Venue: Sparkenhoe Committee Room, County Hall
Contact: Sam Weston (Tel: 0116 305 6226) Email: sam.weston@leics.gov.uk
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Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 2 October 2013 were taken as read, confirmed and signed subject to paragraph ix on page 4 being amended to reflect the negative effect that the increased use of technology through mobile working could have on the 5% crime reduction target in the Police and Crime Plan. |
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Urgent Items. Minutes: There were no urgent items for consideration. |
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Declarations of Interest. Minutes: The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting. All
members of Community Safety Partnerships declared personal interests in all
matters relating to those partnerships. Mr
Orson and Cllr Pendleton declared personal interests as members of the
Strategic Partnership Board. Cllr
Sood declared a personal interest as the Chair of the Leicester Council of
Faiths and a member of Sport England. Cllr
Senior declared a personal interest as a member of UNISON. |
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Police and Crime Commissioner - First Year in Office. PDF 79 KB Minutes: The Panel considered a report of the Chief Finance Officer concerning the Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) first year in office. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 4” is filed with these minutes. The Chairman welcomed the PCC, his Chief Executive (CEO) and Chief Finance Officer (CFO) to the meeting to introduce the paper. In doing so, the following principal points were made: ·
The first year had been largely a transitional
process. Staff continued to be recruited to the PCC’s office to ensure the
successful delivery of the Police and Crime Plan (PC Plan); ·
Much had been learnt thus far about the
partnership work the Police were engaged in. Community Safety was one area
highlighted as a success; ·
Leicestershire Police continued to lead the
mental health agenda nationally. The PCC hoped that further integration would
take place with Public Health, including taking a more active role on the
Health and Wellbeing Board; ·
Regional collaboration with other forces was
viewed as a priority; ·
The Office for the PCC (OPCC) would be
reconfigured with a budget reduction of £15,000; ·
Leicestershire was the first in the country to
start a “Youth Commissioning” pilot consisting of a group of youths with varied
backgrounds advising on priority issues for young people. This work would feed
into areas such as training for Police Officers; ·
The OPCC wished to carry out better consultation
with the public in future. A suggestion was made that it might be possible for the
OPCC to collaborate with local authorities when consulting on issues such as
council tax and the precept; · The impending independent review of the Force’s PR and communication function would decide under whose control this function would sit in future. It currently sat within the Chief Constable’s control. In response to the questions of Panel members, the following points were noted: ·
The overall crime statistic for the force area
was showing an increase of 2.8%, which was recognised as a concern. Despite
this being a trend nationally, the PCC highlighted that, in 2012, crime had a
seen a dramatic reduction, which had meant that a further fall would have been
challenging to achieve. The statistic reflected an increase in “volume” crimes,
such as theft from cars, shoplifting, theft of bicycles and burglaries. In response
to a question as to whether this increase could relate to the economic climate
and its impact on the population, the PCC referred to an increase in driving
away from garages without having paid for fuel; ·
Operation Tiger was a direct reaction to the
increase in volume crime, with a focus on a visible police presence tackling
issues that were of high concern to communities. Operation Tiger would continue
for the foreseeable future, though possibly with fewer officers. The part the
public could play in tackling crime was highlighted; ·
The PCC had received assurances from the Chief
Constable that the Force was doing all it could to combat increases in rural
crime in areas such as Melton; ·
Funds were issued via the PCC Grant (paragraph
16 d. of the report refers) according to the priorities of the PC Plan. An
example was given of a scheme called The Friends of Holly Hayes Wood, which had
recently received grant funding to enable it to continue a programme training
people who were not in employment, education
or training to acquire skills-based educational opportunities in
areas such as woodland management and dry stone walling; · The innovation grant had been successful in bringing forward ideas to combat crime. An example was given of an app to combat cyber bullying. It was fully intended to continue this sort ... view the full minutes text for item 39. |
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Minutes: The Panel considered a report of the Chief Finance Officer concerning an update on the financial position prior to the budget process in January 2014. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 5” is filed with these minutes. Arising from the debate the following points were noted: ·
Though there would be no council tax increase in
2014/15, assurances were given that the Police was looking to increase revenue
through a variety of means, such as the Community Infrastructure Levy and
Section 106 contributions. The need was stressed for the Police to clearly
evidence the need for funds to ensure success at planning committees; ·
Work was being carried out regionally to
commission a “Regional Hub” for victims and witnesses. All of the five
forces/PCCs were active in driving this forward. The Panel would be provided
with more detail on this work in the near future; ·
A £2.9 million reserve enabled the recruitment
of PCSOs beyond that set out in the budget; ·
There was, at the end of October, a £900k
underspend. Discussions were already taking place about how to use these funds
pro-actively; · There was an uncertainty around the intended transfer of work from the Independent Police Complaints Commission. RESOLVED: (a)
That the report be noted; (b) That, in light of concerns expressed about the approach of the Police to Section 106 agreements, the Chief Finance Officer be requested to write to Police and Crime Panel members regarding the ways in which it expects to utilise Section 106 and the Community Infrastructure Levy. |
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Reducing Offending and Reoffending Thematic Report. PDF 74 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Panel considered a report of the Chief Finance Officer concerning a thematic update against the strategic priority of the Police and Crime Plan (PC Plan) to reduce offending and re-offending. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 6” is filed with these minutes. In introducing the report, the Chief Finance Officer explained that there would be a more detailed performance report submitted to the PCP at its budget meeting in January. The PCC noted a request from a number of members of the
Panel to increase funding for the “Troubled Families” partnership agenda and
stated that budgets could be increased in future if the programme proved to be
successful. The importance of evidencing clear outcomes was therefore stressed; Whilst the cohort in the “Troubled Families” was relatively
small at present, an officer had been seconded to the OPCC from the Probation
Service to work through the issues and any barriers to growing the number of
families in the programme. RESOLVED: That the report be noted. |
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Date of next meeting. The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled to take place on 27 January 2014 at 2.00pm at County Hall, Glenfield. Minutes: It was NOTED that the next meeting of the Commission would be held on 27 January 2013 at 2.00pm at County Hall, Glenfield. |