Agenda item

To receive a report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner of Police which informed Members of key developments in each of the Special Interest Areas over the past six months (April to September 2013).

Anti-Social Behaviour

The Lead Member for Anti-Social Behaviour remarked that several measures had been met with reduced resources. It was noted that these figures were substantial for the Force, regardless of the fact that national statistics for Anti-Social Behaviour were on the decline.

The Commissioner added that there was still a perception that levels of anti-social behaviour were unchanged from last year. It was discussed that the Force should work to share the message with the public that the City has low levels of crime and low anti-social behaviour.

Economic Crime / Fraud

The Lead Member for Economic Crime / Fraud stated that the Force was doing a good job in its response to economic crime and in its role as the National Lead Force for Fraud, for which resources were diminishing. While crime figures were dropping nationally, the rates of economic crime were increasing and could be considered as the new ‘clean crime’. He added that Police and Crime Commissioners had not been pleased with the response rate of Action Fraud when economic crime was previously reported.

Members and officers discussed the recent Home Office reforms, of which Action Fraud would now be part of the Force’s National Fraud Investigation Bureau. The Force needed to communicate its role and the role of police local authorities on cases of economic crime as there could be reputational risk involved when the Force assumed responsibility for Action Fraud.

The Commissioner added that the Economic Crime Awareness Day had supported the PCCs gaining further details of how Action Fraud functioned and that PCCs needed to influence resources through their Chief Constables. The Force would need to establish quality control, and the number of complaints that were being allocated back to Forces and being investigated was not satisfactory.

Members discussed that the Force needed to articulate the lack of resources nationally to defend against the increasing amount of fraud and the role the Force played that would grow with responsibility for Action Fraud. A Member suggested that complaints received at Professional Standards Integrity Sub (Police) Committee may need to be reported separately. The Commissioner added that these would begin to be categorised as part of a national reporting process. 

Business Improvement, Performance Management and Risk

The Lead Member for Business Improvement, Performance Management and Risk stated the inspections and audits undertaken with the Member engagement were highly regarded by the HMIC.