Agenda and minutes

Venue: Microsoft Teams. View directions

Contact: Deborah Moseley  Senior Democratic Services Officer

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

General

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed Andrew Davies to the Panel and noted the presence of Alastair Murdie of the Joint Audit & Standards Committee.

1(1)

Apologies

To receive any apologies from Members of the Panel

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Nicola Davies.

 

1(2)

Disclosures of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Members are required to register their disclosable pecuniary interests within 28 days of their election or appointment to the Council.

A member attending a meeting where a matter arises in which they has a disclosable pecuniary interest must (unless they has a dispensation):

 

• Declare the interest if they has not already registered it

• Not participate in any discussion or vote

• Must leave the meeting room until the matter has been dealt with (Standing Order 39).

• Give written notice of any unregistered interest to the Monitoring Officer within 28 days of the meeting Non-pecuniary interests must still be declared in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

 

These should be declared at the commencement of the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None

1(3)

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 243 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 November 2020 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

1(4)

Public Speaking

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Keith Kondakor was welcomed to the meeting and invited to put his questions to the Commissioner:-

 

Councillor Kondakor asked about community engagement events.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner responded that he would raise this with the force to ascertain the current policy as this was an operational issue. His general view was that public engagement meetings should be open to all but he understood that it was sometimes necessary to target specific groups.  He noted that he would be attending a scrutiny meeting at Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council in the following days and he would no doubt discuss this further at that time.

 

Councillor Kondakor also asked about policing COVID, noting police operations in low transmission areas such as Hartshill Hayes but perceived limited operations in high infection areas such as the supermarket on Queens Road Nuneaton.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner responded that this was an operational issue but he was aware that generally the force was working with communities and he had received very few comments to the Office that the force response was too light or too heavy.  He could not provide hard and fast rules, but the police response was the 4Es.  He noted that the amount of enforcement had probably increased during the third lockdown as members of the community were taking too much risk but it should be borne in mind that supermarkets were not the realm of the police and were generally dealing with the regulations well. He would raise this issue with the force to understand any local policy or guidelines.

 

Mr Ben Twomey was welcomed to the meeting and invited to present his petition and put his question to the Commissioner regarding the planned redundancy of a number of Domestic Abuse Risk Officers.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner commented that as the petition did not include the usual address/location details for signatories he was not sure that they were all Warwickshire residents and it would be helpful to him to have that information. In response to the petition, the Commissioner stated that the text was flawed and resulted in the wrong conclusions.  He noted that the proposals for the Domestic Abuse Unit sought to enhance provision and the claims that officers doing the job of DAROs would be “pulled away” were absolutely not true.  The reforms would see a new operating model in place which would use warranted officers, instead of police staff, who were able to use their police powers and safeguarding responsibilities to greater effect to improve the service and benefit victims.  The Commissioner noted that over his 5 year tenure, Warwickshire Police had been substantially enhanced with over 200 more officers and the rebuilding of standalone services post-Alliance resulting in a force that was more responsive to the communities of Warwickshire. 

2.

Proposed Local Police Precept 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 1 MB

To consider the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed precept for 2021/22, and make a report to the Commissioner on the proposals by 8 February 2021.

 

·       Warwickshire Budget 2021/22 Medium Term Financial Plan 2021/22- 2025/26 (attached)

·       2021/22 OPCC Budget Consultation Summary (to follow)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Police and Crime Commissioner was invited to present his proposals for 2021/22.  The Commissioner set out the background and key challenges to his proposals noting that the budget was based on a provisional government settlement and drawing attention to the reliance on reserves that had taken place in 2020/21, the three final services transitioning out of the Alliance with West Mercia Police, and his resolution to provide a balanced budget for 2021/22 that would result in a cessation of the reliance on reserves.

 

The Commissioner’s presentation set out core funding (£115.3m) and income (£10.4m) and the expenditure on staff, infrastructure and services.  The 2021/22 budget pressures and savings were outlined alongside the delivery proposals for the 2021/22 budget.  The Commissioner also set out the medium term financial plan and reserves which included Evolve savings target of £1.5m, retention of reserves at £10m and a number of assumptions in terms of central grant funding, pay award, recovery period for tax base and collection deficits,  increases in precept from 2022/23 and contracted inflationary increases.  The Commissioner also noted that a two phase approach had been taken to the public consultation with comprehensive stakeholder engagement.  In conclusion, the budget for 2021/22 had been drafted based on a proposed precept of £14.99, which resulted in a council tax band D equal to £252.96 per year. The Commissioner acknowledged that whilst the current climate was challenging for everyone, many residents living in lower value properties would pay less and he had sought to balance the funding needs of Warwickshire police against the precept decision.

 

On behalf of the Commissioner, Neil Tipton provided a summary of the consultation activity which had been comprehensively detailed in a report circulated to the Panel prior to the meeting.  The first phase of the consultation had seen 1500 residents respond to the survey, with 67% supporting an increase in precept.  The survey responses had been supplemented by a number of focus group meetings to provide qualitative feedback.  The second phase of consultation had seen a much smaller response rate as there was only a five day turnaround and a slightly smaller (63%) support for the increase.

 

A robust discussion took place with Members of the Panel asking the Police and Crime Commissioner and his staff a number of questions on the presentation and reports provided:-

 

Councillor Kettle acknowledged there were a number of budget pressures highlighted, including increased employee costs and he queried the scale of this.  Sara Ansell, Treasurer, responded on behalf of the PCC, that there are a number of issues reflected in the strategic overview picture and she was able to attest to the accuracy of the figures.  Noting Councillor Kettle’s ongoing concerns regarding a perceived discrepancy in the budget, she offered to go through his concerns with him outside the meeting. Going forward, the Chair would discuss with the Budget Working Group how financial information was monitored and seek to agree a preferred way to receive financial information from the OPCC.

 

Andy Davis noted from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

3.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 231 KB

To consider and review the Panel’s work programme.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The work programme was noted.

4.

Dates of Meetings

To note the arrangements for future meetings. All Police and Crime Panel meetings start at 10.30 am, unless specified otherwise. The following meetings are scheduled to take place virtually or at Shire Hall, Warwick (subject to government guidance):

 

1 February 2021

12 February 2021 (reserve)

18 March 2021 (2.00pm)

24 June 2021

23 September 2021

18 November 2021

31 January 2022

7 April 2022

Additional documents:

Minutes:

It was noted that the date of the next meeting had been brought forward to 18 March 2021 at 2.00pm to accommodate the pre-election period.

5.

Any Urgent Items

At the discretion of the Chair, items may be raised which are considered urgent (please notify Democratic Services in advance of the meeting).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

6.

Reports Containing Confidential or Exempt Information

To consider passing the following resolution: ‘That members of the public be excluded from the meeting for the items mentioned below on the grounds that their presence would involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972’.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no further reports to be considered at the meeting.

7.

Complaints

To consider any complaints received and considered regarding the conduct of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Minutes:

There were no further reports to be considered at the meeting.