To receive an update from the Council’s representative on matters considered at the last meeting (6 February 2024). 

70.1           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 discussed at the last meeting held on 6 February 2024.

70.2           The Council’s representative on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Panel indicated that he did not intend to go through the whole report but wished to highlight that visible policing was incredibly important to the community and was by far the biggest area they wished to see investment in.  He had been somewhat disappointed by the Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable’s collective response that they would like to do more neighbourhood policing and to be more visible but did not have the resources to do so; in his view, the increases in the budget this year would keep things going rather than improving them which was frustrating.  In terms of the Perception of Crime Survey, this made interesting reading and he encouraged Members to look at the breakdown by district.  Notably, only 32% of people thought the Police were fundamental in the community - although 89% thought they were doing a good job - and the Council’s representative indicated that, personally, he had grave concerns about the state of policing in the country, and specifically in the county.

70.3           A Member asked if the 180 new Police Officers being recruited were specials and was informed they were paid frontline Police Officers and would be full time equivalents.  The Member asked how Gloucestershire was tackling the issue of highly paid frontline Officers working in office roles for long periods of time because of health issues and the Council’s representative undertook to ask the question and report back to Members.  Another Member asked if the Police would be doing anything differently as a result of the Perception of Crime Survey and was advised that it did not have a direct effect but he suspected it would inform future budget requests and resource allocation.

70.4           A Member asked whether the response time for 101 calls had been discussed at the meeting as, when he had attended the Member briefing at the end of January, the Police and Crime Commissioner had implied the waiting time was down to two minutes but she was aware that local Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) did not think that was accurate.  The Council’s representative advised that one of the main concerns identified in the review in 2023 was that the police control room was not sufficiently staffed and the Police control room improvement plans included the introduction of a replacement intelligence and crime system (NICHE) which would come into effect in May 2025.  Call handlers were a precious resource with one or two being lost each month but the recruitment process had improved and approximately 20 staff were now being recruited en bloc per month.  The Member indicated that she was unclear whether the two minute wait time was aspirational and the Council’s representative undertook to come back with a definitive answer.

70.5           It was

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