Agenda item

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) reported that he was in the process of developing a series of strategies which he would share with the Panel when they had been consulted upon.

The PCC’s draft Rural Crime Strategy, which the Panel had discussed initially at its last meeting, was consulted upon between 10 October - 8 November 2019. The report detailed how the Strategy Consultation was publicised and the PCC reiterated that he was keen to ensure that everyone received the same level of service and had confidence in the Police.  He encouraged the Panel to comment on the Strategy to add rigour to the process.

During the discussion, the following main points were discussed:

·         Considering the breadth of the Consultation, a Member suggested that the response rate was quite low (38 online responses and 3 responses directly to the PCC).  It was questioned therefore whether the responses were meaningful.  The PCC acknowledged that he would have liked a better response rate and welcomed any ideas for future consultations, he added that he held question and answer sessions in local communities as well as using case work to inform the process and that the Consultation wasn’t the end of the journey.

·         It was suggested that a 4 week Consultation spanning over a half term school holiday was an insufficient period of time to consult and it should have been 8 or 12 weeks long.  The PCC explained that he had previously carried out a 12 week consultation and unfortunately the response rate hadn’t been any better, he added that there would be refreshes of the Strategy and he would still take any responses to Consultation at the moment, even though it had closed.

·         A Member asked the PCC if he would consider a more structured approach to communicating with communities, rather than the current ad-hoc approach, to which the PCC advised that he had worked very hard over the last 3 years to improve communication and was always willing and open to discussions and invitations, but other partners needed to take part too.  It was suggested that a one state approach to communication ie Police/Fire/Council would raise public confidence.

·         The Chief Constable added that Superintendent’s had structured relationships with local councils and had a good understanding of local issues, but it was also important to have flexibility too.

·         One of the email responses to the Consultation suggested that the Get Safe initiative had not been adopted in Herefordshire. The PCC agreed to check and report back to the Panel.

·         The point was made that key performance indicators relating to rural crime should be included in the regular performance summary received by the Panel at each meeting.  It was agreed that Delivery Plan and KPI’s would be shared with the Panel when available.

·         It was confirmed that Community Speedwatch groups were required to put out the advanced warning signs for the period of monitoring.

·         It was suggested death as a result of speeding was a big concern and consideration should be given to simple cost effective schemes.  The PCC agreed and advised that average speed camera technology would be investigated in the coming months.

·         In response to the question about whether the PCC had sufficient information from the Consultation and whether consideration was being given to extending the Consultation.  The PCC advised that he had sufficient information and was concerned that if the Consultation period was extended, it would be in the ‘purdah’ period prior to the national government elections.  It was intended that the Strategy would be a ‘live’ document.

·         The Chairman of the Panel advised that he had met with representatives of the National Farmers Union to discuss the draft Strategy and had been advised that:

Ø  where a rural business crime had been committed, it was important that police officers were aware that often these crimes took place next to a victim’s home

Ø  it was also helpful where there was a spate of crimes, for police officers to remind communities about preventative actions which could be taken.

The Chairman summed up the discussion, which had covered communication, timing and technology around the Consultation as well as the need for KPI’s which would be shared with the Panel when available.

The PCC confirmed that the points discussed would be reflected in the Strategy.