Councillor Haydon (Cabinet member for Customer Focus and Community Safety) It highlighted to members that –

·         the merger would make us the fourth biggest force in the country;

·         expressed concerns for the lack of transparency for this decision;

·         expressed concerns over not having sight of the business case;

·         the impact on the council tax payer.

For the reasons set out in the report Cabinet agreed –

1.    to express its severe reservations to the Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners of the Devon and Cornwall and Dorset police forces about the proposed merger of Devon and Cornwall Police with Dorset Police, specifically the proposal’s failure to adequately address:

i. Essential practice of providing key stakeholders with full details of the proposed merger until the engagement period has concluded. This raises considerable alarm about the lack of transparency and failure to disclose key facts that would enable informed feedback from stakeholders;

ii. Opportunities to formally consult with key stakeholders such as Local Authorities on a process that directly impacts local areas and local communities;

iii. Financial modelling sufficient to justify the proposal, or to demonstrate value for money to citizens;

iv. Discrepancies in how additional income will be generated and allocated as a result of the merger, with specific reference to funding the proposed additional 430 police officers or staff;

v. Whether any increase in revenue to the proposed merged force will be reinvested back into the city’s policing offer;

vi. Whether policing resources will be committed to meet the specific needs of urban areas such as Plymouth, given its status in the force area, and how Plymouth’s policing model will be affected;

vii. Whether the merger will result in further reductions in neighbourhood policing, specifically Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and neighbourhood beat managers (NBMs);

viii. Whether the city will remain a Basic Command Unit within the new force, and what commitments are made to the visibility of senior police staff and the Police and Crime Commissioner in the city within a greatly enlarged force area;

ix. The impact assessment of the merger, specifically with respect to equalities and diversity, and as a result of any potential rise in council tax payments on the city’s most vulnerable residents;

x. The failure to reference any intention to improve the condition and use of the police estate in Plymouth in line with the ambitions of a modern police force.

2. Recommend to Council that both Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables are requested to review their arrangements for consultation, endorsing the view set out in 1(i – x) above, to allow Plymouth City Council and other key stakeholders to review a business case that fully addresses all the above concerns prior to its submission to the Home Office.

3. Recommend to Council to, irrespective of the outcome of the police merger proposal, endorse the following Policing Asks for the city:

·         Investment back into neighbourhood policing, specifically the provision of more PSCOs and Neighbourhood Beat Officers;

·         Improvements are made to local 999 responses;

·         Commitment to improve the condition and use of the police estate in Plymouth in line with the ambitions of a modern police force;

·         A spend profile for Plymouth that reflects the complexity of needs and demands of policing a major urban centre;

·         Retention of the city’s Basic Command Unit.

Also agreed to include an additional recommendation -

4.    Plymouth City Council will write to the Home Secretary expressing its severe reservations about the proposed merger between Devon and Cornwall Police with Dorset Police, while highlighting our request to both Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to review their arrangements for consultation to allow key stakeholders to review a business case that fully addresses our concerns prior to its submission to the Home Office.