Agenda and minutes

The Senior Democratic Services Officer asked for nominations for the role of Chair. Claire George was nominated by Edward Leigh and seconded by Councillor Jamil. There were no other nominations and therefore Claire George was appointed Chair for the municipal year 2023/24.

The Chair asked for nominations for the role of Vice Chair. Councillor Dennis Jones (in his absence) was nominated by CouncillorJamil and seconded by Councillor Barkham. There were no other nominations and therefore Councillor Dennis Jones was appointed Vice Chair for the municipal year 2023/24. 

Claire George thanked Edward Leigh for his work as Chair over the previous five years and more as a Panel Member and the Panel were grateful for his help and support.

Apologies were received from Councillors Jones, Ferguson, Varkey, and Wallwork. 

Councillor Jamilwas in attendance as substitute for Councillor Jones. 

Councillor Foice-Beard was in attendance as substitute for Councillor Wallwork. 

Councillor Gilderdale was in attendance as substitute for Councillor Varkey.

No declarations of interest were declared. 

Minutes of the meeting held on 15 March 2023were agreed as an accurate record.

The Commissioner congratulated the Chair on her new role and looked forward to working with the new and existing Members of the Panel. The Commissioner also gave his thanks to the outgoing Chair, Edward Leigh, stating he had found him to be both supportive and challenging and theyhad played a significant part as a collective role in keeping Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s communities safe. 

The Commissioner had taken several questions from the previous meeting and acted upon them: 

·       District Days – There had been a requirement for advance notice of these; this was now happening, and he offered the new Members an opportunity for him to visit in their wards, should they wish. 

·       Hard to Reach Communities - Diversity of Panels– The scrutiny panel has 25 volunteers (11 female, 14 males) and 8 identify as ethnic minorities. 

·       Independent Custody Visitors – 29 volunteers (11 female and 18 males) and 26 identify as white British and 3 others. 

·       Ongoing Vetting of Police Staff – the national “data wash” including Cambridgeshire Constabulary was now completed and there had been no significant vetting issues identified for Cambridgeshire staff including the OPCC. 

·       Culture Statement – This has now reached local media interest and has been seen as best practice across the country. 

·       Share a link to the Eastern Region Cyber Resilience Centre – this has been circulated. 

·       Lessons Learned from Covid – The Local Resilience Forum and their review as a collective/multiagency approach was the primary focus rather than individual agencies – this work was ongoing. 

·       Vision Zero Partnership - This was a multiagency group which could not be scrutinised by the Commissioner, as it is funded and supported by the Commissioner. The Councils are statutory partners to the Vision Zero partnership and therefore it would be the Councils that would have the right to scrutinise the partnership. 

·       OPCC Logo – With elections only next year, it would be wrong to spend public money and rebrand currently. 

·       Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Fund – Great news, successful bid received of £786,000. 

Questions must be received before 12 noon on Friday 14^th July 2023 to be guaranteed acceptance in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.

There were no public questions or statements received for the meeting.

During the year 2022/23 no public complaints were received that met the criteria for recording concerning the Commissioner. 

Councillor Barkham enquired as to what the criteria was, Jim Haylett, Chief Executive of the OPCC explained there was a specific regulation, which stated it dealt with conduct matter, with serious criminal matters being referred to the IOPC (Independent Office of Police Conduct). As with all complaints there was a threshold that should be met.Complaints against OPCC staff or constabulary do not fit the criteria, it would need to be the personal conduct of the Commissioner himself. 

ACTION 

The Panel?NOTED?the item. 

The Panel received a report to review the draft Annual Report for 2022/23 issued by the Police and Crime Commissioner (the “Commissioner”) under Section 12 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the “Act”).  

The Commissioner highlighted several points from the report: 

1.     Additional Police Officers – Thanks to the Chief Constable and his team, the Commissioner was pleased to report that Cambridgeshire had met and exceeded their national uplift target, attracting additional monies from government to enable this. There was now a record 1,732 warranted police officers across the county. To retain these numbers, there was a significant ongoing recruitment campaign which over the last three years had recruited 500 police officers. The Commissioner added he was pleased with the diversity mix of police officers, with 44% being women. 

2.     Neighbourhood Crime – This was a government priority (domestic household burglary, robbery, and vehicle crime). A 30% decrease had been seen in neighbourhood crime (baselined against 2019 - pre-covid). 

3.     Other Crimes – Bike Crime – The Commissioner reported that Cambridge had seen a 60% reduction in bike crime, whilst across the county, a 49% decrease had been recorded.Rural Crime – The Commissioner stated there had been significant decreases in rural crime, particularly in hare-coursing. 

4.     Community Safety – Up to £730,000 had been invested in Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs), the Commissioner stated these were now moving in the right direction. 

5.     Crime Prevention, Safer Streets Funding – This funding had enabled the recruitment of two additional Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinators for Peterborough and Fenland. Training had also been delivered to over 150 people from various agencies to deliver a more consistent approach to problem solving. 

6.     Youth Fund – The Commissioner stated he was particularly proud of the Youth Fund as early intervention for young people was extremely important – this year a total of 35 projects had been granted, totalling £100,000. 

7.     Road Safety – Vision Zero. The Commissioner stated he continued to support the partnership and the constabulary; resulting in enforcement equipment having been bought for the Special Constabulary. 

8.     Supporting Victims and Witnesses – The Commissioner had invested £4.4m in Victim Services, supporting over 11,000 victims across Cambridgeshire. 

The Panel made comment, asked questions, and received responses from the Commissioner and his staff regarding the draft Annual Report, these included: 

1.     Councillor Barkhamreferred to a question bought up at the previous meeting by Councillor Hogg regarding improving the live webchat and asked had this been carried out. The Commissioner explained that the webchat was a national system that they could feed back into but there had been no other complaints received regarding the webchat system. 

2.     Councillor Barkham stated fox hunting and trail hunting still existed and this caused problems for rural landowners with hounds and horses crossing their land, had this issue been investigated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Panel received details of the mechanisms the Police and Crime Commissioner has in place to hold the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire Constabulary to account for ethics and integrity. 

The Panel made comment, asked questions, and received responses from the Commissioner and his staff regarding the draft Annual Report, these included: 

1.     Edward Leigh stated there was a gap around the public’s contact and the feedback from the police and asked why this was not monitored, learntfrom, and fed back to the Commissioner. The Commissioner stated this was not included the report as it did not come under integrity assurance, but it was an issue the Commissioner recognised. Although operational, he would continue to discuss this with the Chief Constable as it related to public confidence in policing. The Commissioner explained he had received more direct feedback that this issue had improved due to the local embedded policing teams, and he encouraged Panel members to ensure their residents did report, not just for the police to prioritise issues but because it would also help the Commissioner hold the Chief Constable to account, which he could not do without this information. 

2.     Councillor Barkham stated that an automated response system that thanked the member of public for the information they had provided and inform them that if there was no need for the police to get back to them due to an ongoing issue, would solve the communication issue, as it would manage expectations. The Commissioner explained there would always be a resource implication, but it would be a worthwhile investment, but he was also cautious as he was aware that the police also received a lot of positive feedback too. 

ACTION 

The Panel AGREED to NOTE the report. 

The Panel received an update on the approach for successfully delivering the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan 2021-24. 

The Panel made comment, asked questions, and received responses from the Commissioner and his staff regarding the draft Annual Report, these included: 

1.              Councillor Gilderdale asked about the work the Commissioner was involved in regarding hate crime. The Commissioner explained hate crime was a priority for the constabulary, there was a team that dealt with this issue and if a Panel Members wished to speak to him about this issue, he would be happy to have a conversation. 

2.              Councillor Gilderdale asked what could be done to help the safety of non-car users regarding road safety (electric bikes, scooters, mopeds). The Commissioner explained that road safety involved everyone that used the roads, not just car users. Regarding the tragic accident regarding the charging of an e-scooter battery, the fire service reacted quickly, sending out emails to parents via the schools and the Commissioner’s thoughts were with the family, community, police officers and fire fighters involved. 

3.              Edward Leigh stated the report gave a clear picture of how many projects the Commissioner’s small team was involved in, and it was gratifying to see how much progress had been made. Edward Leigh stated there did not seem to be a specific report on the actions regarding ways to improve 999 and 101 call handling and asked if this could be included in future reports. Edward also stated he had looked at the new OPCC website which was a huge improvement and now much easier to find content within the website. The Commissioner explained that the Improvement Plan around the Demand Hub had been published, this would be circulated to Panel Members. 

4.              Edward Leigh stated the report referred to the BCB (Business Coordination Board) Board papers from 18 May 2023 (community trigger update), but that agenda item paper has not been published. The Commissioner stated this would be investigated. 

5.              Edward Leigh stated he was concerned that after looking at the Constabulary’s Sustainability Strategy and noting that the Commissioner’s Office were not represented at the Combined Authority regarding the fleet strategy; asked why the Combined Authority would be acting on this issue when clearly the Police and Fire play a significant role. The Chief Executive (OPCC)stated this would be investigated and brought back to the Panel, but he suspected it was due to the fleet arrangements being carried out through a broad consortium within policing. 

6.              Councillor Barkham asked what influence the Commissioner could have on school curriculums, regarding adding elements of policing to education for young people to understand what the laws were and how they were expected to behave. The Commissioner explained that he spent a lot of time in schools, of all age levels. Commissioners were able to lobby and had political inroads into government. Good feedback  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

The Panel received a report to review the Rules of Procedure. 

ACTION 

It was AGREED to NOTE that no changes wererequired.

The Panel received a report detailing the budget claimed to support Cambridgeshire’s Police and Crime Panel, including the expenses of Panel Members. 

ACTION 

The Panel?AGREED?to?NOTE?the report.

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