent, Legally Qualified Chairs appointed by MOPAC.
• Managing the process for forfeiting the employer contributions to the pensions of officers found to have committed a criminal offence linked to their police service, and pursuing this option whenever appropriate.

Alongside this, MOPAC and the MPS will work jointly with communities to co-design and build a new model for police scrutiny, with the aim of making it easier and simpler for Londoners to scrutinise the work of the police, including the use of police powers, such as stop and search and Taser, and to influence change in their local area.

In recognition of the ongoing disparities in levels of trust in policing amongst different groups of Londoners, during this Police and Crime Plan period the Mayor will create new forums for deaf and disabled Londoners to engage with the MPS, TfL and the London Fire Brigade to ensure their voices are heard in shaping the future of our city; support the MPS to improve their policing of and engagement with LGBT+ Londoners; and support the MPS and MOPAC to be truly anti-racist organisations, with workforces that are more representative of the population they serve.

Support the MPS and build partnerships to make neighbourhoods safer

Neighbourhood policing remains the bedrock of community confidence and safety in London. Done right, the benefits to community safety are clearly understood, as the College of Policing has set outReference:13.

This includes:

• ensuring a flow of vital community intelligence on a range of issues, from neighbourhood to national security;
• promoting community safety and feelings of safety;
• prevention of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour;
• protecting the vulnerable and reducing repeat demands;
• creating more resilient communities less reliant on police support; and,
• providing the legitimacy necessary to enable policing by consent.

The Mayor has prioritised investment for local policing throughout his time in office, making difficult decisions on council tax and business rates to mitigate the impact of austerity on front line policing – including funding 1,300 officers for London.  In this Police and Crime Plan period he will continue to support the MPS in delivering the strengthened community crime fighting approach set out in New Met for London. The Mayor is also committed to strengthening partnerships and collaborations in order to tackle complex issues and deliver long-term improvements in quality of life for Londoners.

Working together to reduce neighbourhood crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB)

Neighbourhood crimes such as burglary can be deeply distressing to the victims, causing them material and emotional harm – as well as reducing their confidence in going about their daily lives. Some types of neighbourhood crimes – in line with the findings of the LSE research into the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on crime – have increased. For example, latest ONS statistics for the year ending June 2024 show that the number of theft offences recorded by the police has increased in London and nationallyReference:14.

Concerted efforts are underway with the MPS and partners to tackle the perpetrators of these crimes and address the underlying causes and contributing factors. The Mayor has welcomed the Government’s new Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee to have 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing officers, PCSOs and special constables in dedicated neighbourhood policing roles nationally. He will work with the Government to get the funding we need to strengthen neighbourhood policing in London and crack down on crime and anti-social behaviour.

It is also essential that the MPS does everything it can to maximise the resources at its disposal. To this end, the Mayor supports efforts by the MPS to:

• Work with partners to ensure that police time and resources are dedicated to policing matters, not drawn away to cover gaps in the provision of other services.
• Reform its workforce mix, ensuring that roles are filled with the right people with the right skills and powers – releasing as many warranted officers as possible from roles that don’t need their police powers into others that do.

MOPAC has a role to play in preventing neighbourhood crime, hosting Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (PCPI) on behalf of policing nationally. PCPI provides trusted advice and support to help design-out crime in communities in London and across the country. This includes the Secured By Design initiative, which since 1989 has provided a nationally recognised, police-approved standard for all security products that can deter and reduce crime. MOPAC will also liaise with agencies such as the DVLA, Ofcom, and the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG) to enhance their responses to acquisitive crime.

The Mayor will also use his influence in support of efforts to cut neighbourhood crimes. This includes advocating for strengthened sentencing guidelines for organised criminal gang members found to be involved in vehicle theft; and working with vehicle manufacturers, insurers and the Government to encourage further steps to make vehicles and vehicle components more secure. 

ASB can significantly damage people’s quality of life and the sense of safety in communities. In the Public Attitude Survey, nearly a quarter of Londoners (23%) identified ASB in their top three priorities for policing and safety. Often it can intersect with other issues including VAWG, substance misuse and mental health needs. During this Police and Crime Plan period the ASB Forum convened by MOPAC will provide strategic leadership to tackle ASB in London and drive improvements to local responses to anti-social behaviour. The ASB Forum will also continue to improve partnership working between the police, local authorities and other partner agencies to ensure a co-ordinated response to ASB across the capital.

Throughout the Police and Crime Plan period, MOPAC will work with the MPS, borough councils and all community safety partners to encourage effective multiagency responses to persistent and high-harm ASB. It will also engage with the Government in the development of the ASB Duty and new Respect Orders. To support learning and service delivery, MOPAC will work with London local authorities, the MPS, and other partners to develop and expand an ASB Good Practice Library hosted on the MOPAC website.

Working with businesses to cut retail crime

There has been a significant increase in retail crime across the country, with the British Retail Consortium reporting around 475,000 incidents of abuse or violence in 2022/23. Customer theft is costing retailers nearly £5m per dayReference:15.

In response to this increase both MOPAC and the MPS have increased engagement with businesses and other crime prevention organisations in London to identify how together we can better tackle these crimes.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, the MPS will continue to deliver the commitments in its Retail Crime Strategy.

Central to this effort is the MPS-led London Retail Harm Reduction Partnership, which brings business representatives, police and other justice agencies together to share intelligence and best practice. The MPS will also work collaboratively with businesses and crime prevention organisations, such as the Safer Business Network and Business Improvement Districts, to improve reporting of retail crimes through the Operation Retail initiative.

The Mayor will use his influence to support the MPS and trade unions to stamp out violence against shopworkers and frontline workers including transport workers. Assaults against shop workers are not currently distinguishable in law from assaults committed against other members of the public. The Mayor welcomes the Government’s commitment to create a new specific offence of assaulting a shopworker (Crime and Policing Bill) and will offer full support for the development and implementation of this change. He will also lobby for tougher penalties and swifter action through the courts for shoplifting, including a review of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 that sets out a maximum sentence for "low-value shoplifting".

In support of the MPS and partners’ efforts to reduce retail crime, MOPAC will work with the Safer Business Network, MPS and National Business Crime Centre to encourage businesses to use best practice guidance to help them prevent crime and keep staff safe. MOPAC will also work with criminal justice partners to look at ways to ensure justice is delivered when retail crimes occur, with victims receiving a high-quality response, which will help to increase confidence in reporting.

Making London’s public spaces safer for all

MOPAC, the MPS, the GLA, TfL and the BTP will work closely with local authorities, landowners, businesses and residents to develop safer streets and public spaces that Londoners feel confident and safe in using, day and night – including through the use of technology such as CCTV. This includes upgrades to the digital infrastructure of London to improve the quality and reliability of CCTVReference:16 and a trial being run by TfL and the MPS to assess the effectiveness of CCTV in bus shelters in improving the safety and security of bus customers and the confidence to travel.

MOPAC will support the work of the Deputy Mayor for Business and the GLA to boost London’s 24-hour economy and nightlife by working with partners towards our goal of ensuring everyone can enjoy the city’s rich nightlife in safety.

In 2024, TfL, in partnership with MOPAC, launched a trial of Women’s Safety Audits across different types of locations in five London boroughs. During this Police and Crime Plan period, TfL and MOPAC will work with local authorities and other partners to embed learning from the trial, using audits to make public spaces safer, and feel safer, for women, girls and gender diverse people. More detail of this work – and other measures to make London's public spaces safe for women and girls day or night - will be outlined in the Mayor’s VAWG strategy.

The safety and security of transport and travelling in London is vital to how safe the city is and feels. Billions of journeys are made every year, most going without incident. While every journey should be safe – and feel safe – the Mayor and MOPAC recognise that this is not always the case. Some groups are more vulnerable to victimisation and harm or are more concerned about their safety and security when travelling on public transport, by foot or by bike.  MOPAC will work alongside the police, TfL and local authorities to make sure that travelling in the capital is safe and secure.

Londoners’ concern about their safety and security when travelling includes risk and harm on London’s roads caused by criminal, reckless and antisocial road-user behaviour. The MPS makes a significant contribution to keeping roads safe through its traffic enforcement activity and post-collision response (including incident response, collision investigation and improving justice and care for victims). The Mayor and MOPAC will oversee and support the MPS’s work to disrupt crime and prevent harm on the roads. The MPS is a key delivery partner in the Mayor’s Vision Zero Plan, working alongside TfL and local authorities, to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads by 2041. The Vision Zero Plan will be refreshed in 2025 and will set out the MPS’s ongoing contribution and priorities for tackling road danger.

Playing our part in keeping Londoners safe online

Today, many Londoners live a significant proportion of their lives online – as a means of communication, accessing social media, doing business, gaming, banking and many other services and tasks. Tech-enabled abuse, online crime and fraud represent a huge volume of offending and victimisation, presenting unique challenges to the police, safety professionals and victim support services due to its global nature and technological complexity.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, MOPAC, the MPS and others will work together to evolve and strengthen our ability to keep Londoners safe in this complex environment. To inform and improve the partnership response, MOPAC’s Evidence and Insight Team will conduct research into the prevalence of different types of online harm experienced by Londoners and any disproportionality in victimisation.

Policing plays a key role. The MPS will work proactively with partners and private industry to tackle the online enablers of fraud, and strengthen capacity, develop skills and work with partners to pursue and prosecute the use of crypto and virtual assets to launder criminal finance and improve the recovery of criminal assets.

Through its oversight and convening roles, MOPAC will work with the MPS and other statutory services to ensure that safety responses using technology consider assessment of further harm due to tech-enabled abuse. MOPAC will engage with the Government as it develops a new national fraud strategy. MOPAC will also monitor the implementation of the Online Safety Act and work with partners to ensure that the experiences of victims in London of tech-enabled abuse inform the development of national policy and regulation.

Throughout this Police and Crime Plan period, the Mayor will use his position and influence to call on tech companies to do more to protect the customers they rely on from harm, and for the Government to ensure regulation is meaningful and effective, building upon commitments from previous collaboration such as our tech-enabled VAWG Roundtable in March 2024.

MOPAC will work to commission services that can support victims of tech abuse and provide preventative education, and support the work of the London Cyber Resilience Centre, which provides expert advice and support to small- and medium-sized organisations in London to help them keep safe from online threats.

It is crucial that we have the right support in place for victims of crime and a system that delivers justice efficiently and effectively. A justice system which effectively holds criminals to account is the foundation of a functioning society and contributes to stronger social cohesion. Victims who receive proper support may be less vulnerable to future victimisation and less likely to suffer trauma, promoting their ability to re-engage productively in society and reducing demand on health and social care resources.

Offering victims support helps them cope and recover by providing emotional and psychological services to process trauma, fear, anger, and grief. An effective criminal justice system provides victims with a sense of justice and closure and ensures that those who commit crimes are held accountable for their actions. A well-functioning criminal justice system will ensure that victims remain engaged in the process, improving justice delivery and providing the outcomes they are seeking.  This will increase confidence and help to reduce reoffending and  re-victimisation, which will positively impact on crime levels. However, we know many victims and survivors – particularly those of rape and sexual violence - continue to experience extremely poor justice outcomes, including re-traumatisation and long delays in seeking justice due to court backlogs.

The Mayor has prioritised improving the services and support available to victims in London since coming to office in 2016 in the face of central funding cuts and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to new investment, new partnerships and innovation in the way services are commissioned and delivered, the Mayor is continuing to encourage change to ensure victims of crime are better supported at every stage of the justice process.

However, much of the responsibility, funding and power over the criminal justice system rests with central Government. During this Police and Crime Plan term, the Mayor will work with the Government to support its plans to reform and improve the justice system. This includes taking an intersectional approach to identify and address the unique and complex needs of victims and recognising that appropriate support and meaningful justice may differ for different victims.  

During this Police and Crime Plan period, the Mayor’s priority aims are:

• Reducing repeat victimisation and reoffending – contributing to his wider ambition of an overall reduction in victim-based crime.
• Stabilising and increasing victim satisfaction levels. We will also begin to measure people's confidence in the wider CJS, and work with partners to increase that over the Police and Crime Plan period.

Over the next decade the Mayor wants to see a reduction in the number of crimes, swifter justice and a better service for those who are victims of crime to help them cope and recover. Delivering these priority aims during this Police and Crime Plan period will be important milestones.

To achieve these aims, the Mayor will:

Support and oversee the MPS to deliver a better service for victims of crime

Through the New Met for London Plan, the MPS has taken important steps to improve the service it provides to victims of crime, backed with funding from the Mayor. This includes a significant improvement in its call handling, and the creation of Victim Focus Desks (VFDs) - a free helpline for victims who have reported their crimes to the police, providing updates on their case, information about the justice process, and advice on how to access specialist support. MOPAC continues to work with the VFDs to support their work and improve pathways into MOPAC commissioned victim services.

However, there is more to be done to ensure that the MPS provides a high-quality service every time to victims of crime. MOPAC has an important oversight role in ensuring this improvement happens, and that it is informed by the voices of victims. During this Police and Crime Plan period, MOPAC will work with the MPS and the City of London Police to establish Victim Voice Forums for groups identified in Baroness Casey’s Review as having low trust in the MPS – Black communities, women and girls, deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people, children and young adults and LGBT+ people. MOPAC will also work with the MPS to embed recommendations from Operation Soteria – which originated in MOPAC and has led to national change in policing - to improve the standards of investigation and support for victims of rape and sexual assault. More detail of this work will be outlined in our VAWG strategy.

In order to inform its oversight of the MPS, MOPAC will continue to conduct its User Satisfaction Survey and Online Victim Satisfaction Survey, hearing from thousands of victims of crime each year about the service they have received from the MPS. The latest data for Q2 2024/25 shows that victim satisfaction in the service Londoners have received from the MPS is stable at 62%. Further analysis of these surveys underlines the importance of getting the service for victims of crime right, especially for Londoners who report vulnerabilities. The most satisfied group in the survey are those Londoners who identify as vulnerable who say their needs are met by the police (76%) – the least satisfied are those who report their vulnerability was identified but not catered for by the police (19%).

Support improvement in the criminal justice system in London

The national criminal justice system is in crisis. Extensive backlogs in the courts have left thousands of victims and defendants waiting months if not years for their cases to be heard. This can result in victims not receiving justice. The 2021 London Rape Review found that 65% of cases end in victim withdrawal. Underinvestment in the secure estate has resulted in offenders around the country being released from their custodial sentences and back into the community early – with knock-on impacts on probation, policing, victims and communities.

The Mayor has consistently lobbied for action, and with MOPAC will work with the Victims’ Commissioner for London and the Government to do everything possible to address the challenges ahead, recognising there is a long journey of systemic reform ahead to deliver a more effective criminal justice system in London.

Areas for action include:

• Driving a more joined up and integrated approach to criminal justice across the capital, which: puts the needs of victims and witnesses at the forefront of any approach; and ensures that reducing reoffending is a central product of the system thereby increasing public safety and benefitting local communities.
• Raising awareness of the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (Victims’ Code) and overseeing compliance with the Code in London
• Ensuring that the views of victims and survivors and professionals in London are heard in the Government’s Sentencing Review.
• Delivering on the findings and recommendations of the review of CSA case progression in the CJS.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, MOPAC will use its convening role to bring London’s criminal justice partners together to explore how to work more effectively together in pursuit of improving the victim experience, focussing on addressing drivers of dissatisfaction and attrition identified through research. In addition, the members of the London Disproportionality Board will work together to develop a more co-ordinated, whole systems approach to reducing ethnic disproportionality for adults, young adults and children across the criminal justice system, building on the continued delivery of the Disproportionality in Youth Justice Action Plan.

Work with criminal justice partners to reduce reoffending

Partnership work is essential to address all the conditions known to contribute to repeat offending, such as health issues, substance abuse, lack of skills development and employment opportunities and insecure housing status. Working together, the partnership of agencies with a role to play in reducing reoffending in London has achieved results, with IOM reoffending rates declining over the last six yearsReference:17. The Mayor is committed to working with partners locally and nationally to further bear down on reoffending and improve rehabilitation. MOPAC will continue to use its convening powers to support criminal justice partners and boroughs to work together to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system. This will ensure all offenders are managed in the community effectively and robustly, according to the risk they present. 

In line with the Government’s manifesto commitment to conduct a strategic review of probation governance, MOPAC will work alongside regional prison and probation partners during this Police and Crime Plan period to strengthen coordination and improve the delivery of essential offender management services. This will focus on the areas which will have the biggest impact, including co-commissioning and delivering stronger community interventions.

MOPAC will continue to work with London Criminal Justice Board partners to deliver the London Diversion Strategy, which aims to deal with the underlying causes of offending before they escalate and to reduce unnecessary criminalisation, particularly of young adults and women. MOPAC, working with the Government, will continue to test new approaches where diversion can be more effective in preventing offending by early intervention and reducing the demand on the system.

Women in the Criminal Justice System are some of the most vulnerable people in society, with complex needs linked to victimisation and mental health, as well as their risk of reoffending. Building on MOPAC’s success in leading a specific, gendered approach to the needs of women in London at risk of reoffending, we will work with central Government and the Women’s Justice Board to continue to improve how this system works. London's
Blueprint for a Whole System Approach to Women in Contact with the Criminal Justice System provides the central mechanism for MOPAC to convene partners around the distinct challenges facing women.  Between the Blueprint’s publication in 2019 and 2022, there has been a greater percentage decrease in women’s imprisonment in London (35%) as compared to the national decrease (29%). MOPAC will continue to deliver the Blueprint with partners during this Police and Crime Plan period.

Commission high-quality support services for victims

Improving the quality and availability of support services for victims has been a priority for the Mayor and he has backed this with record funding.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, the Mayor remains committed to ensuring victims in London can access high quality help when they need it, through commissioning services and working with partners to integrate and improve service provision.

MOPAC commissions a combination of generalist and specialist support services, meeting the unique needs of victims of certain crime types and those from underserved communities.

During this Police and Crime Plan period, the services summarised below will work with partners in a coordinated way to ensure more victims are supported and able to navigate to the right source of support as easily as possible. MOPAC will continue to ensure that the voice of victims is at the centre of this work.

• The pan-London Victim and Witness Service delivers practical and emotional support to adult victims of crime in London on their journey to cope and recover. Victim Voice groups will ensure that MOPAC can continue to gather feedback from to further improve the service.
• The Young Londoners’ Victim Service provides one-to-one support from trained caseworkers in a confidential space that is suitable for children. The service supports children aged 4-17 and any trusted adults in their lives.
• MOPAC commissions a variety of support, therapeutic and specialist services to help victims and survivors of VAWG, including victims of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault and rape. Alongside this MOPAC will continue to address challenges that victims and survivors face within the criminal justice system and in accessing sexual violence support services. Further detail on these services and their future work will be included in the Mayor’s forthcoming refreshed VAWG Strategy.
• The Restorative Justice Service enables victims and offenders to explore a range of restorative practices suited to their individual circumstances and will continue to support the development of restorative justice in London by bringing together partners to drive collaboration and strategic change.
• The Hate Crime Victim Service brings together a range of specialist organisations to provide support for victims of all forms of hate crime.
• With partners including the NHS, the MPS, the voluntary and community sector and local authorities, MOPAC provides specialist support and additional capacity for child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, including the UK’s first Child House – The Lighthouse, the Children and Young Persons’ Havens and Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) Hubs across London.
• TfL and MOPAC will co-commission additional support to address the gap in support to victims of the most serious road traffic incidents.

Providing safe accommodation for victims and survivors of domestic abuse and their children

The Mayor has duties under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 to support victims/survivors of domestic abuse and their children in safe accommodation. This includes producing a strategy and commissioning services. The first London Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation (DASA) Strategy, published in 2021, was informed by an in-depth needs assessment and consultation with stakeholders and victims/survivors. The duties come with government funding, which is allocated to the GLA. More than 20,000 victims and survivors of domestic abuse and their children have been supported by commissioned services to date.

Under the duty, the Mayor must produce a new strategy and an updated needs assessment every three years. Over 24/25, MOPAC has worked with the GLA to consult on and publish a draft DASA Strategy for 2024-2027. The draft DASA strategy was put out to consultation between October – November 2024. Following analysis of the consultation feedback, the strategy will be updated and made ready for final publication in Q4 of 24/25. This will then form the basis of our delivery of support in safe accommodation for victims/survivors of domestic abuse and their children for the remainder of the Plan period.

Support the work of London’s Independent Victims’ Commissioner

Since 2016, the Mayor has made sure that victims are at the heart of his agenda for policing and crime by appointing London’s first Independent Victims’ Commissioner, Claire Waxman OBE. Claire will continue her vital work this term, standing up for the rights of victims of crime and ensuring that their voices are heard in the work of MOPAC, the MPS, the criminal justice system and by central Government. Priority areas for London’s Victims’ Commissioner this term include:

• Continuing to highlight the crisis in the criminal justice system, advocating for transformational reform to the courts system to address the backlogs, create a more efficient and effective system, and improve the experiences of victims. This includes lobbying for greater resources, policies that work better for victims, and instituting different models such as the specialist rape courts set out in the Government’s manifesto.
• Reforming the justice system to improve victims’ experiences by ensuring they are kept at the heart of decisions and policies, and working with justice agencies to ensure workers undergo training on the Victims’ Code.
• Ensuring that the Victims and Prisoners Act is properly implemented in London, and as part of this that the Victims’ Code is revised, strengthened and compliance with it improved.
• Pushing for reform in the use and enforcement of protection orders, such as Stalking Protection Orders (SPOs), which are vital to protecting victims of crime from further harm or disturbance.
• Advocating for an independent Victim Care Hub model in London, working with justice agencies to increase and promote joint working in the interest of ensuring the experience of victims is a seamless, supportive service.
• Working with the Government and justice partners to meet the recommendations she made following the publication of MOPAC’s London Stalking Review 2024.
• Working with the MPS to improve victim attrition rates, following MOPAC’s deep dive into victim withdrawal.

Delivering for all Londoners

London is one of the most diverse cities in the world and as such, the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan is informed by a recognition of intersectionality and how race, gender, sexuality, religion, class, and disability can intersect and interact to create unique experiences when it comes to violence and crime. Applying an intersectional lens to the delivery of this Plan will ensure we can address the complex needs of Londoners and the unique barriers that many face to accessing support and justice.

Convening partners

Partnership is central to our approach to delivering the commitments in this Plan. MOPAC has a well-established partnerships governance structure. You can find out more about this structure and the meetings that comprise it here.

This structure feeds into the London Criminal Justice Board (LCJB), which brings together partners from across the justice system in London. The LCJB is chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, with secretariat support provided by MOPAC.

MOPAC’s Partnerships Team will continue to look at ways to increase feedback from partners to improve MOPAC and MPS’s performance. It will also use its convening power to take a system-wide approach to the challenges facing the CJS in London, with a focus on issues including tackling the backlogs in the criminal justice system and rising and acute challenges such as hate crime and domestic abuse.

MOPAC will continue to invest through the London Crime Prevention Fund to support local authorities in delivering specialist services to meet local needs, and to foster regional collaboration to tackle cross-borough challenges.

The Victims Act introduces a Duty to Collaborate which is a joint statutory duty for Police and Crime Commissioners, Integrated Care Boards and Local Authorities to work together when commissioning support services for victims of all serious violence including all VAWG services. This will improve support for victims by providing a more cohesive and victim-centred journey through a range of local services.. MOPAC will develop a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment which will directly inform the objectives of the Duty to Collaborate Strategy. MOPAC will also work with commissioning partners to develop and implement the joint Duty to Collaborate strategy.

Our policy on children & young adults

In this draft Police and Crime Plan we use the term ‘children’ when talking about under 18s and while we recognise that some children aged 12-17 may prefer to be referred to as young people, it is important from a policing and safeguarding perspective that in the eyes of the law, under 18s are rightly deemed to be children and as such need to be afforded the relevant safeguards.

MOPAC, the VRU, the MPS and the GLA remain committed to a ‘Child First’ approach to our commissioning, policymaking and service delivery. Child First presents a useable summary of the evidence base for what works to improve outcomes for children. Child First is designed for both policy and practical decision making. This evidence-based approach to achieving positive outcomes for children, leading to preventing offending, fewer victims, and safer communities is reflected throughout this draft Plan. The Child First approach recognises that children are different to adults, with different needs and different vulnerabilities. There are four separate elements to this approach:

• See children as children;
• Develop pro-social identity for positive child outcomes;
• Collaboration with children; and
• Promote diversion.

Research tells us that by adopting a Child First approach, the following outcomes are achieved.

• Improved multi-agency responses to harm.
• Services matched to need/demand.
• Improved quality of services.
• Greater awareness of children’s rights and entitlements.
• Improved knowledge and awareness of safeguarding. 
• Increased use of trauma-informed approaches.
• Reduced adultification of children.
• Increased trust and confidence in policing and the wider criminal justice system.
• The most vulnerable children reporting better experiences of policing.
• Improved life chances for children.

Through this approach, MOPAC, the VRU and partners will protect children and young adults from harm, and work towards a criminal justice system in London that treats children who experience or commit crime in a way which acknowledges their distinct needs and vulnerabilities. In the first instance this should be a safeguarding response, followed - when appropriate – by a criminal justice response which has its foundations in safeguarding.​

MOPAC’s approach to Child First is underpinned by a comprehensive policy document ‘Child First: MOPAC Position Statement’, developed by a team of leading academics at the University of Salford. This explores the Child First evidence base as well as the challenges and ambitions of a Child First approach across MOPAC and the MPS.

MOPAC will continue to carry out its regular Youth Voice survey of thousands of London children on their views about policing and safety. MOPAC and the VRU will continue to use our networks to engage children and young adults in our work.

Performance monitoring, evaluation & reporting

MOPAC will use a mixture of quantitative and qualitative measures to present a picture of crime, safety and confidence in policing in London and to monitor delivery of the Police and Crime Plan for London. In line with the Mayor’s commitment to identifying and addressing disproportionality, we will continue to look at performance through the lens of people’s protected characteristics.

The MPS published a set of measures within the New Met for London Plan which were set out under the MPS missions of Higher Standards, Less Crime, More Trust. MOPAC and the MPS worked together to ensure these could be used as the basis for the framework used by the Mayor and London Policing Board. This provides transparency on how the MPS is demonstrating improvement and consistency in how the Mayor is holding them to account. The measures are designed to illustrate progress across key areas including:

• violent crime
• neighbourhood crime and ASB
• public trust and confidence in the MPS
• satisfaction with MPS service delivery
• complaints and conduct matters
• internal MPS culture.

This framework will remain at the heart of the Mayor’s oversight of the MPS during this Police and Crime Plan period.

Other data used to inform our policymaking and oversight reflects that the remit of the Plan is wider than policing alone, and also includes the work of the criminal justice system and other partner organisations. For example, data on proven reoffending – an important focus of this draft Plan - is produced by the Ministry of Justice. A full performance framework outlining data sources used to assess delivery and impact of the Plan will be published on the MOPAC website alongside the final Police and Crime Plan document. MOPAC will continue to publish a wide range of data on its website via its suite of dashboards and publications on the London Datastore.

MOPAC's Evidence and Insight Team will continue to conduct evaluations on services and pilots commissioned to understand their impact and effectiveness, the findings of which will contribute to our future policymaking. In line with its public health approach, the VRU will continue to commission an extensive programme of evaluation on its funded interventions to understand their impact and contribute to the wider evidence base on what works to reduce violence. MOPAC will share its evaluations and reports to promote learning and improvement in the MPS and across the criminal justice system.

MOPAC continues to innovate in the way it uses data to inform its oversight, policymaking and commissioning practices. Alongside our existing oversight work, MOPAC’s Data Science Team will trial a new approach using big data modelling to produce annual forecasts of crime in London, against which we will compare and assess performance over the course of that year. MOPAC will publish information on this work and its emerging findings to contribute to wider discussions on the role new data analysis tools can play in promoting a more sophisticated understanding of police performance.

Supporting the MPS to be more effective in tackling crime and ASB

Despite the Mayor’s record investment in policing, the MPS still faces a significant shortfall in its budget due to previous Government funding settlements not providing sufficiently for policing in London. The Mayor will continue to work with the Government on the funding the MPS needs, ensuring the unique costs of policing a global, capital city are taken into account. The Mayor welcomes the Government’s ambition to standardise approaches to procurement, IT, professional standards and training; and to look at the organisation of the service to enable investment in specialist capabilities and more effectively tackle cross-border issues. MOPAC and the MPS will work with the Government to ensure London plays its part in the new Police Efficiency and Collaboration programme for England and Wales.

The Mayor will continue to make funding available to the MPS for equipment to help officers to do their difficult jobs and keep themselves and Londoners safe. This includes investment in better uniform, more Tasers, knife wands and knife arches. The Mayor and MOPAC will also continue to support and oversee improvements in organisational leadership, management and effective governance of the MPS, as well as training for officers and staff.

The MPS is innovating its use of data and technology such as facial recognition and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance productivity, tackle crime and identify wanted persons. The MPS has developed an AI framework to make sure that this work meets data protection, cyber, ethical and public sector equality duty obligations. MOPAC will oversee this work to ensure that the balance between effective crime prevention and the rights of Londoners is met.

Budget setting and financial oversight

The funding challenges facing the MPS have been outlined previously in this document. For the MPS to match 2012 real-term funding, it would require an increase in per-capita funding of 27%, the equivalent of an additional £878m. Over the years, tough decisions have been taken to protect front line policing in the face of continued underfunding – and options for further savings or reallocations of funding are now limited. For this reason, the Government’s Multi-year Spending Review in 2025 will be a key focus for the MPS and MOPAC. Joint representations will be made setting out our ambition for policing in London and the need to grow resources and invest more in technology and the MPS estate.

Within the context of increasing pressure on the MPS budget, MOPAC has increased its Financial Oversight resource to monitor the MPS’s financial resilience. The Mayor’s budget includes enhanced control requirements to facilitate timely identification of financial risk. Compliance with these additional measures will be assessed monthly and a judgement made regarding the risk of overspending, and/or creating unmanageable fiscal liabilities for future years.

MOPAC Financial Oversight will continue to liaise closely with Grant Thornton, DARA, the GLA, and appropriate members of the London Policing Board to ensure that the MPS dedicates its limited resources to areas of highest operational and reform priority; and mitigates financial risk for the medium-term.   

The Mayor will continue to work with London’s anchor institutions– the big public sector employers, including the MPS – to invest billions in small and medium-sized businesses.

MOPAC will continue to publish financial and governance information on its website, demonstrating on an ongoing basis how its resourcing decisions and financial oversight are informed by the Police and Crime Plan priorities.

Commissioning services

​MOPAC uses the word “commissioning” to mean any activity that involves using the resources that we have to promote outcomes across London. Some of these resources might be funding, which can involve activity such as the procurement of services, but often commissioning also involves using our time and expertise to work with partners and service users in a more joined up, whole systems approach to achieving the outcomes from the Police and Crime Plan. MOPAC’s commissioning principles for this Police and Crime Plan period are:

• Londoners are the driving force of our work. Through listening to Londoners, London’s victims of crime and London’s service users we can understand how to make a positive impact with real meaning, from policy development through to commissioning, service delivery and service evaluation.​
• We are relentless in our pursuit of equality, inclusion and diversity.  ​
• We recognise all assets and strengths of London’s diverse communities, leading through empowering others and enabling outcomes.​
• We foster collaboration and co-production with partners, providers and service users.
• We use a broad range of evidence to inform commissioning and contributing our own insight evidence through reflection and evaluation.

The London Crime Prevention Fund (LCPF)

Through the London Crime Prevention Fund, the Mayor will continue to grant fund all London boroughs to commission services and interventions as experts in understanding local need and demand. The projects funded will align to the Police and Crime Plan and support MOPAC to deliver against our identified outcomes. The fund will run from April 2025 to March 2029 with ongoing impact monitoring.  

Fulfilling National Policing Responsibilities

MOPAC and the MPS will continue to fulfil their national responsibilities, in line with the Home Secretary’s Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR)Reference:18. The Mayor will continue to hold the Commissioner to account for having, or having access to, the capabilities identified in the SPR as critical to the planning of an effective and proportionate response to national threats

The MPS will continue to work with the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other UK and international partners to address Serious and Organised Crime (SOC), implementing a 4P (Prevent, Protect, Prepare and Pursue) structure.

The MPS will continue to coordinate the national policing counter terrorism effort and host a number of national and international capabilities, including an overseas network of police officers which operates to understand the international links of terrorism and protect UK interests overseas.

Online crime crosses regional and international boundaries, which means a co-ordinated response with partners around the country and around the world is essential. The Mayor will continue to advocate for and support greater national co-ordination and international co-operation to address criminality and offending online, as well as lobbying for necessary changes in legislation and policy to support the police response to online harms.

Emergency preparedness

London has well developed emergency arrangements in place, with partners including the emergency services, councils, TfL, the GLA, the Government and other agencies working year-round to keep our city safe and prepared. This work will continue throughout this Police and Crime Plan period, as set out in the London Resilience Forum’s Strategy.

The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 established a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for each police force area across England and Wales. In London, the elected Mayor – Sadiq Khan - is the occupant of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), which is the equivalent of the office of Police and Crime Commissioner. In this role, he is responsible – amongst other functions - for ensuring that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) provides an efficient and effective police force to the Metropolitan Police district. The Mayor in his MOPAC role has appointed Kaya Comer-Schwartz as Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) to whom he has delegated all functions that are not reserved to him - to issue a Police and Crime Plan, and to appoint and remove senior Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers.

To support the Mayor and DMPC to fulfil their responsibilities, MOPAC has a dedicated team of officials including specialists in commissioning, finance, oversight, policy, professional standards, research and analysis, community engagement and auditing. The Mayor of London set up London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to coordinate and lead a public health approach to tackling violence in London that is rooted in prevention and early intervention. The VRU is formed of specialists in youth and community services, local government, education, health and policing, and is hosted within MOPAC. 

About this document

The Mayor of London, as occupant of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), must draft, consult on and issue a Police and Crime Plan (PCP) within the financial year in which they are elected. This Police and Crime Plan sets out the Mayor’s priorities and objectives for 2025-2029, and how he will discharge his duties to oversee the performance of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS); agree London’s annual policing budget; fund crime prevention work and commission services to support victims of crime. The PCP also sets out the policing of London that the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police will provide; how the Commissioner is to report to MOPAC on the provision of policing; and how MOPAC and the MPS will support the national strategic policing requirement. To enable Londoners to see how MOPAC delivers against the Police and Crime Plan, we will publish interactive dashboards on our website showing the latest performance data. We will also publish more detailed quarterly performance updates, and an annual report. 

MOPAC and the MPS are involved in a wide range of activities and initiatives designed to achieve the Mayor’s priorities. In this document we organise this work into the following broad categories: Reducing violence and criminal exploitation; Increasing Trust and Confidence in the MPS; and Improving the Justice System and Supporting Victims.