Hampshire County Council Hampshire Police and Crime Panel (Statutory Joint Committee) Meeting

Apologies were received from:

• Councillor Narinder Bains, Havant Borough Council
• Councillor Lee Jeffers, Local Authority Co-opted Member
• Councillor Tony Jones, Local Authority Co-opted Member
• Councillor Dave McKinney, East Hampshire District Council
• Councillor Ken Muschamp, Rushmoor Borough Council
• Shirley Young, Independent Co-opted Member

Members were able to disclose to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest they had in any matter on the agenda for the meeting, where that interest was not already entered in their appointing authority’s register of interests, and any other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests in any such matter that Members may wish to disclose.

It was noted that a general dispensation would apply to allow all Members, who were local Council Taxpayers, to take part in the debate and vote on the precept proposal at item nine of the agenda.

No further declarations were made.

It was noted that the Panel had been contacted by Teresa Skelton, who had provided a deputation to the previous meeting, expressing her dissatisfaction with how deputations had been recorded in the minutes. The Chairman informed Members that he had contacted Ms Skelton to confirm that the recording of the deputations within the minutes was consistent with the standard approach.

The minutes from the 12 November 2021 meeting were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

No questions or deputations were received by the Panel on this occasion.

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Geoffrey Blunden, who had recently been appointed to the Panel by New Forest District Council.

The Chair invited announcements from the Commissioner, who thanked the Panel for their support of the Police and Crime Plan at the previous meeting. The Commissioner explained that the plan had been formally launched, following that meeting, and had been well received by residents.

As part her statutory role to hold the Chief Constable to account for the performance of the police force, the Commissioner notified the Panel that two COPS (Commissioner’s Oversight of Policing Services) sessions had been held to date. The new redesigned format using Facebook Live had made the sessions more accessible to residents, with the facility to submit questions in advance of the session and in real time.

Members heard, since the last meeting, the Commissioner had met with young victims of crime and their parents to understand their experience, with a view to informing future commissioning decisions. The Commissioner also noted the recent visit to the Marine Unit, attended by a number of Members of the Panel, which had highlighted the unique risks and challenges faced by that unit.

The Commissioner updated the Panel on contributions made at a national level since the previous meeting, including submitting a formal response to the consultation on the UK Drug Strategy, engaging in the pre-consultation for the white paper for the new Victims Bill and attending the National Crime Conference as a key note speaker.

Members received a verbal update from the Commissioner detailing delivery against the Police and Crime Plan.

The Commissioner highlighted that:

·         £667,000 had been provided to support road safety through the installation of speed cameras on the A272 in Meon. The Commissioner noted the support of Hampshire County Council and Hampshire Constabulary in achieving this.

·         Funding had been agreed for the provision of ‘dirt’ bikes to tackle anti-social behaviour in Havant and the west of Southampton. It was heard that this style of bike would allow police officers to be more agile when pursuing offenders. 

·         A new police unit would be opening in Bitterne, providing a base for Response and Patrol within the eastern side of Southampton. In response to Members questions it was heard that the former police station, initially earmarked for the police unit, had much of its internal fittings, including wiring and fuse boxes, stolen whilst closed and to repurpose the existing building would cost £3.2m. Instead, the Commissioner had agreed a 5 year lease on new premises at a cost of £40-50k per annum, which would deliver a significant cost saving and provide space for up to 50 vehicles to park, which would be a significant asset to the Response and Patrol team.

·         The annual grants round had closed in December, with awards to be made in March. The Home Office had £460,000 towards trauma informed practice.

RESOLVED:

That the update on the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan was noted.

Members received a verbal update from recent meetings of the Panel’s working groups.

It was heard that the Equality and Diversity working group had held their first meeting of the municipal year. The Chairman thanked the PCC for attending the meeting, providing an update on the refocussing of priorities in this area.

The Finance Working Group held four meetings in the lead up to the precept review, looking in detail at the proposed budget. The working group had explored risk management approaches in depth and had suggested the development of transparent, measurable outcomes which could be shared with residents. It was further noted that the working group were keen to see further detail regarding the funding of the Estates Strategy going forward.

The Commissioner introduced her proposed precept for 2022/23, which recommended an increase of £10 per annum for Band D properties and would focus on keeping the residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight safer.

Members heard that, in setting the budget, the Commissioner was aware of the impact of any increase on affordability for residents and that significant consideration had been given to determining the proposed precept increase for 2022/23.

The Commissioner further highlighted to Members:

·         Central uplift funding would provide 498 new police officers for Hampshire Constabulary, with the Commissioner providing additional funding to increase that number to 600.

·         The proposed budget would support an increase in crime prevention, with a focus on preventing youth offending and early criminalisation as well as funding to improve the 101 call handling service, through enhanced IT functionality and staffing.

·         Whilst buildings were safe and legal, improvements were needed to the police estate which the proposed budget would support.

·         As well as making prudent allowance for inflation risk, an assumption of a 3.5% pay increase for police officers had been built into the budget. Members heard that police officers had not received a salary increase for several years and that it was anticipated that a pay award would be applied during 2022.

·         Over 4000 residents had responded to the Commissioner’s budget consultation. A number of approaches had been used, alongside the online public survey, including focus groups and targeted YouGov surveys to ensure that the response was demographically representative of residents pan-Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, with 61% overall support for the proposed precept increase.

The Chief Finance Officer thanked the Panel’s Finance Working group for their engagement in the lead up to the precept setting. As noted within the reports provided to the meeting, £410m of funding would be available during the 2022/23 financial year, representing an increase of £23.4m compared with the previous year. Members heard that 97.1% of this would be spent on and in support of Hampshire Constabulary.

The Chief Constable was invited by the Commissioner to provide Members with an operational context for the budget. Members heard that:

·         Hampshire Constabulary was performing well,  but through the proposed budget they intended to be better and build upon progress made through the previous budget.

·         Since April 2021 the force had recorded and dealt with 120,000 reports of crime, with each report listened to and investigated at the appropriate level. The force received approximately 750 emergency 999 calls every day, which in December 2021 were answered in 8 seconds. In addition over 1000 calls were received each day by  the 101 service, which were answered within 1.5-3 minutes.

·         2000 more people had been arrested in 2021/22 compared with 2020/21 and of those, 700 were for crimes of violence causing injury and 165 for sexual violence.

·         Over 500 drug drivers and more than 100 dangerous drivers has been arrested during 2021/22, with the budget supporting increasing staff numbers in road policing, taking them back to 2017/18 levels. Further investment was also needed in the marine unit.

·         Hampshire were currently 8th out of 42 forces for the number of rape charges and were very active in tackling domestic violence.

·         93 live organised crime groups were operating within the policing area, committing serious and organised crimes.

·         Rural Crime was still a significant risk area. The proposed budget would enable the Constabulary to grow rural teams and support them with greater analysis of intelligence. Additionally, Members heard that a new rural crime reporting tool (DISC) would be going live shortly.

·         The Constabulary had maintained the number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) at 239, as was committed within the previous budget, and the Chief Constable confirmed her intention to maintain numbers again in 2022/23.

·         The enhanced focus on neighbourhood crime had seen 128 fewer robberies with violence compared to 2019. Operation Banish had been particularly successful, seeing 55 people arrested over the Christmas period for house burglaries. Whilst levels of neighbourhood crime were falling the Constabulary still recognised the importance of investigating such crimes.

·         Interview facilities for vulnerable victims would be upgraded, with the Commissioner’s support, and analytical capability increased to support the force in preventing crime before it happened.

·         The Constabulary were on target to deliver 600 new officers, with 427 additional officers recruited so far.

The Chief Constable recognised the ongoing support from the public each day to the Constabulary and offered her strong operational support for the proposed budget

On behalf of the Finance Working Group, Councillor Margot Power, provided a brief summary of activity undertaken by the working group in the lead into the precept setting:

·         Members of the working group were invited, by the Commissioner, to observe a number of the virtual focus groups held in January which gave valuable insight into the views of the public regarding the proposed precept increase.

·         The working group challenged the robustness of the scrutiny of attrition from the force and plans to recruit an additional 600 officers by April 2023. Concerns were raised about the maturity of the existing workforce and what impact this might have on the training and support for the additional officers.

·         The medium-term financial position was reviewed.  A series of questions were raised regarding the risk presented should inflation increase beyond assumptions and the working group were assured regarding the mitigations proposed.

·         Following the Commissioner’s commitment not to increase the costs of her office, the working group sought assurances that the proposed budget would support this intention and received confirmation that the costs of the office would not increase, asides from inflationary costs.

·         The working group observed that, by March 2026 total useable reserves would have reduced by around 78%. The working group recognised that a significant proportion of the reserves were committed to longer term deliverables and the use of reserves would continue to be monitored.

·         Other areas explored by the working group included pension liabilities, capital funding, the Estates Strategy, funding for Operation Magenta and planned spending to enhance call handling.

·         The working group had expressed a strongly the need for published measurable delivery indicators, recognising that these would need to be concise, appropriate and not require significant investment in time or resource to produce.

The Chairman reminded Members that the proposal being considered was that the Police and Crime Panel support the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept increase of £10 per annum for Band D properties, which was the equivalent of £83p per month, or 19p per week. The Chairman then moved to invite questions from Members. In response to questions it was heard that:

·         The Commissioner had considered a range of potential precept increases from £0-£10 per annum (Band D). The Commissioner further explained that, when setting the policing grant, the Home Office had built into their assumptions that force areas would increase their precept level by £10 per annum. Proposing any lower increase would require reduction in operational policing provision to meet inflationary pressures. The Commissioner was clear in her intent to communicate to residents the value of the increased contribution to precept, if supported, and how and where this money would be being spent to keep the public safe.

·         Whilst the level of central grant to be provided in future years was unknown, grant increases to date had not grown sufficiently enough to meet pressures faced by police forces. The Commissioner was committed to lobbing for a growth in the central grant to reduce the need to increase public funding through precept.

·         Nationally, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) had advised the Home Office that continuing to increase public taxing for policing was not a sustainable position. The police funding formula review had started and Hampshire were one of five forces asked to contribute to the review, with the Commissioner being one of four PCC’s nationally asked to represent the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) in the review.

·         Attrition from the force was monitored daily within the Constabulary and reviewed monthly by the Commissioner. As well as quantitative data on attrition, qualitative information was obtained through exit interviews to understand reasons for leaving.

·         Diversity was key in attracting new staff and officers to the force, to enable it to be representative of the communities it served. Over 40% of the employees at Hampshire Constabulary were female, with the force considered an attractive employer for women. Data from ONS had been obtained to estimate the ethnic diversity profile across the policing area, with an aspiration for the force to attract at least 10% black, Asian and minority ethnic new recruits over the next 2 years. To support this, efforts were being made to engage with harder to reach groups and communities through places of worship and community leaders.

·         Hampshire Constabulary had one of the lowest level of sickness absence of all forces nationally. It was considered that the Constabulary’s prudent approach to health and staff wellbeing, managed sensitively and professionally, had meant only 3.8% of employees had reported absence related to covid, compared to some forces with levels as high as 12-13%. It was also reported that the Contact Management Platform had delivered a unforeseen benefit through enabling staff to work remotely, and internal measures such as internal track and trace and PPE provision had helped keep both officers and staff safe.

·         To support wellbeing going forward the budget proposed investment in the policing estate and expanding the provision of the employee assistance programme, which was well used by both staff and officers.

·         Ongoing public surveys undertaken by the Commissioner demonstrated that confidence and visibility of policing had remained fairly stable, however had shown some knock on impact from national issues relating to police conduct.

·         The nine key priorities and other core pledges within the plan had been costed, and were reflected through the budget with clear correlation between operational expenditure and plan delivery.

·         Public feedback had demonstrated that those reporting of crime wanted more feedback on the outcomes. It was proposed to enhance the Contact Management Platform to automate the provision of this feedback, however would require human intervention until the system was fully developed and therefore some fixed term roles were being offered at the contact management centre.

·         The report of the Chief Finance Officer had confirmed the robustness of the reserves, with confidence that in the immediate and medium term the reserves would remain in a strong position.

·         Community Safety Partnerships had been engaged in the consultation process and invited to share their feedback.

Following questions, the Chairman moved to debate. Members discussed the precept proposal, considering that the spending outlined was necessary and would protect the public from risk and harm and support the required salary increase for police officers. A number of concerns were raised about the current public perception of the impact of previous increases on policing visibility and delivery as well as the performance of the 101 service. Members felt strongly that delivery should be supported by clear and measurable performance indicators which were visible and meaningful, both to the Panel and residents.

The Chairman called a 5 minute break before returning to proceedings

After the break, The Chairman repeated the recommendations proposed, which was to support the proposed increase of £10 per annum for Band D properties, alongside the recommendations outlined in paragraphs 1.2 to 1.7 of the report.

A vote took place on the endorsement of the proposed increase to the policing precept:

For: 9

Against: 3

Abstained: 1

An additional recommendation was received, proposed by Councillor Margot Power and seconded by Councillor Matthew Renyard:

The Panel recommends and expects that key improvements identified in the Police and Crime Plan and through this budget be reported to the PCP and the public, particularly in terms of the responsiveness to incidents, improvements in crime reporting and reductions in the levels of crime.

A vote was held on the proposed additional recommendation:

For: 12

Against: 0

Abstained: 0

RESOLVED:

That the Police and Crime Panel support the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept increase of £10 per annum for Band D properties, which is the equivalent of £0.83 per month, or 19p per week.

The Panel recommends and expects that key improvements identified in the police

and crime plan and through this budget be reported to the PCP and the public,

particularly in terms of the responsiveness to incidents, improvements in crime

reporting and reductions in the levels of crime.

Further the Panel notes:

·         the recommendations from the Chief Constable to the PCC on her operational requirements for 2022/23 onwards, and her support for a precept increase of £10 to enable the delivery of those requirements.

·         that 61% of households across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are in properties in Council Tax bands A-C and would therefore see a precept increase of less than £10 per annum.

·         that the precept increase will support the delivery of the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan ‘More Police, Safer Streets’.

·         the proposals within the report which will ensure that for 2022/23 there will be significant investment to enable ‘More Police, Safer Streets’, which includes delivering an increase in police officer numbers by 196 above the existing budgeted establishment as part of the third tranche of the Government’s commitment to increase police office numbers nationally by 20,000.

·         the total uplift in police officer numbers in Hampshire Constabulary over the three-year period 2020/21 – 2022/23 delivered through the Government’s Uplift programme is 498, and that with support from the PCC, Hampshire Constabulary is targeting an increase of 600 officers by April 2023, and the budget proposed for 2022/23 includes additional funding to deliver this target.

·         that the PCC had undertaken a broad range of consultation over the course of the last year to determine the public support for a precept increase, and that the overall collective outcome of the consultation showed that there was majority support for a precept increase.

Councillors Bailey and Craig left at this point.

Members received a report from the democratic services officer to the Panel setting out the proposed work programme for the Panel.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme is agreed.