Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWFpwBLs6MnUzG0WjejrQtQ

It was resolved that Mr. J. T. Orson JP CC be elected Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel for the period up to June 2019.

Mr. J. T. Orson JP CC - in the Chair

It was resolved that Cllr. Michael Rickman be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel for the period up to June 2019.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2018 were taken as read, confirmed and signed, subject to an amendment that the venue of the meeting is recorded as 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.

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

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

The Chairman sought and obtained the consent of the Panel to vary the order of business from that set out in the agenda so that item 8: Deputy PCC Update would be taken ahead of item 7: Chief Constable’s Contract in order that the Deputy PCC could attend to present his item.

An oral update will be provided by the Deputy PCC.

The Panel received an oral update from Deputy PCC Kirk Master regarding his work over the previous 6 months.

The key areas of the Deputy PCC’s work were as follows:

(i)        The Youth Commission workplan including consideration of themed areas of work. Organising a Youth Conference to take place at a future date with a focus on improving engagement between the youth and the police, and looking at social media trends.

(ii)       The draft Force Management Structure document which addressed issues such as demand profiling and recruitment. The document had been submitted to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services who would use it to decide on which areas to focus their inspection programme.

(iii)      Liaising with support groups for persons of Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

(iv)      Improving the diversity of recruits into Leicestershire Police and officers in senior roles within the force. A Gold Group had been convened to consider the issue. The Chief Constable’s Governance Board considered all the data relating to the demographics of police officers and staff and a representative from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was always present at these meetings.

(v)       The Serious Organised Crime Strategy.

(vi)      Tackling modern slavery.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)        Leicestershire Police had recently received a licence to be a drone pilot police force. The drones could be used for scanning back gardens. The Leicestershire Police website contained advice for the general public on the use of drones.

(ii)       Panel Members raised concerns regarding knife crime amongst people of school age and the issue of how to stop the problem escalating during school holidays. The Deputy PCC gave reassurance that a lot of work was taking place to tackle these problems. It was noted that 25% of people who habitually carried knives across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland were associated with urban street gangs or organised crime groups. Preventative work was taking place to deter people from associating with these groups.

(iii)      Modern Slavery was a widely committed crime in both Leicester City and the County of Leicestershire. The PCC was giving consideration to ways of tackling this crime.

(iv)      Members asked that future Deputy PCC updates comprise of a written report as well as an oral presentation. The Chairman and PCC agreed to discuss this further outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the contents of the update be noted;

(b)       That the Police and Crime Commissioner be requested to provide a report for a future meeting of the Panel regarding recruitment and retention in Leicestershire Police in relation to people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

An oral update will be provided by the PCC.

The Police and Crime Commissioner tabled a report which explained how a decision had been reached to extend the term of appointment of Chief Constable Simon Cole. A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

In presenting the report the PCC highlighted the following: 

(i)        It had been agreed that Simon Cole would be offered a 12 month contract as Chief Constable every year for the next 5 years. Legal advice had been sought which had confirmed that this approach was permissible and the Policing Minister Nick Hurd MP had informed that the PCC was entitled to make this decision.

(ii)       The PCC reassured the Panel that whilst he was pleased that he had been able to offer Simon Cole a new contract, he would continue to robustly hold the Chief Constable to account.

Arising from questions the following points were noted:

(i)        Should a new PCC come into office at any point in the future, that new PCC would be able to remove Simon Cole from his position as Chief Constable even though it was intended that contracts be in place for the next five years. Similarly the Chief Constable would be able to resign before the end of those 5 years should he wish to. Nevertheless, the PCC felt that the proposed extension of the contracts was an important commitment that had been made.

(ii)       Panel members fully endorsed the decision that had been made by the PCC in extending Simon Cole’s contract in the way described.

RESOLVED:

That the update on the Chief Constable’s contract be noted and the decision to extend the term of appointment be supported.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update on proposed developments of the Strategic Partnership Board (SPB) including a new work strand called People Zones. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

In introducing the report the Chief Executive at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) Paul Hindson explained that the SPB was a useful forum for gaining the support and assistance from partners for delivering the Police and Crime Plan. However, the work of the SPB needed to be more focused with greater clarity on what areas it would and would not cover. In future the focus would be on driving cross-agency work to address behaviours that harm the local community so this would be a wider remit than just crime and would also cover health and community safety generally.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)        The work of the SPB was being overseen by Gurjit Samra-Rai who was being employed by the OPCC for three days a week. Gurjit Samra-Rai was receiving financial remuneration for this work, and the financial implications were being borne by the OPCC not the local areas.

(ii)       Three localities had been identified as suitable to be People Zones however an announcement would not be made on the precise locations until conversations had taken place with key partners in those localities. Meetings were taking place with the Chief Executives of all District councils in Leicestershire. It could be confirmed that one locality was in the Leicester City area and two were in the Leicestershire County area. The exact geographical boundaries of the People Zones would be clearly defined on a map. In deciding which localities were the most appropriate for People Zones the Index of Multiple Deprivation had been taken into account and crime hotspots had been looked at.

(iii)      The People Zones concept was different to the Braunstone Blues project in that no additional funding was being invested in the People Zones. It was intended that the People Zones would be self-sustainable and rely on existing infrastructure and resources. Nevertheless, elements of good practice had been learnt from the Braunstone Blues project and would be incorporated in a toolkit for the People Zones. Consideration was being given to whether the toolkit could be tested in Braunstone before being used in the People Zones.

(iv)      The funding for the Braunstone Blues project would cease in September 2018 however it was hoped that the infrastructure was in place to maintain the services which were being provided, albeit in a different way with less funding.

(v)       The People Zones project did not preclude Local Authorities from developing their own schemes along similar lines should they wish to.

(vi)      The OPCC acknowledged concerns raised by Panel Members that in attempting to tackle health issues as well as crime the SPB could be taking on too much, however it was pointed out that it was not possible to tackle some crime issues without addressing associated health and welfare issues. It was accepted that whilst crime could not be dealt with in isolation the SPB would need to be aware of its limits.

(vii)    The OPCC agreed to forward to the Panel a list of all members of the SPB and attendees at its meetings.

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 the approach of Leicestershire Police to knife crime and stop and search. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)        The PCC supported the increased use of stop and search and was content that Leicestershire Police were using it appropriately and conducted searches in the correct manner. There had been very few complaints. Reassurance was given that work was ongoing to ensure that stop and search was not used disproportionately against people of any particular ethnic background. The data would suggest that females and people of Asian background were searched less than people of other demographics. Panel members asked to receive the data broken down into age groups and ethnicity.  Members were also interested to know the percentage of positive searches out of the total number of searches conducted. It was agreed that this information would be provided to Panel Members.

(ii)       Leicestershire Police did use knife wands and knife arches, though they could not insist that a suspect go through a knife arch. There were no plans to increase the amount of equipment Leicestershire Police possessed for the purposes of identifying knives.

(iii)      The month of February had seen a dip in the total number of knife crime offences and the number of possession offences, both of which might be attributable to the cold weather and the shortness of the month.

(iv)      Panel members appreciated the contribution that Warning Zone made in deterring children from carrying knives and expressed disappointment that not all schools in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland took their pupils to Warning Zone. It was suggested that Members could write to the Head Teachers of their local schools and ask that all pupils are taken on a visit to Warning Zone.

(v)       Partnership working was taking place to deter children from getting involved in knife crime during school holidays by encouraging them to get involved in sporting activities such as basketball and street cricket.

RESOLVED:

That the Panel supports:

(a)       The continuing multi-agency approach taken locally to tackle the increase in knife crime in LLR, which reflects the increase nationally;

(b)       The targeted use of coercive powers in areas of significant threat from knife crime, drugs supply and serious violence which show positive outcomes and build confidence that the police are tackling the issue;

(c)          The multiagency approach being taken by the partnership in dealing with those at risk of carrying a knife or being exploited into doing so;

(d)          The campaign to share and promote the knife campaigns released by Leicestershire Police and partners to reassure and promote the prevention and deterrence activity within our communities.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Secretariat which provided an update on proposals for a Special Interest Group (SIG) entitled The National Association of Police, Fire and Crime Panels which the Panel had been invited to join. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 11’, is filed with these minutes.

In presenting the report the Secretariat highlighted the following:

(i)        As at least 15 Police and Crime Panels had committed to joining the SIG the application had already been submitted to the Local Government Association with the Terms of Reference as set out in the report. It was open to other Panels to join at a later date.

(ii)       At the SIG Steering Group meeting on 19 April 2018 verbal confirmation had been given that the Home Office would permit the Home Office Grant to be used for the purposes of paying the SIG subscription fee. The Chairman of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Panel Mr. J. T. Orson JP CC had asked for written confirmation but to date this confirmation had not been received.  Indications had been given that the Home Office had referred the matter to their legal department for advice.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)        The Police and Crime Panel was not a spending committee. Its purpose was to support and hold to account the Police and Crime Commissioner. The Panel could claim up to £53,300 per annum from the Home Office for the administrative costs of running the Panel and £920 per member for expenses. There was no further budget.

(ii)       Most Panel members were in favour of joining the SIG in principle for at least a 12 month trial. However, some were of the view that further information was required about the purposes of the SIG and the way it would carry out its functions before a commitment could be made.

(iii)      Leicestershire County Council as host authority would not pay the whole £500 subscription fee out of its own budget and were also of the view that the SIG subscription fee was not an appropriate use for the Home Office Grant.

(iv)      Reassurance was given that should Leicestershire County Council as host authority collect the £50 contribution from each constituent authority and forward it on for payment of the SIG subscription there would be a clear audit trail.

(v)       Not all constituent authorities of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Panel were willing to contribute £50 towards the subscription fee. Therefore if the Home Office Grant could not be used then the Panel could not join the SIG.

RESOLVED:

That the decision on whether the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Police and Crime Panel should join the Special Interest Group entitled The National Association of Police, Fire and Crime Panels be deferred until the Panel meeting on 25 July 2018 to allow the Home Office time to provide clarification on what the Home Office Grant can be used for.

The next meeting of the Panel is scheduled to take place on 25 July 2018 at 1:00pm at City Hall, Leicester.

RESOLVED:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Panel would be held on 25 July 2018 at 1:00pm.