Agenda item

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting.  

21.1           Members received an update from Councillor Rob Garnham, the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel, on matters discussed at the last meeting of the Panel held on 14 July 2017.

21.2           Councillor Garnham advised that this was the first meeting following the May local elections and, as well as a change in membership from some District and County Councils, a new Chair and Vice Chair had been elected; Gloucestershire County Councillor Will Windsor-Clive and Cheltenham Borough Councillor Colin Hay respectively.  For the benefit of the new Panel Members, a presentation had been given on the role of the Police and Crime Panel.  In terms of the Chief Executive’s report, crime statistics had been reported from the www.police.uk website which had shown that crime levels in Gloucestershire were classed as ‘normal’ when assessed against peer forces.  As regards the direction of crime, i.e. crime taken over two periods of 12 months, Gloucestershire was rated as 17 out of 41 forces, excluding City of London.  In respect of delivery, i.e. crimes per 1,000 population, Gloucestershire was rated as 11 out of 41 forces, excluding City of London; the lower the number in both categories the better.   In terms of the emergency services collaboration, the Panel had been advised that external consultants were still reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of the Fire Service being taken under the control of the Police and Crime Commissioner.  The report had also noted that Detective Sergeant Nigel Hatten had been awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for his work in protecting children in Gloucestershire and his tireless dedication to victims of sexual abuse.

21.3           Members were advised that the hard-hitting report in relation to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) national child protection inspection for Gloucestershire had provoked most discussion from the Panel.  The Police and Crime Commissioner had been keen to point out the seriousness of the review and acknowledge the findings of HMIC.  The inspection had identified areas of significant concern and a number of recommendations had been made as a result.  Reference was made to Gloucestershire County Council’s inspection of children’s services which had also raised serious concerns.  The Constabulary was required to produce a report within six weeks - due around the end of July - which would be followed by a re-inspection in October.  The Police and Crime Commissioner had stated that he aimed to hold a summit conference of all relevant parties so that failings in child protection could be discussed across the board and addressed in a non-political and collaborative manner.  Councillor Garnham indicated that it was a lengthy report and a number of the cases were extremely worrying.  Whilst the good work of frontline Officers was acknowledged, the Panel had picked up on the statement from HMIC that “we found limited strategic oversight by senior leaders and lack of effective supervision of child protection investigations” and reassurance was sought from the Police and Crime Commissioner that the leaders of the Constabulary were prepared to address the concerns highlighted.  The Police and Crime Commissioner had explained that there was a new top team in place and that he had had several one to one meetings with the Chief Constable, where the report had been discussed in full.  The Police and Crime Commissioner was “confident that the Police will get a much more favourable report in three to six months time”.  It was noted that only four forces had been subject to inspection and all had been found wanting. 

21.4           The Panel had also received a presentation regarding the Commissioner’s fund which had seen an increase in bids for funding.  Councillor Garnham explained that £1.2M was available annually; £600,000 had been awarded so far this year and the value of applications had exceeded £3M.  The Police and Crime Panel priorities highlight report covered progress made against the Police and Crime Commissioner’s six policies.  It was suggested that, in light of the HMIC report, it might now be time to refresh the plan in order to show renewed focus on child protection issues.  Other discussions had centred around the mounted Police trial; the cost of the four horses in the trial was £204,000 and a full evaluation was currently being carried out in respect of the added value of a mounted capability.  It was noted that the next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel was due to be held on 8 September 2017.

21.5           A Member expressed concern at the disconnect between the HMIC report in respect of child protection and the fact that a Detective Sergeant had been awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for his work in protecting children in Gloucestershire.  In response, Councillor Garnham explained that the HMIC report had stated that liaison with other partners in the county tended to be at Superintendent level and there was a lack of awareness at a higher level beyond that.  Whilst there was a lack of strategic leadership, in terms of the work carried out by Detective Sergeant Hatten, the award for the individual was justified.  A Member noted that Gloucestershire County Council had come up with a plan in response to the inspection of its children’s services and he questioned whether Gloucestershire Constabulary had presented a similar plan to the Police and Crime Panel.  Councillor Garnham reiterated the requirement for the Constabulary to produce a report for HMIC within six weeks; that report would now have been produced and the Panel had asked to see it.  Work was required in relation to a whole host of issues from child custody to safeguarding and missing children.  The Police and Crime Commissioner had stated that there would be vast improvements within the next three months and there had been several changes at top level – including a new Chief Constable – so it would not be fair to assume leadership continued to be poor and he felt that it was important to wait and see what proposals were made in terms of improvement.

21.6           A Member indicated that he had made contact with Phil Sullivan, a retired Superintendent from Stroud District who was now a consultant that liaised with the Police.  They had discussed the Neighbourhood Watch at length and he had undertaken to try to “shore-up” the local safety groups.  Councillor Garnham explained that the Police and Crime Commissioner had made neighbourhood policing a priority and the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner was leading a project to re-establish the Neighbourhood Watch countywide, recognising its previous shortcomings and the need to re-vamp neighbourhood policing more generally.  Unfortunately, it was common across the country that those resources tended to be diverted to response policing so there were certainly challenges to overcome in this area.

21.7           The Chair thanked the Council’s representative for his presentation and indicated that the update would be circulated to Members via email following the meeting.  It was

RESOLVED          That the feedback from the last meeting of the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel be NOTED.