Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Contact: Sheena Jones 

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Items
No. Item

233.

Welcome and Introductions

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Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Meeting.

 

234.

Named Substitutes

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Minutes:

The named substitutes were:

 

Cllr Tony Miller for Cllr Stephen Mackay (Worcestershire County Council) 

Cllr Dave Tremellen for Cllr Kevin Turley (Shropshire County Council)

 

235.

Apologies and Declarations of Interest

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Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Dakin, Mackay and Turley.

 

A declaration of interest was made by Colonel Tony Ward who was a Member of the Trust, Integrity and Ethics Committee.

 

236.

Public Participation

Members of the public wishing to take part (asking a question or making a statement) should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by email indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 29 November 2017).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address listed below.

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Minutes:

None.

 

237.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 182 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 26 September 2017.

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Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 26 September 2017 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

The Chairman confirmed that the Police and Crime Commissioner had submitted a full business case to Government on the governance of local fire arrangements. As the four Principal Authorities were opposed to the PCCs Proposal, an independent assessment was being carried out by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). It was envisaged that the results of the assessment would be reported back to the Home Office in the New Year.

 

238.

Police & Crime Plan Activity and Performance Monitoring Report (July 2017- September 2017) pdf icon PDF 369 KB

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Minutes:

The Panel was invited to consider the Police & Crime Plan Activity and Performance Monitoring Report (July-September 2017), determine whether it would wish to carry out any further scrutiny or make any comments.

 

The Chairman referred to the previous meeting's discussion regarding the Panel's requested to include a Red, Amber, Green (RAG) rating on the summary page and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) confirmed that this was in hand and would be in place for the next meeting.

 

In presenting the report, the PCC and the Deputy PCC (DPCC) highlighted:

 

·       that it was pleasing to see that in respect of public confidence, the latest figures released by the Crime Survey for England and Wales showed that public confidence in West Mercia Police had increased in the past two years from 75.3% in June 2015 to 80.7% in June this year, the highest since the alliance with Warwickshire Police. The survey also showed that public confidence in West Mercia Police was above the national average (78.7%). This increase in confidence had resulted in a considerable improvement in ranking from 8th to 4th in its most similar family group.  The PCC was now looking at how this improvement could be sustained and how the aspiration to be top of the most similar group could be achieved

·       the vast majority of frontline officers and staff across West Mercia were now equipped with body worn video (BWV).  Phase 2 scoping was underway to advise on costs of expanding BWV to other areas such as CID and West Mercia Central Motorway Policing Group (CMPG) staff

·       officers across West Mercia were now equipped with smartphones and laptops, enabling them to work on the move and spend more time with the public. As officers no longer had to frequently return to police stations to do admin work, on average, an extra hour per officer per shift was being spent out and about in the community

·       in respect of the Perpetrator Programme - The Drive Project was a new response to domestic abuse that aimed to reduce the number of child and adult victims of domestic abuse by deterring perpetrator behaviour.  In April 2017, the Drive Partnership, in collaboration with 5 PCCs including West Mercia submitted a proposal to the Police Transformation Fund for three years of funding to deliver Drive.  At the beginning of November the government confirmed that £2.86m had been awarded to the project.  The amount awarded was significantly lower than the bid submitted and work was now underway to determine how best the project could be effectively delivered locally.  The aim was to work with 100 perpetrators per year and as Worcestershire was the highest area of domestic abuse, it would be the Pilot for the scheme which would eventually be rolled out to other areas

·       that previously there had been an ad-hoc approach to CCTV, which consequently meant that there was an inequality of service across West Mercia. The PCC had signed off a new policy for CCTV to ensure that up to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 238.

239.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFS) Inspection Report - 'Stolen Freedom: the Policing Response to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking' pdf icon PDF 181 KB

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Minutes:

The Panel was invited to consider Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) Inspection Report - ‘Stolen Freedom: The Policing Response to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking’, determine whether it would wish to carry out any further scrutiny or make any comments

 

The PCC's report gave an overview of the current approach taken by West Mercia Police to address modern day slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) and outlined the proposed response to the recommendations set out in HMICFRS’ recent report.

 

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

 

·       The PCC confirmed that he was confident that West Mercia Police were doing the right things in this area and making the links with Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) which had national links. There was also a local awareness of the types of business where this was prone

·       The DPCC advised that some work was being carried out with CSP's in respect of the analysts function and problem profiling to help CSP's understand the problems in their areas

·       As well as the crime implications, it was also important to consider industry in a broader sense and the safeguards which could be put in place to minimise the occurrence

·       Individuals in communities  also had a responsibility to be vigilant report any suspicions

·       It was suggested that it would be helpful if Worcestershire Regulatory Services were part of Worcestershire Office of Data Analytics (WODA) Agreement – Cllr May as Worcestershire County Council's Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Commissioning and Transformation agreed to follow this issue up.

 

It was agreed that the Panel would receive an annual update on this area unless the PCC had any concerns prior to this.

 

In closing the Meeting, the Chairman reminded the Panel that the next meeting was to be held on Tuesday, 6th February 2018.