Agenda and minutes

Questions from members of the public would be incorporated into Minute No. 25 (Lessons Learnt) and will be formulated as part of that item.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting held on 29^th October, 2014.

With regards to the Minute No. J20 (Previous Minutes) Councillor Parker referred to the response by the Director of Legal and Democratic Services about the recording of the confidential decision making session where the Panel adjourned and believed it to be factually incorrect.  He had consulted the Legal Department and had been informed that personal notes were taken at the decision making session and were unavailable.  He expressed his discontent with the response whilst pointing out that full minutes should have been taken.

With regards to the query as to whether the Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel had made contact with the Chief Constable, the Chairman was now in receipt of a full response and the Chief Constable was present today to answer any other queries.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 29^th October, 2014, be agreed as a correct record for signature by the Chairman.

The Chairman welcomed the new Police and Crime Commissioner, Alan Billings, to the meeting and extended an invitation for him to attend all future meetings of the Police and Crime Panel, along with the Chief Constable.

The Police and Crime Commissioner welcomed the opportunity to start afresh from the events that led to him becoming elected and to becoming more acquainted with the expectations of the Panel.  He looked forward to establishing a good working relationship where frank and open discussion could take place.  His aim was to re-establish the trust between the public and the Police Force and for this to be addressed, together with the Chief Constable.

He was very clear in his vision for putting the victims of child sexual exploitation first, whilst understanding what had gone wrong in the past and how this was going to be addressed in the future.

The role of the Police and Crime Commissioner was to hold South Yorkshire Police to account, particularly over child sexual exploitation, Hillsborough and Orgreave to make sure they were learning lessons and at the same time supporting them in carrying out their important role in protecting people and communities across South Yorkshire. 

From talking to the public prior to the election it became apparent that the public valued neighbourhood policing and it was intended that wherever possible a close relationship would be maintained between ordinary Police Officers and Police Community Support Officers as this was where intelligence was gathered and remained essential. 

The Police and Crime Commissioner was committed to ensuring that voluntary sector organisations in South Yorkshire, who helped to reduce crime or help the victims of crime, were properly funded.  On this basis he intended to donate half of his salary to South Yorkshire victims’ charities.

The Commissioner was committed to working with all communities to bring people together to face the challenges ahead and welcomed the opportunity to make a difference, to forget the past, and to use the past as a springboard for the future.

The Panel welcomed the salary donation news and asked whether this could also be gift aided and were advised by the Commissioner that in order to donate his salary he had to receive it first.  He would be paying tax and would look into options for this to be gift aided.

In response to a question about whether or not he would be appointing a Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, the Commissioner confirmed he would be considering a number of options and whether there was a need for a full time position.

The Chairman welcomed David Crompton, Chief Constable, to the meeting who was keen to endorse what the Police and Crime Commissioner had said.  He was keen to attend future meetings of the Police and Crime Panel and requested that he be given an early indication as to when they may take place.  Discussions would be open and transparent and where possible he would be flexible and make himself available.

South Yorkshire Police were also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

Further to Minute No.  19 of the meeting of the Police and Crime Panel held on 29th October 2014, consideration was given to a report presented by Deborah Fellowes, Scrutiny Manager, which highlighted where a number of public questions fell broadly under the heading of “learning the lessons from recent events” and it was, therefore, agreed to consider them as part of this item today. 

On the positive side, it was clear that the Panel played its full part in ensuring that the voice of the public and, more importantly, the voices of the victims and their families were heard.  Indeed, this was clearly instrumental in the final decision of the previous Police and Crime Commissioner to resign.

Public interest in the work of the Panel had been generated as a result of these recent events and it was of critical importance that this was now harnessed to further improve the work of the Panel and its working relationship with the newly elected Police and Crime Commissioner.

It was clear that the role of the Panel was to scrutinise the work of the Police and Crime Commissioner at a strategic level and not to become involved in the operational detail of the Police Force.  Some of the concerns that have emerged have highlighted this as an issue.

The Panel also recently agreed to working protocols with the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committees for each of the four local authorities in South Yorkshire, to share information and practices with them. 

The Panel adopted a pilot Task and Finish Group approach this year, and this would have been tested with its first main subject being that of Domestic Abuse.  This had not been completed as a result of events of recent months and the effective suspension of the work programme for the Panel.

Other issues to consider included:-

·              Resources required to effectively scrutinise the Police and Crime agenda.

·              The role of the Police and Crime Panel in supporting the Police and Crime Commissioner to effectively deliver on his strategic priorities.

·              Joint priorities for scrutiny and how these should be determined.

There was no doubt that the role of the public were key over the previous months, and the Panel took the decision to maximise the involvement of the public in its proceedings.

The new website was also now live and it could be used to generate a debate with the public about these issues, using the community forum facility which existed on it.

In terms of the powers the Police and Crime Panels have in these circumstances, the Home Affairs Select Committee had forwarded a specific recommendation to the Government regarding this.  It recommended that legislation allowed for the recall of Police and Crime Commissioners if either the Police and Crime Panel made a vote of no confidence, or at least one of the local authorities take a vote of no confidence, where they represent at least half of the population of the police area.  Clearly, both of these factors would have  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

Resolved:-  That the meeting of the Police and Crime Panel scheduled to take place on Monday, 8^th December, 2014 be cancelled and a further meeting be arranged in January 2015.