Agenda item

To receive details of the meetings of the Working Group held on 9 July and 19 September 2024.

The Panel received a report detailing the items covered by the Planning and Performance Working Group meeting held on 9 July 2024.  Councillor Dave Humphreys provided a verbal update on the most recent meeting held on 19 September 2024.

Councillor Humphreys provided further detail on the groups’ discussions relating to Performance, PCC Commissioned Services – Domestic Abuse & Sexual Violence support services and the Police & Crime Plan Consultation.

Councillor Humphreys also queried if it was possible to be provided with further breakdown details in relation to 999 and 101 calls.  He advised that the working group had recognised the improvements in the service but were disappointed that data seem to show that response times had dipped.  Claire Morris asked for clarification on what information the group wanted as a different request had been made at the working group meeting.  Councillor Humphreys confirmed that he would like to see more detail on the breakdown of 101 & 99 calls as well as response times.

The Commissioner reiterated the importance of emergency call handling as the ‘front door’ of the organisation.  He gave an overview of the recent improvements made to training, the call back facility and the triage system.  In addition, he expanded on the training provided to officers responding to domestic abuse incidents.  The Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner, supported this statement and gave assurance that this area of work was monitored regularly to try and continue to bolster trust and confidence.  It was agreed that a visit to the control room would be beneficial for newer Panel members.

Claire Morris advised that the Chief Constable had chosen to put victim satisfaction rates and targets in for the organisation, which covered five category areas.  This included domestic abuse victim satisfaction and the August data pack had demonstrated that the satisfaction rate had exceeded the target at 82%.  This was as a result of the improvements at the OCC in relation to fielding and managing calls.

Councillor Natalie Gist advised that feedback from residents in her area suggested that 101 callers were experiencing 30 to 40 minutes on hold.  Claire Morris advised that Warwickshire’s figures did not reflect that and showed that the response times for calls were one of the best in the country.  However, she encouraged Panel members to provide further detail where possible as experiences of long hold times were looked into as individual cases.  Claire Morris went on to explain that the 101 service averaged 1500 calls a month and an increase in numbers of the summer months was expected.  The average median call time was recorded at 15 minutes.

The Panel went on to look at the progress of consultation on the Police and Crime Plan for 2024/25.  The Chair queried how representative the consultation was.  Neil Tipton, Head of Media and Communications OPCC, outlined the process from engaging TONIC, a leading research agency, with experience of working in Warwickshire over 17 years.  He detailed the strong links across the County, with Local Authorities and service providers which it was hoped would deliver a sample that was representative of the County.  Work was ongoing to ensure a balance of online and paper-based responses, and work continued to recognise any gaps within demographics with focus groups being utilised to ensure a strong representative example was achieved.

Neil Tipton updated the Panel on the number of responses received ten days in from the public launch of the consultation exercise.  Extensive publicity was underway with assistance from the Councils communications team as well as support from Rugby, Nuneaton and North Warwickshire Councils social media platforms.  The Panel would be presented with a draft plan once responses had been processed towards the end of November or early part of December.  Work would then progress to produce a final version.

Councillor Humphreys asked for a commitment to change the Plan if the responses received highlighted different areas of need.  Neil Tipton gave assurances that draft priorities were tested and it would be the Commissioners choice to amend the Plan if he felt the concerns being expressed were valid and required a change of focus.

In response, the Commissioner reiterated the importance of the plan and agreed that issues may emerge that the Force had underestimated the level of concern for.  The timeline for producing the draft report was discussed with the suggestion that it may be January before the final version was available for consideration.  It was noted that feedback could be received electronically and a panel meeting arranged for January, if necessary.

The Chair expressed his hope for the consultation to be representative not only geographically but across a variety of age groups.