Agenda item

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

The Panel received a presentation from the Commissioner providing an update against delivery of the Police and Crime Plan, with a specific focus on rural crime and tackling unauthorised encampments, through which it was heard that:

·         The letter from the Chairman and the input from the meeting of the working group had been very helpful in defining the information to be presented to the Panel.

·         The Commissioner had run a number of engagement events to update partner organisations on changes to legislation in relation to and the impact of unauthorised encampments. As part of this process the Commissioner and her team looked at examples of best practice nationally and shared these with local authority partners.

·         Data was shared demonstrating the number of reported incidents of unauthorised encampments, to the Constabulary, since 2021, with 45 reported incidents since April 2023 for the year to date. A recent example was shared, highlighting the community impact of the unauthorised encampment and how the Constabulary had taken action to address this.

·         The Commissioner raised with ministers the ambiguity caused by the use of the wording ‘significant impact’ within the legislation, which was now being reviewed at a national level with the Commissioner invited to contribute.

·         There were seven rural beats and six urban across the force area, with a number containing both urban and rural conurbations.

·         A further case study was shared demonstrating how the Commissioner was supporting efforts to enhance policing visibility in rural communities, through the provision two new 4x4 ranger vehicles.

·         The Commissioner’s office had launched an online rural crime booklet to support residents to keep themselves safe from crime.

Cllr Lashbrook left the meeting at this point.

In response to questions from the Panel it was heard that:

·         The Commissioner was keen to increase local policing visibility and had set aside £2m of funding to provide police front counters at new locations, including on local high streets.

·         The Commissioner was looking at areas where safer camera partnerships had been successful and was currently considering how this might be implemented across Hampshire and the IOW, with the Commissioner providing funding for CCTV and deployable CCTV.

·         The Commissioner had raised suggestion regarding the use of local temporary sites, to manage the flow of unauthorised encampments, with an on call rota between the 14 local authorities across Hampshire. Whilst this wasn’t supported by local authorities, due to concerns that this might draw in more activity from outside the county, the Commissioner continued to work with local authority partners to consider the availability of properly designated temporary sites.

·         Members raised the importance of consistency in how unauthorised encampments were being attended and addressed by the Constabulary. The Commissioner explained that the police cannot use powers under section 61 of the Criminal Justice & Public Order Act 1994, until the community impact of an unauthorised encampment has been assessed to as significant within the meaning of the legislation.

·         DISC was providing an effective two-way engagement between the Constabulary and business owners. The Commissioner was still considering options for a mobile application to enable members of the public to report concerns in a similar way.

·         A new joint performance framework was being finalised between the Chief Executive, OPCC, and the newly appointed Deputy Chief Constable and the Commissioner would bring this to the Panel for visibility once finalised.

·         Whilst it was difficult to measure local trust and confidence in policing, the Commissioner sought to understand this through surveying residents and victims of crime throughout the year.

RESOLVED:

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