Agenda item

Lord Willy Bach, the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner will be in attendance to provide feedback on the public consultation relating to the Police and Crime Plan. The plan is attached at Appendix A

The Chair announced that Lord Bach, the Police and Crime Commissioner would need to leave the meeting at 6.00pm to attend another appointment and therefore this item would be taken first on the agenda.

Lord Bach presented the Draft Police and Crime Plan 2017-2021, which had recently been considered by the Police and Crime Panel. He stressed that the plan was still at a draft stage. Lord Bach emphasised the need for the Police to work with local authorities, because without close partnership working, the Police would not be able to achieve what they hoped to do.

The Chair commented that Leicester had an excellent reputation for policing, but he was concerned about the impact of austerity measures. He sought assurances around the visibility of officers and that the level of policing would continue. Lord Bach responded that unfortunately he was currently unable to give that assurance, but news of the government funding grant was due the next day when they would know more.

Lord Bach added that a new way of neighbourhood policing had been set up a few years ago, and the system worked well, but more Police Officers and PCSOs were needed.

In response to a query relating to priorities, Lord Bach stated that there was a need to get the balance right. He felt that this balance was slightly wrong, as too many Police Officers and PCSOs had been taken off the street to deal with issues such as online crime, domestic violence and child sexual exploitation. Policing issues had changed, but people still wanted the Police to be visible to the public.

Lord Bach was asked whether the Police would make a commitment to some of the city’s community groups, such as the Adventure Playgrounds, the Monday Club and the Carers’ Forum. More support, dialogue and if possible, funding, from the Police for these groups was requested. Lord Bach stated that his Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Kirk Master, had reminded him of the importance of community support. He did have some funding, which community groups could apply for. 

A Member questioned whether in the light of funding cuts to the Police, it was the best use of such funding to appoint a Deputy. He asked how this could be justified. Lord Bach responded that he had given this matter serious thought, but he had decided to appoint a Deputy because of the very considerable workload that fell within the Police and Crime Commissioner’s remit. Kirk Master had been appointed because of the vast experience he could bring to the role.

Councillor Dempster, as the Chair of the Health Scrutiny Commission said that she would be interested in inviting the Police to her Commission to hear about any steps they would be taking to address issues around mental health. She would also be interested to find out what the Police were doing to address domestic violence and the under reporting of some crimes.  Councillor Dempster also said that the she had seen an article on a group called the Demos Think Tank. This group had been into two city schools to help students interpret what they saw and read on the internet. She asked the Police whether they would be willing to work with local authorities to build on that work that was taking place.  Lord Bach thanked Councillor Dempster for her comments and said that following the appalling murder of Kayleigh Hayward, a vast amount of work was taking place to prevent any recurrence of that tragedy. Any advice in relation to that was very welcome.

Councillor Cutkelvin raised concerns that there were not just issues relating to visibility, but accessibility as well, as she believed that this was a worsening problem. Over her years as a ward councillor, she had noticed a worsening Police attendance at resident group meetings and community events.  Their presence at such meetings and events was helpful in building up trust within the community.  Lord Bach responded that the drop in attendance was a result of there being fewer Police Officers and PCSOs, but he accepted Councillor Cutkelvin’s concern adding that it was important that the Police attended community group meetings. 

Councillor Bajaj commented that to improve Police visibility, there was a need to restore the Joint Action Groups (JAGs). These were useful meetings attended by a number of stakeholders and members of the public, and information shared could be helpful to the Police.  Lord Bach responded that he had attended a JAG meeting in Eyres Monsell which had not been very well attended. They were however important meetings and he would ask the Police if they could take any steps to increase attendance; however attendance was not entirely their responsibility. Councillor Cutkelvin added that she believed that attendance at JAG meetings deteriorated when grant funding was no longer made available through those meetings.

The Chair drew the discussion to a close and thanked Lord Bach, the Police and Crime Commissioner for attending the meeting.