Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Caryl Sydney-Smith – Swindon Borough Council and Cllr Gordon King – Wiltshire Council.

There were no declarations of interest.

·       PCP Workshop – Thursday 23 February 2017 at the History Centre, Chippenham.

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 the Head of Democratic Services at Wiltshire Council 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.

There was none.

For the Police and Crime Panel to receive formally and vote on the Police and

Crime Commissioner’s proposed Council Tax precept for the year 2017-18.

The Commissioner explained that in January 2017 he had presented to the Panel a paper which outlined his thinking surrounding the 2017-18 budget.

The paper, which also included a copy of the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), reported that the Commissioner was thinking of increasing the Police part of the Band D Precept by 1.9% to £170.27, a £3.17 increase from the 2016-17 Police part of the Council Tax of £167.10.

The Police and Crime Panel were given the opportunity to discuss the Commissioner’s proposals, after which a vote on the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposed Council Tax precept for the year 2017-18 was taken.

Decision

·   That a precept of £42.458m be set. 

·   This would require council tax to be set on all property bands based on £170.27 for a Band D property.

·   This represented a £3.17 (1.9%) increase on the 2016-17 level. 

It was agreed that a Deficit Savings report would be presented at the 29 June 2017 by the OPCC.

The Chairman thanked the Commissioner for his report.

To receive an update on the Victim Support Service (Horizon).

The Commissioner gave the Panel an update on the development of the Horizon Victim and Witness Care Unit.

Points made included:

·       Horizon Victim and Witness Care Unit had been commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioner with the support of the Ministry of Justice Victim Service Fund. The service became fully operational in April 2015 and was provided by Wiltshire Police. 

·       Over the last year referrals into Horizon had increased.  As the team had become embedded and skills had developed Horizon had taken on more responsibility for victims of domestic abuse, victims of fraud and all victims of domestic burglary. 

·       The team were now dealing with around 450 cases per month, some of which had more than one victim. 

·       Over the next year the OPCC and Horizon team would be continuing to build on the success of Horizon, looking at the support available to victims of crime and continuing to link into a wider network of appropriate support services.

It was noted that Cllr Abdul Amin – SBC, felt that Swindon victims of crime were not getting the level of follow up from the Horizon service as other parts of Wiltshire. The Commissioner advised that he would follow this matter up.

PCP members also requested that statistics for non-Wiltshire residents using the Horizon service would be provided by the OPPC.

The Chairman thanked the Commissioner for his update.

To receive a Review of Community Policing.

The Commissioner advised that the PCP’s input would be welcomed in the review. An invitation was therefore given for the PCP to work with Naji Darwish, with Cllr Richard Britton heading up the PCP input.

During the discussion it was felt that a review of the methodology of the new policing model would be welcomed by the PCP.

The Chairman invited all members of the PCP to get involved in the review if they were able.

Two question were raised by Cllr Richard Britten, (contained in the agenda pack) were noted, with replies awaited from the OPPC.

To note the forward work plan.

The Forward Work Plan was noted with the following additions:

2 March 2017 meeting

·       Police and Crime Plan.

·       Review of Community Policing.

·       Inter-Force Collaborations – services being commissioned during 2017/18.

29 June 2017 meeting

·       Deficit savings report.

To note the future meeting dates below:

·       Thursday 2 March 2017 – City Hall, Salisbury

·       Thursday 29 June 2017 – Corn Exchange, Devizes

·       Thursday 7 September 2017 – County Hall, Trowbridge

·       Wednesday 7 December 2017 – Swindon Borough Council Offices

The next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel will be on Thursday 2 March 2017 at City Hall, Salisbury.

Future meeting dates were:

 Thursday 29 June 2017 – Corn Exchange, Devizes.

 Thursday 7 September 2017 – County Hall, Trowbridge.

 Wednesday 7 December 2017 – Swindon Borough Council Offices.