a)     

National government reinstated hotspot policing for 2025/26 and requested action plans for what the Police were doing over the summer period in the regions, towns and cities;

b)     

The funding to the night buses was reducing the levels of public order offences and violence whilst people were waiting for taxis or struggling to get home late at night. The most popular had been the Torquay to Brixham bus. Feedback from young people was that they were enjoying the experiences of being able to go home safely, particularly young women;

c)     

Drugs and alcohol was a priority in the Police and Crime Plan and there had been a real push and collaboration in the southwest region to push drugs out. Intelligence suggested that county lines were changing their business model because of the successes in disrupting;

d)     

In the Police and Crime plan there had been some examples of what the Police and local authorities had been doing together with the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) in relation to shoplifting. Plymouth had been pioneering the element of what was the minimum paperwork required to get a shoplifting offence to charging and into Court;

e)     

The police had delivered the UK pack system which aimed to provide a free access to a crime reporting system for businesses. It enabled the visibility of prolific offenders to those businesses and enabled them to report additional anti-social behaviour or issues they experienced with those individuals. This would transform the way in which towns and cities were tackling shoplifting;

f)      

The region were exemplars in the delivery of the community safety accreditation scheme (CSAS), which were the powers the Chief Constable delegated to people who were not police officers. The Commissioner would aim to produce a video over the summer period and to interview a number of people delivering that scheme in the regions communities.

g)     

There were no reported ASB incidents on the night buses;

h)     

The Commissioner reiterated that she was not pleased in having a number of leaders of the police organisation in particular the number of temporary leaders as they could not act as a full chief constable unless they were the substantive and were not able to set the strategy and direction as they should;

i)      

When the HMICFRS identified poor performance of the Police in 2022, the force had performed well which had come about under the leadership of Chief Constable James Vaughan in driving performance with pace and attention. The Commissioner advised the Panel that she did not want to rush into a recruitment process for a new chief constable whilst there was strong performance focus and leadership from the current interim chief constable;

j)      

The Commissioner’s next update report would report on good practice across the region;

k)     

By Mr Will Kerr retiring it did not infer guilt in anything, although he was still under investigation for gross misconduct by the Independent Officer of Police Conduct (IOPC) which could go on for a number of years. The Commissioner advised the Panel that she was disgusted by the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the IOPC and had written to the policing minister requesting that the Home Secretary should scrutinise the body. The Commissioner advised that she had made a rational and pragmatic decision to agree with Mr Kerr, that retirement was the best option and he did have the interests of the people of Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly at heart because he recognised how difficult it had been for the Commissioner to support the organisation due to the number of interims. Mr Kerr’s retirement allowed the Commissioner to get to a point of having a stable substantive chief constable for the organisation which was to the benefit of everyone;

l)      

Due to the IOPC investigation Mr Kerr would’ve been entitled to full pay for the duration of that investigation which could’ve taken years to find a conclusion;

m)   

The Commissioner advised the Panel that she and Mr Kerr mutually agreed an arrangement for him to leave in a pragmatic and rational way. The information would be published in the statement of accounts next year;

n)     

There was a large crime scene that had been identified In Cornwall which required a large effort to scene guard the area. Mutual aid allowed the force to bring in expertise in specific types of investigations that Devon and Cornwall Police did not have. The mutual aid was largely investigative. The Commissioner commented that there were lots of forensic officers and the Police were trying to establish the circumstances. The Commissioner thanked frontline officers who were putting in 12 hour shifts;

o)     

Deputy Chief Constable Colwell was found guilty of misconduct and not gross misconduct and had returned back to the force and was getting on with the job at hand;

p)     

The Commissioner advised the panel that she was allowed to be political in a personal capacity and did not use any resources of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to undertake any political matters;

q)     

The Councillor Advocate Scheme presented good opportunities to share good practice across the region but there needed to be more engagement from Cornwall Councillors;

r)     

Police enquiry offices were having the intended effects, providing good face to face contact with communities to report crime;

s)      

The force had not seen a drop off on 101 calls and there was no increase in the abandonment rate;

t)      

Cambourne’s Enquiry Office had been refurbished and was open to the public;

u)     

The planned enquiry offices for Exeter City centre and Exmouth would not go ahead. Exmouth’s proposed new police station would not happen due to the substantial increase in costs to build one. The Exeter enquiry office was proposed to be within an existing council office, but due to a policy of not allowing weapons to be brought in, that office could not come to fruition;

v)     

There had been an inspection into serious and organised crime in the southwest and all regions did not have good results. The regional organised crime group had a satisfactory outcome but the five forces that supported the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) and the staff deployed in the SWROCU required improvement. The Commissioner was the national lead for serious and organised crime for Police and Crime Commissioners and co-chaired this with David Allen (Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria) and was looking at areas where they had a good grip on serious and organised crime and would look at the north of the country;

w)    

Councillors across the region were welcomed to take part in the Councillor Advocate Scheme and the OPCC apologised to those councillors that were affected by a miscommunication which resulted in them being advised they couldn’t be part of the Panel and the Councillor Advocate Scheme.