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 5 February 2020 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

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.

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 Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update on the performance of Leicestershire Police for the period of 1 October 2019 to 31 December 2019. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 5’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)          Each crime type had a different standard deviation tailored for it though the same formula was used to calculate each. The range was indicated by the grey lines on the graph in the appendix to the report. Members stated that the visual dashboard was useful but asked for the standard deviation to be identified in future reports, and to help those who were not trained in statistics it was also requested that context was given to the data in plain English. In particular it was requested that written explanation be given for spikes in crime for example the impact the 2018 football world cup had on the data.

(ii)         The spike in recorded drug offences around the spring of 2019 was due to Operation Lionheart which was being carried out at the time.

(iii)       Comparison data with similar forces to Leicestershire Police was not available at the moment though it was hoped that it could be available in future and this work was in progress. There were concerns that the family group that Leicestershire Police had been placed in was out of date and some of the forces in the group were no longer similar to Leicestershire Police therefore any comparison data would not be meaningful.

(iv)       There had been an increase in the amount of Actual Bodily Harm offences recorded and this was likely due to changes in the way the force recorded the crime. Previously some of these offences were recorded as Common Assaults.

(v)        The number of Missing Person Incidents increased over the summer months and this was believed to be partly due to young people making a lifestyle choice to be outside in the warmer weather. It was assumed that in the winter more Missing Person Incidents were attributable to depression, mental health issues and suicide.

(vi)       Section 3.11 of the dashboard purely referred to Child Sexual Exploitation offences and in future reports the data could be broken down into Child Criminal Exploitation and Modern Slavery as well.

(vii)     With regard to the Stop and Search data it was expected that the control limits would narrow and come closer to the mean. Members stated that it would be helpful to receive further information regarding the effect the increase on stop and search had elsewhere on crime figures, and in response it was explained that the performance report was still in development and consideration would be given to whether this information could be provided in future.

RESOLVED:

That:

(a)  The contents of the report be noted;

(b)  The methodology and structure of the new performance report be approved subject to the comments now made.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner regarding the HMICFRS Thematic Inspection entitled ‘Both sides of the Coin’ which assessed police forces ability to identify, respond to and disrupt county lines related criminality and abuse. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted;

(i)          Leicestershire Police had restructured internally and set up the Serious Organised Crime Board to ensure that strategies were in place for tackling issues such as County Lines. There was a dedicated Serious Organised Crime Pursue team to deal with operational matters.

EMSOU also carried out work to tackle Serious Organised Crime in Leicestershire.

(ii)         Operation Lionheart resulted in shotguns, bladed weapons and long barrelled air weapons being recovered.

(iii)       A member raised concerns that offenders that were successfully prosecuted under Operation Lionheart were now being released from custody and their return to communities could have a negative impact. In response reassurance was given that these offenders were being monitored after release and discussions were taking place regarding offender management.

(iv)       With regards to the section of the HMICFRS report which stated that joint working was effective but did not always happen, a member stressed the need for better communication between organisations particularly with regards to children in the care of other local authorities being placed in Leicestershire and Leicestershire Police not being informed. In response assurance was given that this matter had been raised nationally by PCCs and a pilot was taking place with West Midlands police to see how communication regarding children in care could be improved. There was no system currently in place for schools to inform police when pupils had been excluded from the school but the West Midlands pilot would also be looking at this. It was suggested that the Panel could write to the Department of Education raising this issue in support of PCCs. 

(v)        The HMICFRS report highlighted that there were different definitions of Child Criminal Exploitation which led to different approaches from agencies. This was an issue in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) with District Councils and Community Safety Partnerships having different definitions to each other. It was hoped to resolve this by having the same risk matrix across LLR and this work would be part of the remit of the Child Criminal Exploitation team.

(vi)       Concerns were raised by a member that Leicestershire Police were having to manually enter data into the county lines intelligence collection matrix spreadsheet so this information could be sent to the regional organised crime unit rather than having computer systems which interfaced with each other. The PCC acknowledged these concerns and emphasised that Leicestershire Police had already entered a five Force collaboration regarding the NICHE database, and there was an ongoing programme of work involving EMSOU regarding collecting data regarding organised crime and anti-corruption.

(vii)     A member asked for a report at a Committee meeting regarding the Strategic Lead for Child Criminal Exploitation role which the PCC had funded. The PCC explained that it was too early for any meaningful information to be provided to Panel members yet regarding this role but a report could be provided in a couple of meetings time. The PCC suggested that in the meantime members would benefit from visiting the Child Sexual Exploitation Hub at Wigston Police Station

RESOLVED

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

(b)        That the Panel write to the Department of Education raising concerns regarding failures to notify Leicestershire County Council and Leicestershire Police when a child in the care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner which provided an update on initiatives currently funded by the PCC towards the delivery of his Police and Crime Plan and how the impact of those initiatives was measured. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)          The £4,297,050 figure provided in the Appendix for the total funding allocated to providers did not include the funds for the work the OPCC carried out in assessing the funding bids and monitoring performance. This work was accounted for under ‘office costs’ in the budget report which had been brought to the previous Panel meeting.

(ii)         Catch 22 were funded by the PCC to provide the Victim Support service. Of the victim cohort that had drug and alcohol issues 43% had no drug, alcohol needs by the time they ceased receiving support from Victim Support. Those that still had drug or alcohol needs at that point were referred to another specialised service.

(iii)       The Panel and the PCC hoped that the PCC’s successor would continue the small grants scheme.

(iv)       Members stated that it would be useful for information regarding the work of Community Safety Partnerships and the results of their work to be more widely available. It was thought that whilst the dashboard was available a more concise summary would be helpful. The PCC agreed to give consideration to how this information could be provided in future.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

The Police and Crime Panel received an oral update from the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner regarding his work. The Deputy PCC stated that the main areas of his work were as follows:

·             Promoting the role of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Police and Crime Plan;

·             Attending Association of Police and Crime Commissioners meetings;

·             Budget and Precept consultation;

·             Serious Organised Crime Board;

·             Chairing the Youth Out of Court Disposals Panel;

·             Serious violence, knife crime, and the Violence Reduction Network;

·             Planning for future retirement of Police Officers.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the update be noted.

The next meeting of the Panel is scheduled to take place on 26 March 2020 at 2:00pm at City Hall, Leicester.

RESOLVED:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Panel would be held on 26 March 2020 at 2:00pm at City Hall, Leicester.