Agenda item

[Time allocated for this item is one hour]

Appendix A: OAS/FH/16/003 – (Suffolk Local Policing Review)

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore and the Chief Constable, Gareth Wilson have been invited to the meeting to give a presentation on the Suffolk Local Policing Review (SLPR) with a particular focus on its implications for the west of Suffolk, and to answer questions from the Committee. 

The Chairman of the Committee welcomed Tim Passmore (Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC)) who had been invited to the meeting to give a presentation to Members on the Suffolk Local Policing Review.  He was accompanied by Gareth Wilson (Chief Constable) and Supt Andrew Mason (Local Policing Commander for the West). 

The PCC opened his presentation by thanking the Committee for the invitation.  The PCC informed the Committee that Suffolk was one of the safest counties to live, in the UK and he wanted this to continue.  He then set out the reasons for the review, which covered the following areas:

• Strategic direction and budget;
• Managing demand;
• Partnership working;
• Protecting victims and vulnerable people;
• Commissioning and grants;
• Innovation;
• Tackling new forms of crime; and
• Preventing and reducing crime.

The policing review was not solely financial.  It was about the Constabulary responding to the changing nature of crime, with resources being located according to demand. The revised policing model for the county would be divided into nine localities, each led by an Inspector, who would oversee the work of the 18 Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) across Suffolk and emergency response officers within their area.  (5 SNT located in West Suffolk).  Three Superintendents would oversee this work, being responsible for the East, West and South of the County.

As part of the reallocation of resources from urban to rural policing, a rural crime team had been located in Stowmarket to cover the west of Suffolk.  Three extra PCSO’s had been appointed to carry out a liaison role in schools across the county.  Thirty more police officers had been recruited/funded to focus on protecting vulnerable people and support the county’s cyber-crime investigations and a new motorbike team in Bury St Edmunds.  

Working more effectively with partners both locally and regionally was also key in providing efficiencies across the public sector and the Constabulary was committed to furthering joint ways of working in partnership.  In particular, it was vital for the public sector to move parking from criminal to civil enforcement.

The PCC reassured members that no police stations were closing.  However, some front desks would be closed due to low footfall, but the buildings would still be occupied by police staff and had 24 hour intercoms.

The Chief Constable informed the Committee that resources had been increased, which included the launch of a new Road Policing Team on 9 March 2016, to cover the west of the county, based in Bury St Edmunds ,to deal with speeding. New technology had been introduced such as body worn videos which provided clear evidence; automatic number plate recognition and a new website would be launched in the autumn to enable local community interaction.   

Supt Andrew Mason (Local Policing Commander for the West), informed Members that a response base would still be located in Mildenhall with no change to staffing.  A public meeting had been arranged for Thursday 24 March 2016 in the Mildenhall Jubilee Centre to meet the new Locality Inspector (Mark Shipton) and to hear about how teams would be working within local communities. There was also three Safer Neighbourhood Teams located in the Forest Heath area (Brandon; Newmarket and Mildenhall).

Members discussed the presentation in detail and asked a number of questions of the PCC, Chief Constable and the Local Policing Commander, to which comprehensive responses were provided on workforce plan; reward/recognition; benchmarking figures with other counties and the new police connect website.  Discussions were also held on the following:

(1)     Decriminalisation of parking: Work was underway with district, borough and county councils to transfer responsibility for parking enforcement to the local authority.  This would allow Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) to spend more time on local problem solving. 

(2)     Funding for Crime Prevention Panel:  The PCC advised that it might be possible for the Crime Prevention Panel to apply for funding from the Crime and Disorder Reduction Grant.  The guiding principle for the funding was delivering the police priorities.  

(3)     Access to justice: Members raised concerns regarding the proposals to close a number of courts.   Access to justice was important and people needed a court that they could easily reach.  Local justice for victims was needed.  The PCC acknowledged that this was a high priority for the constabulary and the Local Criminal Justice Board.  Alternative options were currently being looked at, such as “pop up courts”.  However, any support from local authorities would be gratefully received. 

The Chairman thanked the PPC and his officers for an informative presentation.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the presentation on the Suffolk Local Policing Review.