Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 9 October 2023 at 12.15pm were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

The minutes of the meeting held on Monday 9 October 2023 at 1.00pm 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.

No declarations were made.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) which provided an update on the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan and the priorities for the remainder of the financial year. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           The Panel welcomed the new format of the reports being presented to the Panel as they were easier to read and clearly set out why the Panel was considering them.

(ii)         In response to a request for the next report regarding the Police and Crime Plan to contain more data, the Panel was informed that Key Performance Indicators were being devised in relation to 13 work streams and these could be included in the next update to the Panel.

(iii)        At the previous Panel meeting the PCC had agreed to provide more detail to the Panel on how many cases were prosecuted as a result of Operation Tacit, how much specialist resource was being consumed by this work, and data on the exploitation of children. In response to a question from a member as to when and how this information would be provided it was clarified that it would be circulated by email before the end of the calendar year.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That a further update on the Police and Crime Plan be brought to the Panel meeting on 12 March 2024.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) which provided an update on how the PCC had been fulfilling his duty through his work or the work of the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner and office throughout October and November 2023. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           The PCC had been holding public meetings to enable the public to raise concerns. Two meetings had so far taken place in 2023 with one more to come that year, and a further two meetings were planned for 2024. Reassurance was given that public meetings would take place in Leicester City as well as the Districts. Issues raised so far at the public meetings included the following:

·     Anti-social Behaviour;

·     Speeding traffic and dangerous driving;

·     Serious violence in Leicester City.

(ii)         The Panel noted that whilst the report gave a lot of information on the events that the PCC had been attended, there was little information on what the result of the events was or whether there was any change in policy following on from them. The PCC agreed to provide more detail on this in future Commissioners Update reports.

(iii)        Whilst PCSO’s were able to use mobile speed monitoring equipment, a prosecution could not be carried out as a result of a speed measurement taken by a PCSO. In response to a suggestion that PCSOs should play a greater role in catching speed offenders the PCC advised that PCSOs and Police Officers each had specific roles and care had to be taken not to merge the two.

(iv)       In response to a suggestion from a member that police officers should undertake more random speed monitoring when they had downtime during a shift, the PCC agreed to discuss this with the Chief Constable.

(v)         The Panel was interested in the work of the Road Safety Partnership and the PCC’s role within that. The PCC agreed to provide further details on this topic at a future Panel meeting.

(vi)       In August 2023 the OPCC had submitted 3 bids for Safer Streets funding. The bids were as follows:

·     £315,568 to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls;

·     £313,967.89 to tackle Anti-social Behaviour in the Melton area;

·     £331,055.45 to tackle neighbourhood Crime in Oadby and Wigston. 

Notification had now been received that all 3 bids had been successful and the full funding bid for of £960,591.34 would be received. The Police and Crime Panel welcomed this news. In response to a request for an explanation as to why those particular localities had been chosen it was agreed that this information would be provided after the meeting.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That the PCC be requested to provide a report for a future Panel meeting on how the PCC is engaging with the Road Safety Partnership.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner regarding the Corporate Governance Board which the PCC used to hold the Chief Constable to account. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

(i)           In response to a question about the effectiveness of Neighbourhood Policing Areas (NPAs) and concerns about the high turnover of NPA Inspectors, the PCC provided reassurance that NPAs did provide value for money. More Sergeants and Inspectors had been located in the neighbourhoods to provide supervision to newly qualified officers. A report on Neighbourhood Policing would be considered at the Corporate Governance Board meeting in March 2024 and the PCC agreed to provide the Panel with the key points from that report at a future Panel meeting.

(ii)         At a previous meeting the Police and Crime Panel had questioned what measures were in place to protect refugees and stop them being exploited. As a result the OPCC raised the issue with the Force at the Corporate Governance Board meeting on 25 September 2023 and was informed by Assistant Chief Constable Michaela Kerr who was leading on this work that the Force was looking to set up an anti-slavery network in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. In response to this the Police and Crime Panel raised concerns that the answer implied that work was not already taking place to protect refugees. Reassurance was then given by the OPCC that a meeting was taking place in January 2024 to discuss the Force’s approach to the exploitation of refugees and the Force would be requested to ensure that the approach involved local authorities.

(iii)        The PCC was looking to put in place a set of standardised performance metrics that would be reviewed with the Chief Constable on a regular basis. The PCC welcomed feedback from the Police and Crime Panel on any high-level strategic metrics that Panel members felt he should consider for inclusion.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That the PCC be requested to provide a report for a future Panel meeting on Neighbourhood Policing.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) which set out how he was fulfilling his duty to hold the Chief Constable to account in relation to how the new national operating model for the investigation and prosecution of adult rape was being implemented across the Force area. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           The PCC emphasised that the work included male victims as well as female.

(ii)         The PCC stated that he was reassured that the Force was significantly ahead of schedule for implementation of the national operating model.

(iii)        The Police and Crime Panel raised concerns that some rape cases, where students were the victims, did not go forward for prosecution because the students were moving to other parts of the country after they had finished their course and did not wish to continue supporting the prosecution.  Concerns were also raised by the Panel that when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on occasions decided not to prosecute rape cases after lengthy investigations, this caused victims to lose confidence in the system and made them less likely to come forward in the future. The PCC stated that he shared these concerns but noted that the CPS had a high bar in terms of the evidence required to take a case to Court. The Panel questioned whether the CPS was sufficiently aware of the impact on rape victims when decisions were made not to prosecute after the victim had gone through the potential trauma of the investigation process. The PCC agreed to raise this issue with the CPS and report back to the Panel. The PCC also provided some reassurance that the Criminal Justice Board was looking at how the two organisations were dovetailing with regards to rape prosecutions.  It was agreed that data on rape cases would be provided to Panel members after the meeting particularly the numbers of cases where the CPS decided not to prosecute and data on the demographics of victims.

(iv)       The PCC had commissioned the Ethics and Transparency panel to scrutinise the cases of rape in which the victim did not support the investigations. This included dip sampling a significant proportion of rape offences and picking out key themes. The Police and Crime Panel questioned whether the Ethics and Transparency panel had identified ethnicity and language as being barriers to rape victims supporting investigations and whether the Ethics and Transparency Panel needed to look at the matter again in more detail. The PCC agreed to check this and clarify after the meeting.

(v)         With regards to how the Ethics and Transparency panel operated, it was clarified that whilst the PCC gave the Panel the overall issues to look at, how the Panel went about its work and the breadth and depth they covered was up to the individual members.

(vi)       The Panel asked that future reports to the Panel on rape make it clearer when adult victims are being referred to in the report and when underage victims are included and the PCC agreed to this.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That a further update on how the PCC was holding the Chief Constable to account with regards rape investigations and prosecutions be brought to the Panel meeting in March 2024.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) which provided an update on how the PCC and Force were implementing the recommendations that were provided as part of the Police and Crime Panel Tasking Group Section 106 funding review. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           Attempts were being made to repurpose some existing Section 106 agreements to ensure that the funds were used. In order to do this, agreement from the respective developers (who were to pay the contribution to the Police) and the Local Authority (who were the signatory on the Legal Agreement on behalf of the Police) needed to be obtained. In response to a query about whether Local Planning Authorities were resisting the proposals to repurpose Section 106 monies, it was reported that no resistance had been encountered so far but negotiations were ongoing.

(ii)         Leicestershire Police had not yet spent all the Section 106 funding it had received so far as some of it was ring-fenced. One of the barriers was that developers were insisting that the Section 106 monies be spent in the local area but some of the funding needed to be used across the whole of the Force area, so negotiations with developers were ongoing in this regard. The Panel welcomed the approach the PCC was taking towards Section 106 and offered its full support with regards to obtaining funding from developers, in particular with arguing that there needed to be more flexibility on how Section 106 funding was spent and that the funding needed to be able to cover the whole force area.

(iii)        All the different Local Authorities in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland had different frameworks for making Section 106 applications which was a challenge.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That the PCC be requested to provide updates on Section 106 at all future Panel meetings.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the City Barrister, Leicester City 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 11’, is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance, Leicestershire County Council, which enabled the Panel to review and consider proposed amendments to the Police and Crime Panel Constitution. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 12’, is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That:

(a)        The amendments to the Constitution agreed at the Panel meeting on 2 December 2021 relating to independent member allowances and the power of delegation to refer criminal complaints, be confirmed;

(b)        The amendments to the Constitution relating to the change of host authority as set out in paragraphs 14 and 16 of the report, be agreed;

(c)         Schedule 1 be amended to reflect the current membership of the Panel.

Future meetings of the Panel are scheduled to take place on the following dates all at 2.00pm:

Thursday 1 February 2024;

Tuesday 12 March 2024;

Tuesday 18 June 2024;

Tuesday 30 July 2024;

Monday 23 September 2024:

Monday 2 December 2024.

RESOLVED:

That future meetings of the Panel take place on the following dates all at County Hall, Glenfield at 2.00pm:

Thursday 1 February 2024;

Tuesday 12 March 2024;

Tuesday 18 June 2024;

Tuesday 30 July 2024;

Monday 23 September 2024:

Monday 2 December 2024.