Agenda item

Police & Crime Plan Delivery Update

Decision:

RESOLVED that: the Panel notes the report.

Minutes:

The PFCC presented the report, highlighting the following points:

·         A range of significant work continued to support the delivery of his Police & Crime Plan priorities.

·         The OPFCC had secured £300,000 from the Home Office Safety of Women at Night Fund to support local crime-fighting projects. This was the latest in a series of successful funding bids.

·         The OPFCC had introduced a Safer Nights Out (SNO) van in Northampton in the previous week. The SNOvan provided support to people out at night-time and had engaged with other 100 people on its first night of operation.

·         The breadth of early intervention activity in the county continued to deliver benefits. The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) team had helped to support 1,800 young people from over 1,000 families since it was established in January 2021. This activity helped to prevent crime and to support young people to make better life choices.

·         Two new neighbourhood Beat Buses now operating in the county were helping to support visible policing, public engagement with and confidence in the force.

·         The OPFCC had obtained nearly £3m funding for Northamptonshire from the Home Office Safer Streets Fund. The resulting projects demonstrated the value of targeted work done in partnership with the force.

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

·         The new retail crime investigator post funded by the OPFCC was a positive development for Northamptonshire. Actions to enhance the local response to people with mental health needs were also welcome.

·         The PFCC should seek to broaden the funding streams providing resources for Northamptonshire as far as possible.

·         The focus on safety for women reflected in the report was supported.

·         It was questioned how the issue of ‘spiking’ was being addressed in Northamptonshire. Brighton was an example of an area that seemed to employ more safety measures, such as metal detectors on the doors of licensed premises and the operation of a safety word scheme. It was questioned whether the PFCC was able to enforce good practice in this regard.

·         Performance against the Police & Crime Plan outcome for victim satisfaction showed a 76.2 per cent overall satisfaction rate for the last 12-month period compared to 76.6 per cent for the same period in the previous year. Reassurance was sought that action was being taken to address this decrease.

·         Reassurance was sought that the PFCC was holding to account the Chief Constable for the quality of court files produced by the force, given concerns on this point connected with the fact that the first-time guilty plea rate at Northampton Magistrates Court in September 2021 had been at the lowest level since 2018.

·         The PEEL 2021/22 inspection report on Northamptonshire Police had raised the need for more investment in digital capability to address delays in investigating devices involved in crimes. It was questioned whether more additional resources were being provided for this purpose.

·         Concern was raised that the PEEL 2021/22 inspection report stated that 42 per cent of Northamptonshire Police officers had left voluntarily before their expected retirement date compared to a national average of 28.3 per cent. The PFCC was challenged about what action he was taking to help the Chief Constable to retain officers.

·         The employment package offered by the Metropolitan Police represented a challenge for Northamptonshire, given its proximity to London.

·         It was questioned what impact the development of HMP Five Wells in Wellingborough would have on community safety in Northamptonshire.

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

·         The force carried out targeted operations that would help to address ‘spiking’. He was confident that the force had a robust strategy.

·         His vision for the force since he had been elected was that it should make Northamptonshire a place in which a young woman could go out and about in safety.

·         Pubwatch was quite well-supported in Northamptonshire but was a voluntary scheme. Local discussion about safety in the night-time economy had identified those additional measures used in other areas. However, these could not be imposed by the force.

·         The SNOvan was a trial project and he would aim to roll it out to other parts of Northamptonshire if it was successful in Northampton.

·         One of his current concerns was regarding the issue of victim and witness attrition. The backlog in the justice system could encourage some defendants to enter a not guilty plea with a view just to lengthening proceedings. This could create a difficult situation for victims and witnesses who wanted to be able to move on with their lives. He considered that a defendant who took this approach and was convicted should receive a higher tariff.

·         Factors contributing to victim satisfaction needed to be kept under constant review to ensure an effective approach. At the same time, the PFCC was not solely responsible for issues that could have an effect: the OPFCC was currently providing additional resources for the Sunflower Centre as local authority funding had not been increased despite a previous agreement to do so.

·         HMICFRS had previously concluded that Northamptonshire Police did not have enough qualified detectives but he was confident that the force was now in a better position. He did challenge the Chief Constable robustly to improve performance in areas where this was shown to be necessary.

·         The PEEL 2021/22 inspection report on the force had been frustrating as it did not seem to acknowledge improvements that had already been made in areas including digital capability. The force had just made the largest ever drugs bust in its history. This had resulted from an effective proactive approach to intelligence-gathering and the use of digital capability.  

·         The PEEL 2021/22 inspection report was based on a particular point in time. The force had faced challenges in 2019 relating to attrition that were no longer the case. This related to the Police Education Qualifications Framework lowering the age of recruits. 

·         He was very conscious of how police recruitment in Northamptonshire could be affected by the proximity to London and had raised this in discussions with the Home Office about the funding formula. The fact that Northamptonshire had good transport links not only assisted people to work in other areas but could also bring crime into the county. He was currently working with West Northamptonshire Council on a future residential accommodation facility for police officers working in Northamptonshire.  

·         He commended the approach being taken by the HMP Five Wells management team and was working with them to manage the effect it would have on the county.

RESOLVED that: the Panel notes the report.

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