Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Apologies for non-attendance were received from Councillors Brown, Carr and Pritchard substituted by Councillors Lunn, Irwin and Clark respectively.

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.

None received.

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 reminded the Panel:

·       The meeting would be webcast live and participants would need to utilise their microphones. 

·       That, with a full agenda, members should make their discussion focussed.

To confirm the minutes of previous Panel meetings

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel public meeting held on 6 July 2022 be approved.

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel private meeting held on 6 July 2022 be approved.

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel public meeting held on 19 July 2022 be approved.

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel public meeting held on 6 July 2022 be approved.

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel private meeting held on 6 July 2022 be approved.

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the Police, Fire and Crime Panel public meeting held on 19 July 2022 be approved.

Guide time: 1.15 – 1.45pm

RESOLVED that:

a)  The panel notes the Joint Independent Audit Committee Annual Report 2021/22.

b)  The Panel agreed the Chair would write to the Home Secretary regarding the delays in the completion of external audits.

c)  The Panel requests the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner to present an update on the Estates Strategy to the Police, Fire and Crime Panel work programme.

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) stated that he was sure all present sent their best wishes to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II given emerging news about the state of her health.

The PFCC commented that the Joint Independent Audit Committee (JIAC) had supported the effective governance of the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) and assisted him to hold the Chief Constable to account.  The importance of the JIAC’s role in assisting, and the provision of critical oversight of the work of the PFCC was noted.  It was further considered best practice to bring the JIAC’s annual report to the Police Fire and Crime Panel. 

The Chair of the JIAC then presented the report and highlighted the following points:

·       The JIAC had recruited a new member and was undergoing a further recruitment exercise to fill the remaining vacancy.

·       The JIAC report provided a summary of activities from the financial year 2021/22 and provided assurance of good governance and practice.

·       The JIAC had considered its terms of reference in 2021/2022 and it was not proposed to make any changes to them at this point.

·       The JIAC was pleased to note that positive steps had been made to improve the quality of reporting and that the force and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) had adopted the same format and structure for reports and in some cases had combined reporting bring consistency to the reports.

·       The JIAC also commented that the officers had been supportive of the JIAC’s work and operated in an open and transparent manner.

·       External audit had not yet signed off the 2020/2021 accounts. The JIAC and OPFCC had taken all possible action to try to address this. Not being a named party on the external audit contract had restricted the ability of the OPFCC to progress the matter to a conclusion. 

·           A project to bring enabling services back in-house was being progressed and the JIAC would continue to focus on the project as one of their key work streams.

·       The JIAC had taken part in an Estates Programme Workshop, to appreciate how estates had been impacted by different working modes, the link with capital budget, audits recommendations and the completed actions plans.  It had been identified that this would be a longer term project, estimated to be a 20 year programme. 

·       The Chair commended the work carried out by the JIAC and the due diligence shown in approaching the challenges dealt with during the year.

The Panel considered the Annual Report and members made the following points during the course of their discussion:

·       Delays in the completion of external audits caused concern and the Panel asked for clarification on how the OPFCC would manage associated risks. 

·       The Panel discussed the merits of the Chair of the Police Fire and Crime Panel also making representations to the Home Secretary. 

·       The OPFCC team should be commended for their efforts to resolve the outstanding issue relating to the auditing of the accounts.

·       Would the setting of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

Guide time: 1.45 – 2.15pm

RESOLVED that:

a)  The panel notes the Police, Fire & Crime Plan Delivery Report.

b)  The Panel requests the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner to hold a briefing for Panel members to receive the detail behind the performance measures included in the Police, Fire & Crime Plan Delivery Update.

c)  The Panel requests the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner provide an interim evaluation of the Safer Streets Projects.

d)  The Panel request the opportunity to observe the Stop and Search working group.

The PFCC presented the Police, Fire and Crime Plan Delivery update and highlighted the following points:

·           This was the first update presented to the Panel on the new Police, Fire and Crime Plan and he welcomed any feedback on the format used.

·           The delivery update included some Force performance data published on the OPFCC website as context and to show how the Force, and NFRS, were held to account for their performance.

·           A further bid for the Safer Streets funds had been successful.

·           The OPFCC Community Road Safety Fund identified up to £5k to allocate to community groups, schools parish and town councils to enable them to implement solutions to identified road safety issues in the local community.

·           Grants provided had included the installation of vehicle activated signs, school road safety systems, installation of village gates at a rural location to slow down traffic and educational programmes for the riding of scooters.

·           Through the Youth Commission the OPFCC had delivered a consultation exercise with young people on the subject of road safety resulting in a new version of the educational video ‘Too Fast, Too Soon; a new educational production on the breaking and stopping distances and the consequence of speeding.

·           The OPFCC had also provided funds to projects to educate young, vulnerable groups on the road, through the Car Craft Event and the Bike Safe Scheme.

·           Funding had been put in place for the Under 18 pathfinder Scheme.

·           The update demonstrated the breadth of work done by the OPFCC.

The Panel considered the report and members made the following points during the course of their discussion:

·           It would be beneficial to the Panel to receive a detailed report on Road Safety at a future Panel meeting.

·           Sickness levels and interoperability had been a concern in the report and confirmation was sought that the situation had improved to the satisfaction of the PFCC.

·           Whilst it was noted that the PFCC was satisfied with the Chief Constable’s measure of success against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) it would be helpful for the Panel to have more access to performance information that would enable it to make comparisons between performance at different times.

·           Would the PFCC have any suggestions for the Council to address the significant rise in Cold Calling? 

·           Did the PFCC consider crimes were recorded in a timely manner?

·           The Panel gave consideration to the merits of the OFPCC canvassing members of the public to gauge their perceptions of contact with the Police Force as an additional source of data.

·           Improvements had been made within the Force and attitudes had improved and there was no evidence of complacency.  It was asked that message be conveyed

·           Could the PFCC provide reassurance to the public that adequate funding was being provided to the Chief Constable to enable sufficient support to the victims of rape and other sexual offences and violence against a person in light of the increase in recorded offences evidenced in the statistics.

·           Had the Force fully utilised all opportunities to engage  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

Guide time: 2.15 – 2.45pm

RESOLVED that:

a)  The panel notes the HMICFRS Report.

b)  The Panel requests the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner provide sight of actions plans developed to address areas for improvement in service delivery as identified in the HRICFRS 2021/22 Inspection.

The PFCC presented the Outcomes of the HMICFRS 2021/2022 inspection of Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service and highlighted the following points:

• HMICFRS independent assessment had confirmed that NFRS provided a much improved service in keeping the county safe.  Values and Inclusion had been identified as an area for improvement.  The improvement of culture would be a key priority for the new Chief Fire Officer, the progress would be monitored and reported to the Panel.

• Further opportunities for collaboration would be identified within NFRS as the services embedded.

•  The HMICFRS report identified that NFRS had made significant progress and he was proud of this. 

The Panel considered the report and members made the following points during the course of their discussion:

• The HMICFRS report referred to the shortfall in the service’s ICT infrastructure and it was questioned whether this reflected that improvements made as part of the development of Enabling Services were not in-place at that point.

• Reassurance was sought that the PFCC had a robust process, action plan or strategy in place to address the HMICFRS’s concerns with regard to, ensuring fairness and promoting diversity and managing performance and developing leaders, in order to engage and support staff - to improve the service; care of staff and to implement succession planning.

• Having undergone a successful recruitment process with 19 posts having been filled, the benefit and progress towards addressing the concerns in the HMICFRS report would be seen when they were established within post.

• The report had highlighted both Efficiency and Effectiveness as ‘good’ reflecting improvement in these areas, with room for improvement, which the PFCC had demonstrated he was addressing.

The PFCC made the following points during the course of the discussion:

• As a consequence of enabling services, a team of approximately 70 staff were now able to provide IT support to the NFRS.  As an example of the PFCC’s commitment to continuous improvement, the OPFCC had undertaken a procurement exercise for a new Command and Control Service for the NFRS.

• Subsequent to the issue of the inspector’s report, a Statutory Action Plan had been produced for NFRS and would be submitted to the HMICFRS.  Whilst he held a view of what should be included in the wider action plan, the ownership and implementation of the plan would be the responsibility of the incoming Chief Fire Officer. The wider plan would be shared in due course.

• Whilst Equality had been highlighted as an area for improvement in the HMICFRS report, it had been previously been noted as an area of concern through the NFRS accountability process.  He informed the Panel that he was committed to changing behaviours in order to create a working environment where staff felt safe and respected thereby allowing staff to maximise their full potential.

• Whilst the report had identified that there were areas of non-compliance with the Equality Act 2010 by NFRS he was confident that robust procedures were in place to challenge and address the unacceptable cultural attitudes.

•  Implementation of change had begun on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

Guide time: 2.45 – 3.15pm

RESOLVED that: the information contained in the Automated Number Plate Recognition presentation be noted.

The PFCC introduced the presentation and highlighted the following points:

·       ANPR was used to detect, deter and disrupt criminality at local force, regional and national level.

·       £1.3 million investment in ANPR technology had doubled the network coverage across Northamptonshire; in Northampton, rural areas, other major towns and at the county borders.

The OPFCC Director of Delivery, and the Chief Superintendent – Enabling Services, delivered a presentation giving an overview of the development and use of ANPR in Northamptonshire and the outcomes achieved.

The OPFCC Director of Delivery highlighted the following points:

A description of the functionality of ANPR was given:

·      ANPR technology was used to detect, deter and disrupt criminal activity at a local, force, regional and national level. When a vehicle passed an ANPR camera, its registration number would be read and instantly checked against database records of vehicles of interest.

·      Police officers could then stop the vehicle, speak to the occupants and, where necessary, make arrests.

Objectives relating to the use of ANPR were two-fold, to improve capability and the response to fighting crime:

·      Protecting the county border, increasing protection of rural areas, increasing protection of county towns, improving the response to emerging crime series, preventing & disrupting crime and increasing intelligence resource to process data & support network.

Highlights of the recent ANPR Expansion were:

·      The installation of 150 additional camera sites (161 cameras), the addition of 7 new car kits in-build and 10 rapid deployment cameras being regularly used across the county.  And increased staffing resources; 1 ANPR Field engineer, 1 Auditor and 3 additional Intel Officers.

The OPFCC Director of Delivery further noted:

·     The aim of the ANPR Extension Programme undertaken was a high-level strategic examination of situation within Northamptonshire with a view to increasing the capability of the organisation to address criminal activity. 

·      Northamptonshire shared borders with 8 counties.

·       Review the map of Northamptonshire and identified the roads used to access the county.

·       Examined the effectiveness of coverage of the existing ANPR cameras in both rural and urban areas.

·      Placing 150 additional cameras in hot spots in Northampton, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Daventry, Towcester, Rushden and in the town centre. 20 new cameras would be added to sites owned by Highways England.

·     Improving the force response to emerging crime.

·       Preventing and disrupting criminals and restricting passage across Northamptonshire’s roads.

·       Increasing the use of ANPR intelligence to gather retrospective evidence, post criminal offence.

·       Capital investment of £1.3 million had been allocated to the ANPR project.

·       The project was funded from the excess monies collected from speeding fines and payments for attendance at speed awareness courses.

·       2.5 to 3.2 million number plates would be read daily in Northamptonshire.  The OPFCC had allocated staffing from existing resources to analyse the data.

The Chief Superintendent – Enabling Services highlighted the following points:

·       The Number of ANPR Activations for the period 1 January 2022 – 31 March 2022 totalled 267,927.

·       137,638 (51%) of activations had been on the existing cameras.

·       130,289 (49%) activations on the new cameras.

·       Individual vehicle activations for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 89.

Guide time: 3.15 – 3.30pm

RESOLVED that: the panel notes the Fire & Rescue Authority Budget Report.

The PFCC presented the report, highlighting that it set out the latest forecast budget position in the context of a very uncertain economic situation. The Chief Finance Officer emphasised that early outturn forecasts were always prudent and represented the position without any mitigating action.

The Panel considered the report and members raised the following points during the course of discussion:

·         Further information was sought on the reasons for the forecast overspend on wholetime response.

·         The Fire Brigades Union had rejected the national pay offer of a 2% increase. It was questioned whether there was any provision in reserves for a higher pay offer should this result.

The Chief Finance Officer provided additional information in response to points raised by members during the course of discussion as follows:

·         The forecast overspend on wholetime response was the result of various factors, including the very hot summer, continuing COVID-19 sickness absences at the start of the year and a prudent approach to managing the impact of in-year retirements. The PFCC maintained oversight of the forecast outturn position, which was improving as the year progressed as should be expected.

·         The Chief Finance Officer had regular discussions with the Home Office about Fire & Rescue finances, which would help to inform its view about whether there was a case for providing additional resources.

·         Both NFRS and the force were affected by the impact of the current economic situation on their supply chains and operating costs.

·         The PFCC had some reserves that could be used to mitigate the impact of the national pay offer as far as possible, but there were already pressures on the base budget. If necessary, a case for additional resources connected with the pay offer would be made to the Home Office.  

The PFCC made the following points during the course of discussion:

·         All of the eight new fire appliances procured for NFRS had now been delivered. Four were operational and the remainder would be brought on-stream in the next few weeks.

·         Representations were already being made to the government about the need to recognise the local impact of future pay awards for both firefighters and police officers. 

RESOLVED that: the Panel notes the Fire & Rescue Authority Budget Report.

Guide time: 3.30 – 3.45pm

RESOLVED that:

a)  The panel notes the Policing Budget Report.

b)  The panel requests the Police, Fire, and Crime Commissioner to provide the panel with the number of vehicles that had been written off in the year, for Northamptonshire.

The PFCC presented the report setting out an overview of the latest position concerning the policing budget.

The Panel considered the report. The PFCC responded to points raised by members during the course of discussion as follows:

·         It was still intended that the force should have 1,501 police officers by the end of March 2023. It was on-track to achieve this target and the aim was then to sustain the establishment at this level.

·         The operating costs of all properties in the estate were continually monitored, although pressures would remain. In the longer term the aim was to move to a smaller number of more efficient buildings. Lessons learned from operating Darby House where applied to other properties. 

The Chief Finance Officer provided additional information in response to points raised by members during the course of discussion as follows:

·         The PFCC had written to the government in 2021 concerning delays in the completion of external audits of the policing budgets. The Chief Finance Officer was currently co-ordinating further representations on behalf of all of her counterparts in the East Midlands.

·         The forecast outturn position had improved slightly in July 2022 but the force continued to face different pressures. This was why the Chief Constable was tasked with managing the budgets delegated to him within an overall envelope.

·         The number of police vehicles written off in the current year could be confirmed to the Panel following the meeting.    

RESOLVED that:

a)     The Panel notes the Policing Budget Report.

b)     The Panel requests the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner to provide the panel with the number of vehicles that had been written off in the year, for Northamptonshire.

Guide time: 3.45 – 4.15pm

RESOLVED that: the work program for 2022/23 should include the following matters:

a)  The Panel agrees the proposed scope for scrutiny work on Early Intervention activity, subject to the following amendments: 

?-  Mrs Shields and Councillor Lunn would be added to the membership of the working group.

?-Miss Woodhouse would be involved in reviewing the draft report.

b)  The Panel agrees to hold (virtual) pre-meetings ahead of future Panel meetings following publication of the agenda papers. 

c)  The Panel requests that a private briefing session with the Chief Constable on Northamptonshire Police’s current priorities, challenges and performance be arranged around the Panel meeting on 1^st December 2022 or as soon as possible afterwards. 

The Democratic Services Assistant Manager presented the report setting out the Panel’s overall work programme for 2022/23. The Panel was also asked to consider and agree the draft scope for proposed in-depth scrutiny work on early intervention, which had been drawn up by members appointed to the working group set up for this purpose. The draft scope was being presented to the current meeting with a view to enabling this work to progress.

The Panel considered the draft scope. Councillor McGhee, as the suggested chair for the working group, emphasised that it would be excellent for the Panel to commit to this valuable piece of work, which would be carried out constructively and with a view to assisting the PFCC.

The PFCC commented that work by the Panel on early intervention could assist in ensuring that relevant partners such as the two Northamptonshire local authorities were working together to best effect. This would reflect that expenditure by the OPFCC on early intervention represented a relatively small proportion of overall expenditure in the county.

Panel members made the following additional points:

·         The choice of topic reflected that the Panel saw early intervention as an important part of the PFCC’s remit.

·         The two local authorities in Northamptonshire should be involved in the work as evidence-providers.

·         Mrs Shields and Councillor Lunn expressed an interest in being involved in the working group. Miss Woodhouse also offered to contribute at the report-writing stage if this would be helpful.    

The Chair subsequently invited Panel members to raise any points on the overall work programme that they wished the Panel to consider. A Panel member reiterated that the Panel should invite the Chief Constable to attend the Panel meeting on 1^st December 2022 to give an overview of the force’s current priorities, challenges and performance. Panel members commented that it might be more productive to hold a separate briefing session on this topic, as the Panel had done in the past. This could possibly be organised around the next Panel meeting, although the two sessions would need to be co-ordinated effectively.   

The Chair advised that the National Association of Police, Fire & Crime Panels had recently discussed the use of pre-meetings by different panels to identify and co-ordinate lines of enquiry ahead of their formal meetings. The Panel considered the potential benefit and practicalities of adopting this approach. It was highlighted that a separate pre-meeting held between the publication of agenda papers and the respective Panel meeting could be organised as a virtual meeting.

RESOLVED that:

a)   The Panel agrees the proposed scope for scrutiny work on Early Intervention activity, subject to the following amendments:

·         Mrs Shields and Councillor Lunn would be added to the membership of the working group.

·         Miss Woodhouse would be involved in reviewing the draft report.

b)   The Panel agrees to hold virtual pre-meetings ahead of future Panel meetings following publication of the agenda papers.

c)   The Panel requests that a private briefing session with the Chief Constable on Northamptonshire Police’s current priorities,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.

Guide time: 4.15 – 4.30pm

RESOLVED that: the panel notes the Complaints and Conduct Matters Report.

The Democratic Services Assistant Manager presented the report, which advised that no new complaints or conduct matters relating to the PFCC had been recorded during the period April – August 2022. One existing complaint had been subject to Informal Resolution by the Panel’s Complaints Sub Committee.

The Chair invited Panel members to raise any points relating to the report that they wished the Panel to consider.

RESOLVED that: the Panel notes the Complaints and Conduct Matters Update.

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.