Agenda and minutes

Wiltshire Police and Crime Panel - Thursday 13 January 2022 10.00 am

Venue: Salisbury Guildhall, Guildhall Square, Salisbury SP1 1JH

Contact: Kevin Fielding  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

35.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

 

There were no apologies.

36.

Declarations of interest

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

 

37.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

38.

Public Participation

The Panel welcomes contributions from members of the public.

 

Statements

 

If you wish to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the first page of the agenda for any further clarification.

 

Questions

 

Members of the public are able to ask questions in relation to the responsibilities and functions of the Panel at each meeting. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to officer listed on this agenda no later than 5.00 pm on 3 clear wkg days before meeting. Please contact the officer named on the first page of the agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

 

Minutes:

Two questions from Mr Paul Howlett had been emailed to the OPCC.

 

Question 1

 

I note that the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2022-23 to 2025-26 concludes, "It is expected that the Chief Constable will improve the efficiency in how he delivers policing. Depending on the funding provided there is likely to be a budgetary gap, it is expected that the Chief Constable will continue to identify ways in which he can close these gaps.”

 

 I am concerned that there is a limit to the efficiency savings that can be achieved by the Chief Constable with the risk that eventually local policing will be detrimentally impacted.

 

This is a burden that the Chief Constable shares with the PCC as his responsibilities includes, amongst others, "Sets the police budget and decides how much people will pay towards policing from their council tax, as well as priorities for resources, linked to their plan.”

 

The current draft "Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Plan 2022-2025” describes options for modernising the police estate & yet gives no indication how any of them will be funded. It seems that further increases in the police precept will be necessary to fund estate improvements. This is at a time when household costs are predicted to increase with a rise in the cost of living, which is a cause for concern.

 

In the absence of any additional central funding, what assurances can the PCC give that improvements in the police estate will not be funded through placing an undue financial burden on the people of Wiltshire as well as any reduction in the availability of local policing.

 

Answer:

 

There is an expectation that Chief Constables and PCCs deliver an efficient and effective service.  We are continually reviewing how we deliver services ensuring we are optimising advances in technology and removing duplication.  With the new centrally funded officers there is now a requirement for officer numbers to be maintained hence reducing the concern that local policing will be detrimentally impacted.

 

The MTFS describes a requirement to invest in the police estate.  It specifically deals with how this will be funded noting that reserves, capital receipts and capital grants will not be sufficient to deliver fit for purpose premises.  The plan is to deliver major developments by borrowing taking advantage of the current low interest rates and spreading the impact over 30 years, hence the public receiving the benefits of these assets pay for them over this period.  The capital financing strategy (part of the MTFS) explains how this will be achieved in a sustainable method without placing undue pressure in one year hence limiting any impact on local policing.

 

 

Question 2

 

 I understand that currently less than 1 in 10 domestic burglaries are detected, which if true is appalling. The effective investigation of crime and the management of offenders are key to community confidence in policing as well as achieving value for money. Will the PCC consider including in future performance data regarding detection rates within publicly available crime statistics.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

39.

PCC Budget 2022/23 and MTFS

Clive Barker to present the PCC’s Draft Budget Settlement for 2022/23, including the Medium Term Financial Strategy and Capital Strategy

 

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

 

 

Clive Barker - Chief Financial Officer, explained the detail of the budget settlement 2022-23 proposals and the Medium Term Financial Strategy and answered questions.

 

Points made included:

 

That the paper provided the panel with information on the draft budget and precept being considered.  It also showed the draft Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which estimated the financial position over the next four financial years.

 

That on the 16 December the provisional settlement was announced by the government. Whilst this reported a 5.2% increase in Wiltshire funding this assumed that the PCC would take up the full £10 increase in precept.

 

The government had set a capping level of a £10 increase on Band D council tax levels for all PCC’s.  In Wiltshire this would equate to an increase of 4.3% on the 2021-22 Band D level of £231.27.  Whilst PCCs had the freedom to decide on the increase it should be noted that the government’s communications suggesting a % increase was based on the setting of a precept with a £10 increase.

 

In the MTFS the following scenarios have been considered;

 

·         Option A - £10.00 increase, 4.3%

 

·         Option B - £4.63 increase, 2.0%

 

The impact of a 1% increase in the precept was additional funding of £0.617m

 

That the information had been provided by Swindon Borough Council and Wiltshire Council, provisionally the tax base had increased by 1.13%.   A surplus on the collection fund had been announced by Wiltshire Council of £0.430m, whilst Swindon Borough Council had declared a deficit of £0.135m.  The net position was therefore an additional £0.295m of funding.

 

The panel were given the opportunity to discuss with the Commissioner the budget settlement 2022-23 proposals and the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

Decision

 

·         That the Wiltshire Police and Crime Panel noted the report and the current thinking surrounding the 2022-23 precept. It was considered that a £10 Band D increase per household per year was appropriate.

 

The chairman thanked the Commissioner and Clive Barker for a comprehensive paper and presentation.

 

 

40.

Future meeting dates

To note the future meeting dates below:

 

·         Thursday 3 February 2022 - Committee Room A&B, Monkton Park,
Monkton Hill, Chippenham SN15 1ER

 

·         Thursday 10 March 2022 - Assembly Room, Town Hall, St.John's Street,
Devizes SN10 1BN

 

·          Thursday 9 June 2022 - venue to be confirmed

 

·         Thursday 29 September 2022 - venue to be confirmed

 

·         Thursday 15 December 2022 - venue to be confirmed

Minutes:

Th future meeting dates were noted:

 

·         Thursday 3 February 2022 - Committee Room A&B, Monkton Park,
Monkton Hill, Chippenham SN15 1ER

 

·         Thursday 10 March 2022 - Assembly Room, Town Hall, St.John's Street,
Devizes SN10 1BN

 

·          Thursday 9 June 2022 - venue to be confirmed

 

·         Thursday 29 September 2022 - venue to be confirmed

 

·         Thursday 15 December 2022 - venue to be confirmed

 

41.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

Boxing Day Lacock Hunt issues – That Wiltshire Police would act on any illegal activities, that more police resources could have been deployed at the event, the CCTV van could perhaps have been used. That there had been some arrests made after the event.

 

 

Auto Speedwatch– That it appeared that where communities had invested in the Auto Speedwatch system, there was some confusion on whether Wiltshire Police were using the data gathered by local volunteer groups.

It was confirmed that Wiltshire Police would be using auto Speedwatch data gathered by local volunteer groups.

 

 

Anti-social behaviour in Salisbury – That Wiltshire Police would be following up on this and had been putting a pro-active plan together, local teams would be deployed accordingly.

 

42.

Close