Agenda item

The Chairman expressed his concern that the annual report had been circulated after the publication of the agenda and this may affect the Panels ability to question the Commissioner. 

Concern was also raised on the Panels ability to monitor the recent inspection report developments/ progress when the information was not published on the Commissioners web site to enable them to see progress.   It was acknowledged that Chief Constable performance and action plans were normally on the website, but this had not been available to view for a number of weeks.

The Commissioner apologised for the lateness of the report.  A draft had been emailed to members prior to the meeting but was not on the panel’s public website.  He explained that performance information would normally be available on his web site, and he would investigate the issue.

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

The recent HMICFRS inspections which had highlighted some failings in the system, had been included in the report and performance against improvements was being measured and was being made public through the Performance meetings held with the Chief Constable.  Public Meetings - Staffordshire Commissioner (staffordshire-pfcc.gov.uk)

The Commissioner highlighted the following form the report:

• The operating models and transformation programme would be monitored, and results evidenced. Update reports and the next Annual report would show the progress.
• Additional funds had been secured for Safer Streets and Safer Women at Night Funds.
• Clear commitment had been made through funding for Community Safety Partnerships; Victim Support Services; and services to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour; and Hate Crime Services.
• All commissioning arrangements were being reviewed.

The Commissioner thanked the Fire and Rescue and Police Services, his staff and his Deputy for their support over the past months and helping to provide services and to prepare strategies and documents such as the Annual report.

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

• The Panel wanted to see performance against other Police authorities and Key Performance Indicators available on the Commissioners web site.  The Chairman informed the Panel that unfortunately this was not currently available, and this problem needed to be addressed.

• It was hoped that the new Local Policing Model, which went live on the day of this meeting, should help to increase crime prevention as officers would have less distance to travel to attend incidents.  It was acknowledged that it may take up to 12 months to gather data to demonstrate effectiveness.
• Following a question on how the effectiveness of the extra funding for Safer streets would be measured, the Commissioner explained that he expected to see an increase in the night economy; an improved feeling of safety and less street crime.  The Government collected data on how the funding had been spent and set targets to demonstrate how effective it had been.
• Road Safety was an important issue which affected all areas of the county.  The Deputy Commissioner gave a brief update on activities under way to improve car and road safety.  Helen Fisher was invited to attend the next meeting to brief the Panel on what work was taking place.
• It was felt that the performance of the Contact Centre remains a priority but didn’t seem to be improving.  In response, the Commissioner stated that it remained a top priority, but it was taking time to train officers; a new Chief Superintendent experienced in contact services had been appointed; the service had undergone a recent peer review; and other force areas had visited to assist with best practise among other initiatives.  Improvement needed to be seen and would be reported to the Chief Constable Performance meetings and would be included in all performance reports to this Panel.
• Thanks were expressed to the Speed Watch team, for all the work they do.
• Communicating with the Commissioner’s office via email had been an issue for one member and needed to be addressed.
• The panel felt that the statistics and data in the report were interesting but they were not set in any context, so it was difficult to know if they were impressive compared to other forces or set against targets.  This was comment was acknowledged.

Members of the Panel felt strongly that the public needed to be able to see the effects of the any changes made and information needed to be available on the web site. 

RESOLVED:

a)   That the report be received