The Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to discuss the City of London Corporation's approach to preventing radicalisation, the ongoing efforts to address rough sleeping and associated anti-social behaviour, and updates on the Safer City Partnership Strategy. The meeting also included a review of the Home Office's Prevent Assurance Benchmarking for 2025/26.

Home Office Prevent Assurance Return

The committee was scheduled to receive a report on the Home Office Prevent Assurance Benchmarking for 2025/26. This assessment evaluated the City of London Corporation's arrangements for preventing people from being drawn into terrorism, a statutory duty under the Prevent Duty legislation. The report indicated that seven out of eight benchmarks were met, highlighting strengths in governance, partnership arrangements, and referral pathways. However, the benchmark for Reducing Permissive Environments was assessed as unmet, with recommendations to review IT access security for users operating outside the City, develop a robust venue hire approach to prevent the promotion of extremist ideologies, and improve organisational understanding of Corporation-owned venues available for hire. The report also identified opportunities to strengthen Prevent training assurance, communications, community engagement, and elected member oversight. The Corporation's strategic response was to accept these recommendations and progress them through existing governance arrangements and the Prevent Partnership Plan.

Process & Practice Review Rough Sleeping & Encampment

A report was scheduled to update the committee on the Joint Working Group's activity concerning rough sleeping and associated anti-social behaviour across priority locations in the City. The report highlighted ongoing multi-agency efforts, including Days of Action, hotspot management, and case-based interventions. Baynard House podium was identified as a key priority location due to significant environmental, safety, safeguarding, and anti-social behaviour concerns. The report noted that momentum in addressing these issues had been affected by extended legal review timelines, reduced attendance at planning and debrief meetings, and the need for more consistent early partner presence during operational deployments. The partnership was seeking strategic direction on future success measures for this work, with suggestions including sustained reductions in rough sleeping numbers, reduced reoccupation of priority sites, and improved environmental conditions.

Safer City Partnership Strategy Update

The committee was due to receive an update on the Safer City Partnership Strategy. This included a review of progress in key areas such as Safer Public Spaces, Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Domestic Abuse (DA), Prevent, and Serious Violence.

Under Safer Public Spaces, the report detailed operational activity and interventions related to rough sleeping, including environmental clean-ups, engagement with rough sleepers, and the placement of notices. The report noted a reduction in tent numbers across the City. The report also mentioned co-location efforts between the City of London Corporation (CoLC) and its Community Safety department to enhance partnership working.

Regarding VAWG and DA, the report indicated progress in implementing the City of London's VAWG Strategy (2025–2029), with a shift from planning to delivery. Key activities included the planned launch of a Hotel Safety Toolkit, workforce development with 230 staff trained on MARAC¹ referral pathways, and contributions to the Safe Haven campaign. The report also detailed support for the World Cup 2026 planning, funding for the Iranian Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation, and the launch of Safer City Streets information, advice, and support sessions in partnership with the City of London Police and Hackney and City Domestic Abuse Intervention Service (DAIS).

The Prevent section of the update noted that Channel Panel training had been delivered to the board by the Home Office, a partners' Prevent health check had been completed, and an action plan had been developed following the Home Office assurance outcome.

Concerning Serious Violence, the report indicated that while the volume of serious violence in the City was stable, the harm was declining. Recording changes, such as new rules for robbery of business property, complicated the picture, making it appear as though offences were rising when it was a shift in offence definitions. The City was midway through an annual refresh of its Serious Violence Duty strategy, which was expected to retain existing priorities on the night-time economy (NTE), sexual and domestic violence, and threats from a changing City, with new focuses on links between serious violence and drug misuse, and on serious violence affecting retail workers. The report also mentioned the continuation of a £94,000 annual Home Office grant for the Serious Violence Duty, with greater flexibility on its use.

Partner Updates: Our Safer City

The committee was scheduled to receive updates from partners on Our Safer City initiatives. The report highlighted marketing and communication efforts, including social media engagement, email newsletters, and website traffic, with a focus on promoting training, Safe Havens, the Ask for Angela scheme, and taxi marshalling. It also detailed plans for a World Cup campaign, continued promotion of the Our Safer City Pledge and survey, and a refreshed campaign to promote Safe Havens.