Agenda item

To discuss with the Police and Crime Commissioner his vision and priorities for the region.

9.35 a.m. – 10.15 a.m.

The Chair welcomed Mr. Arfon Jones, North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner who was attending the meeting at the Committee’s invitation to discuss his vision and priorities for the region.  Members noted the distinction between the Commissioner’s strategic role and the Chief Constable’s operational role in policing and it was agreed to invite the Chief Constable to a future meeting to discuss his vision and priorities.

 

Prior to his formal address the Commissioner advised that the Police and Crime Panel had earlier that week approved his draft budget for 2017/18, which would result in 17 additional police officers and 6 other members of staff being recruited.  Of the 17 additional police officers to be recruited, 10 would be deployed ‘on the beat’ across North Wales to deal with low level crime, such as anti-social behaviour, whilst the remaining 7 officers and 6 other members of staff would be employed in specialist roles, mainly investigating child exploitation and cyber-crime.  To fund this budget the Panel had agreed to set the Police precept at 3.79%, which equated to an increase of £9 a year, or 17p a day, on a Band D property across North Wales.

 

Mr. Jones addressed the Committee outlining his role and responsibilities as the elected Commissioner, the public’s representative for liaising with North Wales Police.  These duties included –

 

·         setting the budget and precept for the Police Service

·         holding the Chief Constable to account for fulfilling his main duty, of providing an effective and efficient police service for North Wales, providing value for money and reducing crime

·         allocating revenue to prevent crime and disorder to groups across North Wales

·         drawing up a Police and Crime Plan, setting out the strategic direction for policing in North Wales.

 

The Commissioner was currently in the process of consulting on his Police and Crime Plan, his first plan since his election in May 2016.  As part of his consultation on the Plan an online questionnaire had been available for residents to complete and a series of public meetings had been held across North Wales.  He informed members that following his election he had not changed his predecessor’s Plan as he agreed with the majority of the actions in it.  However, his Plan would reflect the changes and threats facing North Wales as well as, where possible, residents, statutory agencies, voluntary sector and the business community’s priorities across the region.

 

The Commissioner’s Plan would focus on the vulnerability of people rather than seek to deal with everyone and everything.  Consequently it would include plans to address domestic abuse, child abuse, modern slavery and human trafficking.  Whilst the basic principles of policing had stayed the same as when he was a serving police officer, other aspects of policing had changed as had the types of crime they were dealing with on a day to day basis.  Abhorrent crimes such as child sexual exploitation, human trafficking and modern slavery were far more prevalent now as were cyber-crime incidents.  Statistics now indicated that these days more crimes were committed online than on the streets.  As a result more of the Police’s resources were required to deal with crime that was to an extent ‘hidden’, or not visible to the majority of the population.  Whilst this ‘hidden’ crime could initially seem easy to investigate, the speed and power of cyber and social media crime meant it was a complex area which could extend around the globe and involve dozens, if not hundreds of perpetrators, i.e. the sharing of indecent images, etc.  To emphasise the extent and complexities of these types of cases he referred to specific high profile cases which had featured in the media in recent months.  Quite often victims of such offences, due to their vulnerability, did not recognise themselves as victims, therefore time and commitment of specialist staff from the Police and other agencies were required in order to compile the evidence of the crimes committed.

 

Modern day slavery was another ‘new’ crime that was becoming more prevalent in North Wales.  The port of Holyhead made North Wales a key area in the UK for human trafficking and modern day slavery.  This specific type of crime required more investment and was an example of a number of areas where the Police could not deal with the problem alone.  Matters arising from cases involving modern slavery, domestic abuse, child sexual exploitation, and other serious crimes very often had much wider implications and resource requirements than policing alone.  For these crimes to be tackled successfully effective partnership working between all public bodies and agencies was essential.

 

More than twelve months had elapsed since a multiagency plan had been drawn up and agreed to deal with the increasing problem of sexual exploitation.  However, the lack of progress made since its approval was disappointing.  The Commissioner thought this was due to a lack of commitment from partners.  He asked elected members to question the role of local authorities and seek assurances that everything possible was being done to safeguard children and the most vulnerable members of society.  Another project which he was keen to progress was one to support children whose parents were in prison.  Whilst all six local authorities and the Health Board had participated to establish the project, further progress seemed to have stalled.

 

The Commissioner emphasised that children and young people were another of his priorities.  It was his opinion that the youth justice system had been ineffective for years and that there was a need to intervene sooner to prevent children and young people from finding their way into the criminal justice system in the first place.  He advised that the four Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales were calling for powers in relation to youth justice to be devolved as part of the Wales Bill as they felt that this could improve the situation.  In his view the benefits of a restorative justice system far outweighed those of taking young people to court.

 

In relation to his statutory responsibility for awarding grants to prevent crime and disorder he advised that his office currently provided funding to community safety partnerships across North Wales.  This was an arrangement that he had inherited but did not support.  He would prefer to see a model where the Safer Communities Board, which presently acted without funding, was given funding to commission services throughout the year in order to deal with areas of concern.  He was willing to invest the grant to prevent crime and disorder in the Safer Communities Board for the Board to commission prevention services throughout the year and to ask partners to match fund his contribution.  The Commissioner asked the Committee to support this proposal so that together all partners could secure the provision of front line services where they were most needed.

 

Responding to the Committee’s observations and questions the Commissioner –

 

·         confirmed that he contributed £17k to each of the six local authorities in North Wales towards their CCTV services.  He was willing to speak to council officials regarding their proposed plans for returning to a 24 hour monitored service to explore possible support.  However, he could not commit providing financial resources towards proposals over and above his contribution to other local authorities

·         agreed that using volunteers to monitor CCTV footage was also an option that merited further exploration

·         acknowledged that there were concerns amongst the public with regards to the lack of visible Police presence on the streets and in communities.  Due to the impact of austerity cuts, an increase in mental health problems, collaboration work with other agencies, e.g. Ambulance Service and the increase in ‘hidden’ crime rates, i.e. cyber-crime police officers now only spent approximately 25% of their time undertaking ‘traditional’ police duties

·         confirmed that a large number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and Special Constables had joined the Police Service as part of their career progression

·         outlined the number and varied roles of staff employed directly in the Commissioner’s team.  The Commissioner’s office costs were in the region of £800k per annum, this compared with the former Police Authority’s annual costs of circa £750k.  However the Commissioner’s responsibilities were wider than those of the Police Authority as he was responsible for commissioning services, some in partnership with other public bodies etc., worth £4m to £5m

·         detailed the complexities involved with investigating cyber-crime, the role of agencies such as the National Crime Agency (NCA), international crime agencies, i.e. FBI, the determination process for deciding who would lead national and international investigations and who would undertake surveillance work on the ground, including who would be responsible for bearing costs of such investigations.  The Home Office was keen for police forces to work together to tackle cyber and digital crime and had awarded Transformation Funding for a project to improve methods of sharing crime data and crime images between forces

·         confirmed that crimes such as murder investigations were extremely resource intensive and expensive to conduct

·         advised that the Rural Crime Team, established by his predecessor, was now well established.  It had increased in size and capacity and now included a PCSO.  However, rural crime could be reduced further if more farmers invested in security equipment or technology such as dashcams etc., as footage from such equipment could be used by the Police to catch and prosecute perpetrators

·         stated that there would be an impact on the region, particularly on the Wrexham area, as a result of the new prison HMP Berwyn.  There would be positive impacts on employment opportunities for the area and there would also be implications on the local infrastructure such as schools, health service establishments, etc.  Potential impacts on local policing requirements or crime rates were not yet known

·         confirmed that PCSO’s and Special Constables had enforcing powers with respect to moving vehicles which were causing an obstruction.  Special Constables, although volunteers, had more enforcement powers than PSCO’s in a number of crime and disorder areas

·         advised that he was not convinced that all police officers should be required to be educated to degree level.  For policing to be effective officers should have a range of educational and inter-personal skills

·         advised of his view that recreational drugs posed more of a threat if pushed ‘underground’.  He felt that if they were regulated, similar to alcohol, the problem could be better managed.  In certain countries the use of drugs was classed as a public health matter, not a criminal matter.  In these countries drug users were not entered into the criminal justice system they were instead offered treatment.  Drug dealers on the other hand continued to be subject to the criminal justice system in those countries.  Due to the controversial nature of this approach politicians in the UK were very reluctant to even discuss the matter

·         confirmed to the Chief Executive that he would appreciate a meeting with him with a view to moving forward the multiagency plan to deal with the increasing problems of child exploitation

·         advised members that some of the grant funding allocated during his first year had been provided to groups which supported work with victims of crime, as he was well aware that the trauma for victims did not end once a court case had concluded.  Some victims would require support for some considerable length of time.  He was also aware that current high profile investigations, such as the Professor Alexis Jay Independent Inquiry and the Offside Football Child Abuse Inquiry, would place extra pressures on victim support groups and require additional financial resources

·         confirmed that he would be discussing with the Fire and Rescue Authority in the near future the viability of using Fire and Rescue Service Staff who undertake Home Fire Safety Checks (HFSCs) to alert the Police if they suspected domestic abuse in any homes they entered.  He was of the view that this proposed partnership approach could help tackle domestic abuse in the area.

 

Reference was made to problems with the 101 non-emergency police number which led to some callers being cut-off before their call was answered.  It seemed that in these cases the cut-off was instigated by the caller’s telephone provider.  However members emphasised the importance of the Police having a system in place to at least acknowledge the call and advise that the call may be terminated if unanswered within a specific period of time, or for the caller to leave a message for the service to call them back.

 

At the conclusion of the discussion the Chair thanked the Commissioner for attending and answering members’ questions and the Committee –

 

RESOLVED to write to the Chief Constable to seek clarity on the powers conferred on Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and Special Constable with respect to enforcement action, and to invite the Chief Constable to a future meeting to discuss his vision and priorities for North Wales.

 

At this juncture (10.50 a.m.) the meeting adjourned for a refreshment break.