Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at http://council.webcast.vualto.com/leicestershire-county-council/home?EventId=14156.

The Chairman drew members’ attention to the fact that today’s meeting would be the last attended by Sir Clive Loader as the election for the new PCC would be held on 5 May and the Panel’s next meeting would not be held until 30 June. Accordingly, the Chairman read out the following statement:

“As members will be aware this will be the final meeting of the Police and Crime Panel attended by Sir Clive and I would wish to put on record our thanks to you Commissioner and all of your staff for your help and involvement with the Panel over the last four years.

In particular, we as members of the Panel have greatly valued your integrity and high work ethic. It goes without saying that it takes someone of strong character and ability to set up an office from scratch, as you did back in 2012, and your efforts in maintaining a lean office should be applauded.

Whilst we have provided support and challenge to you through our Panel meetings, we hope you will recognise that we have also provided support to your work through our challenge and scrutiny.

I’d like to take this opportunity ahead of our business today to wish you all the best for the future in whatever you decide to do with your newly found spare time.

A photo has been arranged to be taken at the end of today’s meeting with the PCC, his staff and members of the PCP to mark the end of the Commissioners’ term of office with the Panel.”

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 February 2016 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

No 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.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning an update on the Leicestershire Youth Commission (LYC). A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 5”, is filed with these minutes.

In introducing the report, the Commissioner made reference to a session held at South Leicestershire College he had attended as a PCC candidate at which he and other candidates were questioned about policing matters. When elected, he had attended a follow up session there at which it had become clear that there was a lack of warmth between the youngsters (16-17 years old) and the Police. Following this session the Commissioner had suggested that he would do all possible to ensure the voice of the youngsters was heard. The establishment of the LYC was seen as a step towards this goal. Leicestershire was one of the first areas in the country to establish a Youth Commission.

Arising from a discussion, the following points were noted:

·                200 youngsters had attended the Youth Commission Conference. The membership of the LYC was fluid with some having moved on to the Police Cadets and one now operating as a Special Constable. The PCC did not view the LYC as a recruitment tool however. The PCC was happy with the socio-geographic spread of the LYC membership and he offered to report back to the Panel with more specific data in regard to those on the LYC who had learning difficulties;

·                The LYC had been one route through which the Police hoped to gain a greater understanding of issues such as online grooming. Representatives on the LYC each brought their own level of understanding, some with personal experience, which enabled the Force to gain greater intelligence on the methods through which this form of crime had been known to have grown. An opportunity existed for the LYC to work more closely with “Warning Zone” on issues such as online grooming;

·                Members of the LYC were offered training in areas such as presentation and facilitation skills and media training.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the report be noted.

(b)       That the Panel would welcome an end of year progress report on the LYC at its meeting on 5 December.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning an update on performance for Quarter 3. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 6”, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from a discussion, the following points were noted:

·                Decreasing satisfaction levels for the way in which the Force had dealt with hate crime was cause for concern. There was also concern around possible under reporting of this type of crime. The Deputy Chief Constable felt that the embedding of neighbourhood policing to build up local expertise in this area was key to tackling it effectively. Additional surveying of victims of hate crime would hopefully enable the collection of more detailed data around why satisfaction levels were falling;

·                Many preventative measures were being taken to arrest the rise in vehicle crime, though it was acknowledged that most thefts were as a result of people leaving their vehicles unlocked, or even with the keys in the ignition. Other schemes aimed at halting the rise in moped thefts, such as the PCC’s offer of funding to establish a regulated moped riding event, were being investigated;

·                The County Council’s reduction in preventative measures such as tackling substance abuse and alcohol misuse was expected to impact the Police. It was felt that “system thinking” to tackle funding gaps such as these on a partnership basis would be critical to staying on top of crime;

·                Anti-social behaviour incidents were known to be under reported. Though satisfaction levels amongst victims of this type of crime had fallen, they still remained high when compared nationally;

·                The intelligence recording system, NICHE, was now being used by all forces in the East Midlands and enabled a more joined-up approach to tacking crime. The system experienced some teething problems, but was thought to now be working well;

·                The recent publication of a report on Leicester Prison which stated that legal highs were easily obtained by inmates was concerning. A law change on the use of legal highs had been anticipated in April but had not emerged.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning an update on the first five months in operation of “Victim First”, a new service for victims and witnesses. A copy of the report, marked “agenda Item 7”, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from a discussion, the following points were noted:

·                The service appeared to be performing well but there was a lack of understanding in communities for what the service offered;

·                The service had offered support to 3,712 victims and witnesses, however only 247 had received a service. It was suspected that this was as a result of most not requiring or wishing to receive the service, however a more detailed performance framework aimed to establish some target outcomes for the service. This was likely to be available in a report to the Panel in December.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the report be noted.

(b)       That a further report on the progress made by the Service be received at the Panel’s meeting on 5 December.

The next meeting of the Panel is scheduled to take place on Thursday 30 June at 1.00pm.

It was NOTED that the next meeting of the Panel would be held on 30 June at 1.00pm.