Agenda and minutes

Formal apologies were issued from Caroline Addy, Munsur Ali, Deborah Oliver and Deputy James Thomson, who were all observing online.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 3 November 2021.

RESOLVED, that the public minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2021, be approved as an accurate record.

Joint report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Town Clerk and Commissioner regarding the Committee’s outstanding references.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding the Quarter 3 performance and Policing Plan Measures for 2021/22.

There was a discussion on the number of judicial outcomes, which were recorded at 63% compared to the same period last year. There were complex investigations with a large number sitting with the CPS, awaiting a decision for charging. Members felt that the way in which this was recorded was potentially misleading. These were a measure of crimes that resulted in charges made by the CPS, not where there had been a judicial outcome (which required a successful conversion of charge into prosecution). Equally, it was felt that successful outcomes will not always be prosecution.

On victim based crime, a query was raised as to  whether there were any learnings to take forward in the areas where there had been a decrease in reports. This included crimes such as theft, bag snatches and stolen property from bars and other hospitality venues. The Christmas Campaign had good results but the Night Time Economy continued to pose a challenge. A specific plan was to be developed in response to the Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) work.

The Force was out performing its baseline year (pre-Covid) of 2019/20.

A Member asked for the actual numbers represented in the graphs. For example, the number of each type of crime.  This would help establish whether this was a factor influencing public satisfaction.

The stop and search data within the report related specifically to Servator, the Committee were keen to see a wider view of the full stop and search data. Members noted, however, that the monitoring of Stop and Search was the responsibility of Professional Standards and Integrity Committee (1/2022/P).

A Member raised an issue about action taken in schools in relation to

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding the Force’s performance against the Governments National Priorities for Policing in Quarter 3.

One measure within the report was on victims of domestic abuse. Members requested that a specific subset of that statistic be provided in the next report (2/2022/P)

There was discussion on the disappointing level of responses to the survey and what could be done to bring that number up. It was presently issued as a text message, where appropriate given the circumstances of the victim.

It was noted that interpreting satisfaction is difficult, as those that are dissatisfied tend to use the surveys to communicate this, whereas those that are content, do not.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding the proposed Policing Plan Measures for 2022/23.

Where a measure relied upon the delivery of work from other Forces (e.g. Economic Crime and Cyber Crime), it was important that COLP was disseminating information about the measure(s) and interventions as best as possible. COLP could not control the actions of other forces, but could do everything within its gift to get them to sign up to the same measures and buy in.

Not all measures had a numeric which made success difficult to determine. The Force were invited to rethink if any specifics could be added to those that presently did not have a measurable indicator of success.

Altogether it was felt that the measurements should be based on matters within the Force’s control.

Metrics were to be agreed between the Force and Authority.

These measures were high level in direct response to the Policing Plan.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding the HMICFRS Inspection update.

Members wanted to know the detail of the financial ask required in order to improve the victim support services (3/2022/P).

The Committee appreciated the format of the report, but it was noted that a number of the recommendations were marked for delivery in November 2021. Members were keen for these, and the report more generally, to be reviewed and an honest assessment given.

RESOLVED, that the update be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding the quarterly community engagement update.

The Sector Policing Cluster Panels had been well received.

In response to begging, the Force confirmed it was likely that the level of begging appeared to increase due to increased deployment and monitoring under Operation Luscombe.

‘Ask Angela’ did not always warrant a Police response, the Force worked with partners to ensure safety in the City, so it was difficult to monitor all instances of its use.

Members requested that the Force look at digital engagements.

This report involved input from both the Force and Community Safety Team.

RESOLVED, that  the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding the Force’s activity to address Violence against Women and Girls.

One of the key next steps identified within the presentation was the need to draft a report on where there were any gaps in provision. This way the Force’s response could be targeted and intentional rather than ad hoc.

The Force was looking into hotspot areas such as locations and specific crime types.

There needed to be a zero-tolerance policy to bad behaviour, as observed recently in the media. The Force was already looking at the MPS recommendations and were assessing whether they were relevant, looking at what they could do in response.

A Member suggested that, if possible, profile mapping would be hugely helpful. There had to be confidence around internal behaviours, attitude and trust. Forces nationally had been damaged by recent public cases of police behaviour.

This was a matter of urgency for the Force and Local Authority.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Report of the Commissioner.

Members received a report of the Commissioner regarding Victim Services.

It was suggested that a victims’ champion be appointed by the Board. There was a vulnerable victims advocate, who the Committee were keen to hear from. This was a role which relied on temporary funding. Members wished to know if the funding source began to ebb, that (providing it worked and was best practice) efforts be made to secure more permanent arrangements going forward.

A dashboard to demonstrate and track measures that were in place was requested. Collating performance would be more easily achieved once PowerBI had been set-up.

The Mental Health Triage service was considered top quality and value. With savings to be made in coming years, there would be difficult decisions for the Board to make on certain service provisions. This work did, however, feature within the Policing Plan.

If victim support was to form the heart of the policing service, it needed to be a key focus of the Board, and feature at the heart of success measurements.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

There were no questions.

There was no urgent business.

MOTION - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

There were no items of non-public business. The meeting was concluded in public session.