To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 20 December 2013.

Agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 20 December 2013.

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 respect of items under consideration at the meeting –

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, Civic Centre, Plymouth PL1 2AA or democratic.support@plymouth.gov.uk.  Questions must be received at least 5 complete working days before the meeting.

One question was received from a member of the public, Mr Lloyd.  Though the question was not in accordance with the “Panel Arrangements and Rules of Procedure”, which state that questions posed to the Panel should be relevant to the ‘Panel’s Functions’, it was accepted by the Chair in the interests of openness and democracy and forwarded on to Mr Tony Hogg, the Police and Crime Commissioner, who responded as set out below.

The Panel will review the draft refresh of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.

The Chair welcomed the Police and Crime Commissioner and his team who were in attendance to present the draft refresh of the Police and Crime Plan 2014-2017.   Mr Hogg commented that he welcomed scrutiny of his plan, performance and budget today and, in these challenging times, he hoped to be able to present proposals which he believed were affordable, sustainable and able to meet the challenges ahead for policing.

The Panel considered the information regarding the Police and Crime Plan contained within the written report, submitted as part of the agenda pack, and within the presentation slides.  Members heard that the Plan –

·         remained under development;

·         reflected the PCC’s experience of his first year in office;

·         had been adjusted to reflect new and emerging risks;

·         would clearly set out the PCC’s expectations of the OPCC, Chief Constable and partners;

·         contained the PCC’s vision for Devon and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly;

·         identified the following six areas of priority –

o   to make our area safer

o   a focus on cutting alcohol-related harm

o   a renewed drive for efficiency and reducing cost

o   a more effective criminal justice system

o   establishing victim support services

o   to enable citizens to play their part in community safety

·         set out the PCC’s budget for 2014-2018, including the precept proposal for 2014-15 of a 1.99 per cent increase

Following a lengthy debate on this item, it was clear that there were a number of areas of concern which members shared around the content of the Plan.  These were that the PCC should consider –

The Panel will receive from the Police and Crime Commissioner an update on the performance against objectives in the draft Police and Crime Plan.

Further to minute 34 above, Members heard from the Police and Crime Commissioner in respect of his Performance Report and were advised that –

·         he was working with his team to try and simplify the way in which crime and performance measures, both from his office and the Police, were projected;

·         another of his Performance and Accountability Boards, designed at improving public access and transparency to discussion and decisions, had taken place this week;

·         the target of reducing crime by two per cent would not be achieved, despite there having been an overall reduction of -2.6 per cent compared to the twelve months to 31 December 2012.  This was due to a +0.4 per cent increase in the nine months from 1 April to 31 December 2013.

During the discussion on this item, a number of issues were raised by Panel Members and responded to as follows –

The Panel noted the report.

(This item was taken in conjunction with minutes 34 and 36).

(Councillor Excell declared a personal interest in respect of the above item).

The Panel will consider the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Proposed level of precept for 2014/15 and will decide whether to support or veto the proposal.

Further to minutes 34 and 35 above, the Police and Crime Commissioner set out his proposals for the 2014-15 precept as submitted in the reports attached to the agenda and contained within the presentation slides.

The PCC reported that nationally it looked set to rise by five per cent in all but four of the 43 policing areas.  However, he believed that his Crime Plan had served Devon and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly well and that it remained a low-cost Force in terms of its level of policing.  He was, therefore, proposing a 1.99 per cent increase.  This would represent an average council tax contribution of £166.16 for Plymouth based on a Band D property (6.2 pence per week).

The Panel agreed –

(This item was taken in conjunction with minutes 34 and 35).

(Councillor Excell declared a personal interest in respect of the above item).

The Police and Crime Commissioner has provided the Panel with his regular report regarding the activities and decisions he has made to date.  The report also details any forthcoming planned events.

The panel briefly heard from the Police and Crime Commissioner regarding activities undertaken, decisions made to date and details of forthcoming planned events, as detailed in his report.  Mr Hogg highlighted the following –

·         delivering victim services continued to be a big issue;

·         his frustration over further budget reductions of £2.5m in order to fund the expansion of major national policing projects;

·         his disappointment that the Government review of the formula used to calculate police force funding would not be completed before the General Election and the fact that current funding arrangement took no account of the influx of tourists to the South West nor recognise the added complications of policing over 500 miles of coastline.

The Panel noted the report.

(Councillor Excell declared a personal interest in respect of the above item).

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

The panel noted that no complaints had been received against the Police and Crime Commissioner during the period 25 November 2013 – 22 January 2014.

(Councillor Excell declared a personal interest in respect of the above item).

·         21 February 2014 (provisional date in case of veto of the precept)

·         The Panel have been canvassed for their availability throughout 2014/15

The Chair encouraged members to respond to the Democratic Support Officer with their availability on the dates circulated.

In response to Ms Atkinson’s query regarding the next topic of scrutiny would be, it was agreed that the two remaining previously agreed topics would be circulated to the panel via e-mail.