Sadiq Khan summonsed again over Cressida Dick’s departure

• The Mayor has been formally summonsed a second time by the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee, to answer further questions over the circumstances around Dame Cressida Dick’s departure.

• The Mayor could face three months in prison if he fails to attend and answer questions on 13 December 2022.

• It follows a heated meeting on 16 November, where Sadiq Khan and Sir Tom Winsor clashed over the review’s findings.

• Last month, the Winsor Report found that Sadiq Khan had ‘breached due process’ and committed an ‘abuse of the power conferred upon him,’ after the Commissioner was ‘intimidated’ into quitting.

The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee today voted to formally summons the Mayor for a second time to answer questions over the Winsor review, the special commission into the circumstances around Dame Cressida Dick’s departure.

The motion compels Sadiq Khan to attend the committee at 10am on 13 December 2022. Sir Tom Winsor, Dame Cressida Dick and Priti Patel have also been invited to attend.

The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has a unique summons power which was invoked for the first time for this case, under Section 33 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. This legislation extends to the committee the formal summons power defined in Sections 61-65 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Sadiq Khan is required to attend by law, and could face a fine or a maximum sentence of three months in prison if he fails to attend.

Susan Hall AM, leader of the GLA Conservatives and 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.”