The Panel will elect a Chair of the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel.

Having been proposed by Councillor Wright and seconded by Councillor Mathews, and in the absence of any other nominations, it was agreed that Councillor Croad is appointed Chair for the 2017-18 municipal year.

The Panel will elect a Vice Chair of the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel.

Having been proposed by Councillor Fairman and seconded by Councillor Excell, and in the absence of any other nominations, it was agreed that Councillor Batters is appointed Vice-Chair for the 2017-18 municipal year.

To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2017.

Agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 3 February 2017.

Members will be asked to make any declaration of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

The following declaration of interest was made in accordance with the code of conduct –

To receive questions from (and provide answers to) members of the public that are relevant to the panel’s functions.

Questions should be no longer than 100 words and sent to Democratic Support, Plymouth City Council, Floor 3, Ballard House, West Hoe Road, Plymouth, PL1 3BJ or democratic.support@plymouth.gov.uk

Questions must be received at least 5 complete working days before the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public.

The Panel will conduct confirmation hearings in respect of the proposed appointment of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s selection of –

·         Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner

·         Treasurer

The Chair advised Panel members that only one confirmation hearing would in fact take place today, due to the preferred candidate for the role of Treasurer being out of the country and unable to attend today’s meeting.  A video conference call had been considered in order to conduct the confirmation hearing, but it was felt that the Panel would prefer to meet the preferred candidate in person.  The Panel were advised that this particular confirmation hearing would therefore take place at a date in the near future.

The Chair welcomed Mr Mark Kingscote (the preferred candidate for the post of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly) to the meeting and outlined the procedure for the confirmation hearing.   After the hearing, the Panel would adjourn to consider the appointment, in private.  The PCC would then be advised of the Panel’s decision and the Panel would seek to agree with the PCC how and when an announcement would be made.

The Chair gave the PCC the opportunity to address the Panel to outline her reasons and deliberations for choosing Mr Kingscote as her preferred candidate; Mr Kingscote was then invited to address the Panel in order to advise them how he met the criteria for the post.

Mr Kingscote responded to questions from Panel members on –

Agreed that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press

and public are excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the

grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in

paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of

Information Act 2000.

The Panel adjourned at 11.18 am to consider the suitability of the candidate for the post of the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Following the adjournment, the Panel reconvened at 12.03 pm and the Chair advised that the Panel had had the opportunity, in private session, to consider and review –

·         the Police and Crime Commissioner’s recruitment and selection process;

·         details about the candidate;

·         the criteria used to assess the candidate;

·         how the candidate satisfied that criteria and their terms and conditions of employment;

in order to satisfy themselves as to whether or not Mr Kingscote was a suitable

appointment.

The Panel reached a decision in respect of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s

proposed appointment of Mr Mark Kingscote as Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and the OPCC Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer had been informed.

Following a vote,

The Panel agreed that the candidate does not meet the minimum requirements of the post.   In accordance with Schedule 1,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Panel will receive an update from the Police and Crime Commissioner in respect of performance against objectives and performance measures in the Police and Crime Plan.

Alison Hernandez (Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner), Duncan Walton (OPCC Chief Executive and Treasurer) and Dr Karen Mellodew (OPCC Performance Management and Customer Service Manager) provided the Panel with the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Performance Report.  The Panel were advised that –

In response to questions, the Panel were advised that –

The Panel noted the report.

The Panel will receive an update on the Police and Crime Plan.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) provided the Panel with an update on the Police and Crime Plan 2017 – 2020.  The Panel were advised that -

The Panel noted the report.

The Police and Crime Commissioner has provided the Panel with her regular report regarding activities and decisions she has made since the last Police and Crime Panel meeting.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) presented the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Update Report, which highlighted a number of issues including –

The Panel noted the report.

Members will consider the report and, after due consideration, agree the resolutions by the Chief Executive of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

Duncan Walton (OPCC Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer) advised the Panel that one formal complaint against the Police and Crime Commissioner had been received during the period 24 January 2017 – 31 May 2017, and was currently being assessed in discussion with the Police and Crime Panel Secretariat.

Issues relating to election expenses for the 2015 General Election were referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) as a ‘serious conduct matter’ not a ‘complaint’.  After a full investigation by West Mercia Police, the decision for no further action was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).  A report from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is still awaited.

The Panel noted the report.

The Chair advised the Panel that he had received a request from Plymouth City Council regarding a motion of no confidence in the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) whereby Plymouth City Council were extremely alarmed at recent comments from the PCC (on Radio Cornwall) about licensed firearm owners being allowed to act during terrorist incidents.  He had been asked to propose a motion of no confidence in the PCC, however he advised Panel members that he was not prepared to do this, acknowledged that this matter was open for discussion by members, and asked the PCC for her comments on this issue. 

In response, the PCC advised the Panel that she did not believe in vigilante-ism, and stressed that she had stated on a number of occasions that she did not believe in this.  She admitted that this issue had been raised by the last caller during a radio phone-in which took the subject matter further than expected.  She had spoken to the BBC following the show, issued statements to be clear about what she believed in, and stressed to Panel members that she believed in the Police’s view of ‘Run, Hide and Tell’ if a terrorist incident happened.  She apologised if anyone felt that she had a different view and would have been delighted if she had been personally asked by any of those (Plymouth City) Council members about it, and re-iterated that she did not believe in vigilante-ism.

Councillor Davey proposed and Councillor Brimble seconded a motion of no confidence as detailed below –

‘In light of the Commissioner’s ill-judged comments on the radio on 12 June concerning the possible use of guns by members of the public in response to terrorist activity, this Panel no longer has confidence in her competence to represent the people of Devon, Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly in this role’.

Following a vote, the motion was lost.

(Councillor Atherfold left the meeting part-way through this agenda item)

The Panel will consider options and issues for inclusion into their scrutiny work programme.

Ross Jago discussed the work programme with the Panel and it was agreed to –

The Panel were reminded that the previously agreed approach of one proactive and one reactive in depth review each municipal year had not been abandoned; Panel members were encouraged to submit any topics they considered worthy of review.

The Chair reminded Panel members that a confirmation hearing for the preferred candidate for the post of OPCC Treasurer was still required, in addition to a confirmation hearing for the post of OPCC Chief Executive.

Agreed that the Democratic Support Officer contacts Panel members to establish their availability for an extraordinary meeting on 18 August to undertake confirmation hearings.

The following are the scheduled meeting dates for the municipal year 2017 – 18 –

·         6 October 2017

·         1 December 2017

·         2 February 2018 (Precept meeting)

·         16 February (only activated if Precept veto’d)

The following are the scheduled meeting dates for the municipal year 2017-18 –

·         6 October 2017

·         1 December 2017

·         2 February 2018 (Precept meeting)

·         16 February 2018 (only activated if Precept veto’d)