Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that V Newbury be appointed as Chair of the Derbyshire

Police and Crime Panel for the ensuing municipal year.

V Newbury (in the Chair)

RESOLVED that Councillor C Moesby be appointed as Vice-Chair of the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel for the ensuing municipal year.

To receive declarations of interest (if any)

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the non-exempt minutes of the meeting of the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel held on 16 March 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2023 were confirmed as a correct record.

The Head of Democratic and Regiostration Services presented a report to enable the Panel to review its composition following Local Government elections held in May and to consider the number of co-opted Councillor Members to ensure the Panel continues to meet statutory balance requirements.

Paragraph 31 of Schedule 6 puts the duty to produce a “balanced panel” on councils and panels. Relevant local authorities and panels must secure that (as far as is reasonably practicable) the balanced appointment objective is met. A “balanced panel” is one where the councillors on the panel (when taken together with any co-optees as necessary):

·        Represent all parts of the relevant police area (geographical balance)

·        Represent the political make-up on the relevant authorities (when taken together (political balance), and

·        Have the skills, knowledge and experience necessary for the police and crime panel, to discharge its functions effectively.

Each of the 10 constituent authorities in Derbyshire has nominated a panel member for the new municipal year and this has resulted in a Panel of 7 Labour members, 2 Conservative Members and One Liberal Democrat Member. As outlined in appendix 2 to the report, this did not achieve political balance and so did not meet the balanced appointment objective.

The political balance of the Panel can be adjusted by co-opting additional Councillor Members to better meet the balanced appointment objective and paragraph 4 (4) of Schedule 6 enables the Panel to pass a resolution to have additional co-opted members. In considering political balance, appendix 2 to this report details the current political makeup of the 10 constituent local authorities and the relevant percentages. Appendix 3 to this report details the number of co-optees required to achieve political balance. As the maximum number of members permitted on the panel is 20, including 2 independent co-optees, the Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel can only co-opt a maximum of 8 Councillor Members. Based on the percentages outlined in appendix 3 to the report to achieve, or support, the balanced appointment objective, the Panel was asked to consider one of the following options:

Co-option of 2 Councillor members:

either: 2 Conservative

or: 1 Conservative, 1 Green/Independent

Following discussion amongst those present, the Panel unanimously agreed to co-opt 2 additional members, one Conservative member and one Green

The Panel then further considered which authorities to approach to seek further nominations for co-optees and in doing so, considered the geographical balance in ensuring the balanced appointment objective could be met. It was suggested that the following authorities should be approached to provide co-opted members: Derby City (1 Conservative) and Amber Valley BC (1 Green).

RESOLVED

1)   to approve to co-opt 2 additional councillor members subject to the agreement of the Secretary of State, to enable the Panel to better fulfil its duty to meet the balanced appointment objective;

2)   to agree to delegate authority to the Director of Legal and Democratic Services, to approach the authorities identified above to provide the additional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/23

Members considered the proposed Annual Report of work undertaken by the Panel which was attached at Appendix 2 to the report

RESOLVED

To agree the attached Annual Report at Appendix 2 to the report to demonstrate that the Panel has met the Key Performance Indicators as specified in the Grant Agreement for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.

As there were a lot of new members on the Panel it was suggested that it would be helpful if the PCC could give a brief update of the works she had been undertaking over recent months.

The Police and Crime Commissioner provided the Panel with a summary of the work she had conducted in support of the delivery against the Derbyshire Police and Crime Plan including a brief overview of the key work she had undertaken.

Members were given the opportunity to make comment or ask questions which were duly noted or answered by the Commissioner.

RESOLVED

To note the update

Members were provided with a brief update concerning the new Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Action Plan for Derbyshire, following Government’s targeted funding, totalling £4.4m over two years which has been allocated to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire

The government launched a national Action Plan in late March to clamp down on ASB within communities. The Action Plan was designed to ensure ASB was treated with the urgency it deserved. It would establish a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of anti-social behaviour and give the police and local authorities the tools they need to tackle the problem.

The action plan aligns locally with the Commissioner’s strategic priority within her Police and Crime Plan to tackle ASB robustly in communities, and to ensure that the Constabulary are taking a tough approach, locally, to eradicating this form of offending.

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Derbyshire had secured funding to pilot two schemes worth £4.4m over two years for ‘hot spot’ police and enforcement patrols, alongside a new ‘immediate justice’ scheme designed to deliver swift and visible punishments to perpetrators.

The Commissioner would receive £1.2m for both 2023-24 and 2024-25 to invest in ASB hotspot policing to strengthen enforcement work undertaken by the Constabulary and partners.

In addition, an extra £1m for each of the next two years would be provided for the commissioning of reparative services to ensure ASB perpetrators undertake practical, reparative activity to compensate for the loss or damage sustained by victims.

The Commissioner’s office was working closely with Derbyshire Constabulary, who were currently analysing data to depict a number of hotspot areas which were disproportionately impacted by ASB across the county. The identified hotspot areas would then be assessed and prioritised to receive increased patrols of police and other uniformed authority figures, such as wardens.

The Commissioner’s office was working closely with representatives from Derbyshire Constabulary and local authorities across Derby and Derbyshire to understand the different delivery options available within local districts and boroughs. Hotspot patrols will commence as soon as possible to ensure additional uniformed presence in communities to drive down ASB.

There will be regular assessments undertaken to monitor the scheme closely through a national evaluation partner to measure the impact the pilot scheme has on ASB reported to the police.

Members were given the opportunity to make comment or ask questions which were duly noted or answered by the Commissioner. Panel Members stressed the importance of letting the Panel and the relevant local authorities know once the identified hot spot areas had been identified as the involvement of partner agencies was essential in enforcement work. It was agreed that reports be received by the Panel on a regular basis.

RESOLVED

To note the update report

The Commissioner made reference to the following:

The next Performance Scrutiny meeting would take place on 11 July and focus on Victim Support & Safeguarding

A proposed date of 16 November had been arranged for Panel Members to visit the Police and Fire Headquarters at Ripley and to the OPCC and also use the opportunity to discuss Budget Setting etc following the success of last years visit.

The Head of Democratic Services mentioned that a Training Induction date for new members  was currently being arranged.

To note the date of the next meeting