Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

364.

Welcome and Introductions

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The Chairman welcomed everyone to the Meeting.

365.

Named Substitutes

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None.

366.

Apologies and Declarations of Interest

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Minutes:

Apologies were received from Cllr Kuldip Sahota (Telford and Wrekin Council) and Aled Luckman (Independent Lay Member).

 

A declaration of interest was made by Cllr Steve Mackay as he was a retired Police Officer in receipt of a Police Pension (not West Mercia Police).

 

367.

Public Participation

Members of the public wishing to take part (asking a question or making a statement) should notify the by Assistant Director for Legal and Governance 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 3 February 2021).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address listed below.

 

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The Chairman reported that a request for public participation had been received from Mr Nash. A summary of the points made was:

 

 

The Chairman thanked Mr Nash his comments and questions which had been noted and advised that he would receive a written response after the meeting.

 

368.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 247 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 27 November 2020.

 

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The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2020 were agreed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman.

369.

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioners Proposed Precept and Budget 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 208 KB

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The West Mercia Police and Crime Panel (PCP) was asked to consider the:

 

(i)       West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC’s) Proposed Budget 2021/22 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2021/22 – 2024/25;

(ii)     report of the PCP’s Budget Scrutiny Task Group; and

(iii)    provide a report to the PCC on the proposed precept, including any recommendations, outlining whether it vetoed the precept or not.

 

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC’s) Proposed Budget 2021/22 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2021/22 – 2024/25

 

The PCC gave a presentation to the Panel on his proposed budget, the slides had been shared with Panel members prior to the meeting and were attached to these minutes. The highlights from the presentation were as follows.

 

The proposed Budget overview was:

 

·       a net revenue budget after savings of £244.679m (£8.874m on 2020/21)

·       Central funding of £138.202m (£7.484m on 20/21)

·       A Council Tax for a Band D property of £240.20 (an increase of £15 on 2020/21)

·       There was provision for an additional 91 police officers (totalling 399 since 2016)

·       Investment to continue in force modernisation

·       Building further Police focus on community priorities

·       Provision to mitigate significant risks.

 

1,395 responses had been received from the Consultation process, with a clear majority of respondents supporting paying more for policing. Community priorities were around police visibility, engagement, and action, as well as community safety. 67% of respondents were worried about levels of crime.

 

West Mercia had the lowest increase in precept across England and Wales in the current PCC term.

 

Budget Scrutiny Task Group

 

Cllr Wood (Lead Member of the Budget Scrutiny Task Group) introduced the Task Group report and thanked the PCC and his staff for their clarity and time in facilitating the meetings of the Group. Unfortunately, in addition to the Lead Member only 2 Members of the Task Group were able to attend both of the meetings set up in December 2020 and January 2021.

 

The Task Group met with the PCC and his officers to discuss the proposed budget for 2021/2022, the Medium Term Financial Plan through to 2024/2025 and the proposed Precept for 2021/22 in context of the Policing Plan and the Commissioner’s election promises.  The Report was attached to the Agenda.

 

Subject to the results of the PCC's 2021/22 Budget Consultation which closed on 20 January, the Task Group was supportive of the PCC's financial strategy for the Budget Proposals for 2021/22 and the MTFP through to 2024/25 in the context of the West Mercia Policing Plan, although there were reservations about the affordability of the 6.6% Council Tax increase for residents given the current economic climate.

 

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

 

·       The precept proposal recommended to the Panel was to increase the precept by 6.6% for 2021/22, adding £15.00 to the annual Council Tax bill for a typical band D home.  It was acknowledged that this was a difficult decision at the current time.

·       Cllr Kent highlighted from the presentation the point about the clear majority of respondents to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 369.

370.

Police & Crime Plan Activity and Performance Monitoring Report (October - December 2020) pdf icon PDF 433 KB

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The Panel considered the Police & Crime Plan Activity and Performance Monitoring Report (October-December 2020).

 

Following the PCC’s introduction of the report, the following main points were made:

 

·         The PCC confirmed that the HMICFRS Inspection (Nov 2020) Hot Debrief Results were taken very seriously and used in the holding to account sessions with the Chief Constable.

·         In response to the suggestion that it would be helpful to have year on year comparative information included in the performance summary, the PCC asked that a detailed request be put in writing, which he would consider. The Chairman suggested that this should be part of a wider discussion on the format of the performance information that he would follow up outside of the meeting.

·         A Member queried whether the PCC carried out any analysis of freedom of information (FOI) and subject access requests (SAR’s) received.  The PCC confirmed that some analysis was carried out on trends but didn’t believe that the number of requests received were unmanageable and the responses given were proportionate.

·         The PCC confirmed that the Road Safety Strategy had been published and the action plan was being developed.

·         A Member referred to page 100 of the Agenda regarding the work with partners to increase the proportion of hate crimes reported to the Police.  It was questioned whether this was because hate crime was currently under reported, the PCC agreed to check and report back.

·         It was noted that the performance in respect of the % of 999 calls answered in 10 seconds and the % of 101 calls answered in 30 seconds had declined. The PCC explained that 999 calls were currently being prioritised and that a sustained increase of online reports would help to alleviate the pressure on 111 and improve performance, which had been adversely affected by COVID-19.

·         Concern was expressed about the backlog of cases in the criminal justice system and the impact on victims. The PCC advised that he was disappointed about the backlog and that there had been insufficient progress made to reduce it. The Magistrates Court had made progress in clearing its backlog, meanwhile the backlog within the Crown Court had continued to grow.  The PCC was actively working with national, regional, and local partners to address the challenges.  It was agreed that the Chairman would write to the Secretary of State to express the Panel’s concerns and lobby for a quicker solution.

·         In response to the suggestion that front line police officers should be prioritised for the COVID-19 vaccine, the PCC advised that the Home Secretary was giving this consideration.

 

The report was noted.

371.

The West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner's End of Term Report pdf icon PDF 303 KB

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The PCC was elected in May 2016 and his term of office was scheduled to end in May 2020. In March 2020, the Government announced that both the local government and PCC elections were to be deferred for one year because of the coronavirus pandemic. In February 2020, the Panel was presented with the PCC’s draft End of Term Report outlining key PCC activity, priorities and outcomes during his current term of office.  In light of the PCC’s extended term in office, the End of Term Report had been refreshed and updated to include activity and outcomes from the additional time period.

 

The Report was noted.

372.

Police & Crime Plan Overview of Commissioning Activity Report (2020- 2021) pdf icon PDF 376 KB

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Members had before them an overview of the commissioning activity undertaken by PCC in support of his Safer West Mercia Plan since the start of 2020/21 and the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

2020/21 had seen a lot of development and change in the commissioning of services, particularly those relating to victim service provision. Much of this change had been assisted by successful funding applications exceeding £1.6m for the year, which was encouraging given the circumstances and challenges, which had been faced by many.

 

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

 

·        A Member suggested that Operation Snap, which encouraged members of the public to submit digital footage showing potential traffic offences should be publicised more to encourage take-up and ultimately influence changes in behaviour

·        Use of the Victim Advice Line (VAL) was not at the level anticipated but was a continued area of focus for the PCC.

 

The report was noted.

373.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 133 KB

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Minutes:

It was agreed that:

 

·       The PCC areas of commissioning would be added to the work programme, for further Scrutiny

·       The Chairman would discuss with the PCC the format and information provided for performance monitoring.