Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed those present and led introductions.

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr Malise Graham; Kamal Adatia Monitoring Officer and Chief Constable Simon Cole.

Members will be asked to declare any interests they have in the business on the agenda.

Members were asked to disclose any pecuniary or other interest they may have in the business on the agenda.

There were no declarations.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24^th June 2021 are attached and Members will be asked to confirm they are an accurate record.

The Chair advised that future agendas would include a item “progress against actions of previous meetings” to allow for updates on outstanding matters.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th June 2021 be confirmed as an accurate record.

None received.

There were no public questions submitted.

To receive the first draft of the Police and Crime Commissioner Annual Report for 2020/21.

Members will be asked to consider and comment on the contents of the report.

Members of the Panel considered the draft Police and Crime Commissioner’s Annual Report 2020-21 that summarised the key developments over the course of the year in relation to the work of the previous PCC Lord Bach.

It was noted that the final version would incorporate the content of this report into a consistent format style and design suitable for a public facing document.

It was agreed that further detail of the Trauma Informed Strategy be provided to a future meeting.

Members of the Panel commented that the report included a lot of statistics and suggested that it would be helpful to see more information in future that explained increases in the data such as around the number of incidents or reports.

The Chair thanked officers for the report.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the PCC’s Annual Report 2020-21 be supported, subject to comments made by the Panel;

2.    That further details about the Trauma Informed Strategy be provided to a future meeting;

Members to receive an update on the performance reporting of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Members will be asked to comment on and note the contents of the report.

Members of the Panel received a report from the Police and Crime Commissioner explaining that performance reporting of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was being reviewed with the aim of providing more accurate and meaningful details to the panel to enable them to hold the PCC to account in future.

It was noted that the format for reporting on performance was being revised and agreed to continue to feedback on the new format and report content at future meetings.

It was suggested that future reports should include where possible details of performance across the areas of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to enable comparison as well as details of resources across each area.

The Chair thanked officers and looked forward to receiving the revised format of report at the next meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted and suggestions for improvement be taken into consideration for future reporting.

Members to receive an update of the performance exceptions of Leicestershire Police for the period of 1^st January 2021 to 31^st March 2021.

Members will be asked to comment on the recommendations for further analysis based on exceptions and to note the contents of the report.

Members of the Panel considered a report of the Police and Crime Commissioner that provided an update on the performance of the Leicestershire Police for the period 1^st January 2021 to 31^st March 2021.

Attention was drawn to several graphs at figures 3,4 and 6 within the report and it was noted that there had been improvements in the Forces efforts to be more representative of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

In terms of improving future reports it was commented:

·         The correct abandonment rates now being reported were welcomed and that previous comments to improve this report had been taken on board.

·         There was some concern that the data showed crime/incidents were increasing i.e. violence with injury had risen 16% but the report gave no context to that.

·         More context to why particular crimes had gone up was sought and detail of what was being done to address that requested in future reports.

·         An executive summary was requested in future reports to provide key highlights and to draw out one or two areas for more detail and context.

·         That the data for missing people would be more helpful if it were specific with a breakdown into children and adults.

·         Clarification about the violence with injury offences data was sought and whether that included the statistics for domestic violence. It was also suggested it would be helpful to see if there were patterns in types of offences occurring in certain settings, times of day etc to enable better scrutiny e.g. if victims were known to perpetrators for instance in homicide cases as well as violence with injury offences.

Officers confirmed that domestic abuse was included within the violence with injury data and agreed to provide a percentage of the violence with injury that were from domestic abuse in future performance reports.

There was a brief discussion around adverse childhood experiences, as well as the relationship or drugs and alcohol migrating through the public domain into domestic violence and whether there was any correlation to the data. Reference was also made to the Violence Reduction Network and the Trauma Informed Strategy.

The Chair noted the contents of the report and asked the comments of the panel to be taken into consideration for future reporting.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the contents of the report be noted;

2.    That future reports take account of the suggestions and comments for improvement above;

3.    That a report providing greater detail on domestic abuse, addressing the points raised and how it impacts on other offences be brought to a future meeting.

Members to be provided with an update around the recruitment and retention of police officers.

Members of the Panel considered a report providing further details around the recruitment and retention of police officers funded through the National Programme and those precept funded.

During discussion it was noted that although the report was on recruitment progress it provided no details about new female intake or BAME intake and it was requested this information be provided in future reports or updates on recruitment.

Clarification was sought on the number of PCSO’s to be accounted for in the pre-cept for 2020-21. Officers referred to points 11 and 12 within the report to confirm the numbers being recruited across 2020-21 and into 2022 and confirmed that the additional 20 PCSO’s had already been recruited.

It was noted that in terms of the National Programme for 2020-21, £2.5m of grant was dependent on recruiting the additional 89 officers and that target had been met and the grant secured. The force was now on track to recruit the number for this year (88) and that would then secure the associated grant funding of £1.5m for that too.

The Chair thanked officers for the report.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the contents of the report be noted.

2.    That the Chief Finance Officer provide a full written response in relation to the recruitment of additional PCSO’s funded through the pre-cept.

Members to be provided with an update on the Police and Crime Commissioners review of the Medium Term Financial Plan.

Members of the Panel received a report updating on the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and advising on the current context, assumptions, and underlying risks in relation to the MTFP.

The Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews (PCC) introduced the report and reminded Members of the statement he made on 24 June 2021 in which he set out his concerns about the long term sustainability of the Police budget and the forecast large deficit for financial year 2024/25.

The PCC explained that where his predecessor was prepared to take a legitimate risk in terms of forecasting, this PCC had a more cautious approach and was not prepared to take those same risks. The PCC informed that there were different indications from the government now that might materially affect the medium term forecast and he was therefore bringing matters to the panels attention as it may be necessary to adjust some targets at a later point.

The Chief Finance Officer Paul Dawkins presented the report, explaining the position of the MTFP as it was at the panel’s meeting on 27^th January 2021 and set out the key financial risks identified in the budget report presented at that meeting, assuring members that those risks remained unchanged.

The Chief Finance Officer also set out the key assumptions that outlined the financial challenges medium term as presented at the meeting on 27^th January 2021.

Members of the Panel noted the budget report had explained the spending planned for 2021-22, the former PCC’s commitment to increase overall police officer numbers and the position on how those additional officers would be funded in terms of the national uplift programme and the local precept.

The Chief Finance Officer then provided details of the Budget Equalisation Reserve (BER) and the General Reserve and how those were being utilised.

It was noted there was no minimum level of reserve recommended or legislated for but there was a general accepted level that an organisations general reserve level should not fall below a 2% threshold. It was at the discretion of the PCC and the s151 Finance Officer as to how that was set out. Auditors had been consulted who confirmed there was no minimum reserve level and the level was set around risk, perception of risk and management of that risk.

Assurance was given that the former PCC had appropriately used those reserves during his tenure and abided by the rules. The Panel were reminded that at beginning of 2019 the government minister had written to the former PCC about the level of reserves being maintained on balance sheets and challenged how those would be used; part of this MTFP was also to show how reserves would be put to use and part of the decision of the former PCC was to put reserves towards growing the police establishment and that was effectively the position arrived at in the January meeting.

The Chief Finance Officer moved onto outline the position regarding efficiency savings and the effect of efficiency  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Members to receive an Annual Report for the first time highlighting the activities undertaken by the Police and Crime Panel during the 2020-21 municipal year.

Members views are sought on both the content and format of this first Annual Report.

Members of the Panel considered the panel’s first annual report which highlighted the activities undertaken by the Police and Crime Panel during the 2020-21 municipal year.

RESOLVED:

                        That the contents of the report be taken as read and noted.

Members to receive the Scoping document and Terms of Reference for the purpose of formally establishing a Task and Finish group to scrutinise the effectiveness of arrangements to obtain and use funding from developers to meet community policing needs resulting from new developments.

Members of the Panel considered the scoping document for the s106 Funding Scrutiny Review which aimed to scrutinise the effectiveness of arrangements to obtain and use funding from developers to meet community policing needs.

Members agreed that the following members would be involved in the review:

Lift from doc plus Cllr Lucy Stephenson

Paul Dawkins, Finance Officer welcomed the review and support of the panel around this area of work.

The Chair summarised that she was pleased to see representation from each area and that this would be a key piece of partnership working.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the scoping document be accepted,

2.    That the membership of the working group shall be: Cllr Deborah Taylor (Chair), Cllr Les Phillimore, Cllr Kevin Loydall, Cllr Piara Singh Clair and Cllr Lucy Stephenson.

Members to note the ongoing work programme.

Members are invited to make any suggestions for future inclusion.

·         Budget review update to be included at December meeting.

·         Police and Crime Plan – a first draft would be shared with Members outside this meeting. It was intended that public consultation would begin at end September.

RESOLVED:

1.    That a Budget Review item be included on the agenda at the December meeting.

2.    That a special meeting of the Police and Crime Panel be convened early September 2021, to consider and comment upon the draft Police and Crime Plan before the public consultation.

Thursday 30^th September 2021 at 1pm.

To note the next ordinary meeting scheduled on Thursday 30^th September 2021 at 1pm.

The Chair thanked those present for their contributions to the meeting.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 4.02pm.