Agenda item

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

24.1          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 19 July 2019.

24.2           The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel advised that this was the first meeting of the year so there had been a number of procedural tasks to complete such as electing a Chair and Vice-Chair, both of whom had changed from previous years.  There were several new Members on the Panel and, following a discussion on the Terms of Reference, it was agreed that additional training would be helpful in order for them to better understand the role of the Panel and its relationship with the Police and Crime Commissioner.  The Chair had emphasised that the Panel’s role was not to provide oversight of the Police as they were accountable to the Police and Crime Commissioner who was accountable to the electorate in turn.  The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners stated that the role of the Police and Crime Panel was to scrutinise the work of the Police and Crime Commissioner and to be a “critical friend” with a duty to support as well as challenge.

24.3           The Police and Crime Commissioner’s annual report 2018/19 had been circulated to the Panel and, whilst this was supposedly a draft document, it had appeared to be at a fairly advanced stage giving the Panel very little opportunity to input into its content.  The Police and Crime Commissioner had given an overview of the current situation from his perspective and the 2.5% pay rise for public employees had been welcomed.  The report covered a range of issues including the challenges and impacts of missing persons in the county; a new collaboration agreement across all six Police forces in the region, the approach to knife crime in the county – this was still rare by national standards; purchase of a new training facility at Berkeley which would free up another building; details of the annual budget and an overview of the Gloucestershire force.  The Panel had discussed the report and made a number of observations including a request to see the report earlier in the production process so that more feedback could be provided and reflected in the final content.  The focus on “Gloucestershire – a child-friendly county” had been debated and the progress on reducing the number of juveniles entering the criminal justice system in order to help prevent the chances of reoffending had been noted.  A number of Members had felt that the report should contain more details on performance as it was difficult to form a clear view without any specifics.  With regard to the proposal to merge the Fire Service with the Police, the Panel had questioned whether the broadly supportive presentation by the Police and Crime Commissioner was justified, particularly as only a small percentage of the population had been consulted.  The Police and Crime Commissioner had subsequently agreed to check the data more thoroughly and reconsider the wording.  A lot of time had been spent talking about the new training centre and its importance and the Council’s representative indicated that his personal view was that it needed to be used as an opportunity to build closer connections with other services. 

24.4           The remainder of the meeting had been spent discussing detailed reports regarding the delivery plan and the wide range of the activities of the Police.  It had been interesting to note that Home Office statistics showed a 20% increase in reported crimes and a 10% reduction in the number of charges meaning that the ratio had reduced from 14.4% to 11.4% so the vast majority of crimes were going without punishment.  Overall, it had been an interesting meeting and he indicated that his role was to act as a conduit for Members’ concerns so he would be pleased to take any comments or questions they may have throughout the course of the year.

24.5           In response to a query, the Council’s representative advised that the Panel meetings were held at Shire Hall; however, it had been suggested that a tour of the Police facilities at Waterwells would be beneficial and this was being arranged.  A Member made reference to the Ofsted report on children’s services at the County Council and questioned whether this had had any impact on Police resources.  The Council’s representative explained that policing was a highly complex area, with connections to various services, so it would take some time to tease this out.  A Member queried who received the Police and Crime Commissioner’s annual report and was advised that it could be downloaded from the Commissioner’s website. 

24.6           The Chair thanked the Council’s representative for his update and indicated that it would be circulated to the Committee following the meeting.  It was subsequently

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