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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Monkton Park, Chippenham, SN15 1ER

Contact: Kevin Fielding  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

43.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Anna Richardson – Independent Member, Cllr Jenny Jeffries – Swindon Borough Council and Cllr Rich Rogers – Wiltshire Council.

 

 

44.

Minutes and matters arising

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on Thursday 16 December 2021 and Thursday 13 January 2022.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

Decision:

 

The minutes of the meetings held on Thursday 16 December 2021 and Thursday 13 January 2022 were agreed as the correct records and signed by the Chairman.

45.

Declarations of interest

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

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

 

46.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

Cllr Brian Mathew advised that the Police and Crime Panel Complaints Sub-Committee had met on Wednesday 2 February 2022 for its first meeting.

 

That the roll of the Complaints Sub-Committee was to look at complaints against Mr Philip Wilkinson - Police and Crime Commissioner (“the PCC”) for Wiltshire and Swindon, and that the Police and Crime Panel was the vehicle to raise any other concerns or issues.

 

That the Chair of the Complaints Sub-Committee would report back to the Police and Crime Panel at the 10 March 2022 meeting.

 

47.

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

 

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 5 clear working days before the meeting. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

 

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

Minutes:

There was no public participation.

48.

Formal consideration of PCC Precept proposal 2022/23

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Commissioner outlined the report on the consultation process which sought to provide the Police and Crime Panel (PCP) with a summary of the PCC’spublic consultation and the public’s view on the proposed £10 a year, per household, increase in the policing precept on a band D property.

 

That in January 2022 he had presented to the Police and Crime Panel with a paper which identified his initial thinking on the 2022-23 budget and draft MTFS (Medium Term Financial Strategy). 

 

Central Grant

 

As detailed in the January paper the grant for Wiltshire had risen by £3.831m to £76.775m (excluding Pensions Specific Grant).  This was Wiltshire’s portion of the £550m provided by the government to fund nationally an additional 8,000 officers (the last year of the national uplift to 20,000 officers).  After considering the cost of funding the 62 new officers allocated to Wiltshire the amount remaining for inflation or growth pressures is £1.8m (2.3%).  Pressure on costs due to the National Insurance increase for the Social Care Tax and Pay awards were expected to exceed this amount.

 

It should be noted that the 5.2% cash increase for Wiltshire reported by the government included the funding of the 62 new officers and that the precept was increased by £10 for all Band D dwellings (the maximum available to all PCCs without referendum).

 

The Precept

 

Local funding was the sum of the precept plus collection funds.  Collection funds hold any variances on precept collection in both collecting authorities (Wiltshire Council (WC) and Swindon Borough Council (SBC)).   The collecting authorities must estimate the number of equivalent Band D properties, considering their local support scheme and the collection rate to arrive at a council tax base.

 

Pressures still remained on local councils with SBC reporting a deficit of £0.135m. This was cancelled about by the surplus of £0.430m reported by WC leaving a net figure collection fund surplus of £0.295m.

 

The council tax base had recovered this year with a consolidated increase of 1.1% leading to a total base of 266,748.

 

That the initial paper identified that the Commissioner was considering a £10 increase in precept.  This would result in a 4.3% increase and would help resolve issues arising from the limited central grant settlement.

 

That the Commissioner was considering the whole funding position.  Wiltshire remained the 3rd lowest total funded area per head of population.  It had the lowest council tax in the South West (the 2021-22 regional average excluding Wiltshire was £250.86 for a Band D property).  Based on this low funding position he was minded to increase the precept by £10 for a Band D property to £241.27 (from £231.27 in 2021-22). 

 

This increase would assist in the long term funding of Wiltshire Police as it would impact the base for which all future precepts start from.

 

The Commissioner continued to campaign for fairer funding for Wiltshire.  To not increase the precept when the government had specifically given the option to do this would be a missed opportunity.

 

 

Points made  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

49.

Future Meeting Dates

To note the future meeting dates below:


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:

 


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

 

50.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

The Commissioner advised that:

 

National Police Air Service – That Wiltshire Police did not need the fixed wing aircraft that they paid for, but did not use. That he was in discussions to remove Wiltshire from this contract, working with other like minded Police forces, and was taking legal advice on this. That he would continue to pursue the contract issues to get Wiltshire a fairer deal.

The Police and Crime Panel were happy to support this.

 

Salisbury Police Station – That he was actively looking at two options for a new Salisbury Police Station – ongoing negotiations to take on the Bourne Hill Hub from Wiltshire Council, or a new build site at the Church Field estate.

That he would update the PCP when more information became available.

 

Drugs - That he was working with other South West Police Forces to target embedded drug dealers with a planned two week intensive Police operation during March 2022. It was agreed that Wiltshire Police would release a communications paper to help local councils promote this operation when more information was available.

 

The Chairman thanked the Commissioner for his updates.

 

 

51.

Close