Agenda item

10.10

The Committee will consider material relating to the public commitment made by the Thames Valley Police in their July 2016 paper “Our Commitment: Working Together To Make Communities Safer”.

The Committee is RECOMMENDED to consider CC Habgood’s letter of July 2016, and the associated paper “Our Commitment: Working Together To Make Communities Safer”, and to put any relevant questions to the Chief Constable and the PCC.

Mr Stansfeld presented the Police and Crime Commissioner’s challenges and issues for 2016/17 and beyond:

·         The PCC elections have resulted in a divided situation where the posts in larger conurbations are dominated by one party and the rest are mostly with another party.

·         National events have resulted in a changed team of Ministers and Shadow Ministers.

·         Finances should now be on an even keel following cuts made over the last four years.

·         Many special capabilities, such as air support for example, will have to be resourced at a regional or national level.

·         At a national level radicalisation and cyber attacks are major problems.  The IRA threat is under control but hasn’t gone away.

·         At a local level organised crime, modern slavery, prostitution, drugs and illegal sales of tobacco and alcohol are significant issues.

·         The Government has signalled its intention to legislate to enable PCCs to hold their local fire and rescue services to account if PCCs are able to demonstrate a clear business case for doing so.

·         The PCC is required by law to have a 5 year plan.  This is under consultation now and must be in place by the end of March 2017.

Members of the Committee challenged Mr Stansfeld’s intention to bring the Fire and Rescue Service under the PCC and asked that consideration be given to the way in which the Service works well with other council services such as Adult Social Care.  The point was also made that the Service is very representative of the communities it serves and this could be lost if centralised.  The Commissioner responded that the amalgamation of police forces into the Thames Valley Police was successful and the fire services are much smaller organisations.  It is estimated that savings of £8m to £10m could be made if there was one regional service.  The Chairman requested that the Committee have an opportunity to discuss the draft case being made by the Commissioner.

Members of the Committee questioned the appointment of a Deputy to the PCC without public advertisement of the post.  The Commissioner responded that the law allows him to make a personal appointment and he is not aware of any deputy positions being advertised in other areas.  The appointment is subject to a confirmation hearing.

Chief Constable Habgood presented slides outlining the force’s commitment to the public and made a number of additional points:

·         The current number of Community Support Officers will be maintained.

·         He conceded that the police website was a bit clunky for members of the public so they tend to revert to more traditional methods of contact.  That is being addressed with a new design.

·         Changes in recording methodology are mostly responsible for the increase in the figures for violent crime.

Members of the Committee asked about measures to improve safety on the A34.  The Chief Constable reported that the Transport Minister had decided to review safety on the road even though the accident level had not hit the point that would normally trigger a review.  Distraction (for example by mobile phones) was a growing problem and one that cannot be easily tackled by increasing the number of patrols – it’s more a matter of educating people.  Research is being conducted on the appropriate level of police activity to reduce accidents.  In 2015 the number of prosecutions increased despite fewer hours of operation of speed cameras.

Asked how the police force deals with mental health issues, the Chief Constable described how front line staff are trained to deal with such issues whether it arises with victims of crime or those brought into custody.  They support victims in helping them to avoid repeat instances.

In relation to Neighbourhood Action Groups, members of the Committee reported that it was difficult to retain volunteers and suggested that even a small amount of funding would make a big difference.  The Chief Constable responded that sometimes Parish Councils can play a role and suggested that councillors contact their neighbourhood inspector to discuss any issues.

The Commissioner reported that he had been lobbying for a greater proportion of court fines to be returned locally.  However, the change of Ministers meant that he had to start again on that issue.

Further information requested by the Committee included:

·         an estimate from TVP of the proportion of offenders who are drug users in order to assess the extent of the problem.

·         details from the PCC of the money given to OCC for Community Safety Funds and Victims Grant.

·         the number of victimless prosecutions in relation to domestic violence.