Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Piara Singh Clair and Councillor Cutkelvin.

It was noted that Councillor Dempster was present as a substitute for Councillor Piara Singh Clair and Councillor Pantling was present as a substitute for Councillor Cutkelvin.

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

Members of the panel were asked to declare any pecuniary or other interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

There were no such declarations.

The Chair made an announcement which included the following comments:

Over the past few months, the Chair had become increasingly concerned by the multiple interim appointments for the role of Chief Executive Officer to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner by the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Since the PCC took office in May 2021, there have been two Interim Chief Executive Officers, then the permanent appointment of Chief Executive Officer David Peet which was brought to a Confirmation Hearing, and then following his resignation, another two Chief Executive Officers which have both been interim.

In a period of 21 months that is five Chief Executive Officers with only one coming before the panel for a Confirmation Hearing.

With this constant change, there is a lack of stability and a lack of scrutiny over these appointments. This has also been voiced to the Chair by some members of the panel.

In addition, the Chair has not been made aware that the role of permanent Chief Executive Officer is being advertised at the current time.

After reviewing the ‘Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 Schedule 1 legislation’ and seeking legal advice from the panel’s monitoring officer, the Chair’s view is that any appointment of a Chief Executive Officer or Chief Finance Officer, whether interim or permanent, under the legislation, is an ‘appointment’ and therefore should come before the panel for a Confirmation Hearing.

With this in mind and being aware that the latest Interim Chief Executive Officer appointment has attracted wider publicity, as well as understandable interest locally, the Chair contacted Mr Matthews with her concerns via email on 13^th December 2022. The Chair sent a follow up email on 6^th January 2023 and then a further email on 11^th January 2023.

The Chair received a telephone call from Mr Matthews on 11^th January 2023 and the Chair asked Mr Matthews to start the process of informing the panel clerk of his Interim Chief Executive Officer appointment so the due process could be followed to hold a Confirmation Hearing for Mr Veale.

On the 24^th January 2023 the Chair received an email from the PCC to advise that he would not be bringing his current Interim Chief Executive Officer to a panel hearing despite the Chair’s request. In the same email Mr Matthews advised that he intended to move speedily to recruit a Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

As of today, at approximately one hour before the meeting the Chair received a telephone call from Mr Rupert Matthews and was advised that Mr Veale had stepped down.

The Chair does not propose to discuss the candidacy for this role today, as that would not be appropriate, however the Chair was clear that there is not an interim Chief Executive Officer until the due process has been followed.

Members will be asked to confirm that the minutes of the confirmation hearing held on 24^th November 2022, the panel meeting held on 14^th December 2022 and the confirmation hearing held on 14^th December 2022 are an accurate record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the confirmation hearing held on 24^th November 2022, the minutes of the panel meeting held on 14^th December 2022 and the minutes of the confirmation hearing held on 14^th December 2022 be confirmed as an accurate record.

Members to receive a progress update on any actions from previous meetings not covered elsewhere on the agenda – if any.

None currently.

None accepted for this meeting.

None taken.

Members to receive a report setting out the proposed Precept  for financial year 2023-24 and the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

Members will be asked to comment and note the information presented in the report.

Members will be asked to support the proposal to increase the 2023-24 Precept by £15.00 per annum (5.81%) for police purposes to £273.23 for a Band D property.

Members of the panel received a report setting out the proposed pre-cept for the financial year 2023-24 together with information about the budget for the force and OPCC, the capital programme, the treasury management strategy and the medium term financial plan (MTFP).

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) introduced the report setting out the Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland context regarding policing the area and the history in relation to previous funding as well as external factors increasing budget pressures and the driving demands impacting on policing.

It was noted that:

·         the nationally-set pay agreement for the Police officers and Police Staff had put significant pressure on the Force budget,

·         the PCC was maintaining a cautious approach and there were no plans to increase officer numbers beyond the establishment figure of 2242 at this time,

·         the budget was focussed on the priorities within the Police and Crime Plan with strong links to the Force Target Operating Model (TOM),

·         the PCC had offered residents an opportunity through a survey to give their views on the proposed increase to precept and received 2172 responses with 50.3% of respondents supportive of a £15.00 per annum precept increase on a Band D property,

·         the PCC recommended that the precept be increased by £15.00 per annum on a Band D property for 2023-24 in line with Home Office assumptions.

The Chief Constable addressed the panel, confirming that the PCC had sought his views about the budget and the challenges faced. 

The Chief Constable referred to the professional advice he’d given as described in the Policing Protocol Order 2011 and his financial report submitted to the OPCC governance board which gave a broader context to the fiscal position of the force and showed the rapid shift in position over the past 12 months. It was noted that demand on policing had increased 20%, the population of the force area had increased by 10% and the changing demographics of the area brought additional complexities in community policing.

Attention was drawn to the headline budget pressures namely: unfunded pay awards, IT contractual inflation; Insurance; Utilities; Vehicle Fuel and other pressures such as an increase in officer overtime which had materialised in-year leading to a £9.9 million unexpected increase in cost and leaving a budget deficit for 2023-2024 of £5.8 million.

The Chief Constable expanded on the issue of the unfunded pay awards, giving detail of how that averaged out and applied across ranks and the deficit arising because the government grant uplift was only for officers not for all staff.

The Chief Constable set out the steps being taken to help close the deficit gap of £5.8million next year which would include reducing police staff through vacancy management and maintaining officer numbers at 2242. It was anticipated that some estimates about fuel and inflation costs may come down too. It was noted that the PCC had allocated a £620,000 contribution to force reserves to ease the budget pressures.

The Chief Constable indicated his support to increase the precept on a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

Members to receive a report updating on the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner’ organisational structure, to include an update on any changes to senior or key posts, staff turnover and the impacts of churn upon delivery of services.

Members of the panel received a report providing an update on the organisational structure of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Police and Crime Commissioner introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

·         The OPCC structure had been reviewed with focus on a number of key areas including roles and responsibilities, post profiles/job descriptions, organisational and governance structures as well as comparison with other OPCC’s in the region.

·         The revised structure now had fewer senior positions and more frontline workers than previously with less hierarchy.

·         Current costs of staffing were £1.3million, achieving a saving of approx. £52k on the previous staff structure whilst creating more frontline officers and improvement to service.

·         Office restructuring had enabled a review of commissioning.

·         In terms of dealing with force complaints, prior to the changes correspondence from the public had a response time of around 28 days whereas now it was 4 days.

·         Projects that were waning had been given fresh support e.g. People Zones, ensuring they were staffed and had a budget they can work to.

·         A leadership programme had been introduced.

·         The Custody Visitor Volunteer scheme was now recognised as one of the best in the country.

The Chair invited questions from members which included the following points:

Members thanked the PCC for the report however it was noted there had been considerable flux and more so since this report was written in terms of the Chief Executive Officer post.

The PCC advised his intention to recruit a permanent Chief Executive Officer in the coming months and agreed he would move to seek a confirmation hearing for an interim Chief Executive Officer and would liaise with the panel clerk outside this meeting.

The Chair asked for the relevant paperwork to be submitted to the panel clerk as soon as possible.

There was a brief discussion about confirmation hearings not taking place previously for both the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Finance Officer roles. The Monitoring Officer clarified that the onus was on the Police and Crime Commissioner to bring those matters to the panel for a Confirmation Hearing.

The Chair thanked the PCC for the report.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the contents of the report be noted,

2.    That the Police and Crime Commissioner should provide the necessary formal notifications seeking confirmation hearings for the roles of Interim Chief Executive Officer, and Interim Chief Finance Officer and in due course for those permanent appointments.

Members to receive a report updating on the establishment of the Ethics and Transparency Panel as well as an overview of membership and a summary of the first meeting.

Members will be invited to discuss and comment on the report.

Members of the panel received a report providing an update on the establishment of the new Ethics and Transparency Panel (ETP) which included details of membership, terms of reference and a summary of the ETP’s first meeting.

The Police and Crime Commissioner introduced the report with a brief summary of the background and the ETP role. It was noted that the initial first meeting of the ETP was due to take place in September 2022 but was postponed due to the death of Her Majesty the Queen.

The Police and Crime Commissioner indicated his support for scrutiny of police officer and staff conduct and that there would be emphasis on policies and procedures to reduce corrupt behaviour, malpractice, and misuse of powers etc. The ETP would be an advisory board with power to examine and make formal recommendations to the PCC.

Members of the panel discussed the report which included the following comments:

Members welcomed the concept of the new panel but were concerned that the replacement and removal of the previous Ethics Committee was carried out without redress to this panel and that a situation had arisen whereby the PCC had to make a £56k pay out which could perhaps have been avoided if communication was better and legal advice had been taken before making the decision and so avoiding cost to public purse.

The PCC responded that he was underwhelmed by the way the previous Ethics Committee carried out its terms of reference (ToR) and didn’t think it was adequate, relationships between long standing members of that committee and officers was very amicable and whilst that’s generally good he was not sure it was appropriate. The PCC reviewed minutes of the committees previous meetings and gave attention to the function of that committee and his initial feelings were reinforced. It was not possible to reach agreement with the Chair of that committee who thought it was an independent body. The PCC felt it was important to look at the ethics of the police force and OPCC and thought it best to start with clean sheet, new ToR and to recruit to that committee in an open way. The paper today sets out the revised and more robust ToR.

The PCC referred to the £56k pay out, noting legal process and legal advice received which led to an agreed settlement and therefore avoided more costs being incurred.

In relation to the process of selecting the members of the new ETP, the PCC advised that the role was advertised, and a proper recruitment exercise undertaken. The PCC agreed to provide information about the number of applicants and criteria used to select outside the meeting although the information was available online at the OPCC website.

It was queried how crime sampling and complaints were chosen to come before the ETP. The Chief Constable replied that the ETP were given free rein to look at anything and historically they were signposted to any matters with allegations of racism, violence against women and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Members to receive the panel’s work programme and to consider any future items for inclusion.

The contents of the ongoing work programme were noted.

Items for inclusion on the work programme were agreed as follows:

·         Women’s trust and confidence in the police force and how that was being taken forward by OPCC

·         An update on whether extra checks were being introduced for existing officers in light of recent national police events in media.

None notified.

Provisional meeting scheduled 16^th February 2023 (if veto exercised on 1^st February 2023 or Any Other Urgent Business arises).

Ordinary meeting scheduled 6^th March 2023 to take place at County Hall.

To note that the provisional meeting date on Thursday 16^th February 2023 is no-longer required as a veto was not exercised on the proposed pre-cept, and that meeting is hereby cancelled.

The next ordinary meeting of the panel is scheduled to take place on Monday 6^th March 2023 at 1pm at City Hall. All to note change of venue.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 2.54pm.