PCC Annual Report 2018-19

The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee is a cross-party body. In 2018-19 it was chaired by Conservative Assembly Member Steve O’Connell.



We examine the work of the Mayor and his Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), to make sure that he is delivering on the promises made to Londoners in his Police and Crime Plan. We also investigate other issues relating to policing and crime in the capital.



Our work involves a range of activities, including meetings with MOPAC, the Metropolitan Police and other organisations; site visits; written consultations; and roundtable meetings.

Some of the work we have done this year includes:

Tackling violent crime

In April 2018, following a sharp rise in the number of murders and knife crime offences, the decision was taken to hold an urgent meeting with the Mayor and MOPAC to establish how the rise in violence was being addressed by City Hall. We then agreed to carry out a piece of work to examine what more the Mayor could do to help tackle the rise in violent crime, both in the short and longer term. In December 2018, we wrote to the Mayor setting out our findings on the causes of violence and the development of a London Violence Reduction Unit as a way of preventing violence.

Women offenders

In July 2018, we released our report A long way from home: improving London’s response to women in the criminal justice system. This followed an investigation into the impact of the closure of HMP Holloway and the provision of specialist support services for women offenders across London.

Healthcare in police custody

We published Detained, not forgotten: healthcare in police custody in September 2018. The investigation examined how the Met ensures the health and safety of people in police custody.We found that a lack of secure accommodation for children in London often means there is no option but to keep a child in a police cell, sometimes for periods overnight. We also crucially found that vulnerable adults held in custody, including, for example, those with mental health problems, could be left at risk because no-one has the responsibility to provide them with an Appropriate Adult. We set MOPAC a series of deadlines to work with partners to resolve these issues.

Read the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee's full annual report 2018-19 below.