Agenda item

*O&S(E) 35   

The Chairman introduced Alison Hernandez (the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall) and Sgt Dave Anning (Devon and Cornwall Police) to the meeting and invited the Commissioner to undertake a brief presentation.  In so doing, the Committee was advised that:-

-       she fully appreciated the importance of building up good working relationships with local authorities and elected Members.  In wishing to develop these relations, the Commissioner urged Members to regularly communicate with her.  As an example of this commitment, the Commissioner confirmed that she was in the process of developing a ‘Councillor Advocacy Scheme’ that would see Members being able to be increasingly involved in policing related matters and greater partnership working in order to keep local communities safe;

-       her key functions included: setting the priorities for policing and having responsibility for a £280 million budget and the Devon and Cornwall Police estate.  As a general point, the Commissioner summarised her role as being there to represent the general public in policing matters; and

-       following a public consultation exercise during the summer, she was imminently to publish her Police and Crime Plan.  It was intended that the final version would be presented to the Police and Crime Panel at its meeting on 9 December 2016.  Assuming that the Panel endorsed the Plan, the Commissioner’s focus would then be on its delivery.

In the subsequent discussion, reference was made to:-

(a)  the impact of central government budget cuts.  The Commissioner outlined some of the impacts of the budget reductions and the consequent measures that were being undertaken by her office to plug some of the gaps in service provision.  Looking to the future, the Commissioner stressed the importance of all relevant stakeholders working more closely in partnership to prevent crime;

(b)  the National Crime Agency (NCA).  The Commissioner highlighted the benefits of the NCA and her belief that the proposed powers that they were to receive would present an excellent opportunity for policing in Devon and Cornwall;

(c)  the Government’s Prevent Strategy for tackling radicalisation.   In welcoming the question, the Commissioner stated that this Strategy was very much on her radar, but she did recognise that the rural geography of Devon and Cornwall presented a real challenge to tackling radicalisation.  In expanding upon this point, Sgt Anning advised that terrorism was now very much a part of the everyday function of the Police service;

(d)  the political aspect of the role.  In reply to a question, the Commissioner confirmed that, to date, she had not experienced any party political related issues arising from her role and reiterated that she did not follow the political line of her central government party.  Nonetheless, the Commissioner did advise that she had good working relations with local MPs and she was working tirelessly to ensure that increased resources were made available to the Devon and Cornwall area;

(e)  policing in rural areas.  The Commissioner recognised the differences between rural and urban policing and advised of her intention for an increased number of front line police officers to be recruited in the area.    Sgt Anning also made the point to the Committee that, in the event of any residents observing incidents of crime or anti-social behaviour, then they should record these incidents because video evidence remained very important to the Police;

(f)   incidents of speeding.  The Committee was informed that the Commissioner received a great deal of correspondence relating to incidents of speeding.  Since speeding was a particularly resource intensive matter, the Commissioner advised that she would like to see greater delegated powers being granted to Community Speedwatch groups and she was currently discussing this concept with the Chief Constable.  Moreover, the Commissioner also hoped that the process to become a Community Speedwatch representative could be less bureaucratic and time consuming in the future;

(g)  IT systems.  Members were informed by the Commissioner that she accepted that there would be a need to invest monies into upgrading the IT systems.  In particular, mobile data devices were still being rolled out to officers and there was a major project being undertaken to ensure that the supporting systems were fully functioning to be able to adequately support them;

(h)  office resources.  When questioned, the Commissioner advised that the current budget for her office amounted to £1.25 million and directly employed 27 members of staff;

(i)    the creation of a ‘local policing promise’.  To ensure that public expectations could be managed, the Commissioner was developing a ‘local policing promise’;

(j)    some specific parochial issues.  In response to some specific Member issues, the Commissioner asked that these (and any others not raised at the meeting) be forwarded on to her email address (Alison.Hernandez@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk) outside of this meeting;

(k)  public perception.  The Commissioner acknowledged the clear message that she had received when canvassing before her election that the Police were not accessible to the general public.  To improve public perception in this respect, she was considering mechanisms such as police front desks being shared with public libraries and town and borough council offices.  Moreover, if any Members had their own suggestions to improve upon this public perception, they were encouraged to let the Commissioner know;

(l)    cyber security.  It was widely recognised that cyber security related crime was on the increase and was insufficiently resourced at present.  As a consequence, cyber security was a key component of the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan;

(m)the implications of the badger cull.  The Panel was informed that the cull was being funded by DEFRA and was being policed by officers on their non-working days, who were being paid overtime for this duty.      

In concluding the agenda item, the Chairman thanked the Commissioner and Sgt Anning for their attendance and very informative responses to Member questions.