Witnesses:
Lisa Townsend, Police and Crime Commissioner for
Surrey
Damian Markland, Head of Performance and Governance
(OPCC)
Lisa Herrington, Head of Policy and Commissioning
(OPCC)
Key points
raised in the discussion:
- A Panel Member noted
that the previous Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC)
annual report included performance measures and queried whether
there had been any progress in developing performance measures. The
PCC explained that it was the PCC’s report, rather than a
report by the Force, therefore it focused on the work of the Office
of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC). The PCC added that
isolated metrics did not provide a complete picture. The Head of
Performance and Governance shared that the OPCC were doing a lot of
work consulting with stakeholders on increasing the availability of
Force performance data. Currently, a lot of the data was provided
in the performance meetings with the Chief Constable, however, this
needed to be opened up to a wider audience. The OPCC had plans to
launch a performance portal, and by the next meeting, it was hoped
that a more substantive update could be provided on this. The Head
of Performance and Governance explained that performance measures
required context to ensure that the data was not misleading. The
Panel Member questioned whether it was just the PCC’s report,
as it should address the Police and Crime Plan which involved the
work of the Force. The Head of Performance and Governance confirmed
that the report did address the priorities and progress of the
plan, just not in a quantitative sense. The PCC added that this was
one part of the PCC’s role and encouraged Panel Members to
look at the wider work of the OPCC, beyond the reports brought to
the Panel. `
- A Panel Member
suggested that the Force should be more explanatory regarding the
outcomes of crimes. The PCC responded that they would pass on the
comment and suggested for the Panel Member to raise it with the
Chief Constable at the Panel meeting in October.
- A Panel Member
queried the small proportion of the commissioning budget spent on
fraud and cybercrime, considering how prevalent this form of crime
was. The PCC explained that a significant amount of the
Force’s budget was spent on fraud, as 43% of crime in Surrey
was fraud. It was, however, still important for the OPCC to support
victims of fraud. Fraud victims could also access the universal
support offer made available to all victims of crime in Surrey. A
large amount of the budget was spent on supporting victims of
domestic abuse and children and young people who had sexually
assaulted, as there was a key role for the OPCC in this area. The
Head of Policy and Commissioning added that the OPCC had
commissioned specialist case workers to support victims of crime.
Certain crimes were more likely to require emotional support, such
as rape which was traumatic for victims.
Recommendation:
The
Panel will formally write to the Police and Crime Commissioner with
any comments and/or recommendations regarding the Annual
Report.