The new Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is taking the lead on creating a smarter approach to stop and search, the London Assembly has been told.

Members of the Police and Crime Committee at City Hall heard that Craig Mackey, who is the ACPO Lead on Stop and Search, would be assessing in making the process smarter and more focused in its delivery in future.

Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe was adamant that stop and search could be handled better – and that more could be done to win public confidence.

The Commissioner stressed: “We have to make sure that we are acting reasonably.

“Stop and search needs to be smarter and intelligence needs to be handled better – the changes we make could mean numbers of those stopped could go up or down.”

Commissioner Hogan-Howe said it was likely that there would be less Section 60 stop and searches in future as in favour of the more focused approach.

Challenged by members that only six per cent of stop and searches revealed criminal activity, he emphasised that they remained a crucial tool for the police.

But he stressed it was important “not to turn the public off”. He emphasised: “I do not think there are enough systems in place to get information and we need to do something about that – if we act properly and reasonably based on intelligence, then people are going to understand what we are doing.”

Commissioner Hogan-Howe appeared before the Committee with Kit Malthouse, London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing to speak on a range of issues.

During the session, he revealed that there would be further work next month to tackle the problem of gangs and further engage communities through roadshows.