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 attached Annual Report covers the period April 2021 to March 2022 and is submitted to the Police and Crime Panel for comment.

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:

1. 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. `

2. 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.

3. 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.