The Council will receive a presentation by Dr A Billings, Police and Crime Commissioner, and the Chief Constable, Mr S Watson, on Policing in South Yorkshire with particular reference to Policing in Barnsley.
Minutes:
The Committee received a presentation by Dr A Billings, Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire, and the Chief Constable, Mr S Watson, on Policing in South Yorkshire with particular reference to Policing in Barnsley.
Dr Billings thanked the Mayor and Members of the Council for the invitation to attend the meeting. He explained that the Police and Crime Plan 2017-2021, a copy of which was provided for all Members of the Council, was being refreshed and was a key document for every Force and set out the key priorities for the year ahead.
He outlined the key priorities namely:
· Protecting vulnerable people
· Tackling crime and anti-social behaviour
· Treating people fairly
and explained that these had been developed from conversations held with members of the public, Councillors and Partner organisations. Essentially, the overriding message was that people wanted South Yorkshire to be a safe place to live and work. A summary of the 2017-2021 Plan was also provided which gave a brief outline of how these priorities were being delivered, what the Police were required to do and how he, as the Police and Crime Commissioner, would know how they were performing
The current review which involved a similar consultation exercise, of which this presentation was part, would result in a revised Plan being issued in April and comments were required to be submitted as a matter of urgency.
Dr Billings then went on to report on other issues affecting the South Yorkshire Police and particularly on the setting of the police budget and precept. Whilst the Government had allowed the Force to increase the precept by £12 on a Band D property, this did still not provide sufficient finance to allow for inflation and Police salary increases so there would still be a need to look for financial savings which would leave the South Yorkshire Force in a difficult financial position.
The Chief Constable then gave an update of the new model for Neighbourhood Policing introduced within South Yorkshire recently which was at the front and centre of the Police and Crime Commissioners requirements.
In explaining the rationale for its re-introduction, the consultation that had taken place to plan the Service and how Neighbourhood Policing would operate he made reference to:
· The delivery of the Service which would include a number of organisations (including the Council) working in Partnership to deliver results in a joint way
· The way in which the initiative would protect, through early intervention and prevention, all people and particularly the vulnerable.
· The way in which the Service would work proactively with the Council and Partner organisations to understand and prevent crime
· The ways in which anti-social behaviour would be tackled
· The engagement and communication with the local community by listening to and prioritising concerns which would help the Force understand the issues that mattered most to that community
· The Barnsley Neighbourhood Policing structure including the staffing which was designed to meet specific community needs. In this respect he outlined
o The co-location of Police and Partner organisations
o some of the ways in which the service was changing and the improvements that were now being seen which could result, in some cases, in significant savings both to the Force and to partner organisations – the Local Authority and PCP in particular
o the training courses being supported
· The consideration of introduction of community hubs
· The success of the Neighbourhood Policing Model which was now being rolled out across the country as an exemplar of good practice
The two presentations engendered a full and frank discussion during which matters of a detailed and general nature were raised and answers given to Members questions where appropriate. Particular reference was made, amongst other things, to the following:
· The current situation with regard to the volume of 101 and 999 calls which were in excess of the current capacity available at the call centre and, arising therefrom, on the development of the Force Telephone system and IT infrastructure, the benefits this would achieve and how this would hopefully rectify the situation
· The decision to provide a Force hub in Penistone and the Chief Constables agreement to attend further public meetings in the area.
· Arising out of the above discussion the Chief Constable also made reference to:
o the increasing use of volunteers
o the strategy for policing rural areas
· The Police Estates Strategy, which was currently under consideration and which could, in some areas, lead to increasing co-location of staff
· The need to undertake further analysis of issues surrounding children , young people and older people going missing
· Despite the budgetary restrictions facing the Force, there was no intention of reneging on the Neighbourhood Policing focus
· The Force’s strategy and justification for the use of Tasers
· The ways in which the Police and Crime Commissioner held the Police to account
· The Force’s stance in relation to psychoactive substances
The Mayor and Members of the Council thanked, in the usual manner, Dr A Billings (Police and Crime Commissioner) and Chief Constable S Watson for their presentations and for answering Members questions.