Agenda item

The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act (2011) places a duty on Police and Crime Commissioners to produce an Annual Report. The report should cover the exercise of the PCC’s functions in the financial year and the progress made in meeting the Police and Crime Plan. The report should be presented to the Police and Crime Panel for comment and recommendations, and then a published version with pictures will be produced.

The PCC stated that he was sorry to hear of the passing of the previous Chairman Councillor Ken Harwood who he noted was an active and diligent local councillor as well as a personal friend and he would be greatly missed.

Witnesses:

David Munro - Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner

Key points raised in the discussion:

1.    The PCC explained that the provision of an Annual Report was a statutory duty under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act (2011).

2.    The version presented to the Panel was a draft and the PCC welcomed members’ comments and recommendations before publication.

3.    A Panel member noted that over the last summer there were a number of itinerant travelling groups around the county and again this year, the PCC was asked to provide an update on the law surrounding Unauthorised Encampments (UEs) and transit sites.

-       In response, the PCC explained that in March he had urged the government to change the law to make setting up an unauthorised encampment a criminal offence, he noted that government was to produce draft legislation on the matter in the autumn following consultation earlier in the year. The PCC added that he thought the law was not adequate and aggravated trespassing should be made a criminal offence which would act as a strong deterrent; at the moment occupying land and trespassing were considered a civil offence outside the police’s remit unless a crime was committed. The PCC agreed that transit sites were needed in the county. The police would then be allowed to employ a new section of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to tell those in UEs occupying land to move to a designated transit site. Once Sussex established a number of transit sites, the number of UEs dropped substantially.

4.    In response to the Vice-Chairman’s comment on whether there would be a Volunteer Police Cadet (VPC) unit in Mole Valley, the PCC noted that the aim was to have a unit in every borough in the county.

5.    A Panel member asked if the PCC was satisfied with the ratings of the Key Performance Measures (KPMs) in 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, as for example the ‘Positive Outcome Rate for crimes against vulnerable people (sexual offences, domestic abuse, child abuse, hate crime)’ decreased by 3.5% from the previous year and the ‘Average time taken to answer 101 call’ increased by nine seconds.

-       In response the PCC noted that the majority of KPMs were good pointing out that the ‘% of public from survey believing that the police deal with anti-social behaviour and crimes that matter in their area’ had only decreased by 0.3%. The Positive Outcome Rate KPM specifically relating to crime against vulnerable people was an exception and a concern to the PCC, he had asked the Chief Constable to focus on the issue. The PCC noted that the average wait before a 101 call was answered was upward of twenty minutes in some cases before he was elected and he had made that a priority through increasing training and IT capabilities ensuring the system was fit for purpose. Response times varied each month and the 101 Contact Centre was well-regarded.

6.    In response to a Panel member’s concern over the ‘% of Force budget spent on front-line policing’ and lack of improvements in the KPMs, the PCC noted that the measure was a national statistic. The reason that the Police budget had decreased was not due to decreased resourcing on the frontline, but due to the fact that Surrey Police had a lot of younger recruits who had lower salaries.

7.    A Panel member queried the effectiveness of the Joint Enforcement Teams (JETs) as there had been many partnerships between District and Borough Councils with Surrey Police over the years to tackle anti-social behaviour. The PCC noted the positive work of the JET in Waverley and that the JETs in seven of the boroughs and districts in the county were well-regarded by residents. He commented that as well as increasing the number of JETs it was vital to give them more powers such as parking enforcement from the Chief Constable through the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS). The PCC noted that there were no comparative statistics on how the JETs faired to previous schemes as the pattern and volume of criminality had changed.

8.    Responding to a Panel member’s query on the comparison of the KPMs percentages between 2018/19 with 2019/20 rather than back to 2016/2017 when the PCC was elected, the PCC commented that it was an annual report comparing the most recent years and the statistics from the earlier years had been published previously. The PCC agreed that the approximately 10% decrease in the Positive Outcome Rate since 2016/2017 was a concern and the main reason for the fall was due to the increased volume of recorded crime - the actual number of offences dealt with had stayed the same. The PCC commented that despite lower funding for forces across the country over the years, Surrey Police was ranked tenth out of forty-three territorial police forces on public satisfaction. He was lobbying the government for fairer funding and the government were expected to produce a new funding formula in the autumn. 

9.    A Panel member highlighted that although the number of ‘Recorded Burglary Offences’ KPM had increased, there remained an issue with burglaries not deemed a high enough priority for the police to be called out. The Panel member added that she had recently waited over fifteen minutes for a 101 call to be answered and queried what ‘Problem Solving Occurrences’ (where Surrey Police have identified and actioned a local problem) meant - the rate having decreased.

-       In response, the PCC explained that there were often spikes in burglaries caused by international criminal gangs, the force were not complacent regarding burglaries and had been making good arrests recently, as fewer residents about due to Covid-19 made it easier to identify offenders. Surrey Police had a comprehensive grading system for incoming crimes addressing the critical ones first and the PCC noted the important role of communities in taking more anti-burglary measures such as home CCTV and burglar alarms. All 101 calls were recorded and the average wait to be answered was just over a minute, he welcomed any examples of dissatisfied wait times and would investigate those. The PCC explained that the Problem-solving Occurrences KPM was a new venture by Surrey Police to increase the crime solving rate; a central team looked at specific crimes to evaluate where concentrated effort would increase the crime solving rate and he was happy for members to be briefed specifically on the matter at an upcoming Panel meeting. 

10.  Responding to a Panel member’s comment on the new normal during lockdown of increased virtual meetings and potential virtual engagement sessions between the PCC and local communities, the PCC reported that he had his first virtual engagement session yesterday and had planned a large series of community engagement events later in the year.

RESOLVED:

Members of the Police and Crime Panel commented on the Annual Report prior to its formal publication.

Actions/further information to be provided:

1.    R13/20 - The Panel will formally write to the PCC with the comments and feedback raised in the discussion.

2.    R14/20 - The OPCC will provide a briefing on the work of the Problem Solving Occurrence Team at a future meeting.