Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Apologies for non-attendance were received from Councillors Gonzalez De Savage, Roberts and Strachan. Councillor Ashraf substituted for Councillor Strachan.

The Panel was advised that Councillor Gonzalez De Savage was currently not able to attend in-person meetings but would be following the live webcast of the Panel meeting.

Any requests to speak on an item on the agenda should be notified to the Chair (c/o the Committee Manager) by 12 noon two working days before the date of the meeting.

Requests to address the meeting on agenda item 6 (the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner's proposed Police Precept for 2022/23) were received from:

·         Ms Shirley Jones

·         Mr Aaron Preston

The Panel was advised that Mr Preston was present but had asked that his address be read on his behalf.

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

None declared.

To receive communications from the Chair.

The Chair welcomed all those present to the meeting and made the following points:

·         The meeting was being webcast live and participants were asked to use their microphones.

·         The agenda for the current meeting featured guide times for individual agenda items, as agreed by the Panel. Panel members were encouraged to follow these. 

·         The Chair had participated in a recent Home Office workshop on developing training for Police & Crime panels.

To confirm the minutes of the Panel meeting held on 16^th December 2021.

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the Police, Fire & Crime Panel meeting held on 16^th December 2021 be approved, subject to the amendment of minute 30 sixth bullet point to read: “Previous investment had put the force on course to have 1,500 officers by 2023.”

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the Police, Fire & Crime Panel meeting held on 16^th December 2021 be approved, subject to the amendment of minute 30 sixth bullet point to read: “Previous investment had put the force on course to have 1,500 officers by 2023.”

The PFCC presented the proposed Police precept and budget for 2022/23, which were based on an increase in the precept of £10 per year for Band D Council Tax. The PFCC highlighted the following points:

·         The proposed precept and budget had been developed against the background of significant financial uncertainty.

·         The 2021 Spending Review had provided a three-year funding settlement and the flexibility to increase the Police precept by £10 in each year to 2024/25. At the same time, public bodies faced pressures resulting from increases in the cost of living and the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

·         This situation added to the importance of consulting Northamptonshire residents on the proposed precept. In this case, 50.3 per cent of those replying to public consultation indicated that they would be prepared to pay a £10 increase; 42.9 per cent of those replying thought that Northamptonshire Police was doing a good or excellent job.

·         He needed to strike the right balance between competing demands when setting the precept. He considered that the proposed precept did this and that it represented the best deal for Northamptonshire.

·         The proposed precept and budget for 2022/23 would support a further increase in the number of police officers in the county to 1,500; provide investment in early intervention; and would include ring-fenced funding for other action to support the delivery of his Police, Fire & Crime Plan priorities.

·         The proposed precept and budget would provide funding for the capital programme and for reserves to meet unforeseen demand.

·         Medium term savings would still need to be made but the proposed precept would enable him to set a balanced budget over three years for the first time.

·         Funding for policing in Northamptonshire had not kept pace with local growth and he would continue to press for the police funding formula to be updated, as well as working with his counterparts on the response to other national challenges such as future pension costs.

·         He commended the proposed precept as a robust proposal that would produce a balanced budget over the next three years and that would support his strategic priorities.

Ms Shirley Jones addressed the meeting and made the following points:

·         She had recently been in contact with Northamptonshire Police as a service-user. The force was very stretched and in her case it had not fulfilled its statutory duties: it had not been able to download CCTV footage within six months, which had meant that a case was not able to proceed.

·         The small budget for the Office of the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) showed in the standard of service provided at times. She thought that correspondence and complaints could be dealt with better.

·         The Northamptonshire Police Professional Standards Department (PSD) had taken over eight weeks to acknowledge a complaint that she had made and would not respond to related queries. The police complaints process should treat complainants fairly.

·         She believed that her experiences reflected that Northamptonshire Police was funded poorly.

The Democratic Services Assistant Manager read out the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The PFCC presented the proposed Fire precept and budget for 2022/23, which were based on an increase in the precept of £5 per year for Band D Council Tax. The PFCC highlighted the following points:

·         The proposed precept and budget came at a time of significant financial uncertainty, as a result of the one-year funding settlement announced by the government and increases in the cost of living.

·         This situation made it particularly important to consider how any increase in the precept would affect Northamptonshire residents and to ensure that the budget he set was sustainable.

·         Since becoming the fire and rescue authority in 2019 he had taken action to build a sustainable base budget, establish a realistic capital programme and increase reserves. He had also continued to make a case to the government for recognition of the particular financial pressures faced by the authority. This case had been heard: the government had given Northamptonshire and the other seven lowest charging fire and rescue authorities one-off flexibility to raise the precept by £5 in 2022/23.

·         Taking the option of raising the precept by £5 would generate almost £1m in additional funding for Northamptonshire and with some medium term savings would enable him to set a balanced budget over the next three years, with an integrated capital programme and stronger reserves.

·         Responses to public consultation were supportive of the proposed precept:
61.3 per cent of those replying were prepared to pay an increase of at least £5, whilst 63.7 per cent thought that Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service (NFRS) was doing a good or excellent job.

·         The proposed budget for 2022/23 was almost £4.6m more than it had been in 2019. He was proud of the progress that had been made in this time.

·         He considered that the precept proposed for 2022/23 would produce a fair and deliverable budget that represented the best deal for Northamptonshire residents and that would support the future of a vital service.

The Panel considered the proposed Fire precept.

The Panel questioned the PFCC about the resources available to NFRS relative to the demands on it. Panel members made the following points:

·         The additional resources that the PFCC had provided since 2019 were welcome but if the proposed precept and budget were agreed Northamptonshire would still be the second lowest precepting fire and rescue authority in the country, with the second lowest core spending power and the lowest reserves.

·         Progress was being made and the additional precept flexibility permitted by the government was positive but parity remained some distance away.

·         It was questioned whether a £5 increase in the precept was sufficient in light of the significant pressures on NFRS. NFRS needed to have sufficient officers and equipment to deal with the risks that could result from increasing residential and commercial development in the county, such as fires in large warehouses.

·         Reassurance was sought about the prospective impact of opening HMP Five Wells on local resources.

The PFCC made the following points:

·         It had taken some effort to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

RESOLVED that:

a)    The Panel requests that a visit to Darby House for Panel members be combined with briefing sessions with the Chief Constable and the Chief Fire Officer on their respective service’s priorities and challenges.

b)    The Panel agrees that Panel members should suggest topics for future briefing sessions to the Secretariat to enable a programme of sessions to be produced. 

c)    The Panel agrees to include a briefing session on the use of telematics in Northamptonshire in the programme of briefing sessions.

d)    The Panel agrees that the agenda for its meeting on 14^th April 2022 should include the following items of business:

·         An overview of work on Early Intervention and Adverse Childhood Experiences in Northamptonshire.

·         An overview of priorities in Northamptonshire with regard to managing fire safety risks in residential properties, including risks associated with houses in multiple occupation.

·         Short updates on the Police and Fire & Rescue Authority 2021/22 budget positions.

The Democratic Services Assistant Manager presented the report setting out the latest version of the Panel’s work programme, highlighting the following points:

·         The work programme reflected resolutions from the last Panel meeting requesting a report on fire safety risks in residential properties for the meeting on 14^th April 2022 and identifying children and young people’s involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour as a possible topic for future scrutiny, subject to further consideration of the practicalities involved. 

·         The PFCC had offered to give the Panel a presentation on the telematics system earlier in the current meeting.

·         The potential for Panel members to visit Darby House had been highlighted again at the current meeting. 

The Chair suggested that a visit to Darby House should be combined with a briefing session with the Chief Constable and Chief Fire Officer as the Panel had previously intended. The Chair also highlighted that the reserve Panel meeting on 17^th February 2022 did not need to take place as the Panel had supporter both of the proposed precepts for 2022/23.

The Panel considered the report. Members highlighted modern slavery and the role of Trading Standards in dealing with crime as potential topics that the Panel could include in its work programme. The Chair noted that trading standards was more of a topic for local authority scrutiny. The PFCC advised that he could provide briefings to the Panel on a range of topics, such as modern slavery or the vehicle fleet. He encouraged the Panel to identify the topics that it wanted to cover so that the Panel Secretariat and the OPFCC could produce a schedule.

The Panel went on to consider how to move forward with potential work on children and young people’s involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour. Members made the following points during the course of discussion:

·         This was a pressing issue affecting the county. If there was an opportunity for the Panel to help to address it then it should do so.

·         It would be a good starting point for the Panel to seek a presentation from those involved in work on this topic. That would help the Panel to identify if a piece of task and finish work was necessary.

·         The Panel could scrutinise whether the PFCC was holding the force to account effectively for the contribution it was making to preventing young people from becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour.

·         The proposed topic was very broad. The Panel should be clear about the focus of any work.

·         Any work by the Panel should reflect that its role was to scrutinise and support the PFCC. It could be counterproductive for the Panel to seek to scrutinise issues for which the PFCC was not responsible.

·         Many aspects of the suggested topic were likely to be covered by the work of the Community Safety Partnerships. However, it could still be useful for the Panel to have a briefing.

·         The topic of children and young people’s involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

RESOLVED that: the Panel agrees the following meeting dates for 2022/23:

·         23^rd June 2022

·         8^th September 2022

·         1^st December 2022

·         2^nd February 2023 Report

·         16^th February 2023 (Reserve)

·         20^th April 2023

All meetings to start at 1.00pm. All meetings to take place at local authority venues in Northampton.

The Chair introduced the report setting out proposed meeting dates for the Panel in the next municipal year.

The Panel considered the report. A member questioned that the current Panel was being asked to set dates for 2022/23 when the councillor membership could change in the meantime. The Chair responded that the proposed dates provided a basis on which to proceed; individual dates could be changed later if the need arose.

RESOLVED that: the Panel agrees the following meeting dates for 2022/23:

·         23^rd June 2022

·         8^th September 2022

·         1^st December 2022

·         2^nd February 2023 Report

·         16^th February 2023 (Reserve)

·         20^th April 2023

All meetings to start at 1.00pm. All meetings to take place at local authority venues in Northampton.

The Chair to advise whether they have agreed to any items of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There were no items of urgent business.