Agenda item

To receive the Highlight and Performance Report.

The Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), Naji Darwish, gave an update about the progress that had been made towards the goals in the Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC’s) Crime Plan between July and September 2024. He also reported about the work that was being carried out on the PCC’s emerging Crime Plan for 2024-2029 and provided information on the recent national prisoner release scheme. Points included:

·       The PCC had completed his first consultation about the emerging Crime Plan with stakeholders and would bring an update to the Panel’s November meeting.

·       The OPCC had produced its delivery plan for 2024/25 laying out how it was going to meet the objectives of the PCC’s Crime Plan.

·       Work was ongoing ahead of the launch of a new Youth Commission, in April 2025, to get the views of young people about how policing could be improved.

·       The OPCC was continuing to coordinate the Serious Violence Reduction Partnership, work on the Safety at Night Charter and focus on knife crime.

·       There was an emphasis on intelligence led policing to tackle rural crime and a number of significant arrests had recently taken place.

·       Swindon Borough Council were working alongside the OPCC on procurement for the Swindon Domestic Abuse Service.

·       There had been around 6,500 enforcement offences for road safety in Wiltshire so far in 2024. 

·       Multiple agencies were working together to deliver projects to improve community safety and to spend grant funding from central government effectively.

·       The (Horizon) Victim and Witness Care Hub was celebrating its tenth anniversary, so this represented a good opportunity to review whether it was still delivering services in the most effective way.

·       It was noted that early SDS40 National Prisoner Release Scheme, to release pressures on prison capacity, was being run though the Ministry of Justice. At a local level, Wiltshire Police were working closely with probation services and other agencies to ensure that those released had appropriate accommodation and were being monitored. It was not possible to disclose the numbers being released locally but they were not a significant number for the system to cope with. There had been positive feedback from partners and the Chief Executive felt that the challenge presented had been used to help strengthen normal release procedures.

·       It was highlighted that the availability of suitable accommodation for those released from prison was an ongoing national challenge for the Probation Service. However, the Probation Service worked closely with both local authorities in the police force area to provide the best available solution.

During the discussion, points included:

·       The Panel thanked the Chief Executive for his update.

·       In response to queries about whether the prisoner release scheme was expected to lead to an increase in reoffending and how it was being monitored in Wiltshire, the Chief Executive noted that there was a national reoffending performance measure. He explained that the national reporting mechanism had at least a year’s lag in recording time, so reassured that Panel that Wiltshire Police would be working closely with the Probation Service to assess the risk for each individual. Given that the number of early releases in Wiltshire was relatively low, he did not anticipate that early release would have a significant impact on reoffending rates, but the OPCC would carefully monitor the situation.

·       The Panel praised the OPCC’s social media campaign for pre-empting public concern about the early release of prisoners.

·       When asked about the possible cessation of central government funding in March 2025 for programmes to tackle serious violence, the Chief Executive stated that clarity would provided by the government in the budget on 30 October. The OPCC had developed clear exit strategies with partners for those programmes if funding was discontinued and had been pressing central government for further information, although this had not yet been forthcoming.

·       It was highlighted that Wiltshire Police would be running domestic abuse scrutiny panels in collaboration with the Crown Prosecution Service to identify areas of good practice.

·       In reply to a question about whether courses about domestic abuse could become mandatory for perpetrators when they were released from prison, or on bail, the Chief Executive noted that proportional orders would be decided by courts. However, he explained that there were several proactive measures available to the police and judiciary, such as prevention orders. The Home Office were considering the use of new types of prevention orders to ensure that the appropriate powers were in place.

·       The Chief Executive explained that support services were working to help victims of prisoners that were due to be released early. He also emphasised that, whilst the early release could cause significant distress to victims, none of the prisoners that had, or would be, released early were serving sentences for violent or sexual offences.

·       When asked about reports in the national press that some of the prisoners released early had not been fitted with electronic tags, due to a supply shortage, the Chief Executive stated that he was not aware of any specific concerns about this issue in Wiltshire. He reassured the Panel that Wiltshire had a relatively low prison population, and he would ask questions about prisoner tagging at the next meeting of the Criminal Justice Board. 

·       The Panel requested that the percentage of 999 calls that were answered by the Crime and Communication Centre within 10 seconds was included in future performance reports.