Agenda item

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 with the community and media to ensure resilience for the community funding projects initiatives and receive their observations?

 

·           It would be interesting for the Panel to hear how many of crime resolutions could be attributed to community agreements.

 

·           Historically Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), some funded by the Borough Council, had patrolled Northampton and had helped to prevent crime.  However, Police officers and PCSOs would not currently be considered visible.  A request was made that a copy of the PCSOs review referred to at the Police Accountability Board on 14 January 2022 be shared on completion and that the residents and Councillors of Northampton be engaged to improve relationships with the Force.

 

·           The Stop and Search statistics continued to indicate a disproportionate number of black people stopped. Could the PFCC provide a resolution to this concern?

 

·           It was noted that the PFCC had raised concerns at the Police Accountability Board on 8 March 2022 about a downturn in performance relating to information requests under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. This issue was not mentioned at the next Accountability Board meeting and reassurance was sought about the latest position.

 

·           The Panel should consider inviting the Chief Constable to attend a future Panel meeting to help to inform the Panel about how issues and challenges in Northamptonshire were being addressed.

 

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

 

• He was comfortable that both the force and NFRS had managed and monitored sickness well and would continue to do so.  The pandemic had caused particular concern from an accountability perspective.

 

• He continued to have concerns about interoperability. This was not a significant issue but he wanted both the Chief Constable and the Chief Fire Officer to understand his level of ambition, particularly in the current national financial situation. Whilst progress had been made to find efficiencies by; enabling services; sharing estates, fleet; and finances further efficiencies had been identified.

 

• He considered that the data appended to the report gave a good indication of the changing position on different types of crime. He monitored the overall position regularly and closely. It was essential to take a contextualised view of performance and also to think carefully about how data was discussed in public to avoid misunderstandings producing concerns

 

• The PFCC offered to hold an informal briefing session for the Panel to provide the detail behind the performance measures included in the Police, Fire & Crime Plan Delivery Update.

 

• Cold calling was a local authority responsibility although the Force was concerned by it. The increase in cold calling had been noted and the Force had initiated training with carers to enable them to identify the signs of fraud within the vulnerable community. 

 

• Northamptonshire Police was one of the few forces nationally rated as ‘good’ in terms of crime recording. The national crime recording regime should also be more reflective of the nuances of cases: for example, a victim of domestic violence could report multiple incidents but not want the police to follow up all of them

 

• He anticipated providing a briefing to the Panel to provide an overview of the performance monitoring in relation to the recording of victims of crime

 

• In response to the Panel’s queries regarding collection of data from the people that the police are serving and supporting the PFCC advised that in any given year, 96% of members of public would have no contact with the police. However, public feedback on performance was important and was sought in various ways. Enhancing neighbourhood policing was an example of an action that had been Informed by public views.

 

• He agreed that Northamptonshire Police was moving in the right direction. Several years ago the Force had effectively been put in ‘special measures’ by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). It was now in a mid-table position. The PFCC had made available additional resources, which enabled positive change and provided firm foundations for the future. This should be reflected in the next inspection by HMICFRS in 18 months.

 

• The national funding formula for policing seemed to favour areas with high crime rates. Success should be judged in terms of the absence of crime. He had provided feedback to the government about incentivising forces for the absence of crime. As PFCC he sought to focus on securing positive outcomes that satisfied victims of crime. The positive outcome rate was probably the issue he discussed most with the Chief Constable. 

 

• Delays in the criminal justice system had been a pressure point in achieving positive outcomes and could have a particular impact on women who had experienced sexual violence or domestic abuse.

 

• Domestic violence continued to be 20 to 25% of Northamptonshire Police’s daily demand. The PFCC had funded Project PIPA as part of the overall response to this demand, focussing on working with perpetrators to identify and change their behaviour. This approach assisted in producing positive outcomes to crimes and in enhancing the Force’s response to demand.

 

• Provision of early intervention and outreach to support families aiming to prevent adverse childhood experiences reduced the risk of the victim becoming the offender later in life.

 

• The Panel was aware of the effort he put into seeking to extract additional funding for Northamptonshire from the government. If crime rates continued to increase the PFCC did have some contingency that could be used to respond, for example by recruiting police officers above the target number. Preventing crime from occurring in the first place needed to be a key part of the overall response.

 

• Increase funding from government could see further investment in communities and in neighbourhood policing, which would help the Force to sustain the advances in crime prevention.

 

• Approximately 50 per cent of the PFCC’s budget would be attained through the Council Tax, which would provide a degree of resilience for future service provision.

 

• Safer Streets funding had been used to put in place street lights in Corby.

 

• The PFCC considered the relationship between the police and the public to be one of its most important strengths with modern technology being used to address misinformation on social media, resulting in improved public confidence.

 

• Community Resolution Agreements (CRAs) were monitored, and the statistics viewed in conjunction with local/national events to assess their impact. Recent delays within the criminal justice system had led to a reduction in CRAs.  The OPFCC had implemented CRA training for officers to facilitate and improve engagement with defence barristers.  Improved CRA rates would result in an increase in court availability, expediting hearings for significant crimes.

 

• An offer was made to connect outside of the Panel meeting to address a member’s concerns with regards to the use of Stop and Search and for members to view the Stop and Search Working Group that met to scrutinise each case.

 

• He still held virtual meetings every 4-6 weeks for councillors in different areas.

 

• He agreed that there were not enough PCSOs but those in place did a good job. The Chief Constable was responsible for the deployment of PCSOs. If Northamptonshire was to receive additional resources from the government this would be put into neighbourhood policing, which involved PCSOs. Parish councils could fund PCSOs and he was also in discussions about this with new town councils in the county.

 

• There was no loss of focus on performance relating to information requests under the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. He expected on update on this matter at the next Accountability Board meeting.

 

 

The OFPCC Director of Delivery made the following points during the course of the discussion:

 

·         The Home Office commissioned a national organisation to evaluate all of the Safer Streets Projects and the OPFCC awaited the results of this.

 

·         The OPFCC had undertaken interim evaluation of Safer Streets, round one projects. Early indications were of a positive impact, although the effect of COVID-19 was also a factor in this. The OPFCC would also do further evaluations of Projects at different stages.

 

·         Funding for Safer Streets had enabled the OPFCC to tackle neighbourhood crime; domestic burglary; theft of and from motor vehicles and theft.

 

·         Ancillary data collected related to provision of alley gates; reduction in fly tipping; and reduction in anti-social behaviour reports.

 

·         The effect of the initiatives had brought drug dealing onto the streets where CCTV could effectively cover the areas. Further information would be shared on the interim evaluation.

 

·         7 of the current PCSO posts were sponsored with 2 further posts being considered. 

 

·         The OPFCC was in discussions with Northampton Town Council with regards to attending a meeting on 19 September 2022 to discuss policing in Northampton.

 

·         Operation Repeat had enabled the training of in the region of 200 care workers in identifying fraud and had been successful.  The Operation would be repeated for the next 2 years, with match-funding from Cadent Gas.

 

The Democratic Services Assistant Manager advised during discussion that if the Panel proposed to invite the Chief Constable to attend a future meeting it should consider the purpose of this, which should reflect the Panel’s role of scrutinising and supporting the PFCC.

 

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.