Agenda item

The Commissioner introduced his report which outlined the processes in place to hold the Chief Constable to account for the improvements needed following the PEEL inspection in 2022.  The panel were reminded that there had been a revisit by the HMICFRS in December 2022 which had focused on the progress against the causes of concern.  The reinspection had found that improvements had been made but there was more to do.

The Panel were reminded that the Force had entered the ‘engage’ phase which enabled the force to be supported by HMICFRS and other national policing bodies and regularly share progress on areas of improvement.  The Commissioners report outlined the arrangements in place for monitoring and sharing information on the numerous work streams to enable improvement.  The Panel was reminded that the Commissioner also had regular meetings with the Chief Constable, held in public, which covered performance issues.  This information was available on the Commissioners website.

All forces that were in the ‘engage’ phase with HMICFRS were discussed at the Policing Performance Oversight Group (PPOG) chaired by HMCIC Andy Cooke.  The Commissioner confirmed that another area of work which was also kept high on the PPOG  agenda, was the Child Protection Inspection which had taken place a few months prior to the PEEL inspection.  This had highlighted a number of issues which were unexpected. 

The Panel asked a number of questions and discussed issues raised in the recent Inspection reports which provided the following information:

• The Commissioner felt that the force had lost sight of what the public expected in terms of communication.  This may have been due to the Pandemic and the challenges and demands of services changing.
• It had been difficult to measure the effect of some of the changes that had taken place, such as IT changes.  These changes had not been implemented as well as they could have been and may have taken supervision away from the process of training new officers and working through the process and offering advice and support.
• The Chief Constables senior leadership team had changed significantly in the last 18 months and there had been a number of promotions and new staff members which was helping to redesign solutions and get the service back to ‘outstanding’.  
• It was felt that the new operating model would improve morale and therefore performance.
• The inspection letter of 10 February 2023 referred to effective supervision of investigations and ‘no meaningful improvement in this area’.  The Commissioner informed the Panel that there had been several changes since this inspection in December.  The Chief Constable had been involved in the promotion of Sergeants and was confident that they knew what was expected of them and the level of supervision needed.  IT changes and redesign may take a little longer to embed which would free up more time at an appropriate officer level.
• The Commissioner informed the Panel that the type of crime had changed over the last few years with cyber; fraud; domestic violence and protecting children increasing.
• The Public Protection Unit and work on protecting children was a partnership approach and work was taking place with both Stoke and the County Council to improve services.
• More information on the PEEL report and Child protection services would be included in the Commissioners Annual report (Panel meeting - June 2023).

It was acknowledged that the Governance process was the same for the Fire and Rescue Service.

Resolved:

a.   That the report be noted.

2. That more information on the PEEL report and Child protection services be included in the Commissioners Annual report at the June 2023 Panel meeting.