Agenda item

To consider the report on the findings of the public consultation.

Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Philip Wilkinson OBE, MPhil, introduced a report about his office’s consultation on the policing precept for the forthcoming financial year. He highlighted that, of the 2,610 responses received, 68 percent supported an increase of between £10 and £20 per Band D household. The PCC noted that whilst the survey was a relatively small sample of Wiltshire’s population, he felt that the figures were indicative of the general feeling amongst residents. He noted that Wiltshire Police were investing in measures to improve service delivery, including upgrading training facilities and creating a Serious Assault Referral Centre. He believed that Wiltshire Police were now delivering value for money and urged the Panel to approve an increase of £13 on the average Band D property.

During the discussion, points included:

·       The Panel thanked the PCC’s office for the report.

·       Ways to improve ethnic minority participation were suggested, including the possibility of attending events in Temples, or the Gurdwara, in Swindon. The PCC felt this was an excellent suggestion and noted that he had held a consultation on 6 February in Devizes with Independent Advisory Groups from a range of communities in order to discuss how they could strengthen communication with his office. He also noted that he had been invited by the Mayor of Salisbury to attend a number of Muslim prayer sessions. The PCC had accepted the invitation and was keen to engage with as wide a range of communities as possible.

·       It was noted that the survey showed a strong level of support for Wiltshire Police, with 85 percent in favour of more investment to increase policing in the community.

·       Given the cost-of-living challenges facing residents, the PCC was invited to comment on the results in the survey showing that 92 percent of those who wanted to see more investment to increase policing in the community wanted investment to come from central government. He was challenged by the Vice-Chairman about whether the support for different levels of precept increases, in paragraph 4.7 of the report, really indicated the 68 percent of respondents were in favour of his proposals as only 39 percent had supported increases of between £10 and £15.

·       In response to the points made about the level of support for further investment, the PCC underlined that the first objective in his Police and Crime Plan was to improve engagement with communities and to put more officers on the frontline. He then outlined the progress made towards those goals, including opening a new police station in Tidworth to provide a framework of neighbourhood teams across the county and introducing a new operating model. He also noted that the Chief Constable was putting measures in place to improve community engagement.

·       With regard to the issue of funding from central government, the PCC noted that he had, together with other PCCs representing rural areas, lobbied MPs, including the policing minister. He reported that he had met with Home Secretary James Cleverly the previous day to discuss the Police Funding Formula, but thought it was unlikely that there would be reform until after the next general election. However, he had helped to persuade the Home Secretary in invest in specific funds such as Serious Violence Duty and the Safer Streets Fund. The Home Secretary had agreed the previous day to give Wiltshire Police and additional £1 million for Hot Spot Policing

·       The PCC also emphasised that he had sympathy for those struggling economically and stated that he was trying to target resources according to need to benefit less affluent areas of Wiltshire.

·       The Chairman remarked that additional funding, whether from local or central government would ultimately come from the taxpayer. He also highlighted that lower income households receiving council tax relief would not be subject to the increase.

·       The PCC explained that he had done everything possible to apply pressure on central government to review the funding formula.

·       Cllr Dr Mathew noted that it was the responsibility of both local and national government to keep people safe. He observed that those with the deepest pockets would be paying the greatest increase.

·       Reassurance was sought that the additional funding, if approved, would go towards the priority areas identified by the public in Section 5 of the consultation. The PCC noted that they used public engagement to help to direct priorities and the consultation helped to supplement the other forms of public engagement undertaken by his office.

·       In response to a query about whether there had been an improvement and investment in Integrated Offender Management, the PCC explained that there had been investment in facial recognition technology and a brand new Retail Crime Strategy had been developed. He spoke about the importance of targeting repeat offenders and said they were engaging with different stakeholders to tackle the issue of persistent crimes.

·       It was noted that improved crime reporting may assist Wiltshire Police’s case for higher funding from the Home Office. The importance of working closely with the Probation Service was stressed.

·       It was queried whether a minimum threshold for responses from different ethnicities and genders could be adopted in future years to ensure that responses from each group were proportionate to the overall population. The PCC welcomed the suggestions and said he would feed them back to his office.

·       The Chairman noted that there were companies that specialised in consultations that may be effective at increasing participation.

On the proposal of Cllr James Sheppard, seconded by Cllr Vijay Manro, it was then resolved to make the:

Decision

To note the report on the consultation process with Wiltshire and Swindon residents.