Agenda and minutes

The Chairman led introductions and advised this was a virtual meeting as permitted under section 78 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 to enable meetings to take place whilst observing social distancing measures.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Rae Bhatia

It was noted that Councillor Westley was in attendance as a substitute for Councillor Rae Bhatia.

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

Members were asked to declare any pecuniary or other interest they may have in the business on the agenda. There were no such declarations.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 December 2020 are attached and Members will be asked to confirm they are an accurate record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th December 2020 be confirmed as an accurate record.

Members will receive a report setting out the proposed precept 2021-22 and medium term financial plan (MTFP).

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) submitted a report for consideration concerning the proposed precept for 2021-22 and the medium term financial plan (MTFP).

The PCC and his Chief Finance Officer introduced the report setting out the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland context, history in relation to previous funding and the split between Home Office funding and council tax (precept).

Attention was drawn to several points including:

·         Typographical errors at para 10 and para 76 should refer to a Band D property not Band B.

·         The Police Grant settlement figure referred to in the report was still provisional and the final settlement should be confirmed by the end of January.

·         In relation to para 23 of the report, it was clarified that the extra £4.5m was the net difference in precept plus collection fund from 2020/21 to 2021/22. The collection fund deficit for 2021/22 was an estimate and still to be confirmed.

·         The tax base used in setting the budget was 330,081 Band D equivalent properties which was a modest rise in tax base Band D properties at 0.2% compared to 2020-21.

·         The Home Office has confirmed to maximise council tax income for 2021/22 that PCC’s can increase their precept on a Band D property up to £15 without triggering a referendum.

·         In terms of budget risks: the Force were continuing their staff evaluation scheme which would be delivered upon in the year ahead, £204k of revenue costs had been included in the base to cover this; a view had been taken in relation to pay inflation with a pay freeze for the police service in 2021/22 but expectation of a rise in 2023. There was also a national issue regarding pensions around age discrimination. The force had 144 claims that may attract some degree of compensation pending the Employee Tribunal outcome on that, however it was not known what those costs will be or whether there would be additional funding in future to address that.

·         The Emergency Service Network (ESN) is the national replacement Airwave radio/data communication system used by emergency services. This project has been delayed by several years, it is hoped ESN will be implemented by end year although at considerable cost. It is estimated to cost £0.6m in 2021/22 with a further £5.2m in 2022/23 and no current indication of additional funding to meet that, so this risk had been built into the medium term financial plan and capital plan.

·         Regarding police officer growth, the PCC made it clear that it was always his ambition to restore police numbers to pre-austerity levels as part of his original campaign and subsequent Police and Crime Plans. Last year’s target was to recruit 100 officers during 2020/21. In 2021/22, 88 officers funded by the Home Office would be recruited as part of the government uplift programme, however the uplift programme was not enough to restore police officer numbers to pre-austerity levels, to address that the PCC had agreed to recruit an additional 50 officers in the financial year 2021 into  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

Members to receive a report providing an update on complaints relating to the Police and Crime Commissioner over the last 12 months.

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

The Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner left the meeting at this point.

The Police and Crime Panel considered a report by Kamal Adatia, Monitoring Officer, providing an update on complaints relating to the Police and Crime Commissioner over the last 12 months.

The panel were reminded of the policy framework and procedure for handling complaints and noted that the panel had reviewed and updated the complaints procedure as part of its review of the panels Constitution in December 2020 but the process remained unchanged.

The panel noted that five complaints were referred to the Monitoring Officer during 2020 alleging to impugn the Police and Crime Commissioner and in terms of outcomes, one was referred to the IOPC who found that the allegations were without foundation, the other four also had no substance.

RESOLVED:

                        That the contents of the report be noted.

Members to note the ongoing work programme and to consider any additional items for inclusion.

Members of the panel noted the ongoing work programme.

None notified.

The Chair thanked everyone for their contributions to the meeting today.

It was noted that the next meeting was scheduled to take place on 25^th March 2021 at 1pm.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 16.15pm