Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Councillor Caroline Bagnall for Councillor Tony Parsons (Shropshire Council)

Councillor Colin Taylor for Councillor Roger Evans (Shropshire Council)

Councillor David Hitchiner for Councillor Liz Harvey (Herefordshire Council)

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Roger Evans, Helen Jones, Liz Harvey, Kelly Middleton and Tony Parsons. 

Councillor Tracey Onslow declared an interest as she had previously been the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia.

Councillor Nigel Lumby declared an interest as he was in receipt of a Police Service pension (not from West Mercia area). 

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 6 February 2024).  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.

The Panel was asked to consider the:

(i)     West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC’s) Proposed Budget 2024/25 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2024/25 - 2028/29

(ii)    Report of the Panel’s Budget Scrutiny Sub Group; and to

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

The PCC gave a presentation to the Panel (attached to the Minutes), on his proposed budget. The following main issues were highlighted:

·         The PCC’s vision for West Mercia continued to be delivered through the 4 pillars of the Safer West Mercia Plan (SWMP) (Putting Victims and survivors first, Building a more secure West Mercia, Reforming West Mercia and Reassuring West Mercia’s Communities). The Acting Chief Constable set out in detail some of the improvements planned in respect of the PCC’s commitments to improved visible and accessible policing, improving public contact and to more effective investigations and better outcomes. These improvements included seeking to ensure that the roles of Neighbourhood Police Officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) were fully staffed and able to be more visible particularly in town centre locations; enhancing the service for victims of sexual offences and improving the capacity of the online sexual abuse team and the digital forensics unit.

·         The way in which the budget had been built, and the proposals to fund the £6.9m funding gap required for a balanced budget. The Panel was informed that it was critical that the resources were focussed in the right operational areas to ensure the most benefit for the public. The aim of this budget was to protect and deliver plans that were already in place. It had therefore been necessary to reduce services in some areas and re-prioritise spend into other areas.

·         An updated suite of key performance indicators (KPI’s) had been developed to enable the success of the delivery of services through the 4 pillars to be measured by the Panel. It was highlighted that that there was consistency with the KPI’s from the previous year to enable members to track changes.

·         The PCC’s recommendation to the Panel was to increase the precept by 4.91% for 2024/25, adding £13 to the annual Council Tax bill for an average band D home. During the PCC’s term of office, he had been the lowest preceptor across all of the PCC’s in England. The proposed increase for this year was necessary and justified in order to protect the funding basis relied upon to provide services.

The Lead Member of the Sub Group introduced the Group’s report and thanked the members and supporting officers involved for their contribution to the process. The PCC was also thanked for the provision of data and his transparency which had enabled the Group to gain a thorough understanding of the budget at a granular level.

The Sub Group had met on 4 occasions and their work had focussed on seeking evidence that the precept proposals would provide best value and enable the inclusion of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 511.

The Panel received an update on the activity undertaken by the PCC in support of his Safer West Mercia Plan and an update on police performance.

The PCC highlighted the following points from his report:

·         The PCC had been successful in a £650,000 bid to deliver the Complex Care Pathfinder to support victims of sexual violence, which he highlighted would make a huge difference.

·         As part of the Government’s Safer Streets Five initiative (SS5), the PCC had bid successfully for nearly £1m to fund a range of projects designed to tackle violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime in 2023/24 and 2024/25. The Panel was informed that as a result of budgetary pressures within Government, the funding for 2024/25 had now been reduced by £180k, but the PCC remained confident that partnership working would still enable the SS5 initiatives to be delivered with minimal impact.

·         The Road Safety Grant initiative had been relaunched for a second round, with applications now closed. The PCC agreed to report back to the Panel on how these monies had been deployed.

·         In respect of the criminal justice system, the Panel was informed that witness attendance rates remained high at 86%, which was above the regional and national average. The PCC also highlighted that West Mercia was the 6th highest in the country for guilty pleas at first hearing in the Crown Court.

·         The Community Charter had been established 3 years ago, and the PCC advised that a review would be carried out this year to establish what was being delivered in terms of the key pledges the charter contained. 

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

·         A Member expressed frustration that the performance data linked in the report was for Quarter 2, rather than Quarter 3, thereby not enabling  recent progress to be checked, for instance on the 101 response times. The PCC explained that unfortunately the timing of the meeting had meant the Quarter 3 data was unable to be incorporated, but that this data would be published shortly on the website and details would be forwarded to the Panel. In terms of response times for 101 calls, it was confirmed that there had been some improvement, but still some further progress needed. The ACC reported that as at 4 February,  74% of 101 calls were answered within 4 minutes and 50% in less than 30 seconds, and that 86% of 999 calls had been answered within 10 seconds. He reported that since the introduction of the switchboard, the abandonment of calls had reduced considerably. In relation to abandoned calls, a Member suggested that the message received when calling 101 should be checked and streamlined if possible, as there was a long-winded message to listen to before the phone rang the service itself. The PCC also highlighted that performance data on the website was now being updated each month. In response to a query, he advised that this was not currently showing any previous data to enable trends  ...  view the full minutes text for item 512.

The Panel received the PCC’s End of Term report for information.

Given the proximity to the PCC elections, a Member questioned the content of this report and the context of the information provided. Whilst the report highlighted positive developments, the lack of data showing trends was an omission. The Member also sought the PCC’s justification for a 12.4% proposed increase in funding for the PCC’s office, given that budget savings were being sought across other budget areas. The PCC explained his reason for providing a draft version of his end of term report, as he wished to provide the Panel with an opportunity to look back over his period of office on what had been achieved in comparison to his police plan, to ensure accountability and transparency. The PCC advised that the 12.4% increase related to additional activity concerning his commissioning function.

The Panel reviewed its work programme, and it was agreed that the Annual Report on Complaints would be moved to the September Panel meeting.

Following a discussion earlier in the meeting, it was noted that an ‘Update on Rural Crime’ had been agreed to be added to the Work Programme.