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Agenda item

Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel Update

To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting (3 February 2023). 

Minutes:

84.1          Attention was drawn to the report from the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel, circulated separately, which gave an update on matters considered at the meeting held on 3 February 2023.

84.2          The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel advised that his update report referenced the annual report produced by the Police and Crime Commissioner – this contained a wealth of information on all aspects of Gloucestershire Constabulary and was available on the County Council website so he would encourage all Members to read it following the meeting.  The main focus of the meeting was budget setting – the Police and Crime Commissioner presented his proposals for the Police precept for 2023/24 which the Panel had the ability to approve or reject.  The proposal was for an uplift of £15 in the annual precept based on a Band D property, or approximately 5.4% overall resulting in a revenue budget of £146m and a capital budget of £10.6m.  Discussion had taken place as to how this figure had been derived and there was an underlying assumption of a 5% pay rise for Police Officers.  Some Members of the Panel had taken the Police and Crime Commissioner to task on failing to achieve his manifesto commitment to increase the number of frontline Police Officers by 300; however, he did not think the Police and Crime Commissioner had stipulated they would all be frontline officers.  Since his election in 2021, an additional 312 fully funded full-time posts had been added to the Force with 115 of those being frontline Police Officers; 178 were additional Police staff.  There had been some debate about the Police and Crime Commissioner being asked to apologise for suggesting he would add 300 frontline Police Officers but it was noted that he still had another two years in office.  His response was around the fact that the Peel report, which had been carried out a few weeks after his election, had identified clear failings within the Force which had resulted in it being placed into special measures largely around the failure to record and respond to crimes appropriately – calls to 101 and 999 were taking too long and there was a very high rate of people dropping off the call and crimes not being recorded as a result.  The Police and Crime Commissioner had felt it was appropriate to deal with the failures which had been highlighted in the Peel report as a priority and a lot of money had been spent on resources to fix those failings including upgrading the control room and additional Police Officers to ensure crimes were being recorded – results for December showed that things were on target so people were now able to get through quickly to both services.  Other frontline officers had been added to the Force with an additional 200 Special Constables and 100 volunteer Police Community Support Officers as well as 60 external roles funded via the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in crime prevention and other related areas such as victim support, violence against women and gun crime which were all top priorities for the Police and Crime Commissioner. 

84.3          Whilst there had been an interesting and lively debate, overall it was recognised the Police service was under-invested and the results of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner public survey, which had been completed by some 657 residents, showed that 72% of Tewkesbury respondents did not believe that Gloucestershire Constabulary had sufficient funds to address their concerns. There had been a lot of investment in estate with a new training centre in Berkeley – which would be needed if the amount of new Police Officers which had been promised was to be realised - but there had been a greater focus on getting out of special measures by addressing the areas identified in the Peel report.  Nevertheless, Gloucestershire was outperforming against target numbers for recruitment and the Police and Crime Commissioner had indicated that he was unaware of any Force that had added staff at a faster rate proportionally over the period of office.  The Panel had voted unanimously in favour of the suggested increase in the precept for 2023/24.

84.4          A Member asked how the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner public survey had been conducted and the Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel undertook to check and report back to Members following the meeting.  The Member expressed the view that 657 respondents for the whole of Gloucestershire seemed low and the Council’s representative indicated that, from his statistical background, he believed 657 was quite a large number for any survey.  It was his understanding that the survey had been more selective in order to try to gain a representative response rather than being open to the entire population of all of the districts within the county but he would clarify this in his response to Members.  The Member indicated that she would like to understand the diversity of respondents in terms of age, background etc.  She was pleased to hear that Gloucestershire Constabulary was excellent at recruitment but she was aware that retention was not so positive and she asked if that was being investigated.  She understood that Police staff were unable to progress beyond Grade 4 which she believed to be a contributing factor along with staff morale.  The Council’s representative advised that the Police and Crime Commissioner had been challenged with regard to retention and he was aware that more experienced Police Officers were being lost and replaced with very junior Officers so he had undertaken to speak to serving Officers to find out the reasons why people were leaving.  It was noted that the Police and Crime Commissioner was supportive of part-time roles as an opportunity for retired Police Officers to retain some expertise within community-based services.  This was one of his priorities so the matter was getting his full attention.  The Member indicated that her experience was that, although the Police and Crime Commissioner was on board with helping staff, that did not necessarily filter down to the Police Force itself and there had been reference to a “cloak” protecting higher serving Officers.  The Council’s representative confirmed that the Police and Crime Commissioner planned to engage with Officers directly, particularly in relation to the issues which had been highlighted within the Metropolitan Police Force recently.  Gloucestershire Police Force had a good reputation in that respect and it was recognised that it was not just a question of dealing with complaints but ensuring there was a culture where inappropriate behaviour was not tolerated and people were held accountable – this issue was front and centre for all Police Forces currently and was partly about having greater diversity.

84.5          A Member raised concern that injured Police Officers were going into desk jobs at a higher rate of pay and she asked why they were being retained for prolonged periods on that higher rate.  In response, the Council’s representative undertook to put this question to the Police and Crime Commissioner but he suspected this was down to policy and procedure which was in place to prevent discrimination but resulted in a system which was subject to abuse.

84.6          A Member noted that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) report on the effectiveness of police engagement with women and girls had found that poor behaviour towards women was prevalent in many - if not all - Forces and, with regard to vetting, one out of 10 Police Officers should never have been recruited.  Women had lost confidence in the Police and she asked what was being done to regain that.  The Council’s representative indicated that a debate on the vetting process had been covered in a previous report and the Police and Crime Commissioner was looking at increased digitalisation which would enable greater sharing of information to prevent Officers who had been reported for inappropriate behaviour being able to progress within and between Forces.  He indicated that he would put the question to the Police and Crime Commissioner again.  He provided assurance that regular conversations took place regarding interaction with women and how to encourage them to come forward.  It was important that all incidents were recorded and properly triaged – this was true of all crimes but those affecting women and girls in particular.  He was able to nominate topics for discussion and undertook to suggest this as something to debate at a future meeting.  The Member indicated that she struggled to believe that Gloucestershire Police Force did not have any misogynistic Police Officers.  Another Member advised that she was aware of paid one day training which was available to female Police staff to improve their confidence to make complaints about inappropriate behaviour.

84.7          The Chair thanked the Council’s representative for their informative update and it was

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

Supporting documents: