Agenda and minutes

Resolved:-  That Councillor Helen Mirfin-Boukouris be Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel for 2013/14 Municipal Year.

(Councillor Mirfin-Boukouris in the Chair who thanked Councillor Harry Harpham for his services to the Panel during its establishment)

Resolved:-  That Councillor Jahangir Akhtar be appointed as the Vice-Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel for the Municipal Year 2013/14.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meetings of the Police and Crime Panel held on 13^th March, 2013.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the previous meetings of the Police and Crime Panel held on 13^th March, 2013 be agreed as a true record.

A member of the public asked on what topics was the Police and Crime Panel interested in receiving public questions and in doing so asked why road safety was not detailed in the Police & Crime Plan.  20 mph speed limits were being introduced in urban areas in line with DfT guidelines and asked what was Police policy on legal enforcement and how was this decided?

The Police and Crime Commissioner reported that 20 mph speed limits were in operation across various districts across South Yorkshire and the Police’s resources had to patrol the highways on a risk based system.

The Police held a database which they shared with the Local Authority where incidents had taken place.

The Police and Crime Commissioner welcomed introducing 20 mph speed limits, particularly in residential and the most vulnerable areas, like schools, but only had a limited resource to patrol the hotspot zones.

As part of the grants scheme Neighbourhood Watch Areas and local activitists were being encouraged to develop PACTS, particularly on road safety around schools. In addition, Local Authorities and Safer Neighbourhood Teams etc. were being encouraged to come forward with solutions to look at priorities within the resources available.

The Vice-Chairman also pointed out that the role of this Panel was to look at the Police and Crime Commissioner’s priorities and performance manage against Police and Crime Panel targets.

Consideration was given to the report of the Annual Report presented by the Police and Crime Commissioner, which set out how the Commissioner had exercised his statutory functions since being appointed, as well as providing an overview of the work undertaken by South Yorkshire Police Authority of its statutory functions between April and November, 2012.

The main purpose of the report was to highlight performance against the functions of a Police and Crime Commissioner as set out in the Act and to demonstrate performance against the key objectives set out in the Police and Crime Plan 2013-17 which were:

·         Reduce Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour.

·         Protect Vulnerable People.

·         Improve Visible Policing.

The reporting year was another very difficult year for all public services and Policing was not immune from the further significant cuts made by Central Government to public service funding in 2012/13.  In terms of crime performance information comparing 2011-12 to 2012-13 this demonstrated continued overall reductions in crime despite the challenging financial circumstances.

In reviewing the period from November, 2012 to March, 2013, the Police and Crime Commissioner recalled the more significant events including:-

·                Drafted and published the first Police and Crime Plan.

·                Established fortnightly Commissioner Surgeries giving 1.35million residents access to meet with the Police and Crime Commissioner.

·                Recruitment of both a Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner and Deputy Chief Constable.

·                Development of Community Grant scheme allocating Proceeds of Crime Act funding back to the community.

·                Become the North East Regional Director in relation to the National Police Air Service and secured a seat on the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Performance Board.

·                Developed the website and electronic channels of communication including twitter and Facebook demonstrating commitment to openness and transparency.

·                Established accountability arrangements with the Chief Constable and Senior Command Team.

·                Agreed collaboration between West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Humberside Police on Scientific Support Service.

·                Retained bases in South Yorkshire for the Mounted Police Section and a Police Helicopter.

·                Agreed the Custody Suite Rationalisation.

·                Established a South Yorkshire Joint Liaison Forum involving Unison, GMB, Unite, Police Federation and Police Superintendents Association.

·                Commissioned additional services from South Yorkshire Probation Trust and Victim Support.

·                Established a procurement framework to help bolster the South Yorkshire economy.

·                Refreshed the Independent Advisory Groups to further provide transparency and accountability, established countywide Child Sexual Exploitation forum, countywide Community Safety Partnership Chairs forum and Joint Audit Committee.

The Police and Crime Commissioner also gave an update on progress of elements of his Plan relating to:-

·                Strategic Planning.

·                The Governance Arrangements.

·                Progress Against Priorities.

·                Reducing Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour.

·                Protecting Vulnerable People.

·                Improving Visible Policing.

·                The Budget.

·                Holding the Chief Constable to account.

·                Partnership Working.

·                Collaboration.

·                Community Grants.

·                Information and Engagement.

·                People.

·                Work of the South Yorkshire Police Authority.

·                South Yorkshire Police Performance.

The Police and Crime Commissioner was committed to his vision to make South Yorkshire the safest place to live, learn, work and run businesses and believed his Annual Report captured the progress made not only against the objectives as set out in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Jacqueline Collins, Monitoring Officer, which provided an update on the handling of complaints received against the Police and Crime Commissioner.

In accordance with Regulation 6(1) of the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012 the Panel had a duty to ensure it was kept informed of the handling of such complaints.

Since the previous meeting the following matters have been considered:-

1.         A complaint that the Commissioner had failed to respond to correspondence.

          The Office of the Commissioner confirmed that a response had been sent, although with some delay. Following consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman the matter was not accepted as a formal complaint and no further action was taken.

2.         A complaint that the Commissioner was making statements in support of a political candidate.

          Following consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman it was determined that as the Panel had considered a very similar complaint at its meeting on 13^th March, 2013, the complaint would not be referred to the Panel for resolution.

          A full explanation of the earlier decision was provided to the complainant.

3.         A comment regarding a failure of the Commissioner to show support for the Chief Constable.

          Having consulted with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman it was determined that the communication took the form of a comment and did not reveal a complaint. Therefore, the matter was not referred to the Panel.

There were two further complaints in relation to which, in accordance with the Panel’s complaints procedure, the comments of the Commissioner were being sought. These would be reported to a future meeting of the Panel.

The Panel were of the view that there appeared to be some vagueness by the public on the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner, but it was uncertain how this could be dealt with.  It was suggested, however, that a section on Frequently Asked Questions be included on the Police and Crime Panel’s website which may help in managing expectations.

Resolved:-  That the report be received and the contents noted.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel take place on Monday, 2^nd September, 2013 at 10.00 a.m.

(2)  That all subsequent meetings be held at 1.00 p.m. to facilitate attendance by members of the public.