Agenda and minutes

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

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 October 2018 were taken as read, confirmed and signed, subject to the amendment that Deputy PCC Kirk Master be recorded as present at the meeting.

There were no questions submitted.

There were no urgent items for consideration, however Cllr. J. Richards raised the issue of reports from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Police and Crime Panel meetings not being sent to the Panel’s Secretariat in time so that they could be published in line with the Local Authorities (Access to Meetings and Documents) (Period of Notice) (England) Order 2002. The PCC apologised for this and provided reassurance that it would not happen again.

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.

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 from the Secretariat which set out the background to why regular updates from the Deputy PCC had been requested for Panel meetings. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 5’, is filed with these minutes.

The Deputy PCC gave an oral update to the Panel on his recent work which covered the following areas:

·         The Leicestershire Police budget, Precept and pensions;

·         Retention rates of Police officers and staff;

·         Knife crime and work with a multi-agency group on tackling the problem;

·         Partnership events to tackle re-offending;

·         EMSOU Collaboration;

·         People Zones.

The Deputy PCC provided reassurance to the Panel that he had visited every District and Borough of Leicestershire in order to gain an understanding of the crime issues in those localities, and he had a visit to Rutland arranged for January 2019. The Deputy PCC also assured the Panel that no conflicts of interest had arisen with regards to him carrying out the role.

The Deputy PCC confirmed that his contract with the OPCC was for 20 hours of work per week and that his time was managed well so that despite the occasional need to travel to various locations in Leicestershire this did not impact on his productivity. Generally visits were not sporadic and were carefully planned in advance. The Deputy PCC paid tribute to the administrative support he received which helped make this work.

Some members asked to receive a written report from the OPCC for future agenda items on the Deputy PCC whilst other members were of the view that an oral update was sufficient. The PCC stated that in his view a written report was not necessary. It was agreed that the future arrangements for the Panel to scrutinise the Deputy PCC would be discussed between the Chairman and the PCC after the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the oral update be noted.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which presented the Quarter 2 2018/19 Performance Report. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)        Members thanked the PCC for the new presentation style of the Performance Report and stated it was easy to read and understand.

(ii)       The Panel questioned the reasons behind the drop in the number of 101 calls received and queried whether callers were struggling to get somebody to answer their call. The PCC informed that when there was a high volume of 999 calls, and there was insufficient staff to answer every call, the 999 call would be directed to the staff that were allocated to answer 101 calls thereby causing a delay in the answering of the 101 calls. The PCC also explained that some abandoned calls were positive because the automated message that the caller listened to enabled them to resolve their query or directed them where they needed to go to. In response to questions regarding 999 calls the PCC stated that the time that it took for 999 calls to be answered was monitored and he believed the performance for Leicestershire Police was good and he would provide the Panel with the statistics after the meeting.

(iii)      It was believed that the increase in rape offences was due to greater confidence in reporting rather than more offences being committed. A large amount of the reported rape offences related to historical incidents i.e. over 12 months into the past.

(iv)      Many of the drug related offences were uncovered due to Stop and Search activities carried out by Leicestershire Police therefore this proactive approach had led to an increase in recorded offences. The PCC emphasised the need to maintain a balance with regard to Stop and Search with appropriate decisions being made on which people to target, and not carrying out excessive numbers of searches. Members asked for statistics on the demographics of people that had been stopped and searched by Leicestershire Police and the PCC agreed to provide this after the meeting. It was also requested that the statistics for knife crime be broken down into those offences just relating to possession and those offences where injury was caused.

(v)       In response to a query from a member regarding the demographics of people that had been recorded as missing and whether there were any trends, the PCC offered to provide further clarification after the meeting.

(vi)      Members requested that the performance figures for Hate crime be broken down into all the categories of Hate crime and the PCC agreed to this request. The Chairman reported that he had arranged a meeting with Chief Crown Prosecutor Janine Smith which would take place in January 2019 to discuss the approach of the Crown Prosecution Service to Hate crime.

(vii)    The Panel also asked to be provided with further information and statistics relating to Human Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation.

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 progress with the aims set out in the Police and Crime Plan to tackle alcohol and drugs (substance) misuse. A copy of the report, ‘marked Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes. 

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)        The actions that were set out in the report related to treatment and prevention rather than the enforcement of drug related crimes.

(ii)       In response to a question about whether Turning Point were able to cope with the demand placed upon them it was explained that there was a target for treatment to begin within 3 weeks of referral and Turning Point had met this target in 100% of cases. Reassurance was also given that Turning Point were in the upper quartile for successful completion rates when judged against all the substance misuse services nationally. Furthermore, Turning Point were not merely focusing on moving a service user through the process as quickly as soon as possible, but were providing a good quality service and addressing all the user’s needs.

(iii)      Some of the substance misuse work had been subcontracted to an organisation known as Dear Albert which was based at 5 Hill Street, Leicester and provided peer led, recovery focused interventions.

(iv)      Turning Point provided an outreach service which was based in Leicester City and consideration was being given to whether it could be expanded into the Charnwood area.

(v)       Turning Point were looking for a permanent base in the Hinckley area and had considered the Atkins Building on Lower Bond Street, but to date had not found a suitable option.

(vi)      In response to concerns raised that Turning Point were not sharing data or working closely with partners, members were assured that Turning Point were able to provide rich data broken down to district level and that they worked closely with Joint Action Groups, Community Safety Partnerships and the police to share information. In response to a request from a member that Turning Point be asked to share information about specific individuals with district councils it was explained that this was not straightforward as Information Sharing Agreements were required and it would be necessary to comply with data protection legislation and the General Data Protection Regulation. Due to the concerns which remained regarding the Turning Point contract the PCC offered to arrange a meeting between Turning Point and CSP Chairs. It was also suggested that a representative from Turning Point could attend the Leicestershire Safer Communities Strategy Board to answer questions. (However, subsequent to the meeting of the Police and Crime Panel it was decided that as accountability for any issues with Turning Point lay with Public Health and the OPCC as joint commissioners of the service it would be more appropriate for the issues to be raised in a meeting between the commissioners and the provider rather than between Turning Point and other bodies.)

(vii)    Members supported the use of Out of Court disposals for people with substance misuse problems, the aim of which was to tackle the problem early before users got involved with serious crime.

(viii)   Work was ongoing to tackle street drinkers including liaison with SLUGS (Students of Leicester Universities, Guides and Scouts), and Public Space Protection Orders were used when appropriate.

(ix)      A member suggested that some drug users did not come forward for treatment for fear that they would be arrested and the member asked that messages be disseminated to communities explaining that the emphasis was on treatment and prevention  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update on changes to the handling of police complaints and the decision the PCC was minded to make with regards to the level of involvement he would have with complaints in future. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

In response to a question the PCC confirmed that the additional responsibility PCCs would have with regard to complaints could mean that the OPCC was required to be restructured in order to ensure that the complaints process was adequately resourced. The Strategic Assurance Board also played a role in reviewing complaints against Leicestershire Police and identifying themes.

The PCC explained that the Professional Standards Department in Leicestershire Police had improved its performance in recent years. A detailed analysis of complaints volumes and themes would be brought to the Panel as part of a performance report in 2019. The PCC indicated that the current trend of complaints tended to relate to personal issues such as potential rudeness rather than systematic failings.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)       That the Police and Crime Commissioner produce a report for the Panel on an annual basis regarding complaints against Leicestershire Police.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance at Leicestershire County Council which provided an update on complaints relating to the Police and Crime Commissioner over the previous 12 months. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

The Panel noted that there had been no complaints specifically against the Police and Crime Commissioner over the previous 12 months, though there had been three pieces of correspondence, relating to operational policing matters, which the Director of Law and Governance had forwarded onto the Professional Standards Department at Leicestershire Police.

The Director of Law and Governance informed that it was intended to revise the policy document for making complaints against the Police and Crime Commissioner and the revised document would be considered by the Panel in early 2019.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of its Secretariat which provided an update on the development of the National Association of Police, Fire and Crime Panels and specifically a ruling that the Home Office Grant could not be used for paying the membership fee of the National Association. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the Panel write to the Policing Minister Nick Hurd requesting a change to the current Home Office Grant conditions to allow the Grant to be used for the subscription fee for the National Association for Police, Fire and Crime Panels, and the Panel defers joining the National Association until the Home Office Grant conditions have been changed.

The next meeting of the Panel is scheduled to take place on 1 February 2019 at 10:00am.

RESOLVED:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel would be held on 1 February 2019 at 10:00am.