Meeting documents

 

To receive an update of progress against the Police and Crime Plan Q4 2017/18. Each ‘Pillar’ of the Police and Crime Plan will be reviewed in turn, supported through a brief introduction from the PCC and the PCP ‘Pillar Lead’.

 

·         Pillar 1 – Protecting People at Risk and Harm (Cllr Kerby and Cllr Quayle)

·         Pillar 2 - Working with our Communities (Cllr Iyengar and Cllr Davis)

·         Pillar 3 – Supporting Victims, Witnesses and Reducing Reoffending (Cllr Pipe and Cllr Manuel)

·         Pillar 4 – Transforming for the Future (Iain McVie)

 

The following documents have been produced to support the discussion.

 

Annex A – Finance update

Annex B1 – Drone Evaluation

Annex B2 - ICT Projects

Annex C – Update on Force Management Statement

Annex D1 – Update on Staff Referrals to Occupational Health

Annex D2 – Alliance Health and Wellbeing Statement

Annex E1 – Strategic Alliance Update (Pillar 4)

Annex E2 – Merger update (Pillar 4)

Annex E3 – Impact on Proposed Merger (Pillar 4)

Annex F – Update on Capital Strategy (Pillar 4)

Annex G – Digitisation of Speed Cameras (Pillar 4)

Annex H - Spotlight Scrutiny Review of the Disclosure and Barring Service – Pillar Lead briefing (Pillar 1) (verbal update)

The Panel considered a report informing them of the progress against the Police and Crime Plan and Priorities 2017-21.  The report provided information on the financial outturn position for the year ending 31 March 2018, an example of the regular digital highlight report presented to the PRISM Board as an insight into Alliance governance processes, information on the level of staff referrals to occupational health, as well as updates on the following items:-

 

·      Activity of the Alliance Drone Team during its first year of operation;

·      Development of the first Force Management Statement including an overview of its likely effect on future force planning business planning;

·      The Strategic Alliance Programme highlight report including the impact of the proposed merger between Devon & Cornwall Police and Dorset Police;

·      Capital strategy;

·      Digitisation of speed cameras.

 

The PCC highlighted areas of work related to each of the pillar themes with members of the Panel who were leading on each of the themes in the Plan also invited to provide updates.

 

a)    Pillar 1 - Protecting People at Risk and Harm - Cllr Andrew Kerby / Cllr Byron Quayle

 

The PCC highlighted an opportunity being explored to extend the existing child Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) to include adults and also his work with partners to improve support for war veterans.  The PCC had recently received a letter of support from the Government Minister concerning his proposal for a veteran's wing in HMP Portland and the provision of skills training at Bovington and the direction of travel had been positive so far.

 

Cllr Quayle asked whether there was any support that could be given by the Panel with respect to mental health arrangements reflecting the new legislation.

 

The PCC advised that Dorset had its own Mental Health Concordat and that children were no longer taken into custody.  The current status was assessed as amber due to the ongoing changes and he would inform the Panel if any problems were experienced in future, particularly in light of the current funding review by the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

 

b)    Pillar 2 - Working with our Communities - Cllr Bernie Davis / Cllr Mohan Iyengar

 

The PCC stated that he would be grateful for the Panel's assistance in engaging the public in the consultation on the merger of Devon & Cornwall and Dorset Police during the summer.  He also highlighted consultation in relation to lowering of the drink drive limit, the continuation of the drug driving awareness campaign and a new Road Safety Strategy to be published in a few weeks' time.  He continued to fund the national road safety charity BRAKE and support the Take Five to Stop Fraud initiative.

 

He reported that there would be a single online page within a year allowing everyone to go to the same website to contact the police and that would enable Skype to be used.  A pilot was taking place in Devon using Skype to provide a witness statements.

 

The PCC reported that the homelessness Problem Solving Forum held the previous week had been successful.  The topic of the next Forum had not yet been agreed and he welcomed any suggestions from the Panel.

 

Cllr Iyengar made the following suggestions concerning the report:-

• A link between activity and impact on the statistics relating to road safety;
• A measure and target in relation to Cyber Crime that might also include educating young people on the online risks around social media;
• A separate heading for the consultation on the merger of the police forces; and 
• Whether Skype was the most appropriate communication platform.

 

In response the PCC stated that information on Cyber Crime could be accessed from the Action Fraud online reports and he confirmed that information could be included as an annex in a future monitoring report to the Panel.  He agreed that information on the proposed merger could be included as a separate item in future and that it would be useful to refer to online platforms rather than a single provider such as Skype.

 

Cllr Byatt asked whether the OPCC looked at social media posts that commented on the police and the various initiatives as part of its engagement strategy.

 

The PCC advised that the Police were proficient in scanning social media posts and, although there were not the staff resources available at the OPCC to do this, it benefitted from work undertaken by the Police.  He confirmed that any consultation undertaken by the OPCC was across relevant social media channels and had gained the best response rate in the country. 

 

Cllr Dove asked about the reintroduction of traffic initiatives to reduce road deaths, and whether this could be the subject of a Problem Solving Forum.

 

The PCC responded that such initiatives had been impacted due to the reduction in Local Authority funding that had decreased from £3m (that was ringfenced) to £30k in the past decade as well as a reduction in the number of road safety officers.

 

a)    Pillar 3 - Supporting Victims, Witnesses and reducing Reoffending - Cllr Barbara Manuel / Cllr Bill Pipe

 

The PCC reported that Baroness Newlove, the Victims Commissioner, had recently visited Dorset to meet 6 randomly selected victims of domestic abuse and that their praise for Dorset Police had been noted by the Commissioner.  The main concerns expressed had been around court delays and treatment of the victim. The PCC had met Baroness Newlove to discuss the Complainant Advocate Project and a job description was currently being put together for a Complaints Advocate to be funded by central government to assist victims of crime.

 

Cllr Pipe focussed attention on the red status actions in the area of offender management and rehabilitation and the PCC explained that this was due to the failure of the rehabilitation company operating across the country and that he was therefore unable to influence these areas.

 

Cllr Pipe asked how the PCC was going to spend the grant from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and CCG to help the high number of war veterans in Dorset.  The PCC advised that a Bournemouth University Covenant Trust bid had acquired funding of £230k, some of this funding would be used for criminal justice and wraparound services for war veterans to help them in their journey back to society.   Funding had not been requested from government for a single prison wing as this could be achieved through the OPCC's existing budgets.  The Governor of the HMP Portland had indicated that moving veterans to a single wing would reduce incidences of violence and victimisation.

 

Cllr Pipe and Cllr Manual described their recent visit to the Dorset Victim's Bureau (including Dorset Victim Support) at Gloucester House, Bournemouth, to look at how its services were run and had been impressed with the commitment that was above and beyond expectation.  They noted that their caseloads could be high and that an additional officer on the second floor should be considered. They had also observed the second part of the day with Baroness Newlove in Poole when she put questions to police agency workers.   

 

The PCC advised that staffing numbers at the Bureau were currently being addressed as a result of three of its staff members having progressed to  police staff posts.  An additional Magistrates Court had been agreed as a result of a recent review of the court system in the South West, which was welcomed in reducing incidences of double and triple booking of courts.

 

a)    Pillar 4 - Transforming for the Future - Iain McVie

 

The PCC highlighted 9 community grants that had been issued in 2017/18 and the continuation of the CCTV project in Weymouth and Dorchester.

 

Iain McVie noted that the total establishment of the Police Force had been over the agreed target and he was therefore concerned about whether a target number of officers would be able to deliver a safe Dorset in light of increasing demand.

 

The PCC advised that the government was currently considering additional funding to increase the establishment as it was clear that demand was outstripping supply and that a new operating model could resolve this.

 

Iain McVie advised that his report concerning the spotlight scrutiny of body worn video devices would be available by the end of July 2018 for circulation and could be formally discussed at the next Panel meeting in September 2018. 

 

The PCC agreed with the views expressed by the Panel in relation to increasing his role in the scrutiny of complaints, but there was currently no government guidance or new pilots in place.  It would not be appropriate to implement a local system over the short term due to the proposed merger, however, work was ongoing in relation to quick desktop recovery of complaints.  He was also interested in capturing the issues that were not subject to a formal complaint by scanning logs and phone calls.  In order to provide further reassurance, the PCC advised that he co-chaired the Standards Board when every complaint was scrutinised.

 

Referring to this issue, Cllr Byatt also drew attention to matters of concern expressed on different online platforms that were outside of the formal complaints process, but which affected public confidence in the Police Force.  He asked how the PCC could work towards engaging with people who were dissatisfied when there was not always evidence within media posts to address these issues.

 

The PCC advised that the Safer Dorset Foundation promoted public safety and that Dorset ranked highest in the UK.  The issue of how to recover public confidence was difficult as each person had a different issue, and, although he made the Force aware, he could not hope to have a programme to address the public confidence of

1 million people and a huge number of social platforms.

 

Members of the Panel asked the following questions to the PCC, who responded accordingly:

 

Finance

1. Police Pay

o   The FTE for Police Officers has been set at 1200 for the last couple of years.  Last year’s outturn highlighted that the FTE was 1,246 and that this resulted in an over spend of £157k on Officer pay.  This year, the FTE is 1,242 and yet the over spend is £2M (including £312k unbudgeted pay award).  The outturn for Police Officer pay Financial Year 2016/17 was £63M; for Financial Year 2017/18 it is £66M. 

 

Could the OPCC please outline:

 

PCC Response:-

The numbers of officers quoted relate to the FTEs at the respective year ends.  The reason for the difference in overspend is that the average number of officers in 2016/17 was c.1209 whereas the average for 2017/18 was c.1249.  The trend line in officer numbers was increasing between July 2017 and July 2018 and is now falling.  The overspend is mainly a consequence of the rate of leavers being lower in 2017/18 from what had been the experience in the previous 3 years, and a conscious decision not to stop recruitment.

[This was enhanced by the presentation by the Chief Constable James Vaughan.]

 

2. Police Overtime

o   Police Officer overtime pay is £1.3M overspent, giving a total annual overtime budget of £4M (3.3% of net revenue), could the OPCC please highlight:

 

PCC Response:-

In the light of the outturn the PCC has requested an assessment of the appropriate amount of overtime budget for 2018/19 and an assurance on the controls in place to manage it within the budget.

 

The Force is managing with static resources with increasing demand, a significant transformation programme (to make it more efficient in the long term) whilst in the short term OBD is designed to make sure current resources are better aligned.

 

The Force is also dealing with an unprecedented level of change, with officers abstracted to work on specific projects to implement Alliance working, consider future operational models under merger scenarios, introducing significant operational systems such as the replacement Command and Control system and Body worn video and so on.  Each of these projects and programmes require officers with considerable operational knowledge and in depth policing understanding to ensure the necessary benefits are and will be derived.

 

While every effort is made to ensure officers are used in their operational capacity, ensuring that they are available for deployment even if working on vital change programmes, this unprecedented level of demand inevitably means that abstraction levels are high, and the need for overtime remains. 

[This was enhanced by the presentation by the Chief Constable James Vaughan.]

 

3. PCSO Pay

o   Could the OPCC please confirm:

 

PCC Response:-

The budget for PCSOs is held within the Police staff pay line, and spent £3.7m against a budget of 4.4m (£0.7m underspent). 

 

4. Financial Control

o   A number of key areas are overspent (incl. in the table on page 93)

Could the OPCC please detail what action is being undertaken in order to:

 

PCC Response:-

Following the outturn for 2018/19 the OPCC is scrutinising the Force spending performance in more detail on a monthly basis and the Force are reviewing their controls over spending.

 

The Chief Constable is now the chair of the internal Resource Control Board which has reviewed its terms of reference and membership, to provide earlier oversight and support for management decisions and better assurance to the PCC.[This was enhanced by the presentation by the Chief Constable James Vaughan.]

 

5. Revised Estimates / Refresh

o   The OPCC is requested to consider conducting a comprehensive refresh of all the elements; including capital, revenue and reserves in light of this outturn and provide the PCP with an update on a formal Revised Estimate for 2018/19 (compared with the original FY18/19 estimate) at the Sep 18 meeting.

 

PCC Response:-

The effect of the outturn on the budget for 2018/19 is being considered and an update will be provided to the meeting in September.

 

6. Apprenticeship Levy

o   Dorset Police has to pay in to Central Govt some £500k

o   What scrutiny has the OPCC undertaken to ensure that Dorset benefits from this scheme and is getting out what it puts in?

 

PCC Response:-

We pay into the levy (0.5% of paybill), and are able to claim against additional costs of providing apprenticeships (excluding salary).  To date there have been very limited claims, as apprenticeship costs of existing apprenticeships are largely incurred by the education providers (colleges and universities) who claim against our levy ‘pot’. This is because the new Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PDCA) is not yet available, indeed nationally this has encountered delays and it is proposed to take first intake through this route in autumn 2019.

 

In terms of governance, an Alliance Apprenticeship Strategy has been agreed, and monthly meetings take place to monitor the levy paid and spent and to reconcile with future recruitment plans. Detail is provided in the Quarterly Performance Pack (Resourcing & Talent Planning) to make this visible, which is reported into the Strategic Performance Board which the PCC and Chief Executive attend. A representative from the OPCC also attends the Quarterly Strategic People Board where these updates are tabled.

 

7. Emergency Services Network (ESN)

The ESN is up for review in Jul 18 - there are two options: cancel or delay. 

o   What action has the OPCC taken to ensure that funding to support Airwave will be earmarked in order to maintain continuance into the unforeseeable future?

 

PCC Response:-

The "Beat: More than Radio" project is managed through the regional collaboration structure and reported on at the quarterly South West Police Collaboration Strategic Board, attended by the PCC and Chief Executive. The programme lead is D&C DCC and Alliance change lead Paul Netherton.

 

At the March 2018 Board an update to the Beat: More than Radio financial strategy was agreed, in order to provide an interim position until the revised national ESN business case was available and a full transition plan agreed. Broadly speaking, as this programme is delayed this involved re-profiling the funding requirements (accrued as the project has not progressed to implementation as yet) and moving the underspend from the 2017/18 budget into the 2019/20 budget.

 

This re-profiling has allowed the project to remain funded in the interim period. The benefit of this interim strategy is that it sets a more realistic budget, while enabling the programme the tolerance required to plan ESN transition, and delivering the business change mandated by South West PCCs and Chiefs.

 

At the same time, a set of strategic questions will be articulated through NPCC ESN finance group to seek transparency regarding the likely ESN costs and projections, and reported back through the SW Board.

 

General

1. Drug Related Deaths

o    Can the PCC provide his view on the level of reported drug related deaths in Dorset, which have been ranked as the sixth highest in the country, and what action he is taking to address this and also the wider impact that drug related crimes are having on the wider community.

 

PCC Response:-

We believe these appear to relate to a perceived increase in opiate deaths in the west of the County following the release of data by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last year – reported in the Dorset Echo in late 2017 and again in April/May this year.

 

Please note the data refers to Heroin and Morphine deaths specifically, and cover the period 2014 to 2016. All figures are drug related deaths (DRDs) per 100,000 population, and rounded to one decimal point.

 

Reading 5.8

Portsmouth 5.2

Bournemouth 5

Gosport 4.7

Exeter 4.3

Weymouth & Portland 4

Southampton 3.4

North Devon 3.2

Poole 2.0

 

Nationally, anything over 4 is considered high. On this measure Bournemouth, appears an outlier, however, it must be borne in mind that we have a number of drug and alcohol rehabilitation units in that post code area, and hence we do see a higher number of DRDs than say Poole. Also, these are relatively small numbers, and have to be taken into context of the resident population of the area rather than any transient/holidaying people using drugs.

 

It should also be stressed that this is very much a partnership issue to address and not solely within the gift of the police to address and reduce. Many of these people are being managed by addiction and recovery services, and therefore intelligence does not suggest that the individuals under discussion here are having a significantly impact, through their offending, on the wider community.

 

However, the PCC is thoughtful of the drug-related services that he funds, and how effective they are, and the OPCC policy andcommissioning team are currently undertaking a small review.

 

2. Crime Statistics

o    What crime statistics data is currently held by the OPCC, what analysis and benchmarking is done on this and how is this used to inform and determine the PCC’s strategic priorities and resultant activity?

 

PCC Response:-

In the first instance it may be helpful to remind Panel members that local crime and outcomes data are available on the national crimemapper website at www.police.uk. Members may simply enter the postcode for which they are interested and be able to find quite detailed information about the numbers of crimes and incidents in a particular locality. These data are supplied by each local force direct to the Home Office for the prime purpose of better transparency on crime and outcome data.

 

Separately, and bearing in mind the Government’s desire to move policing away from a performance mindset and instead focus on its ability to understand, manage and to a certain extent plan for future demand (through the use of the force management statement) – OPCC has for some time been quite focused on a rigorous examination of the force’s ability to deliver a service, rather than the on the outputs of said service.

 

For completeness however, Dorset remains a safe place to live, work and visit and whilst crime is increasing, it is increasing less than the national average:

 

·         The position as at the 12 months to 31st December 2017 in terms of total crime per 1,000 population showed Dorset as the 12th lowest force (out of 43) in England & Wales.

·         The latest national statistics are the end of year position (17/18) for total crime was 45,248 crimes - an increase of 9.6% compared to 16/17.

·         The national average in terms of the % increase compared to the previous 12 months was 15.4%.

 

Annex b(i) - Drone Unit Update Report

In response to questions, it was confirmed that:

·       the revenue from training provided by the Drone unit could be further maximised in future;

·       2 lives had been saved in the past 2 months from Dorset cliffs through the use of drones

·       that anecdotal evidence suggested that Jurys had benefited from drone footage during court cases

 

The Chair asked if the Drone Unit had led directly to successful prosecutions. The OPCC stated that they would report back to the panel with this information.

 

Annex c - Force Management Statement (FMS) Update

FMS1 had been submitted on time, but was not yet in a format suitable for publication.  The Panel noted that, even though the FMS offered an objective view, the HMRC FRS could make a subjective decision.

  

Annex d - Staff Referrals to Occupational Health

Cllr Dove considered that the report had not got to the heart of the problem of police shifts, overtime and absence of meal breaks and suggested that further information was sought from the Police Federation and staff surveys to see whether the document was relevant.

 

The Panel was advised that the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Development Plan had been based on the findings of the staff survey results and developed with the involvement of Trade Union representatives. 

 

The PCC had granted £250m funding for the Plan in an effort to deal with the symptoms, even if it was not possible to deal with the cause being due to demand.  Assessment of whether the Plan had worked could be an area of scrutiny in future and it was agreed that progress would be reviewed in a year’s time.

 

Annex e - Summary of Impact of the Proposed Merger on the Strategic Alliance Programme

It was confirmed that those areas that had been paused until a decision to merge was determined would not have an impact on those areas that were up and running.

 

Resolved

1.   That the PCC undertook to include the public consultation on the merger of the police forces as a separate heading in future monitoring reports.

2.   That the PCC would provide an annex on Cyber Crime with the September monitoring report.

3.   That the PCC would report on the ICT Company including his view on value for money at the next meeting.

4.   That the PCC would report back on the successful prosecutions due to the involvement of the Drone Unit; and

5.   That the latest position and improvements as a result of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Development Plan are considered in June 2019.