The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has summonsed the Mayor to appear before it for a second time, to answer further questions about the departure of former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick.
The Committee has also invited Dame Cressida, former HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor and former Home Secretary Rt Hon Priti Patel MP to attend the meeting.
A review of events by 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.
Last week, Sadiq Khan, in his capacity as the occupant of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), appeared before the Committee in response to a first summons to answer questions about his actions and the Winsor report.
Today, the Committee used its statutory powers to issue a second summons notice requiring that the Mayor attend a meeting to answer questions on Tuesday, December 13 at 10am.
Susan Hall AM, Chairman of the Police and Crime Committee, said:
“A summons is a rare step, but we believed it was an important one to take following the concerns raised by Sir Tom Winsor in his report.
“We found the first summons meeting useful in our scrutiny of decisions made by the Mayor and hope that the documents we have summonsed from him will further support this important work.
“However, we believe that there are more questions the Mayor needs to answer concerning the resignation of the former Commissioner. The Assembly needs to do its job of scrutinising the issues that matter to London and finding out whether lessons need to be learned for the future.”
Notes to editors
- 6 votes were cast in favour and 4 votes were cast against.
- Refusing or failing to attend Assembly proceedings as required by a summons notice without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence.
- Susan Hall AM, Chairman of the Police and Crime Committee, is available for interview.
- Find out more about the work of the Police and Crime Committee.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
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