Agenda item

Members to receive an update of the Corporate Governance Board and the oversight of Leicestershire Police performance by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and his Office.

Members will be asked to discuss, comment and note the new structure of the report and provide feedback on the new report.

The Panel considered a report which provided an update from the Corporate Governance Board and the oversight of Leicestershire Police performance by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland and his Office.

Police and Crime Commissioner, Rupert Matthews and Interim Chief Executive Officer, Lizzie Starr, presented the report. It was noted that the report was the first received in the new format and was work in progress, as the process was still being established and strengthened. It was planned to be the first of a regular series of reports.

The Police and Crime Commissioner informed Members of his key intention in standing for election, which was to build public trust and confidence in the Leicestershire Police force. He would do this by ensuring that reports on the funding and operation of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Police Force were made publicly available, and that the operations of both were transparent for public and Panel scrutiny.

It was noted that the new report format allowed the Police and Crime Commissioner  to explore Police Force actions in more detail, as well as provide more in-depth, informed reports to the Panel. He further specified his objective to ensure the safety and connectivity of the Leicestershire area through the collaborated efforts of his Office and the Panel.

Further details of the Corporate Governance Board procedures were provided, and it was confirmed that the minutes from the Board would be provided to the Panel on an ongoing basis. The Interim Chief Executive Officer requested further feedback and comments from the Panel, with the intention to be incorporated in reports for the foreseeable future.

The Chairman thanked the Police and Crime Commissioner and Interim Chief Executive Officer for the report and commented that the format was welcomed. The report was useful, easy to read and informative, giving the Panel a greater insight into the work of the PCC and OPCC in holding the Police Force to account.

The ensuing discussion included the following comments and suggestions:

In relation to page 17 of the report, regarding hospital admissions from knife crime and the impact of the Violence Reduction Network (VRN) upon these figures was queried, and a request was made to invite the VRN Director to a future meeting. The Police and Crime Commissioner explained that the work of the network was always likely to take time to show results, but experience from elsewhere had shown a significant impact in reducing public harm and progress would be monitored. He also noted that the Panel were welcome to receive a report to a future meeting which the VRN Director could attend. Some concern was noted about yearly Home Office funding for the VRN which led to some instability.

In relation to the reference on page 14 / 15 regarding spiking via injection, the view of the Police and Crime Commissioner was sought. The Commissioner confirmed that he was confident about reporting levels. He felt that the figure which appeared high was likely due to a greater willingness of victims to come forward. He encouraged victims to continue to report incidents and confirmed they would be fully investigated. Progress in this area would continue to be reported to the Corporate Governance Board.

In terms of the format / content of the report, it was requested that some detail be provided in future versions, for all areas covered, where the incidents were taking place and whether resources needed to be targeted to those areas.

Noting the reference to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse on page 16 of the report, it was queried whether there were further lessons for the force to learn. The Commissioner agreed to contact the questioner about the date of publication of the report after the meeting. He was, however, confident that lessons had been learnt from the report’s recommendations and these had been suitably addressed.

A further suggestion was made that the presentation of statistics in future report identify repeat offenders (i.e. were several offences down to one person.)

RESOLVED:

1.    That the content and the format of the report was welcomed.

2.    That the suggestions and comments of the Panel in the body of the minutes be taken on board for future reports.

3.    That a Violence Reduction Network update report be provided to a future meeting and the Director, Grace Strong be invited to present that report.

4.    That the Police and Crime Commissioner contact Councillor Whelband regarding the date of publication of the report from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.