Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from:

• Councillor Steve Clarke, New Forest District Council
• Councillor Lisa Griffiths, Winchester City Council
• Councillor Lee Hunt, Portsmouth City Council
• Councillor Phillip Lashbrook, Test Valley Borough Council
• Councillor Lynne Stagg, Additional Local Authority Co-opted Member

Cllr Diane Andrews was in attendance at the meeting as the Deputy Member representing New Forest District Council.

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 4 October 2019 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.

No questions or deputations were received by the Panel on this occasion.

To hear any announcements the Chairman may have for this meeting.

The Chairman remembered Councillor Ken Ellcombe, who had recently passed away. Councillor Ellcombe served on the Panel from July 2014 to May 2015 as the representative of Portsmouth City Council.

Members heard that the Chairman had chaired the National Conference for Police and Crime Panels, in November,  which was attended by representatives of 36 Panels from across the country. The Chairman was joined at the conference by Cllr Bound and one of the Panel’s supporting officers.

The engagement of the Panel, by the OPCC, in preparation for the forthcoming PCC election was noted by the Chairman. The Chief Executive of the OPCC had invited the Panel’s supporting officer to meet with the team at the OPCC on a monthly basis to share the priorities of the Panel, and the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman had been invited to speak at a forthcoming information event for prospective PCC candidates.

The Chairman also gave his thanks to the OPCC and Hampshire Constabulary for arranging a forthcoming briefing for Members on the Contact Management Platform.

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:

The Commissioner and his team had recently completed a £1.29m commissioning round, which had attracted significant interest and was over-subscribed in bids.

The Contact Management Platform (CMP) was now rolling out into live use and feedback from frontline users had been positive with the system already realising the improvements expected. The Commissioner recognised the contribution of those leading the project in its delivery, with CMP providing significant enhancements on the initial specification and being considered nationally leading technology.

The Commissioner had worked with partners, including those in the health service, in the development of the stalking innovation programme which would engage with people at risk across the policing area.

The contribution of the four upper tier authorities in the implementation of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) was recognised by the Commissioner, alongside the engagement of a wide range of partners including community and third party organisations. Members heard that the approach taken by the VRU would be adaptable to respond to local demand and needs.

The HMICFRS PEEL assessment, which was published on the day of the meeting had rated Hampshire Constabulary as good in all areas. The Commissioner acknowledged this as a very positive reflection of the work of the Constabulary, including the leadership team. 

To consider a paper outlining the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept for 2020/21, and supporting financial information.

The Commissioner introduced his proposed precept for 2020/21, which recommended a proposed increase of £10 per month for Band D properties.

In setting the budget and precept, Members heard that the Commissioner had

considered the operational context from the Chief Constable, immediate financial demands and the needs of communities and partners. The Commissioner had also given regard to the direction of national government and the ability of Hampshire to work within that context.

The Chief Constable was invited by the Commissioner to provide Members with an operational context for the budget. Members heard that:

·         The Chief Constable welcomed the outcome of the recent HMICFRS report, which recognised that the Constabulary had broad ranging responsibilities and had achieved good ratings across all areas of the assessment against a backdrop of financial challenges. The tone of the report recognised that Hampshire Constabulary was underfunded against the average and Members heard that the Chief Constable, alongside the Commissioner, was continuing to lobby for fairer funding.

·         The force had been shortlisted for several international digital investigation awards, recognising Hampshire Constabulary as being at the frontline of tackling cybercrime.

·         Significant efforts were being made locally and nationally to prevent harm, much of which was outside of the public eye. The Constabulary’s approach was focussed on tackling and preventing crimes which cause the most harm, however the Chief Constable wanted to be able to expand that offer in the future to enable the force to move further away from acute services and increase the universal offer to tackle more crime. 

·         Crime numbers were fairly stable, however the type of crime was changing, with an increase in violent crime and reports of domestic abuse.

·         Hampshire Constabulary had one of the highest rates nationally in prosecuting those committing child sexual abuse.

·         Stop and search powers were used very lightly but very effectively by the force which had resulted in a high success rate in removing weapons off  the streets. The force had also been granted special powers, when required, under section 60 to enhance the use of stop and search in a restricted area in response to specific incidents.

·         In total the government had outlined a national increase of 20,000 officers and 6,500 staff. In year one, 2020-21, the allocation for Hampshire would provide funding for 156 additional officers. As yet the allocation for future years was unknown, and therefore the budget had been prepared on the basis of reasonable.

·         The budget proposed would enable the recruitment of approximately 250 additional police officers for Hampshire and the IOW, inclusive of the 156 officers being funded through the central government uplift and the recruitment of an additional 94 officers supported by the Commissioner.

·         Members heard that these numbers were in addition to the replacement of any officers leaving the force. In order to secure the government uplift funding the force were required to demonstrate they had met their existing establishment and the Chief Constable was confident that the force could deliver the recruitment volumes required. Additionally more staff were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 255.

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

Members received advance slides and a presentation from the Chief Executive setting out an update on delivery against the Police and Crime Plan 2016-2021.

Members heard that most of the projects initiated in the current PCC’s term had now been delivered and that office resource was being focussed in other areas. Such work including preparing for the budget, delivering the PCC elections in May and meeting the changes to the PCC’s statutory role in respect of police complaints.

Significant draw on resources was required to support the election with Southampton City Council managing the election returns work. Members heard that the PCC elections were the biggest election across the policing area with approximately 1.4 million electorates. The office were also preparing a 100 day plan outlining commitments on the PCC’s time in their first 100 days in office following election.

The Chief Executive advised that he was developing a small team to meet the number of requests to review anticipated to be received following the implementation of the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2020. Present expectations were a minimum of 365 reviews per annum, but with potential for that number to increase as the regulations also expanded the definition of a complaint.

RESOLVED:

That the update on the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan is noted.

To consider a paper outlining the Police and Crime Commissioner’s response to the Police and Crime Panel’s comments on the Commissioner’s Annual Report 2018-19.

Members were presented with the Commissioners response to the Police and Crime Panel’s comments on the Annual Report.

RESOLVED:

That the response from the Commissioner is noted.

To receive a verbal update from recent meetings of the Panel’s working groups.

To include hearing an update from the Chairman, following the Commissioner’s response to the recommendations of the Police and Crime Panel on enabling effective and efficient operational policing.

Members were presented with the Commissioner’s response to the recommendations of the Panel’s scrutiny which considered how the Commissioner was enabling effective and efficient operational policing.

The Chairman confirmed that, in preparing the outcomes of this review, the Panel were considerate that the current PCC term was nearing its end and therefore would look to the next Police and Crime Plan to incorporate the outcomes of the Panel’s review.  Members heard that the Plan Working Group would lead on this work and that the Chairman would raise the Panel’s expectations, in this regard, at the information event to potential PCC candidates as well as through discussion with the PCC once elected.

RESOLVED:

That the response from the Commissioner is noted.

To consider a report outlining revisions to the Panel’s governance protocols following the implementation of the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2020 on 1 February 2020.

Members received a report from the Democratic Services Officer to the Panel, setting out revisions to the Panel’s Protocol for the Informal Resolution Procedure regarding Complaints made against the PCC, following the implementation of the Police (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2020.

Following a brief verbal explanation of the changes brought into force by the new regulations and an understanding of the impact upon the role of the Panel Members agreed unanimously to the changes outlined to the protocol.

RESOLVED:

That the Panel agrees the updated Protocol for the Informal Resolution Procedure Regarding Complaints made Against the PCC.

That the Panel requests an annual update from the PCC, monitoring the right to review process and scrutinising how the PCC is holding the Chief Constable to account in relation to the handling of complaints locally.

To consider a report setting out the proposed future work programme for the Panel.

Members received a report from the  democratic support officer to the Panel setting out the proposed work programme for the Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme is agreed.

The meeting closed at 13:25