Assembly summonses documents from Mayor over former Met chief resignation

The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has summonsed documents from the Mayor related to the resignation of the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick.

In March 2022, former Home Secretary Priti Patel MP commissioned Sir Tom Winsor to conduct a review of the circumstances surrounding the departure of the former Commissioner.

In his report, Sir Tom suggested that the Mayor acted outside of the established statutory procedure, contrary to the wider legislative scheme and not in accordance with due process.

The Committee formally summonsed the Mayor following the publication of the report and today, he and Sir Tom appeared before the Committee to answer questions raised by the report.

Following the meeting, in order to further examine the events surrounding the resignation of Dame Cressida, the Committee used its statutory powers to formally summons documents from the Mayor in his capacity as the occupant of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).

The documents are:

• Letter from the Mayor’s legal advisers sent to Sir Tom Winsor on 18 August 2022 (as referred to at page 8, paragraph 16 of the Winsor report)
• Legal submissions from leading and junior counsel on behalf of MOPAC sent to Sir Tom Winsor on 20 August 2022 (as referred to at page 8, paragraph 17 of the Winsor report)

• Correspondence between the Mayor and the Home Secretary in September 2021 confirming the extension to the Commissioner’s appointment for a further two years (as referred to at page 13, paragraph 29 of the Winsor report)

• Letter from the Mayor to the Home Secretary dated 6 September 2021 (as referred to at page 13, paragraph 30 of the Winsor report)

• Draft of the IOPC report that was sent to MOPAC in September 2021 (as referred to at pages 20 and 21, paragraph 62, footnote 11 of the Winsor report)

• Draft case prepared by MOPAC for the Mayor to the Chief Inspector of Constabulary for the removal of the Commissioner (as referred to at page 43, paragraph 147 of the Winsor report)
• Minutes and notes produced by the Met and the Mayor’s Chief of Staff of the meeting that took place between the Commissioner and the Mayor on 2 February 2022 (as referred to at pages 22-24, paragraphs 68 and 74 of the Winsor report)

• Documents setting out the total costs of legal advice provided to MOPAC, the Mayor and his team on this matter.

The documents need to be provided no later than two weeks from the date of the notice.

Susan Hall AM, Chairman of the Police and Crime Committee, said:

“We thank the Mayor and Sir Tom Winsor for taking questions from the Police and Crime Committee today, given the seriousness of the review’s findings.

“We have the statutory powers to summons the Mayor and believed it was important to do so in order to get a full picture of the events surrounding the resignation of the former Commissioner.

"The London Assembly scrutinises decisions made by the Mayor and, following the evidence heard at the meeting today, we believe that questions around the full circumstances remain.

“That is why we have used our statutory powers to summons documents from the Mayor, in his capacity as the occupant of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, in order to find out what lessons might need to be learned for the future.”