Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from:

• Councillor Ken Carter, East Hampshire District Council. Councillor Alan Waterhouse was in attendance as his deputy, but did not have a vote, owing to him not being East Hampshire’s nominated appointed member for this Police and Crime Panel meeting.
• Councillor Reg Barry, Additional Local Authority Co-opted Member

The Chairman noted that Councillor Jan Warwick, the Vice Chairman, would be late to the meeting, and Councillors Lisa Griffith and Ken Muschamp would need to leave early.

To enable Members to declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest they may have in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest is not already entered in their appointing authority’s register of interests, and any other pecuniary or personal interests in any such matter that Members may wish to consider disclosing.

Members were able to disclose to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest they may have in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest is not already entered in their appointing authority’s register of interests, and any other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in any such matter that Members may wish to disclose.

No declarations were made.

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting.

The Minutes from the 6 October 2017 meeting were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any questions or deputations in line with Rule 31 and 31A of the Panel’s Rules of Procedure.

The Police and Crime Panel (‘the Panel’) received one written question to the meeting:

‘What are the Police and Crime Commissioner’s personal initiatives are to [sic] "Enable effective and efficient operational policing which meets the needs of the people it serves"’

The Police and Crime Commissioner (‘the Commissioner’) provided a response to this question, which would be forwarded to the member of the public, as they were not present at the meeting:

‘The Panel will be aware that one of the priorities in my Police and Crime Plan is to enable effective and efficient policing and, importantly, the work I do beyond policing. This includes efforts that enable better policing and greater capacity in the constabulary from reducing demand and protecting people from risks that they will offend or enter the Criminal Justice System.

Each Quarter you receive an update from me regarding progress against my delivery plan, including those actions that impact on effective and efficient policing. Many of my initiatives are displayed around the room for those present today and outlined on my website.

But to draw attention to just a small number of highlights:

• Since day one I have been working on the introduction of an improved call management system that will improve the public’s experience of 999 and 101, and indeed all engagement and communication with the Constabulary. This is a significant investment that will have a hugely positive impact in both policing and for the public;
• I have facilitated the introduction of a network of Hate Crime reporting centres -  while hate crime figures show that more people are coming forward to report hate crime, when they previously might not have done so due to fear or lack of confidence, having more independent reporting centres across the Hampshire policing area will help those most vulnerable members of our communities feel more confident to come forward and report these crimes. This will help the constabulary to build a fuller intelligence picture;
• My Estate Strategy supports effective delivery of modern policing today and to take into account changing demands to ensure that our estate is fit to support police and the communities they serve into the future. 2017 saw two significant milestones under the Estate Strategy:

•      The first was the Northern Police investigation centre which became operational in April and was officially opened in August by the Home Secretary.

•      The second was the ground breaking at the site of the Eastern Police investigation Centre, a key need for the people of Portsmouth, to match the facilities in Southampton and at Basingstoke. This new centre, along with the supporting Neighbourhood and Response and Patrol team bases will keep policing in the heart of the city and enhance operational effectiveness for the area.

•      And from management of the Estate, I am able to be a net contributor via this effort to the budget.

• I am proud to have created a unique service, through the multi-agency stalking clinic which sees psychologists, psychiatrists, Police, Probation, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 132.

The Chairman made one announcement, thanking the Panel’s scrutiny officer, who would be taking up a secondment position elsewhere in Hampshire County Council, and would resultantly no longer support the Panel’s meetings. The wider Panel and Commissioner joined in thanking the officer.

To hear any announcements the Commissioner may have for the Panel.

The Chair invited announcements from the Commissioner, who highlighted the following to the Panel:

On the Policing and Crime Act 2017’s implementation, the Commissioner had continued to review proposals around Fire governance with key partners, and had engaged consultants on the potential business case for a range of options. This work had now been completed, and the Commissioner would be presenting the outcomes to a Governance Board meeting in February. On complaints reform, the Commissioner would be required to take on a more formal role in relation to police complaints, but the further legislation required had been delayed by the Home Office, and would not be introduced until at least early 2019. Once the Commissioner had further information on the Act’s implementation locally he would provide an update to the Panel.

The Commissioner had in the past week met with the Community Safety Alliance, and noted that hearing from this group formed an important contribution to his work. The Commissioner had also hosted NHS and health practitioners to understand their issues, and how organisations could work better together to provide single points of contact, to mitigate pressure on vulnerable people, and to ensure that partners were not duplicating effort. The Solicitor General had recently visited Hampshire at his request and the Commissioner had hosted him, reviewing measures to add value to criminal justice through partnership working.

The Chairman thanked the Commissioner for his updates and noted that he and his office had also been involved in discussions around ‘one public estate’ on the Isle of Wight, building on the principle of partnership working.

To receive a verbal update from the Commissioner on events succeeding the Confirmation Hearing for  the role of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner held on 6 October 2017, and next steps.

The Panel received a verbal update from the Commissioner on events succeeding the Confirmation Hearing for the role of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner held on 6 October 2017 and next steps.

The Commissioner noted that he was grateful for the Panel’s support and thoughts on the Deputy role, and to hear recognition of the broad scope of the Commissioner’s role. The Commissioner had also received comments from public who were perhaps less supportive of the need for the role, which he would taken into any future consideration of this position.

Post-Confirmation Hearing, the Deputy, Ms Flick Drummond, had resigned by mutual decision. The Commissioner read the public statement issued at the time, which noted that the relationship between a Commissioner and his deputy has to be close and, unfortunately, it was apparent this could not happen in this case.

The Commissioner thanked Ms Drummond for her work in the role.  

In response to questions, Members heard:

·         That the Commissioner has been extremely busy since the Deputy Commissioner had stood down, working on the draft precept and budget, and trying to maximise his impact across the policing area.

·         There were not immediate plans to appoint another Deputy, as the Commissioner required time to reflect on what model would be best in terms of support.

·         The Commissioner was aware that his current working hours were not sustainable, and was reviewing how to manage this best with his Office.

To consider a paper outlining the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept for 2018/19, and supporting financial information.

Members received an overview from the Commissioner of his budget report and supporting presentation on the proposed precept for the 2018/19 financial year (see Item 8 in the Minute Book). Also present to answer technical questions were the Chief Finance Officer to the Commissioner, and the Chief Finance Officer to the Chief Constable.

The Commissioner noted that the precept was a key item in the annual cycle of the Office, and he was pleased to have provided a detailed accompanying budget report to the Panel. The Commissioner was grateful for the scrutiny of the Finance Working Group (FWG) prior to this meeting, as well as for their report, which had been published prior to the meeting. The Commissioner spoke to the report and presentation, and highlighted salient points to the Panel.

The Commissioner noted that his aim was to keep you, your family, your community safer, and that the Hampshire policing area was in general a very safe area to live and work. The proposal to increase the precept by £12 for the average Band D property, or £1 per month, would enable the Constabulary to continue to protect the public from risk and harm.

The Home Office had confirmed that Hampshire Constabulary would receive the same settlement in 2018/19 as in 2017/18, but that Police and Crime Commissioners would all be given the increased flexibility to set council tax at a maximum of an additional £12 for a Band D property. This flexibility was progress, but funding remained challenging, and the issue of fairer funding had still not been tackled nationally. There remained many key hidden issues requiring innovative approaches to policing, such as modern slavery and trafficking, and Hampshire required the appropriate level of funding to ensure that the force had the technology and resources needed to be a modern and operationally effective Constabulary.

The precept proposal, if agreed, would see Hampshire Constabulary making a number of efficiencies and savings,. Hampshire would remain as having one of the lowest precepts nationally.

The Commissioner produced statistics to demonstrate that in the last year, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire had the lowest cost per head of the population nationally, and this year it would be likely to continue to have one of the lowest. The additional funding being transferred into the Office’s costs was £440k, which included £280k to fund expenditure which in previous years had been funded through the allocation of funds from the Transformation Reserve. The allocation of the £440k to the revenue budget was  proposed for 2 reasons:

i)             Whilst a significant element of the £440k had in previous years been funded from the Transformation Reserve, the current reducing level of reserves meant that a continued draw from reserves is unlikely to be sustainable to support ongoing activity

ii)            to provide transparency of the total costs of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, and wanting to be honest about the costs of the Office,.

Most of the precept and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 136.

To understand how the PCCs across the region are working in collaboration, and to review what areas of joint working currently exist, and how they are progressing.

The Panel received a report from the Commissioner and his representatives setting out how Commissioners and Constabularies were working in collaboration across the region (see Item 9 in the Minute Book).

The Commissioner noted the content in the report, stating that increasingly national safety is delivered through regional and national work, but that the impact often lands locally. The role of the Commissioner was to be present in these forums in order to ensure that Hampshire is well represented, and is able to lead nationally and regionally as well as locally. The Commissioner’s aim through this work was to build on his mandate to help keep people safe.

In response to questions, Members heard:

·      Hampshire Constabulary employed excellent people but did not always have access to the right skillsets. The benefit of regional collaboration was the opportunity to access these and to share them across a wider geography, working together to keep people safe.

·      That the focus of collaboration was on what keeps people safe. How the resource cake is cut needed to be reviewed by national government in future. Partnership was not just about co-location or being joined by borders, but also about specialism sharing.

·      The Commissioner was confident that the contact management programme would land well. There were always risks with innovative projects of this size that there would be the potential to overspend and not meet the original timescales as the scope and needs of the project may change as it progresses.

·      The Marine Unit was now a Hampshire-only service.

·      That there were ongoing dialogues with Dorset and Wiltshire.

RESOLVED

That:

1.    The report is noted

2.    The report is forwarded for discussion to the regional Police and Crime Panel Collaboration Group, which is next due to meet in March 2018.

To consider how best the PCC can engage and build awareness of the role within communities, and how the public can shape approaches to policing and crime

The Chairman recommended that this item be adjourned to the Panel’s 13 April 2018 meeting, when the Community Strategy would be available to consider alongside the engagement work listed in the report. The Panel agreed to this deferral.

To receive a quarterly update from the Police and Crime Commissioner detailing delivery against his Police and Crime Plan.

Members received some advance slides and a presentation from the Commissioner and representatives of his Office setting out an update on delivery against the Police and Crime Plan 2016-2021 (see Item 11 in the Minute Book).

Councillor Warwick provided an overview of the most recent Police and Crime Plan Working Group, where a number of topics were considered and highlights requested on the Heartstone schools project, firearm licensing review, and Elders Strategy, which the presentation in the papers had covered.

The Panel heard that the Commissioner and his Office had set out to be ambitious from day one in relation to considering projects which would add value in delivering the Police and Crime Plan. Currently, the number of projects in place exceeded the resource of the Office, so choices were being made in terms of the priorities to focus on.

On the three topics that the Plan working group had requested updates on:

·         Schools in the Southampton area had been difficult to engage in relation to the Heartstone project, and the assistance of the local Member would be helpful in trying to improve this.

·         The firearms licencing review had been successful in reducing significantly the average time to process grants, licences and certificates, which had moved the project into the ‘green’ status. The Commissioner noted that the Plan working group had suggested that this improvement be added to the Commissioner’s website. Previously, the project had been ‘amber’ as the Officer had not received timely reports from the firearms team, in order to record the impact of the measures taken. The Commissioner was delighted to note the significant improvement in this area, and that the Plan working group had recognised this.

·         The Commissioner felt that in engagement exercises it was often younger voices that tended to be prioritised, and the purpose of the Elders Strategy was to ensure that the Commissioner had access to these voices, who can offer a lifetime of contribution. This would also be picked up through the community strategy, which would be considered by the Panel in April.

The Commissioner noted that the slides provided as part of the pack gave a list of the decisions he had taken, and a detailed overview of the projects ongoing.

Moving to the additional slides presented, the Commissioner noted his success in publishing the latest volume of the ‘Little Book of Big Scams’, which he had provided copies of to the Panel for passing on to those who they felt would benefit. Under the topic of youth engagement, the Commissioner had recently visited Itchen College as part of ‘Parliament Week’ in order to speak to them on his role, and to take questions. From this, applications had been received to the Youth Commission and two students had been successful in gaining places.

On the Victim Care service, which was a service commissioned by the Office of the Police and  Crime Commissioner, the Commissioner was pleased to share the significant number of victims of crime that had been offered support, received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 139.

To consider a report setting out the activities of the delegated officer and the Complaints Sub-Committee in relation to complaints made against the Police and Crime Commissioner in the last quarter.

Members received a report from the scrutiny officer to the Panel detailing the activities of the Complaints Sub-Committee in the last quarter (see Item 12 in the Minute Book).

RESOLVED:

That the quarterly complaints report is noted.

To consider an amendment to the Police and Crime Plan Working Group’s Terms of Reference.

Members received updated Terms of Reference for the Police and Crime Plan Working Group of the Panel from the scrutiny officer (see Item 13 in the Minute Book).

It was heard that the amendments related to the quarterly monitoring of the Plan’s progress.

RESOLVED:

That the terms of reference are agreed.

To consider a report setting out future meeting dates for 2018/19, and the proposed future work programme for the Panel.

Members received a report from the scrutiny officer to the Panel which sets out the proposed work programme and future dates for 2018/19 (see Item 14 in the Minute Book).

RESOLVED:

That:

-       Meeting dates are noted.

-       The work programme, subject to any recommendations made at the meeting, is agreed.