Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Charles Howard and Cllr Teresa Page.

The Chairman announced that the dates of the March 2014 and September 2014 meetings had been moved to align with the OPCC performance data.

The new dates were:

Thursday 6 March 2014, 2.00 pm, venue TBC

Thursday 4 September 2014, 2.00 pm venue TBC

With the agreement of the Panel the Chairman added iQuanta to the agenda.

A discussion around the role and work of the Panel highlighted the need to have a communications strategy, and it was agreed that public relations would be added to the agenda of next formal Panel meeting on 26 November 2013. The Panel decided to issue an Annual report detailing what the Panel had done, was doing and intended to do. This would be circulated to Area Boards, Localities and the press. 

The Chairman informed the Panel that an informal regional PCP chair’s meeting had taken place, at which they had agreed to write to the minister raising their concern over the regular meetings taking place with commissioners but with no similar meetings taking place with PCPs. It was agreed that this letter would be circulated to Panel members.

The Panel agreed that the Chairman should suggest to the Commissioner that a monthly informal meeting be set up, and a summary of those discussions circulated to members.

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 Wednesday 30 October 2013. 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 were no questions asked or statements given.

To discuss the Panel’s overall approach to scrutiny of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s delivery of his Police and Crime Plan.

The Panel discussed its approach to scrutiny of the Commissioner’s Police and Crime plan. It identified that some areas were more complex than others, and decided that the first approach would be to identify an area which the public could relate to and that would be a rapid exercise and relationship builder.

To discuss and prioritise scrutiny areas and topics.

The following areas for scrutiny were suggested:

·       Young People (engagement)

·       Victim Support

·       Licensing

·       Special Constables

·       Volunteers (recruitment, use of, fallback if insufficient forthcoming)

·       Community engagement

·       Crime reduction

·       Anti Social Behaviour (ASB)

·       Funding decisions from PCC’s £1m pot

·       Handling of complaints against the PCC

·       PCC/CSP relationships

·       Vision Wiltshire

When discussing the topics the Panel agreed that, due to their complex nature, ASB and Vision Wiltshire would be added to the work plan but would not be the first topic for scrutiny.

The Panel noted the reliance on the volunteers and specials within the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan, and decided that this would be the first area of scrutiny.

To consider how the work is to be taken forward, including

·         Themed meeting arrangements

·         Size and makeup of Task Group

·         Terms of Reference (exact scope of study)

·         Timescale

·         Next steps

The Panel agreed that the Chairman would work with officers to produce a scoping document. This would be circulated to panel members and the PCC for comments.

The following members would make up the scrutiny task group:

Cllr Ansell

Cllr Bennett

Cllr Britton

Malcolm Grubb

Cllr Hutton

The first meeting of the task group would determine its timetable.

Some Panel members requested that they were not given access to iQuanta and it was agreed that access would only be given to Cllr Britton, Cllr Ford, Malcolm Grubb and Amanda Newbery.

The Panel noted the www.police.uk website which was a useful source of information.