To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held 19 July 2024 were agreed as a true and accurate record.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

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.

Ross Jago (Head of Governance, Performance and Risk) introduced the item and highlighted the following points:

a)     Following a recruitment exercise throughout 2024, Barry Jones and Caroline Jones had been recommended for appointment for the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel as Independent Member for Devon and Independent Member for Cornwall respectively.

b)    Mr Jones had a background in accounting and a long career with the BBC. He had also served as a pension trustee for several different organisations.

c)     Mrs Jones was unable to attend the meeting due to being recruited later than Mr Jones. Mrs Jones resided in Hale and chaired several committees for NHS England, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) amongst others.

The Panel voted unanimously in favour to appoint Mr Barry Jones as Independent Member for Devon.

The Panel voted unanimously in favour to appoint Mrs Caroline Jones as Independent Member for Cornwall.

Alison Hernandez (Police and Crime Commissioner) introduced the item and highlighted the following points:

a)     Welcomed Barry Jones as the Independent Member for Devon;

b)    Introduced the Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell and Chief Inspector Tim Evans;

c)     The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) had received £1 million from the previous Government to tackle anti-social behaviour, specifically through hotspot policing;

d)    The money received was used for overtime for Police Officers to do high visibility patrols;

e)     £200,000 had been added from OPCC reserves to enhance Local Authority support through Street Marshals;

f)      Hotspot policing was a programme of £1.2 million and the areas identified were done in consultation with the police based on statistics and knowledge of the specific areas;

g)     Tim Evans (Chief Inspector) was appointed to oversee the programme;

h)    The areas in receipt of the funding were listed in the report.

Jim Colwell (Acting Chief Constable) added:

i)      The impact of serious violence could have a large impact within communities in terms of sense of safety and people feeling safe in their own home, workplaces and going about their business;

j)      The levels of serious violence in Devon and Cornwall were less than other forces throughout the country;

k)     Every incident of serious violence had a lasting impact on communities;

l)      Devon and Cornwall Police were often rightly challenged about how they were dealing with issues of anti-social behaviour (ASB).

Tim Evans (Chief Inspector) added:

m)   The grant funding from the Government and the funding from the Commissioner enabled the force to enhance a partnership offer across Devon and Cornwall;

n)    The project was delivered into 13 areas, which were split into two tiers. Tier One areas had gained police patrols and partnership patrols in the form on Street Marshals. Tier Two areas gained funding for Street Wardens only;

o)    The patrol methodology fit into a wider piece work which aimed to tackle serious violence and ASB;

p)    Although a large part of the funding had gone towards delivering highly visible foot patrols, some of the funding had been channelled into enhancing the force’s problem solving in selected areas;

q)    The patrol methodology was a tried and tested and was based on national and international evidence;

r)     The evidence for the patrol methodology was largely based on university-led trials, led by Oxford University and other notable universities;

s)     Although in Devon and Cornwall the methodology was being used to drive down serious violence and ASB, it had been used in other areas to drive down drug dealing and other crime types;

t)     The methodology showed that a patrol was needed in an area once every three days for 15 minutes;

u)    Evidence suggested that 15 minutes was the amount of time police officers or Street Marshalls needed to be present for most people within the geography to see them;

v)     Funding had allowed Devon and Cornwall Police to prime the methodology and create more visibility than the methodology suggested;

w)    Devon and Cornwall  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Alison Hernandez (Police and Crime Commissioner) introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

a)     Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell had been active in driving the improvement in public contact.

Jim Colwell (Acting Chief Constable) added:

b)    In 2022 His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) labelled the 999 and 101 service as inadequate;

c)     In September 2024, HMICFRS discharged their concerns around the Devon and Cornwall 999 and 101 service;

d)    The improvement in the service had been delivered through a range of leadership and management interventions within the contact resolution centre;

e)     Although new technology had taken a long time to come online, when it was implemented it transformed the service that was offered to the public;

f)      The focus had been on process and stripping out less effective bureaucratic processes, leadership management and performance culture;

g)     There were control rooms and contact centres in Exeter and Plymouth, at which 999 and 101 call management was handled; 

h)    13 Police Enquiry Offices had opened since 2020, with four more due to open in 2024 in Ivybridge, Liskeard, Exeter and Tavistock;

i)      There was high digital demand being submitted through the online portal;

j)      At its worst, there were in excess of 3000 emails waiting to be responded to, and the average response time was 18 days;

k)     Devon and Cornwall Police had worked with the private sector on how they manage core handling challenges and well as alongside best performing forces nationally, including Humberside;

l)      The introduction of call-backs had been effective at reducing wait times for the 101 service;

m)   Other improvements included:

i) A new performance network for the command;

ii) Enhanced training for supervisors and staff;

iii) Different shift patterns to align resource to demand more effectively;

n)    There was a national endeavour to bring a consistent website offering to all 43 forces;

o)    The Police Enquiry Offices strengthened the connection to local communities and provided the space and time for face to face contact;

p)    Due to investment in digital demand resources, Police Enquiry Offices could now deal with online queries when not handling face to face enquiries;

q)    The HMICFRS published an assessment in January 2023, using rolling three month data from November 2021 to January 2022, showing Devon and Cornwall Police were only successfully answering 85% of 999 calls within ten seconds, with an average wait time of 13 seconds. The national service level agreement was for forces to hit 90% of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds;

r)     Current performance of Devon and Cornwall Police showed 93% of 999 calls were answered within 10 seconds, with an average wait time of 5 seconds;

s)     In the latest published data, Devon and Cornwall Police was ranked 16^th nationally, with 30,000 999 calls answered in August 2024;

t)     Between November 2021 and January 2022, only 47% of 101 calls were being answered within the self-imposed target of 20 minutes, with seven out of ten calls being abandoned due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Panel agreed to take the report as read.

In response to questions, it was explained:

a)     There had been positive feedback from elements of the community in Plymouth in terms of how the policing operation played out, and the subsequent partnership work with the Local Authority, in relation to the riots on 5 August 2024;

b)    Jim Colwell had held conversations with the Leader and the Chief Executive of Plymouth City Council around recovery and social resilience in light of the riots;

c)     The Police had a role to play in the safety in towns, cities, workplaces, homes and places of worship in partnership with other public sector organisations and agencies;

d)    Feedback had shown that people who reported hate crime specifically where satisfied with the level of service they received;

e)     The people convicted from the riots on 5 August 2024, where convicted of public disorder rather than hate crime;

f)      Thanks were given to Plymouth for their response to the riots, and had shown great examples of integration of communities;

g)     £1 million a year was used for the Serious Violence Prevention Partnership, however statistics had shown that even with the work around early prevention, something different needed to happen to promote positive change;

h)    The report in deaths due to road traffic collisions could be delayed due to how long after the collision the person passed away;

i)      Recent statistics had shown there was a reduction in deaths and serious injuries from road traffic collisions;

j)      A range of performance figures where reviewed by the OPCC quarterly.

The Panel agreed to note the report.

Alison Hernandez (Police and Crime Commissioner) introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

a)    Operation Garcia had been undertaken and was composed of the arrests and conviction of the rapists of young girls in Plymouth;

b)    Operation Garcia started in 2017, and now in 2024 the young girls effected where getting justice;

c)    Thanks were given to the policing effort in believing the victims, the  Rotherham documentary which helped young girls identify what had happened to them, and the victim support service at Barnardos who helped the victims throughout the years and enabled those women to get the justice they deserved;

d)    The online resource of Criminal Justice and You was available to help victims and members of the public understand the Criminal Justice System;

e)    The OPCC had commissioned a new contract for independent sexual violence advisors and domestic violence advisors;

f)     A joint piece of scrutiny between the Crown Prosecution Service and Devon and Cornwall Police identified challenges around reporting crime and a number of recommendations were made to the Acting Chief Constable and Crown Prosecution Service.

In response to questions, it was explained:

g)    The investigation into the Chief Constable was still being undertaken by the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland.

The Panel agreed to note the report.

There had been one complaint about the Police and Crime Commissioner during the period covered in the report, which had been escalated to the Chair of the Police and Crime Panel.

The Panel agreed to note the action log.

The Panel agreed to note the report and the following additions were suggested for the work programme:

1.    Rural and Wildlife Crime.