Agenda item

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting (17 July 2020). 

12.1          The Council’s representative on the Police and Crime Panel presented a feedback report, circulated with the Agenda at Pages No. 35–36, on the meeting of the Panel which had taken place on 17 July 2020. Prior to getting into the detail of his report, the Council’s representative felt that it would be useful to clarify the purpose of the Panel which was to scrutinise the performance of the Police and Crime Commissioner whose role it was to scrutinise the performance of the Police. In effect the Panel was one step removed from scrutinising the operational activities of the Police, its job was to make sure that the Commissioner was fulfilling his role. This meant the Panel did not get into detail around specific problems or incidents as these were dealt with outside of the meetings.

12.2          Turning to his report, the Council’s representative indicated that the meeting had taken place over Zoom and had started by dealing with a number of housekeeping matters such as the election of Chair and Vice-Chair both of whom were re-elected unopposed. The Panel then had a discussion on COVID-19; the lessons learned and the “new normal” coming out of the pandemic. The Commissioner had detailed how he had dealt with the pandemic in terms of his interaction with the Chief Constable and the operation of the Police ensuring they had the “space” needed to get on with day to day policing. The Commissioner had released an additional £1 million of funding from reserves to ensure funding restrictions did not impact on the ability of the Police to respond effectively. In addition, the government had confirmed that the cost of Personal Protective Equipment to the Police would be reimbursed. The overall tone of how the Police in Gloucestershire dealt with the pandemic had been focused on education and engaging with the public, with enforcement as a last resort. This approach had been supported by the Commissioner as it sought to engage with the community and encourage compliance with the social distancing rules etc. rather than taking a heavy-handed approach, with fines being issued as a last resort. At the start of the pandemic, the Police had suffered resourcing problems with a number of Police Officers self-isolating, but this number had reduced over time with Special Constables being used to supplement resources. Whilst not wishing to promote any positives from the virus, the representative indicated that overall crime had reduced during the pandemic with both burglary and shoplifting falling, the latter primarily due to the fact that most retail spaces were closed. The ability to operate county lines crimes was also restricted with the limitations on travel having a positive impact.

12.3          The meeting also received a detailed report from the Police Commissioner’s Office presented by the Chief Executive of the Office. Whilst not directly within the remit of the Police and Crime Commissioner there was concern about the poor state of the Courts which was a Home Office matter but obviously impacted on the victims of crime, the Police and criminals. The need for new facilities was promoted particularly because of the risk of more and more hearings being held out of the County in places like Cardiff which was especially unsatisfactory for the victims of crime to have to travel long distances to have their cases heard. On this basis the Panel resolved to follow the example of the Commissioner and write to the MPs in the County requesting their support in maintaining a Gloucestershire-based Court system including the refurbishment of the current provision to make it “fit for purpose” as it had suffered from a chronic lack of investment over decades. The Panel also wished to pass on its thanks to the Police for the way they had performed during the pandemic in keeping communities safe. It was also agreed to support the Black Lives Matter Statement agreed by Leadership Gloucestershire.

12.4          The Council’s representative reminded the Committee that the previous Annual Report of the Commissioner’s Office had been somewhat controversial as the Panel had felt it was too wordy and self-promotional of the Commissioner. A draft of the current report showed considerable improvement and had been much better written. In concluding his report, the representative indicated that the next meeting of the Panel would take place on 18 September but, unfortunately, he would be unable to attend so he would seek to arrange for his Deputy to be available.

12.5          In thanking the Council’s representative for his update, which had been circulated in advance to Members, the Chair invited questions. A Member asked whether the Council’s representative could enquire of the Police and Crime Commissioner why he had chosen not to apply for funding from the Safer Streets Fund when virtually every other Police Force in the Country had done so. The fund had been made available by the government to specifically support pockets of deprivation and areas of high crime levels and it seemed strange that Gloucestershire had essentially missed out on this opportunity. The Council’s representative indicated that he would investigate and report back to Members on this matter. At the conclusion of the discussion, and after the Chair had thanked the representative for his report, it was

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