Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and, in particular, the new Chief Constable of West Mercia Police who was attending her first Panel meeting in her new role.

Cllr Stephen Reynolds for Cllr Richard Overton (Telford and Wrekin Council).

Apologies were received from Cllrs Adam Kent (Bromsgrove District Council), Richard Overton (Telford and Wrekin Council) and Vivienne Parry (Shropshire Council).

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail 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 24 November 2021).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.

None.

To confirm the Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 15 September 2021.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 15 September 2021 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Panel was invited to make any final comments on the draft Police and Crime Plan 2021-2025.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) reminded Members that they had considered a previous draft in September.  The consultation on this draft had now concluded and this was the Panel’s final opportunity to make comments before publication.

The Chairman congratulated the PCC on the broad range of consultation that had taken place.  Panel Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and the following main points were made:

·         Concern was expressed that, although 690 comments had been recorded in response to the consultation, only 6 changes had been made to the draft plan.  In response, the PCC stated that in his view the responses suggested the need for nuanced amendments rather than fundamental changes.  He did not see anything in the comments that required significant change.

·         In response to a question about whether things were improving in relation to the participation of hard-to-reach communities, the PCC suggested that the voice of some communities was not being heard enough but added that this was an issue for all parts of the public sector.  To be truly representative of the community, the approach to engagement needed to be broader.  Consideration should also be given to how information was made available as not all people would read such a lengthy document.

·         The importance of understanding the concerns of hard-to-reach communities was emphasised.  The PCC told the Panel that he valued the opportunity to visit communities, something that had been interrupted by the pandemic, and he was looking forward to meeting people again with the new Chief Constable.  They had a joint commitment to reaching communities that had previously been missed and he told the Panel about a recent visit to meet Afghan refugees in Telford.  He wanted people to trust the police and engagement was vital in this.  The PCC reminded Members about the changes he had made to the Ambassador scheme including the introduction of the role of Assistant PCC which aimed to increase capacity to engage with communities.  The personal connection was important in building relationships.

·         In response to a question about whether recent increases in the number of police officers represented a true growth in numbers or simply returned the force to the situation before previous cuts, the PCC reminded the Panel that he could only comment on the period that he had been in office, as that was what he was accountable for.  Since he had been in office, numbers had increased and would increase again in the next financial year.  He went on to suggest that a focus on police numbers was ‘a red herring’, as numbers were irrelevant if communities did not feel they saw enough police officers.

·         It was suggested that there had been an increase in petty crime in Shrewsbury town centre since the closure of the police station there.  In response, the PCC suggested that the closure of the station did not mean there were fewer officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 410.

Members received an update on holding to account (HTA) activity undertaken by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in respect of Operations & Communications Centre (OCC) performance.

By way of introduction, the PCC reminded the Panel that the OCC was the front door to West Mercia Police.  Although contact methods were changing, the telephone was still central to the police’s quality of response.  He was continually impressed by the level of effort that went in to making the system work but acknowledged that the system did not always succeed.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and the following main points were raised:

·         It was not currently possible to establish all of the nuanced data that may be requested, such as the average caller waiting time and how many repeat callers there were.  Work was underway to rectify this and the Chief Constable had made a personal commitment to improve matters.

·         Concern was expressed that, if a caller did not get a rapid response on 101, they would call 999 with a consequent impact on emergency provision.

·         The PCC agreed to facilitate a visit for the Panel to the headquarters of West Mercia Police at Hindlip to see the operation of the OCC.

·         It was confirmed that, however a member of the public chose to report a crime or access the police, the assessment process was the same.

·         Concern was expressed about the relatively poor level of performance in relation to the 101 number as there was a danger that this could diminish the public’s view of the police and it was disappointing that issues had not been fixed.  In response, the PCC reminded the Panel that this was a complex operation, involving a public contact system across three geographically diverse counties.  He was confident that the system could get to the position it needed to be.  Work would then be done to ensure that all channels were properly embedded so that communities could have confidence in the system.

·         In response to a question about whether the reasons for recent outages had been identified, Members were reassured that this was not a system problem.  All appropriate measures had been put in place and contingencies had been reviewed to make it less likely that this would happen again.  The Panel was reminded that, if a force’s ability to answer emergency calls went down, there was a well-established system for calls to be answered by other police forces.

·         The PCC confirmed that there were no plans to close the front desk at Malinsgate Police Station in Telford.

·         In response to a question from the Chairman about whether appropriate checks were in place, the PCC confirmed that control room performance was discussed in weekly meetings with the Chief Constable.  He also recognised that many concerns were raised with local councillors.

·         In conclusion, the Chairman hoped that targets for consistent 101 and 999 performance would be achieved or exceeded by June 2022 as set out in the presentation.

The Panel was provided with an overview of diversity and inclusion relating to the West Mercia Police workforce.  The Police and Crime Commissioner reminded Members that this was a complex area of recruitment.  He hoped that the Panel would see that progress had been made but acknowledged that there was further work to be done.

The Panel was invited to ask questions and the following main points were raised:

·         West Mercia Police’s efforts to increased diversity and better reflect the population it served were welcomed.  It was confirmed that this had not been at the expense of standards, but had involved supporting people through the recruitment process who ordinarily would not have been able to navigate the system.

·         The aim was to ensure the organisation was welcoming to all and the importance of retention was acknowledged.

·         In response to a question about the methodology used, the Chief Constable described the importance of levelling the playing field.  She informed the Panel that one of the biggest draws in police recruitment was the influence of friends and family already in the service.  People from ethnic minority backgrounds were less likely to have these links.  The aim was to demystify the organisation by supporting candidates on an individual basis.

·         It was confirmed that there had been a focus on supporting female candidates as there had not been the same concerns about male applicants.

·         It was confirmed that the data referred to warranted Police Officers (rather than Police Community Support Officers).

·         In response to a question about vetting procedures in the light of recent high profile vetting failures, the PCC confirmed he was confident in local processes.  West Mercia Police was also engaged in national work and was keen to learn lessons from elsewhere in the country.

·         The progress made in relation to recruitment of female officers and those from ethnic minorities was welcomed.  However, there appeared to be less progress in relation to people with disabilities and those from the LGBTQ+ community.  The PCC pointed out that these groups were included in the data in the report and confirmed that the journey to equality was about removing barriers for all.

The Panel welcomed the progress made but requested that future reports should include a broader approach to diversity and inclusion including people with disabilities and those from the LGBTQ+ community.

The Panel was updated on the half year position in relation to the West Mercia Police 2021/22 budget.

In the course of the discussion, the following main points were raised:

·         In response to a question about the current level of backlog and the plan of action with respect to estates management, the Police and Crime Commissioner reminded the Panel that all public bodies had a form of backlog in estates management.  West Mercia Police had been dealing with the recent move away from Place Partnership and the current backlog was manageable and was being addressed.

·         A Member noted the concern expressed in the report about the number of employees in the organisation who had elected not to join the pension scheme and informed the Panel that he shared this concern.

·         With reference to the slippage in the delivery of the Change programme, the Police and Crime Commissioner suggested that this was due to the impact of the pandemic and the lack of progress of the former alliance partner.  Although the force wanted to aspire to better, there was a need to be realistic about what was achievable.  The ultimate aim was to deliver a fit for purpose system for police officers.

The Panel was provided with an overview of activity undertaken by the Police and Crime Commissioner in support of the Safer West Mercia Plan and an update on police performance.

By way of introduction, the PCC made the following points:

·         The PCC had been pleased to see the force-wide impact of the new Chief Constable and her appointment had been positively received across the workforce.

·         There had been significant success in securing Government funding, including the Safer Streets bid which had a particular focus on reducing violence against women and girls and was the highest per population in the country.  The PCC was grateful for the work done by his office and partners.

·         The latest position in relation to the Alliance split and ongoing provision of IT services was noted.

·         The PCC had not been impressed by the level of response to the latest Annual Town and Parish Council Survey and recognised the need to improve the level of engagement.  He acknowledged that it was not possible to get any closer to local communities than the Parish Council and would welcome any ideas from Panel Members on how engagement could be improved.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and the following main points were raised:

·         The Chairman congratulated the PCC on the external funding that had been obtained and recognised that it was a significant sum.

·         However, he was disappointed that the split from the Alliance with Warwickshire was still ongoing and expressed concern that money provided by the taxpayers of West Mercia was still being used in this way, especially when the West Mercia Force had its own IT problems.  In response, the PCC reminded Members that West Mercia was now providing a service to Warwickshire rather than being in partnership.  West Mercia had supported Warwickshire as needed and this was felt to be the right thing to do and was appreciated by the PCC of Warwickshire.  The Chairman acknowledged the reassurance.

·         In response to a question about investment in IT, the PCC reminded the Panel that there was a broad ICT transformation programme.  Running a large ICT system was a complex operation and, now that the force had sovereignty, it could quickly move to deliver the benefits of the programme.

·         When asked about the benefits to residents of West Mercia of providing services to Warwickshire, the PCC reminded the Panel about overhead sharing and joint investment opportunities.  The current arrangement was on the basis of full cost recovery and supported a consensual and planned separation of business.

·         The Chairman noted that it had been an active decision to have an agreement on West Mercia’s terms to continue IT support for Warwickshire and asked whether support would conclude by March 2023 as planned.  In response, the PCC reminded the Panel that the discussion covered a commercially sensitive live contract.  He felt he had made the best decision to support the public and was as confident as he could be that the arrangement would end in March 2023.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 414.

The Democratic Governance and Scrutiny Manager reminded the Panel that the National Association of Police, Fire and Crime Panels had been set up to share ideas and experiences nationally.  The Association was free to join and was not allowed to spend any money on lobbying.

The Panel was invited to appoint a voting representative to join the Association.

It was agreed that Councillor Luckman would be appointed as the Panel’s representative on the National Association of Police, Fire and Crime Panels.

The Panel’s Work Programme was discussed.  Members noted that the process to appoint an Independent Member of the Panel was underway and the outcome would be discussed on 4 February.  Members also agreed to add road safety to the work programme for February.

The Panel agreed that the following items would be added to its work programme for future meetings:

·         Update on progress with the Estates programme

·         Update on progress with the ICT improvement programme

·         Update on the PEEL report (due in February 2022)

The Panel also agreed to add a visit to the Operations and Communications Centre (OCC) to its work programme and potentially hold a meeting at West Mercia Police Headquarters at Hindlip.