Agenda item

To review the report and to make any recommendations to the Police and Crime Commissioner for consideration. 

The draft Annual Report for 2014/15 was presented for the Panel’s consideration. 

In accordance with the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, the Panel was required to review the Report and to make any recommendations to the Police and Crime Commissioner for consideration.  The Report provided a high-level overview of the PCC’s work over the last financial year and had been produced to be accessible and meaningful to a number of different audiences.

The Commissioner, in presenting the Annual Report, highlighted the following points to the Panel:

·         A constructive working relationship had developed between the Panel and the Commissioner and his office.  This open and honest relationship would enable progress to be made and helped the Commissioner carry out his role.  The Commissioner was proud of all the relationships that had been built up since his election and emphasised that his aim was to improve things for residents.

·         The Report demonstrated the scale of what had already been addressed to make West Mercia a safer place to live, although there was still more to be done; there were a number of new initiatives and commissioning would become increasingly important.

·         He noted the problems faced by the Prison Service.  Rehabilitation of offenders was costing £13bn p.a. nationally, almost 100% of under 18 year olds re-offended and there was a spiral of offending.  He had therefore built up relationships with the Prison Service, for example enabling the Mayor of Whitchurch to visit the prison.  He had also developed Inside Products – a company which sold products made within prison to bring in income for the prisons.  West Mercia was ahead of other areas with a lot going on.

·         The key was to prevent crime in the first place, to reduce the demand for police and justice services; he was therefore investing in prevention.

In the ensuing discussion the following main points were made:

·         There was concern about the rise in sexual offences, with a 75% increase in reported rapes.  There were three elements to this: a large percentage were historical crimes that were only now being reported due to the publicity created by the Savile case; victims of recent crimes were also becoming more confident in coming forward to report the crime; and there was likely to have also been an increase in sexual offences.  In addition, crime data was being tidied up following HMIC's review of the integrity of crime-recording, whereby crimes were being recoded this year which had occurred last year.  Sexual offences remained the Force's major concern as there had been a dramatic and troubling rise; investment was being made in this area.  The definition of rape had changed – it now included rape in marriage and male rape, though this would only be having a small impact on the overall figures.  There had been societal changes and there was much more internet enabled crime.

·         In relation to complaints against police officers, the Panel asked how many of those complaints were substantiated and what was the cost of dealing with complaints.  The Commissioner noted that he would be concerned if a lot of money was wasted on examining frivolous, unsubstantiated complaints against officers, but there was a legal requirement to investigate every complaint.  The new independent Trust, Integrity and Ethics Committee held the Chief Constable to account on the police's use of their powers, such as use of force and stop and search.  Its agenda was not set by the Chief Constable and it was a very beneficial initiative.  It was noted that complaints turnaround was not as fast as it could be and acknowledged that the police standards department had been under resourced recently in relation to lower order complaints, as other areas were prioritised; new investment was now going into this area.  Although unsubstantiated complaints were frustrating, complaints were a good way of ensuring that the police were doing a good job.  The overall trend was downwards but it was essential that complaints should not be suppressed in order to keep the numbers low.  Complaints data should be looked at in the round alongside confidence and satisfaction data.  More in depth analysis of complaints could be provided if required. 

·         Members asked about the increase in reserves from £53.1m to £63.9m, one member felt this justified his opposition to the 1.99% increase in the precept and asked whether there were project slippages which had caused the increase.  The Commissioner explained that a lot of the funds were already committed and would be invested to make West Mercia safer place, prevent crime and invest in rehabilitation.  There were IT spend to save schemes which took time to implement. The reserves had built up as a result of the Alliance with Warwickshire Police; efficiencies had been implemented and recruitment stopped temporarily – 100 staff had left in one year and not all had been replaced immediately.  In addition, a reduction in central government grant of 3.2% over the next five years was anticipated and the Police needed to be prepared for this.

·         Members asked about the strategy in relation to gypsy and traveller communities and whether there was a role for the Community Ambassadors.  The Police welcomed the support they received from councillors to resolve problems; the legislation was not very robust in this area although the Police used all the powers they could.  It was vital for the police and others to be properly trained and to understand the traveller community.  A recurring issue was the number of sites, the political complexities of increasing the provision were acknowledged, but increased provision was part of the solution and needed to be addressed.  The Panel stressed the importance of the police being involved in the early stages of the development of councils' local plans in creating good facilities for travellers and gypsies in the right locations. 

·         In relation to the causes of the 4.8% increase in crime since 2013/14, it was recognised that any increase was not welcome, but it was not a huge rise and was not unique to West Mercia.  As the general reduction in crime across the developed world could not all be attributed to policing, neither could all increases in crime; there were other factors in play.  The Chief Constable highlighted shoplifting in particular as an area where the punishments and risks were relatively small.  He anticipated a continuing rise in sexual violence as more victims felt confident in reporting the crime.

·         The public's confidence in West Mercia Police was high, although below the national average, and victim satisfaction was over 85%.  This did not mean the Police were complacent, the 15% who were dissatisfied could be the most vulnerable and the Police worked hard to understand their experience. 

·         The issue of mental health support for young people and adults was discussed.  There was a mental health crisis concordat board in place involving a wide range of partners, which had been looking at triage arrangements and solutions to taking people with mental health problems into the custody suite.  There had been a seismic shift in the way people in a mental health emergency were looked after.  The number of adults with mental health problems being taken into custody suites had fallen to single figures and there were no children or young people being taken to custody blocks.  This was thanks to a lot of work by NHS colleagues.  Some work still needed to be done on police officers accompanying people to A&E, where they may have to wait hours to transfer to medical staff, discussions were taking place on how to convey patients to A&E.  It was not always best to involved the police when someone with mental health problems was violent in a health setting and this was also being looked at.  This area was moving in the right direction and the PCC had been instrumental in this.  The police would call a doctor to assess someone if they had concerns in the custody suite about the person's mental health.  There was also access to psychiatric staff.  They had looked at having a mental health nurse on duty in police cars, but there were not enough incidents to justify this. 

·         Members asked about the return on investment and what the measurable outputs were.  The overall aim was to reduce crime, reduce harm and reduce the number of victims.  There was a strategic commissioning framework being developed which would initially aim to understand the profile of crime and then what services were in place to reduce them.  The Strategy would also set out what outcomes were trying to be achieved.  It was important that all community safety partnerships were working to the same outcomes - the Police and Crime Plan contained 11 objectives that all were trying to achieve.  It was important to get value for money outcomes from the investment. 

·         The Panel asked about the progress being made on discussions with local authorities about youth services.  It was vital to engage young people to help prevent them from taking up crime and the impact of any budget reductions by local authorities needed to be closely monitored.  Members suggested that detailed discussions could be started as most councils would already be aware of the reductions they were likely to make.

·         Community Speed Watch was a positive initiative that had been successful.  It would be rolled out as resourcing allowed.

·         In relation to the Rural Crime and Business Crime Strategies – it was noted that shoplifting had increased and that some rural businesses were being forced to become online only.  The Commissioner was working in partnership with the federation of Small Businesses on this and needed to ensure that all shoplifting was reported.  Shops also had some responsibility to help design out crime.  The impact of funding reductions was starting to be felt with fewer resources available for village centres.  There was a balance to be struck when prioritising resources in relation to harm caused.