Agenda item

To receive the Highlight and Performance Report and receive a verbal update from the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) gave a brief presentation about the achievements towards, and issues associated with, the delivery of his Crime Plan between June and September 2023. He identified what he saw as deep seated, overlapping, legacy issues impacting the force such as morale and infrastructure challenges, before outlining the steps he was taking to address them. Key points included:

·       The new police station in Tidworth would open on schedule.

·       Four different options for a new station in Salisbury were being considered.

·       Morale in Wiltshire Police was still an area where improvements could be made.

·       There had been challenges with staffing levels, due to too many officers being granted leave simultaneously. The Chief Constable was taking steps to ensure that staffing level regulations were now being enforced more robustly.

·       A new learning and development training facility was receiving positive feedback.

·       Key achievements included a reduction in the number of rape and sexual offences, as well as achieving the most County Line disruptions per head of population of any force in the country.

·       A more coherent approach to anti-social behaviour was being adopted, including through better coordination with partner agencies and the development of a toolkit to tackle its causes, symptoms and consequences.

·       Information from Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs) was being used more effectively and speed enforcement activity in 2023 was more than double that had taken place in 2022.

·       The PCC had signed off on Operation Ragwort to tackle organised crime gangs involved in rural crime. He was also working with other West Country PCCs to build a more coherent intelligence picture.

·       The PCC was keen for his office to continue to support the Criminal Justice Sector to improve the experience for victims and witnesses.

During the discussion, the following comments were made:

·       The Panel thanked the PCC for his presentation and noted the progress made towards the Crime Plan over the last quarter.

·       It was clarified that a national measurement was used to assess County Line disruptions.

·       In response to a query about what could be done to tackle anti-social driving habits, such as noisy cars, or those modified to generate extra speed, the PCC noted that the Road Policing Unit had been enlarged. He would ask Community Police Teams how they were tackling the issue of noisy cars and his instinct was to be as proactive as possible.

·       When asked about why the volume of Speed Watch records in June 2023 was 44.4 percent lower than in June 2022, the Strategic Planning and Performance Officer at the OPCC explained that this was due to a combination of seasonal factors, changes in the team and increases in the number of volunteers. He noted that the PCC and he received an average of five emails per day about enforcement activity from volunteers.

·       Further information was sought about whether the PCC thought that the force’s hierarchical structure encouraged first class behaviour from all staff and whether they had a culture that encouraged officers to go above and beyond. The PCC responded by saying that he felt Wiltshire Police was too risk averse when he took over but there was now a sharper chain of command in place. He agreed that it was important to be proactive.

·       The PCC reiterated his concerns about the value for money that Wiltshire Police received from the National Police Air Service (NPAS). He stated that he had written to the policing minister three times about the issue and also shared a critical report with him. He noted that 75 percent of the governance board on NPAS needed to support any funding changes, so he might ask the Police and Crime Panel for their political support in lobbying government for reform.

·       Some members of the Panel expressed frustration that certain issues were persisting within Wiltshire Police and stated that they would welcome a faster pace of change.