Agenda item

To receive the Q2 Monitoring Report 2025/26.

The PCC introduced the report. The first priority was to cut crime and antisocial behaviour, and total crime was down again. The initiative Op Track saw 4906 hours of targeted patrol in ASB hotspots. Which resulted in a lot of good work, 100 section 35 dispersal notices, stop and searches, 90 arrests, 26 community resolutions and 15 weapon seizures. There was 2500 hours done in July, in the centre of Bournemouth in hotspots. He gave an update on the work that had been done to tackle ASB for ASB awareness week. Dorset Police had operation shop keeper which targeted prolific shoplifters and achieves significant positive outcomes. He went through Priority 2 - making the Police more visible and connected. The force was able to keep up the good work with 999, there were 90% answered in 10 seconds. The issue remained with the secondary call handling, which was the 23-25% of people who were not dealt with in 3 minutes. The granularity was understood better, and the solutions were resource and technology. He covered priority 3 – fighting violence and high harm. Violence against the person was down again and there was a slight up lift in the domestic violence, sexual harm and stalking prevention orders and he thought that more could be done, and he had talked to the force on how more of these could be used. A procurement process for a new high-risk service to support victims of domestic abuse was underway. This responsibility would be taken away from the internal Police team, and an independent specialist provider would be commissioned so that it met best practice. The PCC had jointly funded a targeted ketamine awareness campaign for those that were already using and to address the growing harm linked to its misuse. For Priority 4 – fighting rural crime, the PCC attended a South West Strategic Police Collaboration Board, he emphasised the need for greater focus on organised crime groups engaged in rural crime. For organised waste crime of which the PCC made a written submission and attended the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, who was calling for evidence on serious organised waste crime. Resourcing was a fundamental issue specifically for investigators from the environmental agency. 

Questions from the Priority leads and Panel Members for Priority One - Cut Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (1:42:09) on the recording.

·       Cllr Woode asked what impact the PCC believed that the projected housing targets in the Dorset Council Local Plan would have on policing and what actions were being taken.

·       The PCC responded that the housing growth would have a significant impact on policing demand across the country. The population increase would drive additional calls for service and put pressure on local policing and heightened demand in areas such as, road policing, safeguarding, and community safety and crime prevention work. Growth would bring complex infrastructure and transport challenges which would influence crime trends and service expectations. The Chief Constable and PCC were taking proactive steps to meet these emerging needs and to work closely with Dorset Council’s planning teams to assess policing implications of major developments and to make sure they were properly costed and considered. He was pursuing opportunities for developer contributions under mechanisms such as the Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 agreements. Workforce reviews were underway.

Questions from the Priority leads and Panel Members for Priority two -

Make Policing More Visible and Connected (1:58:00) on the recording.

·       Cllr Rampton asked that the OPCC met with Dorset Police to support a Force Hate Crime Review Panel. Has this panel met, what is its composition and is there any available data on the type and number of incidents that have been reviewed? Additionally, will there be any analysis of this in relation to OpFord?

·       The first panel had not yet taken place. It was due to be held in early 2026 and the aim of the panel initially was for a selection of Dorset Police and OPCC colleagues, with various skills and life experiences, to get together on a quarterly basis to review pre-selected hate crime cases and provide comment on areas for improvement and learning as well as identify good practice so this can be fed back and acted upon. Each meeting would have a particular focus as hate crime can cover many areas.

·       Ben Sargeant submitted a question: The KPI for percentage of people who feel that Dorset Police are doing a good job has dropped to 61%.  What does the PCC believe to be the root cause of this drop?

·       The percentage had not dropped from 80% (which was his long-term target, as opposed to the figure from the last quarter). Last quarter this stood at 64% and now sat at 61%. One area that was likely affecting this measure was that we know that the public do not always feel kept informed, and this had been especially challenging in light of the loss of Victims Bureau staff through the Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme, and the loss of the Bobby Van scheme due to ongoing funding pressures. Work to improve wider victims’ services was ongoing, but to manage expectations it was recognised that continual improvement in this area is becoming increasingly hard-fought for given the operating and budgetary constraints.

Questions from the Priority leads and Panel Members for Priority Three - Fight Violent Crime and High Harm (2:17:25) on the recording.

·       Cllr Canavan asked that the media reported that West Midlands Combined Authority got accreditation for White Ribbon.  Is this something that Dorset Police have achieved or working towards?  And if so, can the PCC update the panel on progress and outcomes?

·       Dorset Police continued to support ‘White Ribbon Day’ and the Force and PCC issued a press release last week to mark the occasion – and remained committed to standing up against violence against women and girls wherever it may occur. The Force worked with the National Centre for Violence against Women and Girls that provides the national standardised guidance on training, prevention, and specialist skills. In terms of the accreditation, the Force had considered several factors, including those of impartiality, finance and resources. The Force would need to pay fees and – even though it was confident it not only meets, but in fact surpasses the standards set out in the accreditation – would still need to duplicate effort and commit officer and staff time to fulfil the accreditation process. The Force believed the overall benefits of becoming accredited when balanced against cost and operational need to meet demand is not sufficiently made at this time.

·       Cllr Woode asked with regards to VAWG, can the PCC expand on the positive and negative feedback to the force following the independent review referred to?

·       At each VAWG Scrutiny Panel, the members reflect on the victim’s experience based on examination of case summaries and calls provided. Their feedback included both positive observations and constructive suggestions aimed at supporting continuous learning and improvement.

Questions from the Priority leads and Panel Members for Priority Four - Fight Rural Crime (2:24:43) on the recording.

·       Cllr Flagg raised with regards to waste crime and fly tipping. Further to the PCC submission to the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, what action had the OPCC taken in order to secure additional funding?

·       The Rural Crime Team was working with local Neighbourhood Policing Teams to identify priority sites – those locations that had been heavily targeted by criminals – in rural Dorset. The Force then contacts the victim (or the landowner) to ask them to sign a form giving written permission for qualified police drone operators to fly over their site. This process also included permission being sought to erect signs on the site warning of the use of drones over the agreed area. The Force had in place a detailed Drone policy and procedure.

Questions from the Priority leads and Panel Members for Priority Five - Put Victim and Communities First (2:34:36) on the recording.

·     Responses to Cllr questions provided by OPCC in the appendix of the minutes.

Questions from the Priority leads and Panel Members for Priority Six -

Make Every Penny Count (2:45:30) on the recording.

·     Cllr Woode asked that the Revenue Commentary R1 and R2 notes the impacts of missing the officer number targets.  The absence rates for officers remained red.  Can the PCC advise how he holds the Chief Constable to account to improve the absence rate and give a view on the relationship between missing officer number targets and wellbeing and impacts on operational policing?

·     A significant underspend was forecasted in officer pay as a result of reduced officer numbers, this was offset by a reduction in the ringfenced grant. There was also increased overtime being incurred as a result. There was around £0.5m of planned savings still to be delivered. Ill health retirements were higher than budgeted.