Resolved:  That Councillor Bernard Peters be appointed Chairman of the Panel for the ensuring year.

Resolved:  That Councillor Richard Cox be appointed Vice Chairman of the Panel for the ensuring year.

Councillor Williams declared an interest in Commissioners annual report item as his employer had provided services to the SPACE scheme in the past.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the Panel meeting held on 6, 13, and 21 February 2023 be approved and signed by the Chairman.

The following decisions have been published on the Commissioners web site since the last meeting of the Panel:

a.   Police and Crime 005 - Award of Contracts for ERP system (Origin) and Finance system (Integra)

b.   Police and Crime 006 - OPST Training Facility

c.   Police and Crime 007 - Pronto Mobile Solution Contract

d.   Fire and Rescue 001 - CRMP Extension

Decisions - Staffordshire Commissioner (staffordshire-pfcc.gov.uk)

Details were submitted of decisions published by the Commissioner since the last Panel meeting.

Resolved:  That the decisions be noted.

Questions to the Commissioner are invited from members of the public who live or work in Staffordshire. Notice of questions must be received by no later than three clear working days before the Panel meeting.  More information on where and how to submit a question can be found at https://bit.ly/34arVDw

The Panel considered the questions ask by a member of the public and the Commissioners written response. 

Resolved:  That the questions asked, and the Commissioners written response be noted.

The Annual report was presented by the Commissioner who explained the progress made against his strategic plans. 

The Commissioner highlighted the following from his report:

• Commitment to the SPACE programme had been made for a further two years.
• Road safety, including safe vehicles, ANPR Cameras, speeding and vehicle crime remained a priority.
• New leadership in both the Police and Fire Service was leading to improved confidence in local services. 
• Financial forecasts and resources, as highlighted in the annual report, were promising.
• The recruitment of additional police officers was on track to increase by 250 by the end of May 2024.

The Commissioner thanked the Fire and Rescue and the Police Services; all their staff; volunteers; his Deputy; and the Commissioners team for their support over the past months and helping to provide services in challenging and demanding times.

Following the Commissioners presentation and questioning from the Panel, the following summary of information was shared.  This was in addition to that provided in the written report:

• Demand for Police services had been managed locally based on knowledge of the area, its challenges and work force capacity.
• Work was taking place with partners to ensure that the right and most appropriate services attended incidents.  The Commissioner assured the Panel that emergency services would continue to respond to call outs but it was hoped that specialist services would be able to assist in a more timely way.  When more detail was available all partners, including local authorities would be consulted.
• It was felt that to mention the behaviour of other forces in the Commissioner’s foreword, was inappropriate as there were also issues locally which needed addressing.  The Commissioner agreed to revisit the wording in the annual report as it was not the intention to downplay any problems which Staffordshire services may have.  There was a need to reassure the community that these issues were being addressed.
• The recruitment of officers was reflecting the community in terms of ethnicity and gender, and it was essential that people feel comfortable in their workplace.
• Anti-social behaviour was a priority and full access to CCTV and surveillance equipment was critical.  There were many operating systems and managing the amount and type of information coming into the system was challenging.  The project this year would be to understand and develop ways of working together to establish what was available and how it could be used.  It was felt that Community Safety Partnerships were in an ideal place to understand local issues and through working together could focus on local solutions.
• Technology and consistency within the Fire service was highlighted as a particular issue by the Panel, with some local teams having to print out information before they could respond to incidents as they didn’t have smart technology.  The Commissioner explained that different information storage systems meant that it might be some time before all information was available electronically, but it was confirmed that all front-line services now had smart phones and the service was working its way through  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Panel received the annual report which provided information on the Home Office grant allocated to the Host authority which was intended to meet the costs of the administrative support and management services of the panel and Panel member expenses.  The Grant allocation for 2023/24 had not yet been received.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

The Panel received the annual report which provided information on the number of complaints referred to the panel which relate to the personal conduct of the Commissioner and/or his Deputy.

Resolved:  That the report be noted.

None asked at this point in the meeting.

The Panels work programme was considered.  It was suggested that the panel training dates should be added to the work programme to ensure transparency.

Resolved:  That the work programme be noted.