Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Atkins (Councillor Sibley substituting), Councillor Constance (Councillor Harrod substituting) and Councillor Godden (Councillor Patrick substituting).

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2014 (PSC3a) and 26 June 2014 ((PSC3b) to be circulated separately) and to receive information arising from them.

Following comments from Councillor Christie the minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2014 were approved and signed subject to the following amendment to the sentence immediately before the heading ‘Summary of the Material Concerns’:

          ‘Following lengthy discussion and with Councillor Christie expressing the minority view that there had been adequate consultation and all points raised during consideration of the decision it was AGREED (by 9 votes to 2)  to refer the decision back to Cabinet on the grounds of material concerns about the lack of proper consultation with Bicester County Councillors'

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2014 were approved and signed.

At this point it was agreed to vary the order of the agenda.

1055

Chief Constable Sara Thornton will make a presentation outlining the performance of Thames Valley Police against the Delivery Plan for 2013-14 and will introduce the Delivery Plan for 2014-15.

Sara Thornton, Chief Constable gave a presentation on the performance of Thames Valley Police against the Delivery Plan for 2013-14 and introduced the Delivery Plan for 2014-15 highlighting a number of key areas:

(1)   The number of officers on patrol was showing a slight increase.

(2)   Overall all crimes were showing levels below the national average. Responding to a query she recognised that the crime survey for England and Wales consistently recorded more crimes as it included unreported crimes. This data was not available at force level due to the sample size.

(3)   The current Delivery plan objectives were set out with an indication that below the top level each objective was split into further objectives and sub-objectives. Sara Thornton highlighted the performance against the objectives in Oxfordshire. She referred to a number of initiatives taken including the doubling of special constables in recent years, the Street Triage Project, the Kingfisher operation, response to the flooding, increased use of social media and the use of personal video recording and improved use of IT. A new Code of Ethics was being developed to support the professionalism of the Police.

(4)   With regard to the Street Triage Project aimed at proving an appropriate response to people suffering from mental health difficulties Sara Thornton advised that feedback had been good with a reduction in the use of S136 emergency powers. Sustainability of the project was an issue with funding available for this year in Oxfordshire but not going forward or across the whole Themes Valley area. She asked that where possible Councillors lobby the Oxfordshire Health & Wellbeing Board and the Joint Commissioners of health services to support the project.

(5)   Sara highlighted the funding position commenting that it was about reducing costs whilst protecting front line operations. Collaboration with Hampshire was expected to provide key savings in the future. She added that they had not stopped recruiting. Funding over the next two years was expected to be difficult and it was a question of at what point as a Force do we say that we are cutting into operational capability.

The Chairman indicated that the Police and Crime Commissioner would deliver his presentation prior to questions and debate on both presentations which is recorded under Minute 30/14.

1010

Mr Anthony Stansfeld will provide a verbal update outlining his intentions for refreshing the Police & Crime Plan for 2013-17 and the achievements of his first year in office, as will be outlined in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Annual Report, when it is published later this month. Mr Anthony Stansfeld will take questions following item 6.

Anthony Stansfeld, Police and Crime update outlining his intentions for refreshing the Police & Crime Plan for 2013-17 and the achievements of his first year in office, highlighting the 3 key priorities of his first Plan of domestic burglary, protecting vulnerable people and rural crime. After a year and a half he was updating his plan with a particular focus on a number of key areas including female genital mutilation, fraud and cyber crime, police file quality and the ethics panel.

During questioning the following points were raised:

(1)            Responding to comments on the level of unreported crime Sara Thornton stated that they were aware of the difference between the crime survey for England and Wales which was about double reported crime. This figure has remained consistent. It was very easy to report crime with the 101 number answered by trained people. Responding to the challenge that people did not report because not much happened she added that some people may have had bad experiences some years ago. Also realistically there were occasions where there were no lines of enquiry and an investigation draws a blank. In the past it had sometimes been about poor feedback and email addresses were now captured to make it as easy as possible for officers to follow up with victims. Anthony Stansfeld added that they had been inspected two years ago and had an excellent report. Certain crimes do get reported, burglaries and murder and crime was coming down. There was an issue with crime in the countryside but action was now taken and crime was being reported.

(2)            Responding to a suggestion that Force neighbours should learn from one another Sara Thornton gave an assurance that they worked very closely together.

(3)            Asked his views on a National Police Force Anthony Stansfeld replied that there had been debate and Forces could not agree on a way forward.

(4)            Members referred to the stress and long term sickness levels of police officers and queried if it could be linked to the need to do more with less? Sara Thornton replied that she had regular meetings looking at sickness levels as it was something she believed needed to be managed very closely.

(5)            Councillors highlighted individual crime figures for their own areas with Sara Thornton responding by providing a context noting that often the percentages were based on very low figures with small changes affecting the percentage figures. She could produce those figures for members with the raw numbers rather than in percentages.

(6)            Asked how he knew which crimes were of most concern Anthony Stansfeld advised that he had visited every Council and took their concerns into account alongside the concerns coming from the NAGs.

(7)            There was some discussion of the fear of crime and the impact of low level anti-social behaviour. Sara Thornton referred to the structure in place to identify and resolve local issues but the issue was whether they would be able to continue to support neighbourhood policing.

(8)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28/14

1140

Carys Alty-Smith, Manager, Safer Communities Unit will present the Oxfordshire Safer Communities Partnership Business Plan Annual Refresh 2014-15.

Councillor Mallon, Carys Alty-Smith and Dave Etheridge attended for this item. Carys Alty-Smith gave a presentation on the work of the OSCP that focused on the business plan refresh for 2014/15.

Responding to questions and comments Carys Alty-Smith made a number of points.

(1)   radicalisation was not a problem but they were not complacent and a multi-agency panel met regularly.

(2)   Cycling crime was not seen as a priority and it would need to be raised through the local partnerships. Dave Etheridge undertook to take the matter back to the Road Safety Team.

(3)   Carys Alty-Smith agreed that there were funding pressures and detailed the way in which priorities were arrived at.

(4)   The link to the website giving information about the Partnership would be circulated.

(5)   The Partnership provided a single point of contact for Oxfordshire with a comprehensive business plan. They managed £780,000 of funding on behalf of the Police and Crime Commissioner and joined up the local partnerships providing a valuable place for conversations to happen to support cross county working.

The Chairman thanked the officers and Councillor Mallon for their attendance. Councillor Brighouse was interested in some of the Partnership's PIs and how they fitted back into the County PIs around issues such as low level anti-social behaviour. She added that a key issue was safeguarding children and the links around children moving on and off plans as partners moved into and out of families to be succeeded by new partners. There was a need to ensure working was joined up

1225

No matters were raised for inclusion in the Forward Plan.