Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Mr. Pendleton and seconded by Mr. Roper that Mr. J. T. Orson CC be elected Chairman of the Panel.

Mr. Orson in the Chair

It was proposed by Mr. White and seconded by Mr. Rhodes that Cllr. T. Pendleton be elected Vice-Chairman of the Panel.

The Chairman informed the Panel that he would take an urgent item for consideration regarding the nomination of a point of contact for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).  The reason for urgency was that the request for such a point of contact had been made by the IPCC after the papers for the meeting had been circulated and it was necessary for the Panel to make a decision regarding the nomination as soon as possible.  The matter was considered as part of minute 5 (Rules of Procedure and appointment of additional co-opted members) below.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

The Panel considered a paper of the Chief Executive of Leicestershire County Council setting out the draft Rules of Procedure for the operation of the Panel.  A copy of the report, marked A, is filed with these minutes.

The following amendments were suggested:

·         At relevant paragraphs, reference should be made to to the relevant local authorities being able to send substitutes to meetings.

·         Para. 56: the proposed frequency of meetings should be six.

·         Para. 64: should state that the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) would be expected to respond to minority reports.

·         Para. 68: it should be made explicit that requests for the Chief Constable to attend meetings of the Panel would have to be made to the PCC.

·         Para. 96: the words “as soon as practicable” should be added.

·         Para. 108: the words “subject to procedures to be agreed by the Panel” to be inserted at the end of the first sentence.

·         Para. 113: not all the district councils used the Executive and Scrutiny model and amendment should be made to reflect this.

·         Schedule 1: should have been updated to reflect the results of the 2011 census.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which had responsibility for investigating allegations against PCCs relating to criminal matters, had recently issued guidance on the recording, handling and referral of such complaints.  It had also requested all host authorities to provide it with named points of contact who would also be available out of hours.  It was noted that Regulations that came into force on 22 November now allowed Panels to delegate functions to officers in any of the relevant local authorities. 

RESOLVED:

a)    That, subject to the amendments listed above, the Rules of Procedure be approved;

b)    That, in the interests of the balance appointment objective, an additional three members be co-opted from Leicester City Council;

c)    That the Monitoring Officer of Leicestershire County Council and the Chief Executive of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office be nominated as the points of contact for the Independent Police Complaints Commission;.

d)    That a draft Complaints procedure be presented to the next meeting of the Panel.

Cllrs. Lynn Senior, Manjula Sood and Paul Westley joined the meeting at this point.

The Panel considered a paper of the Chief Executive of Leicestershire County Council setting out the draft guidance on Confirmation Hearings, protocol with the PCC and protocol with Leicestershire County Council’s Crime and Disorder scrutiny committee.  A copy of the report, marked B, is filed with these minutes.

The following points arose in discussion:

·         The Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Trust should be included in the list of Responsible Authorities on Community Safety Partnerships in the protocol with the County Crime and Disorder scrutiny committee.  It was noted this protocol had been approved by the relevant scrutiny body.

·         There were potential conflicts of interest for members of the Panel who were also on Community Safety Partnerships.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the guidance on holding Confirmation Hearings be approved;

b)    That the protocol between the Police and Crime Panel and the Police and Crime Commissioner be approved and signed;

c)    That, subject to the addition of the Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Trust to the list of Responsible Authorities on Community Safety Partnerships, the protocol between the Police and Crime Panel and Leicestershire County Council’s Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee be approved.

The Panel considered a report of the Chief Executive on the outline timetable for the appointment of two independent co-opted members to the Panel.  A copy of report, marked C, is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That a sub-committee of Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Bill, Mr. Roper, Mrs. Russell and Mr. Slater be established to carry out the recruitment of two independent co-opted members, on behalf of the Panel.

20 December

30 January

14 February (if required).

All meetings to start at 10.00 am.

The Panel agreed to meet on the following dates:

20 December

30 January

14 February (if required)

All meetings to start at 10.00 am.