Agenda item

To consider a paper outlining the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept for 2023/24, and supporting financial information.

The Commissioner introduced her proposed precept for 2023/24, which recommended an increase of £15 per annum for Band D properties and would focus on keeping the residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight safe, meeting inflationary costs and proposed to provide an additional 50 police officers across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to enhance policing visibility.

The Commissioner highlighted to Members that:

·         2022/23 had been a challenging year, with the significant increase in inflation requiring in-year budget reforecast; inflation for 2023/24 was estimated at £12.9m.

·         Police officers received a £1,900 per annum salary increase in 2022/23, having not received a pay increase during the previous four years. The South East Area Allowance had also been increased from £1,100 to £1,800 in September, following a strong case being brought forward by both the Chief Constable and the Police Federation.

·         8409 responses were received to the public consultation, with 79% of respondents supporting an increase to precept contributions. Members heard that, the consultation was undertaken on the expectation of a maximum £10 increase, with the announcement of a maximum increase of £15 not announced until mid-December.

·         Along with an increase of a further 50 police officers, the proposed budget for 2023/24 would protect Police Community Support Officers (PSCO) at their current numbers.

The Commissioner thanked the Panel for their time and consideration of the proposed precept and budget for 2023/24.

The Chief Finance Officer gave a presentation outlining the key elements of the proposed budget for 2023/24. Members heard that:

• Inflation was forecasted to average at 7.4% in 2023, with energy costs being the biggest driver at a 59% increase in cost. The Police Grant awarded for 2023/24 offered a below inflation increase of 1.8%
• Nationally most PCC’s, including all those in the force comparator group, were setting a precept increase at or about £15 per annum (Band D). Across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 61% of households were in Bands A-C, and would therefore see an increase of less than £15 per annum, if the proposed precept was set.
• If the proposed precept was supported, 42% of the overall policing budget would be provided through Council Tax contributions, with 97.61% of the budget to be spent on operational policing delivery.
• A significant level of spend, much provided through planned reserves, was forecast in the next three years to deliver improvements in the Policing Estate.
• The public consultation had been very successful, with more than double the previous response rate. A slide was shown demonstrating the representation of responses received to the consultation.
• The Chief Finance Officer thanked the Panel’s Precept Task and Finish Working group for their engagement in the lead up to the precept setting.

The Chief Constable of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary (the Constabulary) was invited by the Commissioner to provide Members with the operational context for the budget. Members heard that:

·         The Chief Constable had no hesitation in supporting the recommendation for a £15 increase at Band D, as it was necessary to deliver more officers for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. It was further noted by the Chief Constable that the proposed budget would enable the Constabulary to protect vital staff roles, continue investment in tackling Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) and enable police vetting and witness care to undertaken to the highest standards.

·         By March 2023, the Constabulary would have recruited over 1,200 new officers since the police uplift programme began. Members heard this would deliver the additional 600 officers committed to within the Police and Crime Plan, as well meeting attrition from the force. The Constabulary continued to focus on its demographical representation with an approximately even percentage of new recruits identifying as male and female. It was further heard 8% of recruits were from ethnic minority backgrounds and the Constabulary continued to be amibitious in recruting diversity, hoping to reach nearer 10%, a similar proportionality to that which was anticiptated be identified in the soon to be populated Office of National Statistics (ONS) statistics.

·         A quarter of Police Constables within the Constabulary were currently students. Whilst recognising students required a lot of support from experienced colleagues, the new officers were having a significant impact on policing outcomes, with an increase in overall arrest rates of 3% seen in the last year, with a 15% increase in arrests for sexual offences.

·         The impact of the Covid pandemic on waiting times for court hearings continued to be felt, with the number of victims and witnesses being supported by the Constabulary increased significantly as a result.

·         The contact management centre was under strain as a result of staff shortages and increasing volumes of calls for non-policing matters. The Constabulary had focussed on protecting the 999 call answering service, which had received 300,000 calls during 2022/23, a significant increase on previous years. 101 calls had a waiting time of 6 minutes on average, and whilst the non-emergency call answering service was performing markedly better than other forces, it was understood that call waiting times could, at times, be lengthy. The budget proposed a £1.6m investment in improved technology, the largest recruitment drive in a number of years and enhanced self-service provision including a digital victims portal.

·         It was noted that the proposed budget would provide the funding required to enable the new Chief Constable to deliver against his priorities, when he came into post from end of February, and the Constabulary would continue to ensure that every public pound was spent efficiently and effectively.

The Chairman of the Precept Task and Finish Group, Councillor Sarah Vaughan, provided a brief summary of the group’s consideration of the proposed precept, ahead of the meeting. It was heard that:

·         The task and finish group had met on three occasions, since the previous meeting of the Panel, to hear update on and provide feedback against the draft budget and precept proposals. It was noted that these meetings were supported by the Chief Executive and the Chief Finance Officer of the OPCC, who were thanked for their time and engagement with the group.

·         At these meetings the task and finish group had discussed, in detail, the proposed budget for 2023/24, challenging and exploring a wide range of issues impacting on the budget including inflationary pressures, salary increase for police staff and officers, central government funding, operational policing demand, risk and reserves profile, capital funding, savings programme and the costs of the Commissioner’s office.

·         The Chairman noted that the group had given significant consideration to the impact of increased precept contributions on residents, set against the current cost of living crisis, seeking to explore the value for money residents could expect if the precept increase was agreed.

·         The group noted the comments and operational statement of the Chief Constable within the report and had raised suggestion that the budget papers be supported by a similar statement from the Commissioner next year, so the Panel and public would have time to receive and absorb her views ahead of the formal meeting of the Panel. 

·         The group also raised concerns regarding the lack of performance data and measurables made available to the Panel to assess how well last year’s budget had performed against expectations, and lack of clarity over how performance of the budget would be monitored during 2023/24.

·         Appreciating the precept increase had been set below the current rate of inflation, the need to meet growing costs to deliver policing and the commitment to enhance policing visibility through the recruitment of 50 additional police officers, the task and finish group supported the recommendation to support the proposed precept increase.

The Chairman reminded Members of the proposal being considered; that the Police and Crime Panel support the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept increase of £15 per annum for Band D properties, which is the equivalent of £1.25 per month, or 29p per week.

The Chairman noted that the increase equated to a below inflation rise of 6.34%.

The Chairman then moved to invite questions from Members. In response to questions it was heard that:

·         In setting the proposed budget the Commissioner had worked closely with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, who the Constabulary had been working in partnership with for 10 years, delivering the largest Joint Operations Unit in the country. This had allowed both Commissioners to avoid duplication, and make joint decisions around priorities for spend. It was further heard that significant support had been received from the Commissioner’s treasury advisors, Arlingclose, to ensure effective planning and mitigation would be in place to meet inflationary pressures.

·         With a quarter of all Constables at the Constabulary being students, salary costs would be lower for a period of time, creating a significant saving which hadn’t been identified in the previous budget.

·         558 new police officers had been recruited against the target of 600, with the remainder expected to be achieved by the end of March. The Commissioner confirmed that the recruitment figures as at the first of April would be confirmed at the next meeting of the Panel.

·         The cost of recruiting the additional 50 police officers proposed within the budget was £3.1m, which would be fully covered by the additional £5 increase in precept, making the precept increase £15 compared to the originally expected £10 per annum. Members heard that this amount would cover the new officers’ salaries as well as enabling on costs, and there was full confidence that the additional 50 officers would be recruited by the end of March 2024. It was heard that all 50 would be new posts, in visible, operational roles in the establishment and would not be absorbed into attrition.

·         The Constabulary monitored retention closely, and there were no concerns regarding the current levels of officer turnover, which sat at roughly 5% of experience in the force. The Chief Constable noted that the majority of leavers were those who determined that a policing career was not for them and left shortly after joining the force.

·         The Constabulary currently had over 2000 police staff, 3300 police officers and 1000 volunteers who all played an important role in keeping residents safe.

·         To train a Police Officer would take two to three years depending on their entry route, but to train a PSCO only took a year. In response to questions regarding why PSCO numbers were not being increased instead of Police Officer, to make a more immediate impact on visibility on the ground, it was heard that the Constabulary were required to spend a certain percentage of its budget each year on training or offering apprenticeships, otherwise it would need to return a proportion of its apprenticeship levy to the Treasury.

·         Members further questioned whether the funding raised by the precept would be better invested in enhancing contact management, which was a significant public concern. It was heard that the Constabulary had a large number of vacancies in contact management as a result of the post-covid period and staff returning to roles in the local tourism industry driving a significant increase in turnover in short period. The largest recruitment campaign in a number of years was planned during 2023/24 to bring the contact centre back to full strength. It was further noted that the number of calls to 101 had increased significantly in the last year, with residents in crisis unable to get support from other public services such as health, with as many as 50% of calls answered by 101 not relating to policing matters. Therefore, the Constabulary was seeking to deliver technical solutions which would reduce the demand on the 101 service. Rapid video response had also been introduced to allow, if the victim or witness consents, for a Police Officer to provide a virtual response via a video call, which had been very positively received.

·         Training and inducting such large volumes of new officers had placed significant demand and organisational stretch on the existing workforce, but their efforts were fully acknowledged and appreciated. To reduce fatigue, the Constabulary closed monitor hours worked by staff members and officers and had a strong wellbeing offer in place. The Chief Constable noted that morale was high, the positive results coming through the recruitment programme were visible and the quality of delivery was as high as ever.

·         ASB had been raised as a key concern through the public consultation and was impacting upon many communities. The Commissioner had recently purchased some portable CCTV units, from her ASB fund, for police commanders to use flexibly within their localities to identify and address instances of ASB.

·         The Commissioner had continued to have robust conversations regarding the central funding provision and was one of six PCC’s nationally who had been invited to contribute to the review of the fairer funding formula.

·         The Commissioner didn’t have a specific value for money policy, however data regarding the value for money for each police force was published on the HMICFRS website, and a value for money statement was required to be included in the Statement of Accounts each year.

·         Ongoing contributions would be made to reserves through to 2027, to maintain a healthy reserves position

·         The Haslar Immigration Removal Centre re-opening was not anticipated to place any additional demands on policing or to have a negative impact on the local community.

Following questions, the Chairman moved to debate. Members discussed the precept proposal, observing that the spending outlined was necessary to protect the public from risk and harm and meet inflationary costs, whilst recognising the impact of the precept increase for residents who were already struggling to support their families and meet current costs of living.

The volume of responses from residents to the public consultation was noted, with the outcome demonstrating a high level of public support for an increase, with the expectation of improvements in policing visibility and the approach to tackling ASB and Knife Crime.

Members acknowledged the severe cuts to policing since 2010 and that, even with the additional 650 police officers, the Constabulary would not be back to its pre-austerity strength. Members commented upon the need for a fairer funding formula at a national level to support bringing the force up to the strength required. It was recognised that 50 additional officers would have a limited impact on policing visibility, however that every additional officer would contribute to keeping residents safer and that the Chief Constable would need to determine how best to deploy these officers to demonstrate enhanced visibility to the public.

Members felt strongly that delivery of the budget should be supported by clear and measurable performance indicators, supported by data which was visible and meaningful, both to the Panel and residents.

Following debate, The Chairman repeated the recommendation proposed, that the Police and Crime Panel support the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept increase of £15 per annum for Band D properties, which is the equivalent of £1.25 per month, or 29p per week.

Councillor Sarah Vaughan proposed an amendment to the recommendation, seconded by Councillor Karen Lucioni:

The Panel supports the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept increase of £15 per annum for Band D properties, which is the equivalent of £1.25 per month, or 29p per week. The Panel notes this increase is required to fund 50 additional police officers to enhance policing visibility, in addition to the 600 officers committed to within the Police and Crime Plan. To enable the Panel to fulfil its scrutiny responsibilities and to support the Commissioner in demonstrating value for money to residents, it requests that the Commissioner monitors the impact from the increase in police officer numbers on policing visibility and provides regular written update to future meetings of the full Panel.

A vote was held on the proposed amendment to the recommendation:

For: 10

Against: 1

Abstained: 1

The amendment was carried, and a vote was then held on the amended recommendation:

For: 11

Against: 1

Following the support for the Commissioner’s proposed precept of £15 per annum for Band D properties the Chairman asked Members to note the remaining recommendations (1.2-1.7) within the report, which were agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED:

That the Panel:

·         Supports the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept increase of £15 per annum for Band D properties, which is the equivalent of £1.25 per month, or 29p per week. The Panel notes this increase is required to fund 50 additional police officers to enhance policing visibility, in addition to the 600 officers committed to within the Police and Crime Plan. To enable the Panel to fulfil its scrutiny responsibilities and to support the Commissioner in demonstrating value for money to residents, it requests that the Commissioner monitors the impact from the increase in police officer numbers on policing visibility and provides regular written update to future meetings of the full Panel.

·         Note that the precept referendum limit has been amended for 2023/24 only from £10 to £15; the additional £5 flexibility will be used to deliver an increase of 50 new police officers, and to support inflation pressures.

·         Note the recommendations from the Chief Constable to the PCC on her operational requirements for 2023/24 onwards, and her support for a precept increase of £15 to enable a further increase in police officer numbers and the delivery of her operational requirements, as set out in Appendix A.

·         Note that 61% of households across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight  are in properties in Council Tax bands A-C and would therefore see a precept increase of less than £15 per annum if the above recommendation is supported.

·         Note that the precept increase will support the delivery of the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan ‘More Police, Safer Streets’.

·         Note the proposals in this report which will ensure that for 2023/24 there will be significant investment to enable ‘More Police, Safer Streets’, which includes delivering a further increase in police officer numbers by 50 above the existing budgeted establishment (which are in addition to the existing over achievement of officer numbers against the national uplift programme).

·         Note that the total uplift in police officer numbers in Hampshire Constabulary over the three-year period 2020/21 – 2022/23 delivered through the Government’s Uplift programme is 498, but that with support from the PCC, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is on track to actually deliver 600 new officers in total by April 2023; the 50 new officers funded through the 2023/24 precept increase will be in addition to the 600, taking the total uplift in officer numbers to 650 by March 2024.