Agenda and minutes

Prior to commencing the Panel’s business, the Chairman read out the following statement:

“I would like to start today’s meeting by recognising the efforts of PC Simon Chamberlain whose bravery and quick thinking prevented a clash between 75 football fans in January. PC Chamberlain formed a human barrier between the two sets of fans who were throwing bottles and glasses at each other. PC Chamberlain’s bravery has been formally recognised by the Chief Constable, though I’m sure all members around the table today will join me in recording our thanks to him for his courageous efforts.”

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 July were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

No questions had been received.

The Chairman advised that he had agreed to consider an urgent item on “Victim First - Launch” (Minute 164 refers).

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 and a member of the Bishop’s Faith Forum. She further declared a personal interest in respect of item 6 as a carer for someone with mental health difficulties (Minute 159 refers).

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning a six month review of “Project Edison”, otherwise known as the Force Change Programme - a change in the policing model, aimed at improving the service to the public and identifying savings. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 5”, is filed with these minutes.

The Chief Constable reported the following updates on the progress of the Force Change Programme:

·                The Programme had largely progressed well since its inception, however there had been some issues which had required fine tuning;

·                There had been a net reduction of 250 FTE members of staff. The Programme was on course to make the required financial savings. The Corporate Spending Review was likely to add further pressure, given the policing budget was “unprotected” by the Government. The Force was planning for a 25-40% reduction in government grant. The grant represented around 65% of the Force’s total income;

·                Data and informal feedback had suggested that the Force was now spending more time in local communities;

·                The Managed Appointment Unit was working well, though there had been some teething issues initially;

·                The new policing model had resulted in a change in work flow through the Force, which had presented some challenges;

·                The Force’s records management system, NICHE would result in better cross-boundary working with neighbouring forces;

·                The pressures on budgets across the public sector would inevitably place an increased focus on effective partnership working.

Arising from a discussion, the following points were noted:

          General

·                The chain of command in the Force had around 9 ranks. Some could be removed, though some were statutory. Under direction from the PCC, the Force was aiming to reduce the supervisory levels in the Force;

·                Mobile communications in rural areas had proved to be an issue with the new body-warn technology, however this had been circumvented to a certain extent by the use of wi-fi hot spots;

·                Staff attendance was at around 97%, the ninth highest in the country;

·                Some concern was expressed in relation to the way witnesses had been dealt with. The new “Victim First” service, launching later in the year was also a witness service and would aim to improve this service;

·                Staff overtime was at a higher level than anticipated, however the overtime budget had been vastly reduced over the previous five years;

·                For a trial period of three months the Police had not routinely sent a forensic investigator to odd numbered homes where an attempted burglary had occurred. The PCC re-emphasised his view that, had he known about this trial in advance, he would have advised against proceeding with it. Regardless, the PCC felt that it should be recognised that the Force would need to look at measures that might not always be popular with the public in order to identify further efficiency savings.

NICHE

·                The NICHE data recording system was used in around 20 forces across the country for the inputting of crime and intelligence data. The outputs from the system were dependant on good quality input and it was known that this had been an issue within the City. It was expected that the system would be producing meaningful data by the end of the year. It was hoped that it would ensure more consistent data was available to all the forces who used it (it was hoped that this would be of benefit for regional work);

·                It would not be possible to fully “digitise” all evidence gathering given the complex nature of some crimes. Online crime reporting could result in an increased reporting of crimes and the Force was aware  ...  view the full minutes text for item 159.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning the Quarter 1 Performance Report for 2015/16. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 6”, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from a discussion, the following points were noted:

·                The PEEL inspection had found that Leicestershire was regarded as performing to a “good” level. A further PEEL inspection report was due in February 2016;

·                The PCC was happy with the performance of the Force though he felt that further improvements would be needed, not least due to the expected loss of staff going forward;

·                Domestic abuse was under reported. Data was not yet available from the NICHE system to be able to provide a relevant statistic in regard to frequency, though customer satisfaction was known to be “high”. The PCC stressed that he had deliberately not set a performance target in this area as a means of encouraging people to come forward and report these types of crime, though it would continue to be regarded as a high priority area;

·                The County Council’s Scrutiny Commission has raised concerns with the Chairman in regard to what was, in the summer, a rise in burglary and a rise in theft of and from motor-vehicle. Burglaries had reduced over the last five years, and statistically a home owner was less likely to be burgled today than at any time in the past two decades and it had to be recognised that it was very much a “seasonal” crime. The Panel was assured that a robust plan was in place in order to be able to tackle these issues;

·                Any findings in regard to faults or vulnerabilities with specific makes of vehicle that made them more likely to be targeted by criminals would be discussed between the PCC and Chief Constable in the first instance and then most likely via the national associations they represented. This had been the case during a spate of vehicle crimes linked to the “download” Festival held at Donington Park;

·                Given the rise in the number of motor vehicles on the road, there was a statistically lesser chance of being a victim of crime in this area at any time during the last five years. The Police continued to do a lot of pro-active work in this area to warn those most at risk;

·                £1.3million of funding had been allocated towards tackling Child Sexual Exploitation. A proposal would be submitted to the Strategic Partnership Board listing a number of specific projects that aimed at addressing this issue;

·                The Police had invested a lot of time and money in regard to training on mental health and other measures have been taken such as the triage car. Positive work was undertaken with health partners. As services retracted, it would be important to ensure that those with mental health difficulties had good quality services available to them.

RESOLVED:

That the Quarter 1 Performance Report 2015/16 be noted.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning an update on the Medium Term Financial Strategy. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 7”, is filed with these minutes.

The budget equalisation reserve was available to smooth over any budget shortfalls when higher funding reductions were required than those predicted in the MTFS.

Savings as a result of some of the regional work that was taking place between forces was not included in the report, though this was mostly based around a reduction in officers. 250-400 members of staff would likely be lost as a result of the savings requirement. In addition, a recruitment freeze was likely to be considered in the near future.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning the Force’s use of Stop and Search measures. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 8” is filed with these minutes.

It was noted that the Force had conducted a thorough review of its use of stop and search, which had resulted in a significant reduction from 28,000 incidents in 2011 to just 2919 in May 2015. Stop and Search had previously been a performance target for police officers and this had resulted in an “overuse” of the measure.

The PCC felt that it was important for all round the table to spread awareness for the reduction in stop and search and the low complaint rate. Some efforts would be made on behalf of the Force to spread awareness amongst communities of the work undertaken to reduce its use. The Chief Constable remained of the view that stop and search was an important crime deterrent tool that should remain at officers’ disposal.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning a thematic update on the strand of the Police and Crime Plan titled “Making Communities and Neighbourhoods Safer”. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 9”, is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The next meeting of the Panel is scheduled to take place on 16 December at 1.00pm.

Meetings of the Panel in 2016 will take place as follows (all meetings at 1.00pm):

25 January

9 February (Provisional only - subject to whether the Panel uses its power of veto on the precept or as business requires)

22 March

30 June

19 July

26 September

5 December

It was NOTED that the next meeting of the Panel was scheduled to take place on 16 December at 1.00pm.

It was AGREED that meetings of the Panel in 2016 would take place as follows (all meetings at 1.00pm):

25 January

9 February (Provisional only - subject to whether the Panel uses its power of veto on the precept or as business requires)

22 March

30 June

19 July

26 September

5 December

The Panel considered the following matter, the Chairman having decided that it was of an urgent nature as a result of the need to publicise the launch of Police’s new victims and witnesses service, “Victim First” which would be taking place later in the month.

The Chief Executive of the OPCC reported the following:

·                The Victim First service would go live on 1 October. All Panel members had been invited to the launch event on 28 September at the King Power Stadium in Leicester and would receive a personal briefing from the PCC;

·                The new victims and witnesses service model had been nationally recognised. Loughborough University had asked to work with the OPCC on the new service and as a result some further work would be carried out in respect of victims with a mental health issue, young victims of ASB and victims of hate crime;

·                Services would be provided also to those at a high risk and repeat victims of ASB;

·                The new service would be available 8.00am - 8.00pm Monday to Friday and from 9.00am - 5.00pm on Saturdays. Methods of contact for the service other than telephone were currently being explored.

RESOLVED:

That the oral update from the Chief Executive be noted.