Agenda item

The County Council’s representative on the Police and Crime Panel, Mrs D. Taylor CC, has been invited to attend for this item.  Mrs Taylor will provide a presentation at the meeting and a copy of the slides are attached to this agenda.

The Commission considered a presentation from the Chair of the Police and Crime Panel, Mrs D. Taylor CC, which provided details of the activity undertaken by the Panel during 2020/21.  A copy of the presentation marked ‘Agenda Item 8’ is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed Mrs D. Taylor CC to the meeting.

Arising from discussion the following points were raised:

(i)              The Scrutiny Commission as the County Council’s statutory designated Crime and Disorder Committee had power to review and scrutinise the delivery and effectiveness of measures aimed at reducing crime and disorder.  The PCP which represented the wider area of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, had the same aim but with the specific remit of scrutinising and challenging the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).  To avoid duplication of effort and resources in scrutinising the PCC, it was noted that the Commission received an annual update from the County Council’s representative on the Panel to enable them to listen to the concerns of the Commission and feed these back into the work of the Panel.  The Chief Executive advised that when the Panel had been formed, a protocol had been produced to define the different but similar roles of the two bodies and clarify how they might work and interact to ensure duplication was avoided.  The Chief Executive undertook to review and circulate this outside the meeting for information;

(ii)            Members noted that a national review of PCPs was being undertaken to understand if they were serving the purpose intended and that the PCP for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland had fed into that review.  The outcome was awaited but would be publicised;

(iii)           The PCC had established a cross party working group to look at proposals for the new Police and Crime Plan which would set out the new PCC’s priorities for the coming year.  It was understood this would go out to public consultation in the Autumn and would be put in place towards the end of the year.  The Chair of the PCP confirmed that she was on the working group and would feedback any comments the Commission might have through that group or directly to the Panel as appropriate;

(iv)           There was a need for key performance indicators to be included in the PCC’s new Plan to ensure these could be measured and monitored over time.  Members asked the Chair of the PCP to feed back this suggestion;

(v)            A member raised concerns about the recent PCC budget and the previous year overspend and questioned to what extent the PCP had challenged this.  Members noted that the Panel had held a lengthy debate on the budget and heard directly from the then PCC who had answered a number of questions.  The key focus of the Panel had been on the need to increase policing numbers on the ground.  It was agreed that the increased precept would add pressure on residents during an already difficult time and it would be important to closely monitor and scrutinise financial performance over the coming year to ensure commitments made were delivered; 

(vi)           A member highlighted that rural areas often felt left-out and it would be important to communicate how the additional precept would be spent for their benefit as well as for those living in the City and wider County areas;

(vii)         A member raised concerns about recent media headlines that the new PCC had refused to communicate with Black Lives Matter groups which he suggested could affect trust between the Police and local black and other ethnic minority groups.  It was highlighted that the Police and the officer of the PCC were two distinct and separate organisations and it was important not to confuse the two;

(viii)        It was disappointing that the PCC’s term of office ran for only three years.  The Chair of the Panel confirmed that many shared this concern and the impact it would have on being able to make significant progress before entering the next election period.  Many had lobbied the Government to extend the term to the usual four years;

(ix)           A member commented that crimes were often either crimes against the person (which were often hard to detect) or crimes against property (which were more easily detectable) and requested that the PCP focus its attention more on the former.  The Chair highlighted that this would be more a matter for the Chief Constable but would feedback the request.

RESOLVED:

(a)            That the Chair of the Police and Crime Panel be thanked for her presentation and the information provided;

(b)            That the Chair of the Police and Crime Panel be requested to feedback the comments now made to the Panel;

(c)            That the Chief Executive be requested to circulate the protocol produced to clarify the role and function of the Scrutiny Commission and the Police and Crime Panel and how they could effectively work together but avoid duplication of effort and resources.