Agenda item

The Panel was invited to review the draft Annual Report 2020-2021 of the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and determine whether it would wish to make any recommendations for consideration. The Chairman reminded Members of the Panel to consider the strategic issues in relation to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s plans and activities and to limit the level of focus on their particular localised operational issues. 

In presenting his Annual Report, the PCC drew attention to a number of areas, including the continued focus on community work and victim support, additional £2m funding to support victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic including the response to national easing of restrictions, increased Officer numbers and successful financial oversight and estate management.  Particular projects were referred to, mainly ‘Climb’ in partnership with the Children’s Society on diversionary activities for young people and ‘Safer Communities’ in partnership with Telford and Wrekin Council.  The PCC informed Panel Members that he was always interested in working in partnership with local authorities on innovative projects.

In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were noted:

·       The PCC welcomed collaboration with local authorities, however not all councils were equally engaged

·       In response to a query over the PCC’s attendance at council meetings, such as scrutiny or full Council, the PCC advised that he was always willing to attend and gave examples of recent activity.  He also believed the frequency of invitations to attend was appropriate

·       Members reported that community confidence in the Police attending an incident varied.  The PCC was clear that if any West Mercia Council was the primary lead authority, it should respond and lead accordingly, however, if the Force was not the lead, it should still support and play an active role in partnership with other agencies.  Specifically in relation to fly tipping, the PCC was due to launch a grant round for local authorities to support projects on non-public land

·       Local Authority Members were advised to challenge their own organisations, for example the way in which civil enforcement officers were organised

·       Speeding was raised by a number of Members.  The PCC reminded Members that Road Safety was also the responsibility of local authorities

·       In response to a concern about the paperwork and bureaucracy involved in volunteer recruitment, the PCC agreed to review the process to possibly allow for more flexibility, mindful of the need to ensure appropriate checks were made on residents wishing to volunteer 

·       Funding had been allocated to recruit an additional 91 Police Officers during the coming year and the PCC agreed to provide further information on their role and destination.  When asked whether recruitment or retention was a concern, the PCC advised that there was no issue and West Mercia often overachieved on national recruitment targets.  The PCC agreed to include some data on recruitment and retention in future performance reports

·       Members praised the excellent communication around major incidents, however, reported that although there was some good social media presence it was not geographically consistent

·       A Member advocated the increased use of technology, citing a local authority case management system.  Such a system may improve communications, especially in 101 reporting and directing calls to the appropriate responsible authority

·       A recent power outage had affected the call handling system.  On investigation the PCC was assured that the demand had been managed appropriately and it was not uncommon for calls to be re-rerouted to different Forces

·       Overall, there was good performance of answering 90% of 999 calls within 10 seconds, with improvement in achieving the target of 80% of 101 calls answered within 30 seconds

·       Concern was raised about the lack of Police presence in Ludlow, to be informed that the town had a fully staffed Police Station which was open 24 hours a day, every day of the year

·       In relation to the impact of local authority funding cuts to Youth provision in Shropshire, the PCC reported that his diversionary funding was aimed at projects to help those on the edge of criminal behaviours

·       The PCC acknowledged that building confidence within communities was vital and Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) should play a key part

·       A Member reported on a recent successful County Lines operation.  The PCC advised that regional and national work was ongoing, although it could not always be reported on

·       Further information was requested on the age profile of the 37 Independent Custody Visitors in the West Mercia scheme

·       The PCC agreed to provide further geographical information on the 19 dedicated roads policing PC posts

·       The Panel agreed that the Annual Report was representative and provided an opportunity to reflect on the year, however, it would welcome further narrative on the data to compare against previous years.  The PCC agreed to review in his next Report to show some trends.

The Annual Report was noted.

The meeting was adjourned between 11.20am and 11.30am.