Meeting documents

To consider a progress report by the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Panel received a report from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) which provided a summary of the PCC’s progress against the eight key manifesto commitments pledged to be achieved within the first 100 days of his new term.  The PCC confirmed that all of the 8 commitments had been successfully delivered within the first 100 days of his second term.

The Deputy PCC updated members on the 101 service which was the non- urgent part of the call handling structure. There was huge public perception around waiting times, the average time taken to get through was 3 minutes and 45 seconds. A Panel was now in place to help educate the public in how to use the best systems that were available in order to avoid delay. Delay in getting through seemed to be the primary concern. A call back system was introduced earlier in the year which gave people the ability to leave a message, about 600 calls a day could be affected by this.  Officers were looking at how effective the online facility was and the signs were that the public were using it well. The first meeting of this Panel was scheduled for October 2016 and included members from the Police and Crime Panel, members of the public and people from the voluntary sector. Its purpose was to improve the service to the public and improve public satisfaction.

Following a question regarding formal checking of panel members, the Deputy PCC advised that certain procedures had to be carried out with regard to listening in to calls and access to personal information, therefore normal vetting procedures were in place.  In respect of the App, the Deputy PCC advised that it was working well and was popular with a lot of reports being made.  However, it did equire some tweaking as it was adding work to the telephone system at present as staff were having to call people back.

In relation to border security, the PCC advised that he was due to meet with the new Home Secretary shortly for a review of whole border security.

Following a comment about when drug testing kits were used, the PCC advised it was not just after accidents they were used but mostly before.  The kits cost about £400 and over 53% people given the kit had proved positive. More money had been allocated to this in order to bring in more kits. The PCC highlighted an issue with people under influence of prescribed drugs but recognised this was a very difficult area to police.

The OPCC Chief Executive updated members on the changes to the senior team.  Currently the post for a part-time Chief Executive was being advertised, with a proposed interview date of 6 October 2016.  The Panel were invited to send a representative to observe the process.  The recruitment of a part-time Chief Financial Officer was scheduled for around November 2016 along with a full-time Deputy Chief Executive, to provide some resilience in senior executive positions. It was highlighted that the Chief Executive was CEO responsible for strategic management and the Deputy Chief Executive would be responsible for day to day management.

Resolved

That Iain McVie would be the Panels’ representative for the interviews for the Chief Executive post and that Mike Short would be the representative for the Chief Financial Officer interviews.