Mayor announces members of new London Policing Board to help scrutinise the MPS

The board has been established by London’s mayor following a recommendation from the Baroness Casey Review for a public scrutiny body to monitor the delivery of improvements within the MPS and systematic and cultural reforms set out her report

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the board will provide specialist advice to assist him in holding the MPS to account in delivering the reforms needed to rebuild confidence and trust in the police.

The aim is to increase the “transparency and accountability” of the MPS to all the diverse communities it serves and improve performance, he added.

The new London Policing Board is part of a package of measures by the mayor to “accelerate the root and branch reforms of the MPS’s performance and culture so that every community in London can feel protected and served”.

“I’ve already put the Met on the path of far reaching systemic and cultural reform with the appointment of a new Commissioner and today’s announcement of the members of the new London Policing Board builds on this,” Mr Khan said.

“This new board represent a wide and diverse range of outside expertise and lived experiences and will help me oversee and drive the changes in policing that Londoners need and deserve.

“These members care deeply about policing in London and have an extraordinary range of professional skills and lived experience they can draw on to make a positive difference.

“Crucially we have strong representation from those communities who have been let down by the police for far too long and have the lowest levels of trust in the Met.

“Their contribution will be invaluable to driving the reform we need to see to build a safer and fairer London for everyone.”

He said the board members represent a wide range of professional skills, expertise and lived experience – including equalities, community work, academia, tackling violence against women and girls, frontline policing, law and human rights.

Baroness Dame Louise Casey said: “My report into the culture and standards of the Metropolitan Police laid bare deep and widespread failings in the force.

“I have been honest with the Met Commissioner and Londoners about the scale of reform needed to turn the Met around and the benefit a new, quarterly Policing Board for London – chaired by the Mayor of London, could make.

“Londoners, particularly those who have been let down the most, have had enough reports and reviews.

“They want change. So, the board’s role in helping drive the changes needed will be pivotal to delivering a police service that Londoners and officers who put themselves at risk in order to protect the rest of us can be proud of.”

The mayor said in line with Baroness Casey’s recommendation, the new board will meet four times a year to drive forward the changes needed, based on the transparent approach to accountability now used by Transport for London, with meetings held in public.

The first meeting of the new board will take place next Tuesday (September 26).

Responding to the announcement, Caroline Russell AM, chair of the Police and Crime Committee, said: “We have previously raised concerns with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime about the aims and recruitment process of the board.

“We look forward to finding out more about how the board will work in practice and, more specifically, how it plans to hold the Met to account.

“We are keen to ensure that this increases overall accountability of the Met and does not impact the democratic scrutiny by this committee and the wider Assembly, which is all the more important in light of Baroness Casey’s review.

“We must all continue to work constructively to provide the scrutiny, oversight and support the Met needs to achieve its required reform to a service that Londoners deserve.”

The board members are:

Sir John Aston – Harding Professor of Statistics in Public Life at the University of Cambridge and former Chief Scientific Adviser to the Home Office.

Neil Basu – Retired MPS officer, formerly assistant commissioner Specialist Operations (ACSO) and national lead for Counter Terrorism Policing.

Tijs Broeke – Communications adviser, member of the City of London Police Authority board and chair of London Metropolitan University.

Nick Campsie – Economist, investor, charity founder and non-executive chair of the Legal Aid Agency Board.

Carolyn Downs – Former chief executive of the London Borough of Brent with more than 40 years’ experience in local and central government.

Sayce Holmes-Lewis – Founder and chief executive officer of Mentivity, an award-winning mentoring organisation and provider of solution-led training with the MPS, dedicated to cultural competency, racial equity and social justice.

Stuart Lawrence – Educator, author and activist who promotes equality, diversity, justice and inclusion in education and society.

Susan Lea – Former vice-chancellor of the University of Hull, psychologist, leadership coach and organisational change expert.

Paula McDonald – Former senior civil servant and chair of youth charity Redthread.

Nicola Rollock – Professor of Social Policy and Race at King’s College London and specialist adviser to the Home Affairs Select Committee’s ‘The Macpherson Report: 22 Years On’ inquiry.

Andrea Simon – Director, End Violence Against Women Coalition and co-chair of the London Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) board.

Leslie Thomas KC – Professor of Law, barrister, author, human rights and civil liberties advocate.

In addition to the 12 board members, Ex-officio members of the board are: Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Dr Debbie Weekes-Bernard Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice, Claire Waxman OBE, London’s Independent Victims’ Commissioner and Councillor Jas Athwal, London Councils executive member for Community Safety and VAWG who is sitting on the board on behalf of London Councils.