Agenda item

Report of the Commissioner of Police

The Sub-committee received a report of the Commissioner of Police that provided Members with an overview of activity undertaken since the last meeting, on 30 November 2017.

The Chairman noted that the overall assessment of the PEEL report had been omitted.  The Head of Strategic Development apologised for this error.

The Head of Strategic Development explained that there had been no further reports since the last meeting of the Sub-Committee on 30 November 2017.  He explained that the report on effectiveness was due to be published in the week commencing 5 February 2018, and that it was hoped that the outcomes would be positive.

The Head of Strategic Development explained that unfortunately the PEEL legitimacy report had been downgraded from “good” to “requires improvement”.  The Assistant Commissioner added that he was not overly concerned with the areas that had been identified and was confident the Force was addressing these.

The Chairman noted that not all recommendations coming out of HMICFRS inspection reports seemed to be meeting target dates for action.  He stated that increased focus needed to be given to stop-and-search training.  The Assistant Commissioner explained that the HMICFRS had high standards in this area and good collaborative work was being undertaken currently.  A Member noted that Stop-and-Search was a very sensitive issue, and as such, officers should be expected to be highly responsive to developments in this regard.  She explained that it was key that the officers approached this with the appropriate attitude.  The Chairman requested that a note on what was being actioned with regards to improvements in Stop-and-Search be provided to Members. (7)

The Chairman stated that all the workforce planning observations should be checked off by the CoLP HR department.

A Member asked whether the evolution of HMIC into HMICFRS had affected their capacity to carry out inspections, citing the low number of recent audits.  The Head of Strategic Development explained that this was not yet clear, but noted that the HMICFRS had sourced expertise in the area of fire safety services.  He also explained that the new format to be adopted by PEEL was not yet clear.

The Chairman asked what action plan had been put in place to address the two items marked as RED regarding a joint inspection of the disclosure of unused material in volume crown court cases.  The Head of Strategic Development explained that a joint action plan had been approved by three agencies, and these areas were expected to be given GREEN status ahead of the next meeting.

The Chairman asked if work on the newly RED recommendation regarding the “4Ps” was on track.  The Head of Strategic Development explained that this was given RED status only as its deadline had passed, but assured Members that this would be given GREEN status next time.