Agenda item

Following notification from the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner of his intention to appoint the preferred candidate, Mr Gavin Stephens, to the role of Chief Constable of Surrey Police, for the Surrey Police and Crime Panel to hold a Confirmation Hearing, in accordance with Schedule 8 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.

NB The Panel will hold a closed session at the end of the agenda to agree its recommendation to the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Gavin Stephens to the meeting and stated that this was the formal confirmation hearing for the proposed appointment of Chief Constable of Surrey Police.

He informed the Panel that on 18 March he had received formal notification that the Police and Crime Commissioner wanted to appoint Mr Gavin Stephens as Chief Constable of Surrey Police and that in accordance with Schedule 8 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, the public confirmation hearing had been convened in order for Panel Members to consider the proposed appointment of Chief Constable. 

He explained that the Panel was invited to question the candidate on whether he had the professional competence and personal independence to exercise the role. He said that following the question and answer session, the Panel would go into a private session to decide upon the recommendation to the Commissioner and that following this he would write to the Commissioner with the Panel’s recommendation.

The Police and Crime Commissioner stated Mr Stephens had undergone a thorough selection process. He paid tribute to all those involved in the process and thanked them for the advice that they had provided him with. He said that he firmly recommended that Mr Stephens be appointed to the Chief Constable role.

Panel Members were invited to question Mr Stephens and a summary of the questions and responses can be found below.

·         Mr Stephens was asked to elaborate on his role of preventative policing and he explained that part of his national role with the Police Chiefs Council was community policing.  They had produced guidelines for neighbourhood policing which was evidence based.  Studies had shown that one of the key things for preventative policing was problem solving with communities and local partners; to identify and understand the problem and cause and finding sustainable solutions together.  He went on to say that it was important for communities to feel safe and visible/engaged policing was a part of that.

·         A Member asked how Mr Stephens would deal with the conflict between provision of visible policing and the changing nature of crime. Mr Stephens explained there had been research into reassurance versus crime reduction, which showed visible policing to be effective when using data to inform targeted activity, that was sustained.

·         In response to a question regarding communicating with staff regarding the new headquarters Mr Stephens explained the approach to modern agile working and stated that he was realistic that not all staff would want, or could, move to a different location.  He explained that communication with staff had been taking place for 18 months now and included regular written material, short videos produced with Commissioner and had been on BBC radio Surrey.

·         Mr Stephens was asked what strategies he would use to ensure a diverse workforce to replicate the diverse communities of Surrey.  He replied that he was on the Equalities Board and had developed a mentoring scheme, encouraged flexible working and had invested in staff to recruit directly from underrepresented communities.  He also said that he could not do this alone and that Members also had a role to play.

·         In response to a question about how he would stop the spread of knife crime he explained that violent crime as a whole was on a long term downward trend but knife crime was on the rise.  He went on to speak of a seminar arranged with partners including education and health partners to look at this issue. He went on to say that he was working with schools in east Surrey with the St Giles Trust to educate young people and that there would be one strategy covering the whole county for all agency partners and they would also pool data to better understand the full nature of problem.  He stated that it was important to reassure young people that never go anywhere near knives that Surrey was a safe place to live and explained that there were no pictures posted of seized knives on the police social media.  Mr Stephens went on to explain work undertaken with gangs and the need for robust enforcement and rehabilitation.

·         When asked about his work experience outside of Surrey Mr Stephens explained that he was at Cambridge for three years at the start of his career before moving to Surrey. He acknowledged that it was unusual for someone to have gone through the ranks in their own force and to compensate for that he had been and was very engaged in national work which had taken him to all of the forces in the country.

·         In response to a question regarding crime statistics going down i.e. anti-social behaviour and positive outcomes and improving public confidence Mr Stephens stated that Surrey had performed well nationally and that he recognised the police had to maintain the confidence of the public.  He went on to say that a recent survey had shown a downward trend on what was provided for example with anti-social behaviour and that the police needed to work with local authorities to combat this.  The increased precept would also mean more investment in neighbourhood officers which he hoped would have an impact on the figures.

·         Mr Stephens was asked how he would balance the future of partnership working and various collaborations with Surrey Police also remaining its own entity.  Mr Stephens highlighted some of the many partnerships available and said that his role was to choose which would be more successful in partnership than going it alone.  He also explained about co-location of police with teams and partners and sometimes when partnerships were needed for short sharp interventions.

·         In response to a question regarding 101 calls and responses to them Mr Stephens explained how the call handler assessed risk and found resources to deal with that call.  He acknowledged that the police needed to improve at telling the public what had happened to reported information when cars were not sent out.

·         A Member raised an issue about the Mole Valley JET team who were co-located with officers but did not have close collaborative working.  Mr Stephens would raise this issue with the borough commander.

·         Mr Stephens was asked if he saw the good collaborative work undertaken in Sussex i.e. County Lines,  percolating to other counties e.g. Kent and Hampshire in order to control Child Sex Exploitation and Slavery which was a rising problem in Guildford.  Mr Stephens spoke of pooling data and information on regional and national levels.  He also spoke of Lead officers for particular issues. Surrey also had a partnership with the Metropolitan Police and gave examples of good working.

The Chairman brought the discussion to a close by thanking Mr Stephens for attending and answering the questions put to him.

RESOLVED:

That the Panel noted the responses provided to their questions by Mr Gavin Stephens as the Police and Crime Commissioner’s candidate for the role of Chief Constable of Surrey Police.