The London Assembly will have to wait for its first chance to scrutinise the new Metropolitan Police commissioner following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Sir Mark Rowley officially takes over his duties as new Met chief this week after he was announced as Cressida Dick’s replacement in July, but a planned scrutiny meeting with the London Assembly’s police and crime committee this Wednesday has been cancelled following the Queen’s death.

It comes as the Met faces big questions over the fatal police shooting of unarmed Black man Chris Kaba, which is being investigated as a homicide by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The 24-year-old was killed after a single gunshot was fired by a specialist officer following a police pursuit on Monday 5th September.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that he wants to “reassure” Londoners that he will “continue to push” for unanswered questions to be answered amid “grave concerns” from the public.

Wednesday’s cancelled police and crime committee meeting would have been the first public scrutiny meeting of the Metropolitan police since Mr Kaba’s killing and the first chance for assembly members to put questions to the new commissioner.

All London Assembly meetings, including a Mayor’s Question Time session, have been cancelled this week with the nation marking the official mourning period since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. The meetings will be rescheduled to a later date.

Many councils in London and elsewhere in the country, as well as parliament, have cancelled business for the week out of respect for The Queen, though they are under no obligation to do so.

According to the government’s official national mourning guidance, “there is no expectation on the public or organisations to observe specific behaviours during the mourning period” and public services “will continue as usual”.

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