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

22.1          Members received an update from the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel, on matters discussed at the last meeting of the Panel held on 13 July 2018.

22.2          Members were advised that, as this was the first meeting of the municipal year, a Chair and Vice-Chair had been appointed and were unchanged from the previous year.  One Member had highlighted the long gap between meetings of the Panel in the period March to July each year; whilst it was understood that the County and District Councils had to ratify their membership, it was suggested that an additional meeting could be included, or at least a meeting earlier in the calendar year, to ensure reports remained relevant. 

22.3          It was noted that a motion had been passed by Gloucestershire County Council on 6 May requiring the County Council to write to the Police and Crime Commissioner for further details regarding funding, constabulary spending, the appointment of a Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner etc.  The Police and Crime Commissioner was of the view that all nine questions came under the remit of the Police and Crime Panel and so wanted to share the response with Members – this had resulted in a lively debate among the Panel. 

22.4          The Council’s representative was pleased to report that, as of the end of the year to April 2018, Tewkesbury Borough was second out of 15 in its ‘Most Similar Areas’ group and, overall, there had been a 1% reduction in crime; Gloucestershire was bucking the national trend as crime was increasing in many areas.  It was noted that a new project was being launched to address shortcomings identified during the recent inspections in relation to vulnerable children.  “Child Friendly Gloucestershire” was based on the “Child Friendly Leeds” approach which brought together many agencies in the city.  A draft of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s annual report had been endorsed by the Panel and Members were advised that the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was happy to receive any feedback in relation to where the report should be circulated. 

22.5           Notable in the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan Priorities Highlight Report was the aim of improving neighbourhood policing.  The key Constabulary pledges included: making local policing accessible by providing a dedicated, named Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) in every neighbourhood so that everyone knew who their local contact was and how to get in touch with them; appointing 55 or more PCSOs to act as a first point of contact for local concerns; and, investing additional Officers in neighbourhood policing in 2018 including schools officers, vulnerability PCSOs and rural liaison officers.

22.6           Members were informed that the National Association of Police Fire and Crime Panels was a recently formed association and would be a special interest group of the Local Government Association (LGA); this was something Police and Crime Panels had been aiming for across the country.  It would cost £500 for the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel to become a Member and the Tewkesbury Borough Council representative felt this would be worthwhile as it was difficult to gain a unified response across 43 individual Police and Crime Panels.  Finally, Members had been informed of the appointment of the new Chief Finance Officer for the Officer of the Police and Crime Commissioner; this role had previously been shared with the Constabulary.

22.7           Although he was pleased to hear that crime rates in Gloucestershire were bucking the national trend, a Member asked about crime detection rates and whether Gloucestershire Constabulary or the Police and Crime Panel monitored these.  The Council’s representative did not think these statistics were reported to the Panel – or there may be a delay in receiving them if they were being audited – but he undertook to investigate and report back to Members following the meeting.  Another Member noted the pledges in relation to improving neighbourhood policing and queried whether this would result in additional recruitment.  The Council’s representative undertook to provide the latest breakdown on the number of Police Officers, PCSOs and Special Constables.  In response to a question about whether the new arrangements were being implemented, the Council’s representative confirmed that they were and another Member reported that his local PCSO had introduced himself at a recent Parish Council meeting.  The Council’s representative undertook to confirm the date that the new programme had gone live.

22.8          The Chair thanked the Council’s representative for the update and it was

RESOLVED          That the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel update be NOTED.