Agenda item

Considered –

The Commissioner’s draft Annual Report for Policing and Crime 2022/23.

The Commissioner introduced the draft report, highlighting a number of key areas of progress against the priorities of the Police and Crime Plan over the last year, including:

·       Work underway as a result of the strategy to tackle violence against women and girls;

·       NYP’s efforts to improve its holistic understanding of communities, intervening early and problem-solving;

·       The introduction of the Initial Enquiry Team, which has seen a high level of customer satisfaction;

·       Embedding equality, diversity and inclusivity at the heart of the organisation’s culture.

The Panel’s legal role is to review and make recommendations on the draft.  Panel members therefore raised specific queries and provided recommendations to the Commissioner on the draft content as follows:

a)    It was felt that hate crime and County Lines needed to have greater profile within the report.

b)    Members suggested that it may help to bring the progress updates to life more if additional case studies could be incorporated.  On a related note, it was felt that specific examples could have been provided of the positive work undertaken around the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.

c)     Members commended the use of the police property fund (page 16) and an observation was that this could have been given greater profile due to its positive impact.

d)    It is helpful to have the data on complaints resolved by the Complaints and Recognition Team (page 6) but Members felt it might also be useful to understand how long on average it has taken to resolve complaints, if this data can also be made available.

e)    It was highlighted that the section on domestic abuse and the force’s improvements in safeguarding would benefit from more specific illustration to bring out what is being done and how things have been improved.

f)      The Panel observed that only 50% of respondents to the public trust and confidence survey either agreed or strongly agreed that they had been fairly treated in their dealings with the police.  It was noted that both the Panel and public would benefit from further information on how this is happening over the coming months.  Additionally, Members noted the relatively low completion rate for the survey and queried whether the approach to the survey could be reviewed to encourage a greater number of responses. 

g)    It was highlighted that the Supporting Victims service is actually available by phone from 8am to 7pm over the phone (and not 9am to 5pm as indicated on page 15) and that the reference to the Adult Sexual Assault Referral service also needs to more specifically include mention that a similar service is available to children.

The Commissioner thanked the Panel for their comments, which she agreed to consider further before finalising the report.  The Panel raised a couple of other points for broader review going forward. 

h)    It would be helpful to receive further data in due course in relation to the Initial Enquiry Team ay NYP in terms of proportions of calls handled and directed away from the main Force Control Room.

i)      Some Members wished to note that engagement with PCSOs at parish council level could be rather patchy and that they would welcome further engagement, although other Members felt that relationships at a local level were working effectively.  The Panel welcomed the Chief Constable’s commitment to ensuring that parish councils have attendance at least once a year from a PCSO or similar representative.

Overall, the Panel felt that the draft report read well and is accessible to communities, with many positive examples of progress made against the Police and Crime Plan. 

Resolved –

That the Panel recommends that the draft Policing and Crime Annual Report 2022/23 be approved, subject to the Commissioner’s further consideration of the issues raised.