Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Chris Caswill.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2012.

Decision

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2012 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Councillor Keith Humphries declared a personal interest in agenda item no. 9 being Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for Community Safety and Wiltshire Council’s representative on the Community Safety Partnership.

The Chairman asked Panel members to stay after the meeting for a short briefing on the confirmation hearing.

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 Friday 28 December 2012. 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.

Receipt of a letter and accompanying report as seen on pages 7 to 31 of the agenda was acknowledged. It was explained that the letter had been published redacted as permission had not been received from Mr Skelton at time of publication.

Mr Skelton’s letter detailed his concern over the cost of the PFI deal involving a bespoke firearms training facility in Portishead, the lack of consultation on this and he urged the Panel to move around the county and to hold some meetings in the evening.

The Panel noted the potential usefulness of the information when analyzing the precept but explained that in this instance the issue should be raised in the first instance with the OPCC as it did not fall within the remit of the Panel and the business detailed had been agreed some time ago.

The Panel stressed the importance of ensuring the public were aware of Panel meetings being open for all to attend. The need to hold meetings throughout the force area was discussed however it was agreed that venues and times would be reviewed after the Wiltshire Council elections being held in May 2013.

Decision

The Panel agreed:-

1.     To respond to Mr Skelton explaining his issue would be sent to the OPCC for their attention and response, welcoming him to attend future meetings of the Panel and explaining that times / venues of meetings would be reviewed after the Wiltshire Council elections being held in May 2013.

2.     To remove the redaction from the published documents

3.     To provide guidance to members on the process for dealing with future requests for public participation.

4.     To review times / venues of meetings at the first meeting after the Wiltshire Council elections, currently scheduled for 12 June 2013.

Angus Macpherson, Police and Crime Commissioner provided a verbal update on the following:

Financial Settlement

He explained that the financial settlement was in line with forecast, being 2 million down on last year. He was not minded to increase the precept this year and was confident that savings of £3.3 million would be achieved.

Preparation of the Police and Crime Plan

Preparation of the plan was underway and will give a detailed budget on commissioning, including the timescale for moving to the commissioning process. A draft would be available from 25 January 2013 and subject to revision and consultation. The suggestion for a regular Police and Crime Plan Area Board item in the last quarter of the financial year was welcomed by all members.

PCC report

The Commissioner’s diary and blog are now available on his website and he was happy to print and bring this to Panel meetings. He indicated his intention to attend Area Boards throughout the year and was happy to provide a written report with a local view for the Area Boards.

The process for handling complaints against the Police

The closing date for the Independent Assessor position is 7 January 2013 and an update will be provided when they are in place.

The panel was informed that work was underway on the complaints process and a detailed report will be available at the next meeting.

A debate around the draft protocol highlighted the need to incorporate and understand the Panel’s role in supporting the Commissioner and the need to reflect that a future Commissioner could be female.

Decision

The Panel agreed:-

1.     To establish a working party consisting of Councillors Bennett and Hewitt and Mr Malcolm Grubb to work on draft protocol, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair. Panel Members to be asked to email any thoughts or suggestions to the group once the date for the working group is known.

2.     To bring the revised draft protocol to the 26 March 2013 meeting.

To receive a verbal update from Cllr Richard Britton, the Chairman on the relationship between the CSP, C+D and the Panel.

The Chairman explained that he had met with Maggie Rae from Wiltshire Council Community Safety Partnership (CSP) and a meeting had been scheduled with Swindon Borough Council’s CSP Lead Officer. He was advised to contact the SBC Cabinet Member with responsibility for Community Safety. A paper will be brought to the Panel after these meetings.

To note the forward work plan.

The suggestion supplementing the business items with specific themes, such as Victim Support, Restorative Justice, Community Engagement and Vulnerable People was welcomed.

The Panel noted the forward work plan.

To note the future meeting dates below:

The next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel will be on 11 January 2013, 10.30 am in the Wessex Room, Corn Exchange, Devizes.

Future meeting dates were:

6 February 2013

26 March 2013

12 June 2013

16 September 2013

26 November 2013