Date: Wednesday 27th November – 10:00hrs
Chair: John Campion
Minutes: Lucy Milner
Attendance
- John Campion – Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC)
- Marc Bayliss – Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (DPCC)
- Charity Pearce – Senior Policy Officer (CP)
- Chris Jensen-Policy Officer (CJ)
- Lucy Milner – Business Support Officer (LM)
- Richard Cooper-T/ Chief Constable (T/CC)
- Rachel Jones -T/ Deputy Chief Constable (T/DCC)
Review of Action Tracker
No outstanding actions, previous actions had been addressed and completed.
The Chief Constables Assessment on Quarterly Performance
Safer West Mercia Plan and Budget Priorities
The T/CC Chief Constable provided a presentation providing updates on the areas of performance included in the terms of reference, and the general progress made towards the budget priorities. The PCC thanked the T/CC for highlighting the terms of reference in his summary and giving the meeting the necessary focus.
The T/CC discussed the Safer West Mercia Plan and Budget Priorities slide to demonstrate target progress. It was noted that victim satisfaction over the last 12 months had seen minor reduction in improvement. The PCC asked the T/CC if the target progression and the current position was as anticipated by the force. The T/CC confirmed that the progress made with targets was as expected, but that further improvement recovery work was needed with regards to violent crime.
The T/CC highlighted positively that total recorded crime had seen a 9% reduction so far this year. Positive outcomes stand at 13.3% at the end of Q2, an improvement of 1 percentage point on the same period last year.
The T/CC stated that despite the improvements, the positive outcome rate improvements had stabilised, and it was clarified that this was being monitored. Christmas demands and the ongoing HMICFRS PEEL inspection would be prioritised over the coming weeks before focus would return to outcomes for victims. The PCC acknowledged that considerable improvements had been made to the budget priorities but sought reassurance that necessary measures would be put in place. He asked that consideration is given as to how that focus could be renewed in the next quarter.
ACTION: T/CC to provide an update at the Q3 Performance A&A meeting on plans to improve positive outcomes following the stabilising of improvements.
There was a discussion around open investigations and the disparity between policing areas with the PCC highlighting concerns around performance in Shropshire, although improvements have been seen. Telford were highlighted as a good performing police area, but the T/CC reaffirmed the importance of applying the correct process focussing on effective investigations and a high level of service for the public.
The T/CC stressed the value of investigation supervision to drive successful outcomes. The PCC stated he would like to see a bigger focus on frontline supervision for Shropshire LPA.
The PCC sought reassurance from the T/CC that the improvements initiated for Shropshire local policing area (LPA) would achieve the cultural change required. The T/CC stated he has had assurance from Superintendent Dunn that the improvements set are achievable, and he is confident that effective lines of communication are in place. Further improvement mechanisms can be initiated if necessary.
An update was provided on a piece of work being undertaken in Shropshire to better understand those individuals who have influence on the workforce. This work had identified opportunities for improvement around visible leadership, training and development, as well as procedural issues.
There was a discussion discussing case closure times. Similarities between Herefordshire and Shropshire were highlighted with both LPAs having longer case closure times than other LPAs. It was suggested that this could be due to the rural location of the policing areas requiring longer travel distance impacting evidence collection. However, Herefordshire LPA achieves a higher positive outcome rate, therefore additional work is required to understand what improvements are needed for Shropshire LPA.
It was acknowledged there are a variety of factors contributing to Shropshire LPA’s lower performance overall, and the T/CC spoke of the changes instigated that aim to improve performance, these included daily briefings, and improved communications to promote progress. The T/CC also outlined resilience mechanisms which would further drive improvements.
Whilst Shropshire LPA’s overall emergency response times had remained broadly consistent over the last 12 months, a recent improvement in emergencies responded to within target was noted. When asked how this could be further improved the T/CC stated some of the improvements demonstrated were a result of central measures in the contact centre, but increasing officers and resources, would deliver further improvements. There is an ongoing assessment of responses and how they are managed, this would identify if improvements can be made.
The DPCC asked how a model change could ensure improvements across Shropshire LPA are made. The T/CC clarified that improvements would be driven by the standards set by leadership and the way they utilise the model, and that any model change would include the movement of resources in areas to provide uplift.
Further discussion was given to meeting Christmas demands and the PCC asked if the force would be running Op Presence again this year and, if the dates could be shared with the OPCC. The T/CC confirmed that Op Presence would be going ahead over the Christmas period, and to sharing the dates.
ACTION: T/CC to inform the OPCC of the details of the forthcoming Op Presence.
The T/CC highlighted some of the improvements he hoped would be made in Shropshire:
- Reducing the number of outstanding suspects over the next three months,
- Increasing detection rates over the next six months
- Improving employee sickness rates over the next six months.
The PCC asked the T/CC if he was confident that leaders can tackle the embedded issues in the Shropshire LPA and enforce cultural change. The T/CC explained that this was the aim, and it was hoped it would be achieved through the changes being implemented. The T/CC discussed how internal surveys will be able to demonstrate if these changes have been accomplished and noted the forthcoming HMIC Workforce Survey.
The PCC highlighted that the Estates Governance Board needed to be used to address some of the concerns with the Shropshire LPA estate and where improvements can be made. The PCC stated that he wanted a further update regarding the progress made with the Shropshire LPA in the next A&A performance meeting.
ACTION: The T/CC to provide an update on the performance concerns for Shropshire LPA at the A&A Q4 Performance meeting.
An overview of the force performance was provided. West Mercia has seen reductions across most crime types in line with national trends. The ongoing HMICFRS Inspection have identified that crime recording is good. The T/CC remarked that the data therefore indicates that crime rates are reducing across West Mercia and is not attributed to recording changes.
The PCC asked for reassurance from the force that crime will be cut further, in-line with the Police & Crime Plan priorities. The T/CC indicated that he was confident that crime could be reduced further across West Mercia, concluding that the data demonstrated crime was reducing, and that there was no reason to believe crime wasn’t being recorded or that the reduction in crime was a short-term effect. The T/CC assured the PCC that the force is focused on the bringing more offenders to justice and achieving positive outcomes.
Discussions progressed to 999 call handling, and the T/CC stated that there had been a slow but steady improvement seen in quarter 2, however there was still some improvement work to be done.
Quarterly HMICFRS Update
The PCC asked for reassurance regarding how the Force were going to deliver the recommendations set out in the “Police Response to Anti-Social Behaviour” which was published by the HMICFRS on the 10th of October.
Recommendation 1:
The T/CC deferred to the T/DCC who highlighted the work the Force has done to refine processes, procedures and policies to improve the way the Force records ASB incidents and crimes. To ensure the changes are delivering the Force Crime Registrar is going to conduct a thematic audit in spring 2025. The findings of which will be shared with the PCC.
Recommendation 2:
The T/DCC outlined how changes to the internal continuous professional development (CPD) training programme have included ASB for all Local Policing and SNT officers. In addition, new procedures and training have been implemented in the OCC and CRC, including training and compliance of the Initial ASB Risk Assessment (IARA). The T/DCC is confident that the new training programme will meet the requirements set out in recommendation 2 of the HMICFRS report. The PCC asked when the training would be fully delivered. The T/DCC believes the training will be fully delivered before the 30th of Sept deadline. The PCC asked to be kept updated on progress.
Recommendation 3:
The T/DCC highlighted on-going work to improve processes surrounding risk assessments and the management of risk, The PCC questioned the Force over the role of Community Harm Officers seeking reassurance that appropriate oversight of risk was being managed effectively. The T/DCC agreed that having appropriate oversight was essential and outlined the layering approach the Force is adopting. The T/DCC provided reassurance that the Force is on track to deliver improvements to ASB risk management by the 31st of Mar 25.
Recommendation 4:
Next the T/DCC outlined work underway to improve process around ASB problem solving plans (PSPs). When appropriate, PSPs will be generated and overseen by Problem Solving Tactical Advisors. PSP will be tasked out to SNTs to deliver the required activity and upon completion the Tactical Advisor will continually assess the effectiveness of the interventions.
To ensure compliance with the recommendations the Force are developing a new performance framework to monitor compliance. The new framework should be live by the end of Jan 2025.
The PCC welcomed the update and will monitor the implementation of the recommendations moving forward as both the T/DCC and PCC outlined the need to maintain appropriate oversight of ASB.
Summary of Actions Arising
The actions from the meeting were summarised as follows:
- T/CC to provide an update at the Q3 Performance A&A meeting on plans to improve positive outcomes following the stabilising of improvements.
- T/CC to inform the OPCC of the details of the forthcoming Op Presence.
- The T/CC to provide an update on the performance concerns for Shropshire LPA at the A&A Q4 Performance meeting.
