Agenda and minutes

Resolved:-  That Councillor Mazher Iqbal be appointed Chairman for the remainder of the 2014/15 Municipal Year.

(Councillor Mazher Iqbal in the Chair)

There were no questions from members of the public submitted.

Councillor Sixsmith, M.B.E. referred to an incident at the Dearne ALC last week where seven youths bought legal highs locally.  Five of the youths were hospitalised due to smoking the substances and wished to ask the Panel if there were any guidelines around the sale of these substances.

The Police and Crime Commissioner suggested the best course of action would be to contact the District Commander who could provide an update on this matter.

Councillor Sheppard indicated that he was willing to share further information as similar incidents had occurred in Doncaster.

Councillor Hussain referred to the loss of £12 million funding and asked how many Police Officer posts would be lost in each Local Authority area?

The Police and Crime Commissioner confirmed this information had been shared at the last meeting which set out in detail the loss of posts across South Yorkshire.

The Chairman suggested that this information be recirculated for all Panel Members.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel held on 30^th January, 2015.

Reference was made to Minute No. J28 (Resignation of Independent Co-optee) and an update provided on the current position to seek a replacement for the vacancy.  Following consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman it was proposed to filling of the vacancy until after the May election to enable a clearer picture of the skill set for such a candidate to be identified.  It was also suggested that Alan Carter, Independent Co-optee to the Panel, be included on the recruitment panel.

The Police and Crime Commissioner also referred to a slight misinterpretation of some text as part of Minute No. J31 (Precept Proposal for 2015/16) on Page 5 of the agenda pack and asked that the proposals lists be amended to now read:-

-        ensure that uniformed officers continue to respond to emergency ‘999’ calls;

-        have neighbourhood teams and the teams of uniformed officers combined under the same management and, for example, receive the same briefings;

-        introduce uniform/common shift patterns;

-        increase the overall skills of police officers in the new single teams;

-        introduce the use of new ICT technology, so that reports may be prepared by Officers, using laptops in Police vehicles, which would ensure that Officers spend more time in the neighbourhoods instead of returning to Police stations in order to file their reports;

-        ensure that the training of all Police personnel be ‘neighbourhood focused’.

Reference was also made Minute No. J31 (Precept Proposal for 2015/16) on Page 7 of the agenda pack and particularly Question No. 4 where Councillor Sheppard apologised for the content, but asked if this could be simplified to his direct question of “Had these changes to working practices been trialled elsewhere or implemented across the force without being trialled?”

Deborah Fellowes, Scrutiny Manager, also advised the Panel that, in relation to Minute No. J31 (Precept Proposal for 2015/16), the final report on the budget, to be published on the PCC’s website, included some additional information. This information had been shared with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Panel to ensure they were aware.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 30^th January, 2015 be approved as a correct record, for signature by the Chairman, with the inclusion of the clerical corrections referred to above.

Consideration was given to the report presented by the Police and Crime Commissioner which detailed the Police and Crime Commissioner’s current Police and Crime Plan following the publication of the first five year plan in 2013.

In addition, the Police and Crime Commissioner thought it also important to report on his decision and rationale not to appoint a Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.

Having listened to the views of community groups, leaders in business, the universities and local authorities, those working in the voluntary sector and many individuals, the Police and Commissioner identified that all shared a similar view around wishing to be safe and feeling safe. 

In consultation with the Chief Constable, taking cognisance of the recently amended Strategic Policing Requirement, and after consideration of the evidence gathered as part of the strategic planning process, the Police and Crime Commissioner identified that ‘Putting Safety First’, ensuring services were responsive to the public and needs of victims, would determine the priorities of the police service for the period to 2017. 

The aim of the Police and Crime Plan was for South Yorkshire to be and feel a safe place to live, learn and work and split into the strategic priorities of:-

·                Protecting Vulnerable People.

·                Tackling Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour.

·                Enabling Fair Treatment.

The Police and Crime Commissioner made reference to each priority in detail and the reasons for the reduced number of targets. 

This was based on the Police being asked to demonstrate their methods of measuring priorities and how targets were being met.  The Police Force needed to be more thoughtful in its approach with a model of work around geographical areas, requiring a cultural change with time to embed and become established.

It was important for the Police to prevent people becoming victims of crime and anti-social behaviour and to do this they needed to focus on becoming more local policing teams and taking responsibility for a case rather than handing over to another officer.  It also needed to be recognised that the responsibility for dealing with anti-social behaviour did not wholly lay with the Police, but some of the solutions may involve partner agencies.

The Police and Crime Commissioner explained about his establishment of an Independent Ethics Panel, chaired by an experienced Solicitor which would follow up on some ethical concerns and provide the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Police with independent and effective challenge to ensure they were acting with integrity and high professional standards.

It was noted that the budget for this financial year had balanced, but this was a different situation moving forward.  For South Yorkshire, the finance settlement represented a reduction in funding of £9.6m (or 4.83%) compared to 2014/15. This was on top of a reduction of £9.5m in the previous financial year.

Further information was provided on how the Police and Crime Plan was to be delivered at a time of continuing austerity.  The report set out details how this was broken down and how this would be taken forward.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Consideration was given to a report which set out in detail the progress on the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel website to date, which could be found at www.southyorkspcp.org.uk

A demonstration of the website was provided at the meeting for Panel to comment on and  suggest any changes to be made to the site.

The purpose of the website was to make it more user friendly, with links to key tasks and reports and complaints.  Full details on how to make a complaint would also be featured with clear parameters on how complaints were to be filtered.  This would all be in line with the Complaints Procedure which had previously been approved by the Panel and which should be revisited and added to the work programme.

The Panel were happy for the website to be made live with some further road testing via involvement with the community in testing the prototype.

The URL site, which cost £20.00, would be effective within 72 hours and all other legal technicalities confirmed.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the current design of the website, as demonstrated at the meeting on 19th March, 2015, and any changes required be noted.

(2)  That further consideration be given as to how best to involve members of the community in testing the website.

(3)  That further consideration be given to methods of engaging/interacting with the community appropriate for the working and statutory role of the Police and Crime Panel.

(4)  That the issue of complaints be added to the work programme for further consideration.

Deborah Fellowes, Scrutiny Manager, advised the Police and Crime Panel on the status of the current work programme.

It was, therefore, suggested that the work programme be submitted to the next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel and it was proposed that the new emerging performance framework for the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office be included, along with the review of the Annual report.

Resolved:-  That the position be noted and the proposals put forward for consideration at the June meeting be approved.

Resolved:-  That the next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel take place on Monday, 29^th June, 2015 at 2.30 p.m. at Rotherham Town Hall.