Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from:

• Michael Coombes, Independent Co-opted Member
• Bob Purkiss, Independent Co-opted Member

To enable Members to declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest they may have in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest is not already entered in their appointing authority’s register of interests, and any other pecuniary or personal interests in any such matter that Members may wish to consider disclosing.

Members were able to disclose to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest they may have in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest is not already entered in their appointing authority’s register of interests, and any other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in any such matter that Members may wish to disclose.

No declarations were made.

To elect a Chairman of the Panel for 2018/19.

The process of electing a Chair, which was set out in the Panel Arrangements was explained and it was noted that appointment would be for a period of one year, until the annual meeting in 2019.

Cllr David Stewart was nominated by Cllr Beavis and seconded by Cllr Bound and as the sole nominee duly elected.

Councillor David Stewart in the Chair.

To elect a Vice Chairman of the Panel for 2018/19.

The Chair called for nominations for the position of Vice Chair of the Panel, an appointment which would be for one year, until the annual meeting in 2019.

Cllr Jan Warwick was nominated by Cllr Clarke and seconded by Cllr Stagg and as the sole nominee duly elected.

To confirm the minutes from the previous meeting, including from the pro-active scrutiny meeting.

The Minutes from the 13 April 2018 meeting were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any questions or deputations in line with Rule 31 and 31A of the Panel’s Rules of Procedure.

No questions or deputations were received by the Panel on this occasion.

To hear any announcements the Chairman may have for this meeting.

The Chairman welcomed returning Members as well as Cllrs Ashmore, Hughes and Radley, who had recently been appointed to the Panel. The Chairman also thanked those Members whose term had ended for their contributions to the work of the Panel.

The Chairman announced that Cllr Reg Barry, Additional Local Authority Co-opted Member, had tendered his resignation from the Panel. This meant there was a vacancy for an additional Liberal Democrat Member to be appointed to maintain the political proportionality of the Panel, and that the nomination process would commence following the meeting.

The Chairman remarked upon current consideration by the Panel in exploring how they might more effectively collaborate with other neighbouring Panels. The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Khalid Ahmed, an officer for the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel, who was attending the meeting as an observer.

To hear any announcements the Commissioner may have for the Panel.

The Chair invited announcements from the Commissioner, who highlighted the following to the Panel:

The Commissioner reinforced his support to the Panel in its role and noted the courteous relationship between himself and the Panel.

The report of the Gosport Independent Panel, published in June, was referenced and the Commissioner noted the deeply distressing findings and expressed his sympathy to those affected. He gave an assurance that the findings of the report would be closely examined and that an independent force would be engaged to undertake a review of the findings of the report. Members heard that the Commissioner had already met with the Chief Constable and understood that immediate actions would be taken as well as longer term analysis and activity.

The Panel heard that the death of two young people attending the recent Mutiny Festival had resulted from taking illegal drugs. The Commissioner explained that a multi-agency partnership review was being undertaken, which would look at licensing procedures, and best practice in the running of such events. It was recognised that a cultural shift was required to reduce demand for illegal substances.

Citing recent incidents including a recent concern at a local football match and the findings from the Gosport War Memorial review, the Commissioner acknowledged that a small element of institutional culture still existed within policing, and that it was an important part of his role to challenge this. Members heard that tackling this had been given a raised status amongst the Commissioner’s priorities. The Commissioner had requested, through the Chief Constable, that constabulary officers received further training and support to exercise a greater appreciation of equality and to ensure that behavioural expectations were clear.

Panel Members were reminded that the offer, made during the previous meeting, was still available should they wish to meet directly with officers from the OPCC to look in greater detail at the policing estate plan for their local area.

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

An overview of the previous meeting of the Plan Working Group was provided by Cllr Jan Warwick. Cllr Warwick explained that Members of the working group, had scrutinised information presented by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC). During the meeting Members of the working group were pleased to hear about progress made against GDPR implementation and to learn about how Restorative Justice Films were being used. Members also heard that the working group had raised concern that the appointment of a new Rural Lead Staff officer had not yet been agreed, and as a result action to be taken following the recommendations of the Panel’s Rural Crime proactive scrutiny had been delayed.

Members then received a verbal presentation from the Commissioner, setting out an update on delivery against the Police and Crime Plan 2016-2021 (see Item 9 in the Minute Book). The Panel also received a video presentation on the recent Safer Together Event, Eastern Police Investigation Centre topping out ceremony and other local events that had taken place since the last Panel meeting, as well as an update on the work of the Youth Commission.

During the presentations Members heard:

• Progress made by the OPCC against compliance with GDPR requirements was on track, but had required significant resource from the office to support the implementation.
• Hampshire and the Isle of Wight was regarded as a national leader in the use of Restorative Justice (RJ) practices. The Commissioner was clear in his intention to continue to push boundaries in the use of RJ, and that, despite the costs involved, felt RJ delivered real value in supporting victims and reducing reoffending.
• Some projects within the delivery plan had been marked as complete at the end of the scoping phase. One example given was the use of the Barnahus Model. Whilst this project was currently on hold following the completion of scoping, the Commissioner had asked the Chief Constable to continue to look at the feasibility of its use with criminal justice partners.
• The Commissioner and his office were well engaged in steps to prevent FGM and were supporting plans to further engage communities through making the information needed by those effected both clear to understand and readily available.
• A recently added project would focus upon University collaboration and engaging students in the analysis of data on behalf of the OPCC. It was heard that this would provide practical work experience for students, who may go on to be influential in community safety in the future, and also allowed the OPCC to analyse more data with little financial cost.
• The Commissioner committed not to have staff officer or police resource within his office when they can provide better delivery to front line policing. The previous staff officer who had led on rural priorities had been returned back to policing and the OPCC were looking to incorporate rural priorities into the wider community strategy. The Commissioner further explained that engagement was also being undertaken with Neighbourhood Watch, to deliver rural  ...  view the full minutes text for item 178.

To consider a paper outlining the Police and Crime Commissioner’s response to the recommendations of the Police and Crime Panel on Cyber Fraud.

Cllr Jan Warwick provided a brief overview of the recommendations which had previously been made to the Commissioner.

The Commissioner’s comments on the recommendations from the ‘cyber fraud” proactive scrutiny were noted.

In response to questions from Members on the Commissioner’s comments, it was heard that the SAFER pack being developed by the OPCC was anticipated to be available for use from September, and once ready that a copy of the pack would be shared with the Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the Commissioner’s response is noted by the Police and Crime Panel and published on the Panel’s website.

To agree the outcomes and recommendations of the Panel’s review of ‘Hate Crime’.

The final draft of the outcomes and recommendations from the ‘Hate Crime’ proactive scrutiny were presented to the Panel. Cllr Simon Bound provided a brief overview of draft recommendations from the Plan Working Group .

Members agreed the outcomes and recommendations from the ‘Hate Crime’ proactive scrutiny. The Chairman explained that these would be sent to the Commissioner for response.

The Chairman further explained that the Panel’s letter of recommendation would be published on the Panel’s website and shared with those who provided evidence to the review.

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations of the Panel were agreed and would be sent to the Commissioner for consideration.

To consider a report setting out the activities of the delegated officer and the Complaints Sub-Committee in relation to complaints made against the Police and Crime Commissioner during the last 12 months.

Members received a report from the scrutiny officer to the Panel detailing the activities of the Complaints Sub-Committee over the last 12 calendar months. It was noted, by the Chairman, that the reporting period had been amended from quarterly to annually to allow the data to reflect a more meaningful reporting period for comparison.

RESOLVED:

That the annual complaints report is noted by the Police and Crime Panel.

To consider a report providing suggested revisions to the Panel’s Complaints Protocol and the Terms of Reference for the Complaints Sub-Committee.

Members received a report from the democratic support officer to the Panel, following the recent annual complaints review meeting, proposing a number of updates to the Complaints Protocol and the Complaints Sub-Committee Terms of Reference.

RESOLVED:

That the updates to the governance documents are agreed by the Police and Crime Panel

To consider a report which sets out the required membership of the Panel’s working groups for consideration and appointment.

Members received a report from the scrutiny officer to the Panel which sets out the required membership of the Panel’s working groups for consideration and appointment.

RESOLVED

That the membership of the Complaints Sub-committee, the Finance Working Group, and the Plan Working Group be as follows:

Complaints Sub-Committee:

(appointed with reference to the updated governance documents – previous item refers)

• Cllr Lisa Griffiths
• Cllr Ken Muschamp
• Bob Purkiss
• Cllr Frank Rust
• Cllr Jan Warwick

Finance Working Group:

• Michael Coombes
• Cllr Gary Hughes
• Cllr Ian Richards
• Vacancy
• Vacancy

Plan Working Group:

• Cllr Simon Bound
• Cllr Steve Clarke
• Cllr Dave Shields
• Vacancy
• Vacancy

To consider a report setting out the proposed future work programme for the Panel.

Members received a report from the scrutiny officer to the Panel setting out the proposed work programme for the Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the Police and Crime Panel agree the work programme.

To hear a presentation from the Commissioner on the topic of Enabling Effective and Efficient Policing.

The Panel received a verbal presentation from the Commissioner, setting out how he was enabling effective and efficient operational policing.

During the presentation Members heard:

• The Commissioner had set out to define policing through the four clear and simple priorities within his Police and Crime Plan.
• Delivering effective and efficient policing was core to supporting the Commissioner in meeting his statutory responsibilities.
• Hampshire Constabulary were one of only 12 forces rated as good in all areas by HMICFRS PEEL inspections in 2017.
• 98.3% of the overall budget controlled by the Commissioner had been spent directly on delivering operational policing, with the remaining 1.7% focussed on delivering crime prevention beyond policing.
• Through his focus on areas beyond policing, the Commissioner had endeavoured to reduce demand on policing and seek to improve or increase the capacity and capability of operational policing.
• During his term in office the OPCC had initiated 62 projects and delivered 140 new services.
• The Commissioner had sought to enhance Hampshire Constabulary’s operational capabilities by investing £800,000 in new taser equipment and £1.6m in mobile technology.
• The Commissioner had supported efforts to collaborate with Thames Valley Police to deliver savings and create efficiencies.
• Effective governance was key to delivering the best value and driving savings to reinvest into policing.

(Cllr Tonia Craig left the meeting at this point)

• SafetyNet continued to deliver a saving on police time and demand. The cost of the system was a fraction of the overall policing budget but it was felt to keep officers safer on duty and allow the sharing of important information between partners.
• The development of the new Interact system, by the OPCC, was seen as ground-breaking technology which would provide live, real-time data that could support the constabulary, community safety partnerships and other key partners in delivering targeted crime prevention advice and support. The cost of developing the system was £30,000 and it was already gaining interest from a number of parties, including the Home Office who were due to visit the OPCC to see the system in action.

The Chairman thanked the Commissioner for sharing this information with the Panel, which would form a starting point of the Panel’s forthcoming proactive scrutiny to examine how the Commissioner is enabling effective and efficient policing for Hampshire and the IOW.