Agenda item

To receive a progress update about the PCC’s scrutiny, challenge, and support of Wiltshire Police’s HMICFRS PEEL inspection action plan, alongside the OPCC assessment of the progress Wiltshire Police is making against the PEEL findings.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Philip Wilkinson, OBE MPhil, gave a progress update about his scrutiny, challenge, and support of Wiltshire Police’s Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy (PEEL) inspection action plan. He also provided the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s (OPCC’s) assessment of the progress Wiltshire Police was making towards addressing the PEEL findings. During his update key points included:

·       The PCC had met with His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary for the Wales and Western Region, Wendy Williams CBE, who felt that some progress had been made towards the issues identified.

·       The force had recruited a retired Assistant Chief Constable, Craig Dibdin, to focus solely on the areas of improvement required by the PEEL report.

·       Oversight had been improved as the OPCC’s Strategic Planning and Performance Officer, John Derryman, now sat on all of Wiltshire Police’s performance boards. The number of performance boards had been reduced to give clearer direction. Each board was chaired by Chief Constable Roper.

·       The PCC felt that his office had now moved from the ‘challenge’ phase to the ‘active support’ phase in helping Wiltshire Police through the Engage process.

·       The PCC identified specific areas in which he felt that progress had been made, such as prosecution rates for rape going from the lowest to the highest in the South West region, as well as tackling the interconnected issues of drug issues and youth violence.

Cllr Cave arrived at 10:22am.

During the discussion, points included:

·       The Panel thanked the PCC for the update and welcomed the progress identified in the report.

·       Members stated that they would like a roadmap of the progress made including a timeline of key inspections and goals.

·       The PCC noted that there had originally been several roadmaps. Wiltshire Police had now combined the information into a single document, which he hoped to share with the Police Performance Oversight Group on 5 April 2023.

·       In answer to a query about the lack of progress made towards effective community engagement and problem solving, the PCC agreed that this was a concern but reassured the Panel that new processes had been put in place.

·       When asked about the deployment of officers in the community, not in response to specific incidents, but to deter crime and provide reassurance to the public, the PCC emphasised the importance of ensuring that there was a sufficient number of officers on the front line. He highlighted that there would be 140 more officers by the end of the year than when he first took up the role.

·       The PCC also outlined other steps to help build community links, such as each station being allocated a commander who would stay in post for at least two years. He explained that inspectors would regularly visit Area Boards.

·       Two mobile police stations had been delivered which would visit smaller towns and villages to provide a visible presence. Area Boards would be asked where they would like to see the stations deployed.

·       In response to a suggestion by Cllr Dr Mathew that retired police officers be encouraged to participate in engagement events in schools, the PCC stated that this was something that he would consider and emphasised that Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) did visit schools.

·       Given that extra recruitment would lead to an increase in the number of inexperienced staff, a hierarchy of leadership and management courses had been put in place.

·       The PCC stated that he was keen to make recruitment processes more flexible to attract people leaving the military. He explained that the Ministry of Defence provided four months of training to service personnel due to leave the armed forces but that they could now do four months of training to join the police instead.

·       The Panel noted that it would be good to have a balance of experienced and younger recruits, who might be able to identify better with people of a similar age group.