Agenda item

Guide time: 2.00 – 2.30 pm

RESOLVED that:

a)    The Panel notes the Police, Fire and Crime Plan Delivery Update.

b)    The Panel requests to receive a report from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner on the findings of survey work carried out by Ipsos on the organisational culture and values of Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

c)    The Panel requests that a briefing session be organised for Panel members on action being taken in Northamptonshire to address domestic violence and the outcomes produced.

At the Chair’s invitation Mr Craig Blacha addressed the meeting and made the following points:

·         The PFCC had been in-office for some time, the Council Tax precept for policing had risen and the public were informed that Northamptonshire Police had a record number of officers.

·         In these circumstances it was unacceptable that the force had taken 22 minutes to respond to a grade one incident Mr Blacha had experienced in Wellingborough in July 2023 involving threats of violence against him. The OPFCC had subsequently advised that the response time was not unreasonable or disproportionate. The Police, Fire and Crime Plan Delivery Update acknowledged that response times had been slower.

·         The PFCC should recognise this was not the public’s expectation, take action to improve response times and apologise for the current situation.

The Chair invited the PFCC to comment in response and the PFCC made the following points:

·         He was aware of the incident raised by Mr Blacha and did not propose to discuss it in detail at the Panel meeting.

·         The OPFCC Customer Service team had provided Mr Blacha with an explanation of the response. The matter had subsequently been the subject of a complaint to the Professional Standards Department, which had concluded that the response was reasonable. Mr Blacha had sought a review of the complaint by the OPFCC, which was not upheld. The PFCC believed that a good standard of customer service had been provided to Mr Blacha.

·         He took the issue of police response times seriously and pursued any issues about performance with the Chief Constable when this was necessary.  

The Chair invited Councillor Wendy Randall to address the meeting but the Panel was advised that she was not yet present.

The PFCC went on to present the Police, Fire and Crime Plan Delivery Update and highlighted recent examples of positive activity as follows:

·         The OPFCC had been successful in securing funding in round five of the Safer Streets Fund. This would be used for a forensic property marking and asset recording scheme in Weston, Northampton, and Kingswood, Corby; implementation of new security measures on and around Junction 15A and the Watford Gap services; and various measures to help to protect women and girls using public transport.

·         The OPFCC had now secured nearly £4m from the Safer Streets Fund to invest in crime prevention, augmented by a further £1m that the PFCC and partners had committed to community safety.

·         Since the launch of the Safer Nights Out (SNO) Van, Northampton Guardians had assisted 12,200 people.  A new SNO Van had been provided in Kettering.

·         The Early Intervention team continued to carry out valuable work, supporting vulnerable people, preventing entry into the criminal justice system, providing support to the force’s missing persons unit and helping to protect and support vulnerable children.

·         The Serving with Pride survey of Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) staff members formed an important part of work to shape the organisation and culture of the fire service of the future. He could provide fuller information on the outcomes of this consultation to a future Panel meeting.

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

·         It was questioned whether the use of £20K to support a training package for 1,000 students at Northampton College on recognising and addressing harassment was a standard approach and how its impact could be judged.

·         The PFCC was challenged about the effectiveness of actions to counter anti-social behaviour by young people, given that this seemed to be an  increasing issue.

·         It could be useful to carry out a survey of the organisational culture in the OPFCC as well as NFRS. 

·         The report did not provide information to enable performance in Northamptonshire on issues such as repeat victimisation or referrals to the Sunflower Centre to be compared with that of nearest neighbours and the national average. Attacks against women and girls were also not reducing. The report did not provide reassurance that the PFCC was giving sufficient attention to these issues.

·         There were good examples of police officers and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) engaging well with local communities and responding to issues in different areas. However, it would still be helpful to re-establish the previous Joint Action Groups, which had been an effective way of discussing and resolving local issues.

·         The force’s performance against key targets could be affected if mobile crime such as drug dealing that originated in other areas was detected here.

·         Good community engagement should be part of work to address the difference between the reality and perceptions of community safety. Northamptonshire Police should be part of service delivery through community hubs.

·         PCSOs were effective and an increase in numbers would be welcome.

·         There had been a significant increase in retail crime in Northampton and the PFCC was challenged about how this was being addressed.

·         A positive local summit on retail crime had been held earlier in November.

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

·           The OPFCC made use of different approaches as part of its work to address violence against women and girls. This included education about what a good environment looked like. The benefit of these approaches should be judged in terms of a reduction in violence.

·         Anti-social behaviour by young people was actually reducing. There was a broader challenge around community safety in that performance was improving but people did not feel safer. This needed to be addressed and part of the work being done was about the use of different remedies, such as conditional cautions.

·         Performance on issues such as domestic violence needed to be set out in more detail to give the Panel a fully contextualised understanding of the position. It could be helpful for the Panel to have a separate briefing on this.

·         Ipsos had been engaged to survey the organisational culture of Northamptonshire Police, NFRS and the OPFCC 10 months’ ago. The three organisations were in different places and needed to be clearly understood.

·         Doubling the number of ANPR cameras in Northamptonshire had increased the ability to identify and track criminals.

·         It would help force representatives to attend parish council meetings if there item could be put at the start of agendas.

·         He was aware of good work done by Joint Action Groups and community safety panels in the past. The new serious violence duty gave commissioners a greater role in holding to account partners for delivery. Addressing violence in society was not just a policing issue but one that needed to involve a range of partners.

·         PCSOs often did tend to be in a better position than police officers to engage with people in the community. The employment and deployment of PCSOs was the responsibility of the Chief Constable not the PFCC.

·         A partnership sponsored action on retail crime in Northamptonshire. He could provide further information to the Panel if required.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Wendy Randall then addressed the meeting and made the following points:

·         Members of the public had raised concerns about the fact that the PFCC had identified a preferred candidate for appointment as Chief Fire Officer who did not have a professional background in the Fire and Rescue service. The Panel was urged to ensure that it asked thorough questions when it carried out a confirmation hearing for the proposed appointment.

·         The response to retail crime in Northamptonshire could learn from the Businesses Together Radio Scheme used in Daventry to share information about crime and anti-social behaviour.

The PFCC made the following additional points:

·         The identification of the preferred candidate for appointment as Chief Fire Officer had resulted from a robust two day interview process, which included a cross-party stakeholder panel.

·         The appointment of a chief fire officer from a different professional background was not new as this approach had already been taken in other areas such as Kent and Buckinghamshire. A chief fire officer’s primary role was to run their service, not to attend fires.

RESOLVED that:

a)    The Panel notes the Police, Fire and Crime Plan Delivery Update.

b)    The Panel requests to receive a report from the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner on the findings of survey work carried out by Ipsos on the organisational culture and values of Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

c)    The Panel requests that a briefing session be organised for Panel members on action being taken in Northamptonshire to address domestic violence and the outcomes produced.