Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFuuTAuYlRQ&list=PLrlN4_PKzPXgwQy_hrDS5BcGIorl3pKb9&index=2

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 July 2019 were taken as read, confirmed and signed subject to amendment of the venue of the meeting so that it read ‘City Hall, Leicester’ instead of ‘County Hall, Glenfield.’

There were no questions submitted.

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.

Mr. K. Culverwell declared a personal interest in respect of all substantive items as he had two close relatives that worked for Leicestershire Police.

Ms. M. Lalani declared a personal interest in respect of all substantive items as she had a close relative that was a member of the Police Cadets.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which presented his Annual Report for 2018/19. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 5’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were made:

(i)        The Police and Crime Panel thanked the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for a clear and comprehensive report which covered the full breadth of the PCC’s work. The Panel found the pictorials containing numerical data particularly useful in enabling the reader to understand at a glance the relevant statistics, and they linked in well with the Police and Crime Plan.

(ii)       The Panel commended the PCC for the emphasis throughout the report on partnership working and the support the PCC provided to Community Safety Partnerships. The Panel also welcomed the focus on prevention and working with young people. The Panel applauded the investment from the PCC in peer mentoring for both young people in communities and those on the streets and noted the impact peer mentoring had in Glasgow as part of the Public Health approach utilised there. The Panel was in strong support of peer mentoring particularly the use of people with relevant life experience to provide the mentoring.

(iii)      The Annual Report stated that the levels of recorded Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) incidents had shown a general reduction over the last two years. In response to a question regarding whether the PCC believed incidents of ASB were decreasing or whether it was only the reporting of ASB that was decreasing, the PCC stated that in his view ASB was under reported but that he believed the number of incidents were decreasing as well.

(iv)      The Panel thanked the PCC for the detail in the Annual Report regarding the PCC’s actions and initiatives to tackle rural crime and the Chairman emphasised that rural crime was a significant issue and victims of rural crime could be amongst the most vulnerable.

(v)       Prior to the recent government announcement on police funding, a decision had been made by the PCC to prioritise funding for Police Officers rather than Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). However, whilst the numbers of PCSOs employed by Leicestershire Police had declined the PCC had resolved to maintain the number of PCSOs at 181.  The total number of police officers within Leicestershire Police would be increased by 80 in the 2019/20 year and a further 27 in the year 2020/21. Whilst the Government had announced that the number of police officers nationally would increase by 20,000 over the next three years it was not yet known how many of those would be for Leicestershire Police.

(vi)      With regards to reference in the report to a project known as ‘RedThread’ which was in place in emergency departments in other areas of the country, where specially trained workers engaged with people who were treated in the emergency department for stabbing type injuries, it was clarified that the service specification used by Redthread would be adopted in Leicester to a large extent but Redthread themselves would not be providing the service due to capacity issues.

RESOLVED:

(a)      That the PCC’s Annual Report be approved, subject to the comments made by the Panel;

(b)      That the comments made by the Panel (as set out above) form a report to be submitted to the Commissioner for his information;

(c)       That the Police and Crime Commissioner be requested to provide a report for a future Panel meeting regarding peer mentoring in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

(d)      That the Police and Crime Commissioner be requested to provide a report for a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update on the performance of Leicestershire Police for the period 1 April 2019 to 30 June 2019. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were made:

(i)        The amount of online crime reporting was increasing significantly from a baseline of zero the previous year. Community newsletters had been used to encourage the public to report crimes online. The national online crime reporting system asked users whether online was their first choice for reporting crime, and it was intended to include a similar question in the Leicestershire Police online reporting system.

(ii)       Most 999 calls received were genuine emergencies and very few were unsuitable for the 999 telephone service though some calls received were inappropriate and showed a lack of understanding on the behalf of the caller as to the true purpose of the 999 telephone service. Of greater concern was the amount of genuine emergency calls received on the 101 telephone line.  The police also received too many calls relating to issues such as mental health which were not for the Police to deal with. In response to a suggestion from a member that the 999 telephone system should automatically prioritise and flag up calls from members of the public deemed to be at high risk, such as victims of domestic abuse, it was explained that those persons would be given a separate emergency telephone number so they would not need to call 999.

(iii)      There was a mismatch between the numbers of children from Leicestershire that were placed in care out of county and the numbers of children from out of county that were being placed in Leicestershire; the latter being far higher. Concerns were raised regarding the amount of children in care that became involved in criminal activity and it was questioned whether any analysis had been undertaken regarding this. With regards to whether missing children undertook an interview on their return it was explained that they were offered an interview but some young people refused to participate and this was logged as no interview undertaken. It was agreed that a report would be circulated to members after the meeting which would address all these issues.

(iv)      The Hate Crime figures could be broken down into sub groups to enable understanding of the types of people that were being targeted. A service would be taking place at Leicester Cathedral on 23 October 2019 in relation to Hate Crime.

(v)       With regards to the increase of 606 drug offences when compared to the same quarter the previous year, a member questioned how many of these related to Operation Lionheart, and what proportion of them resulted in positive outcomes. It was agreed that the figures would be provided to members after the meeting.

(vi)      Approximately three quarters of the work carried out by the Complex Crime Investigation Team related to the illegal drugs trade. To prosecute somebody for a drugs offence it had to be proved that the substance in question was an illegal substance and therefore scientific experts were required to analyse the sample and make a formal statement on its chemical makeup.

(vii)    In response to a question from a member the PCC stated that he was aware that cannabis could be effectively used for medicinal reasons and  whilst he was becoming more open minded about cannabis he had strong concerns that it could be a ‘gateway’ drug which could lead users onto using more dangerous drugs. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update on the performance of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner between 1 April 2019 and 30 June 2019.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

In presenting the report it was highlighted that the OPCC performance reports were to be further developed in the future to include more information regarding commissioning and outcomes.  

A member raised concerns regarding the 8% sickness absence rate and it was explained that these figures were impacted by 2 particular members of staff that had been off sick for the long term.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update and overview of the development of People Zones to date. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were made:

(i)        The OPCC had received a grant from the Home Office for asset mapping and developing the operating model (this was an entirely separate grant to that received for the Violence Reduction Unit). Aside from this one-off grant there was no financial investment in People Zones; the work had to be carried out using existing resources. This meant that communities needed to work effectively together and community leaders needed to play a strong role. A lot of the work was currently being driven by individual personalities and there were concerns about the sustainability of People Zones should these personalities no longer be involved. The roles of partners needed to be clearly defined so that any individuals that became involved in the projects in the future knew what was expected of them. There was enthusiasm regarding People Zones across LLR and representatives from a locality not currently covered by a People Zone were meeting with the OPCC with a view to setting up a People Zone there. However, the resources of the OPCC were limited and at the current time the OPCC was unable to support any more localities. The end goal was that agencies ultimately ceased their involvement in People Zones and communities carried out the work without agency support. The OPCC was aware that not everybody in communities were in support of the People Zones and the philosophy was to work with those that were in support rather than try and persuade those that were not. With regards to sustainability there was also a question of how much the project would be supported by the PCC’s successor after the PCC stood down in May 2020.  The PCC very much hoped that his successor would carry on the good work.

(ii)       It was questioned by members why the Neighbourhood Alert scheme was being rebranded and it was agreed that an answer would be provided to members after the meeting.

(iii)      In response to further questions from a member the PCC offered to provide the following to Panel members after the meeting:

·         An update to the Panel regarding the Data Sharing Agreement and how openly it had been circulated;

·         The report of the special consultancy work on People Zones;

·         An update on low level resilience work and evaluation of people zones.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update on developments regarding the Violence Reduction Unit. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

The Panel welcomed Grace Strong, Strategic Director, Violence Reduction Network to the meeting for this item.

Arising from discussions the following points were made:

(i)        The initial focus of the Network was on youths, weapons and violence in public places. However, it was not intended to focus on one particular type of violence; scoping work would take place to identify which were the most common types which needed tackling.

(ii)       Peer and community mentoring would be a feature of the service provided by the Violence Reduction Network.

(iii)      With regards to the Strategic Partnership Board and the governance of the Violence Reduction Network a member asked the OPCC to ensure that where decisions where required from local authorities members were consulted rather than just officers.

(iv)      A joint strategic needs assessment was being commissioned which would focus on serious violence. This work was being led by a secondee from the Public Health Department at Leicestershire County Council.

(v)       A member emphasised that communities in Leicestershire were very diverse and equality impact assessments needed to be undertaken at an early stage. In response it was acknowledged that further work needed to take place to understand the problems that would be encountered and to define the approach to tackle them.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update on work ongoing to tackle Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Secretariat which provided the results of a review of the Panel’s constitution and proposed amendments to the document. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 11’, is filed with these minutes.  

The Panel thanked officers for the work they carried out identifying the updates that were required to the constitution.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed amendments to the constitution of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Panel as set out in the appendix to the report be approved.

The next meeting of the Panel is scheduled to take place on 11 December 2019 at 2:00pm at County Hall, Glenfield.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Panel be held on 11 December 2019 at County Hall, Glenfield at 2:00pm.