Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at: http://council.webcast.vualto.com/leicestershire-county-council/home?EventId=13926

The Chairman drew members’ attention to the news that Councillor Roger Begy OBE, Leader of Rutland County Council and member of the Police and Crime Panel had sadly died on the morning of Monday 1 February, aged 72.

In making this announcement, the Chairman made reference to Roger’s friendly and approachable style, his good sense of humour and the valuable contribution he had made to the Panel’s business since its inception in 2012.

With tributes paid by the PCC and Councillors Malise Graham and Kirk Master, the best wishes of all around the table were passed on to Roger’s family and a minute’s silence held in his honour.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 December were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

No public questions had been received.

There were no urgent items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

Cllr. M. Sood declared a personal interest in respect of all substantive items as a member of the Police’s Independent Advisory Panel, as the Chairman of the Leicester Council of Faiths, as a member of the Bishop’s Faith Forum and as a member of the Gold Community.

Col. Robert Martin declared a personal interest in respect of Item 6 as the Trustee of “Warning Zone” which was in receipt of some funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner (Minute 183 refers).

Col. Robert Martin and Helen Carter each declared a personal interest that might lead to bias in respect of Item 7, as they would both be personally affected by the decision on the matter. Mr. J. T. Orson JP CC also declared a personal interest that might lead to bias in respect of this item as he knew Mrs. Carter in a personal capacity (Minute 184 refers). All three members indicated that they would therefore leave the meeting when that item was considered.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning the Proposed Precept for 2016/17 and the Medium Term Financial Strategy. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 5”, is filed with these minutes.

In introducing the report, the PCC delivered a speech, the content of which is set out below:

“Good afternoon everyone.

Choice and opportunity.

Not two words you immediately associate with a financial paper. Yet, in the budget report I put before you today, those words should resonate loudly. Because, in determining the future direction of travel for policing across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, I have indeed had to make a choice.

A choice between building on the success of the last three years in which our streets and communities have become safer; or taking a ‘safer, easier’ option (at least for me personally) as I approach the end of my term in office. Indeed my final budget has, I judge, been the most difficult to set.

Nonetheless, as the paper clearly articulates, my decision to ask taxpayers to contribute a little more towards the cost of policing is absolutely the right one.

Why do I say this? Because it will give Leicestershire Police the resources it needs to fulfil its operational capabilities, while also ensuring the force is on a sound, financial footing. That is something that cannot be said of all Forces across the country.

Crucially, this budget also presents an opportunity for the police and partners to work together, with even more vigour, in confronting and tackling issues such as child sexual exploitation, cyber-crime, domestic abuse, and sexual offences. Neither, of course, can we afford to neglect the lessons of other places; the work to counteract extremism and terrorism must be ramped up too.

And why am I so confident that opportunity exists? Because the evidence is there in what we have already achieved in the last three years. We have seen substantial reductions in many areas of crime, including overall reported crime (with more than 6,000 fewer offences in 2014/15 compared to 2011/12). Similarly, the number of antisocial behaviour incidents is also down substantially. And, thanks to excellent partnership work, we have succeeded in reducing the level of reoffending amongst our most prolific offenders by over 50%.

Working closely with Leicestershire Police, my office has overseen the delivery of savings well in excess of the £20m set out in the Police and Crime Plan. This has been accompanied by workforce modernization and restructuring projects, all designed to balance demand with resource. It is testament to the Force’s hard work and strong leadership – for which I thank the Chief Constable – that the very high bar set out in my Plan has been achieved. And this, in turn, has enabled me to reinvest in the services that lie at the heart of our aims and ambitions.

When I was elected I made clear my determination to put people at the heart of what we do, not just in terms of policing but across all areas of criminal justice and community safety. It is why the Police and Crime Plan makes starkly clear my determination to reduce offending and reoffending, to support victims and witnesses, to make our neighbourhoods and communities safer, and to protect the most vulnerable.

As a result, we have seen huge, positive changes in the way complex, sensitive issues are now handled. For example, in mental health, where every day police officers felt they had no alternative but to take vulnerable people with mental health problems into custody.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 183.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning the Commissioning Framework 2016/17. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 6”, is filed with these minutes.

The Chief Executive reported that a new Police and Crime Plan would be produced following the election of the new PCC in May and that this would inform commissioning intentions going forward.

The Chairman referred to the good work being done by the Supporting Leicestershire Families programme and other equivalent programmes in the City, Rutland and districts and the importance of preventative work such as this to reduce demand on the resources of the Force and other partners. Outcomes from this work had proved that it was a successful approach to getting families on a better footing. A request was made accordingly for increased funding from the Police for these programmes.

In response, the PCC indicated that he had increased funding in this area during his tenure by 40% and that it would be a decision for his successor as to whether further funding was merited beyond that prescribed in the current MTFS. The Chief Constable made members aware that the Force was not inspected by HMIC in regard to this work and that therefore it could not be considered to be as high priority as other work areas. He added that much police officer time was already committed to these programmes and that this must be factored in, in addition to the Force’s financial commitment. It would therefore take a more collaborative approach from all partners to ensure these programmes were resources effectively and appropriately.

The importance of better collaborative working was stressed in regard to mental health services where it was felt that there would be benefits to a greater accessing of voluntary sector resources. It was suggested that this might enable the Force to access grant funding that was currently inaccessible for joint initiatives.

The PCC expressed significant concerns around alcohol and drug use, particularly in the night time economy, which often led to a drain in Force resources and were seen as a root cause to crime. He indicated that he would be discussing this in more detail during the final months of his term of office and stressed the need for a change in culture. It was further suggested that 24 hour alcohol sale licenses that were introduced in 2005 had not had the positive effect on crime that had been hoped for.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Panel considered a report of the Head of Democratic Services concerning the appointment and term of office of the Panel’s independent co-opted members. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 7”, is filed with these minutes.

(Col. Martin, Mrs. Carter and the Chairman having each declared a personal interest which might lead to bias in the matter, left the meeting during consideration of this item)

Arising from a discussion, the following points were noted:

·                Members commented that Col. Martin and Mrs. Carter had both served the Panel well over the last four years;

·                It was felt by some not to be helpful to have the co-opted members’ serve coterminously with the PCC as it might provide a lack of continuity at a time of significant change.

It was proposed by Cllr. Page and seconded by Cllr. Slater:

“That the current independent co-opted members of the Police and Crime Panel, Col. Robert Martin and Mrs. Helen Carter, be re-appointed for a period of four years, pending a review in the Summer of the Panel’s constitution.”

The motion was carried unanimously.

The next meeting of the Panel is tentatively scheduled to take place on 15 February 2016 at 1.00pm and will only be required in the event that the Panel has used its power of veto on the Commissioner’s precept at this meeting (Item 5 refers).

Should the meeting not be required, the next meeting of the Panel is scheduled to take place on 22 March at 1.00pm.

It was NOTED that the next meeting of the Panel would be held on 22 March at 1.00pm.