Agenda 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 Barkham referred 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. The Commissioner explained that Cambridgeshire has the best rural crime team in the country who were aware of the legislation and if any reports were received by the Constabulary, he would expect the Chief Constable to investigate and deal with any acts of criminality.  

3.     Councillor Barkham stated that often vulnerable women were exploited within the prison system and once released were addicted and in turn, exploited and therefore remained “captive” outside of prison, Councillor Barkham asked if this was recognised within the prisons and were these types of people receiving any help once released. The Commissioner stated he had visited Peterborough prison several times where the Governor pointed out that most women in prison were victims to far more serious crime than they were in prison for. The Commissioner’s office had carried out some work with the prison but does not hold the prison system to account. Cristina Turner, OPCC, added the prison has a female lead in this area who was highly active and working with local partners for continuity of pathways between the prison and the communities. The Commissioner also stated that anyone leaving prison needed a place to live and a job to stop them reoffending. 

4.     Edward Leigh stated he was pleased to see the report was short, well-structured and fact filled. He added that some of the facts were led or originated from the Chief Constable, making them operational and therefore credit should be attributed to where it was due for the public to be aware of where the Commissioner’s and the Chief Constable’s powers lie, particularly regarding robust enforcement, to avoid any misunderstanding. The Commissioner explained that he gave credit not just to the Chief Constable, but to the men and women of the constabulary under the direct leadership of the Chief Constable, supported by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. 

5.     Edward Leigh commented that Vision Zero as a Partnership was under-delivering and therefore asked if the partnership should be rebooted. The Commissioner agreed with Edward Leigh and stated he would investigate this as there had been no drop in the numbers of fatalities on Cambridgeshire and Peterborough roads. 

6.     Edward Leigh commented that the statistics provided by the Rape Crisis Partnership were horrifying and was a huge problem for many people. The Commissioner explained he did not think the issue was worse, but that people were now more confident to come forward and report and this would always remain a top priority. 

7.     Edward Leigh commented that the Commissioner had provided a link within the report to the 20/21 HMIC Report; this report stated there were two areas requiring improvement and one that was inadequate and therefore an explanation should be provided stating what has now changed in response to the report. The Commissioner stated he was not aware of this and would therefore take this away to look at. 

8.     Councillor Jamil stated he was pleased to hear that the number of police officers was growing, and that Cambridgeshire was now at a record level; yet the public still did not see this. Councillor Jamil asked what the Commissioner was doing, with the Chief Constable, to ensure that the public were aware of more police. The Commissioner stated that it was for the Chief Constable to deploy officers and staff and not the Commissioner. He explained that new officers were young and new in service, and it would take some time before this impact would be seen.  

9.     Councillor Jamil asked the Commissioner what could be done to ensure continuity of local contact between Members and Police Officers when Members were dealing with constituents' problems. The Commissioner stated the neighbourhood policing teams were now more consistent, but he would encourage Members to speak to their Community Safety Partnerships going forward. 

10.  Councillor Sharp asked if the bike crime figures were due to better detection, better advice and had these perpetrators been dealt with. The Commissioner explained that the Constabulary had taken this issue this to task and tackled this problem. 

11.  Councillor Sharp asked if there were any statistics around tackling knife crime, had the number of incidents reduced. The Commissioner explained that knife crime and serious crime had gone up across the country over the last 10/15 years whereas most other crimes have reduced significantly; this was attributed to County Lines and drug dealing, which was why the government introduced a Serious Violence Strategy which states that all agencies have a duty to reduce serious violence. The Commissioner explained it was important for early intervention, to ensure that young people did not get involved in criminality. The Commissioner made it clear that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough did not see the violence that many other parts of the country did; this was a safe county. 

12.  Councillor Sharp asked how to change the mentality of speeding drivers on Cambridgeshire roads. The Commissioner explained that different measures were used, such as education, enforcement, and technology but it was down to people not driving safely or being a victim of someone else who was driving unsafely.  The Commissioner stated he would continue to be heavily involved in this issue. 

ACTION 

The Panel?AGREED to the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Annual Report for 2022/23  

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