Agenda item

If you would like to submit a question for the Chief Constable in advance of the meeting, please email matthew.hitch@wiltshire.gov.uk.  

Inspector Pete Foster, head of the local neighbourhood police team, gave an update including:

·       There had been no personnel changes to the team since the previous meeting.

·       Since the previous meeting, the team had investigated 45 crimes where further action had been taken, such as a prosecution or out of court resolution. There had been 10 burglaries in this time and a suspect was currently on bail having been arrested in connection with a number of these incidents.

·       Several visits had been made by the team to nighttime premises so that they could provide assurance and help promote schemes such as Ask for Angela.

·       A series of suspicious incidents had occurred where loan females had been approached in Chippenham. These incidents had been reported in social media and the police were working closely with local schools, MPs and councillors to raise awareness.

·       Inspector Foster attended a quarterly meeting with school headteachers, and their safeguarding leads, to discuss incidents.

·       It was important for the police to be held to account and have a culture of improvement.

·       Wiltshire had a crime rate of 52.8 crimes per thousand people and had the lowest crime rate in the country for several types of crime.

·       The Area Board’s area was broken down into two organisational areas for policing, Calne Town and Calne Rural. In Calne Town the number of crimes in 2024 had fallen below the number in 2023, with a particular fall in the number of crimes recorded as violence against the person.

·       In Calne Town there had been an increase in the number of reported incidents where no crime had occurred, such as environmental concerns, or sudden deaths. The neighbourhood team did not see the increase as a cause for concern but would closely monitor the figures.

·       Rates of rural crime had been steady over the past three years.

·       Just over 12 months ago the rolling average further action taken (FAT) rate for Wiltshire Police, the number of crimes investigated which led to a positive outcome, such as a conviction or out of court resolution, was 15.1 percent but this had now risen to 18.4 percent. In January 2025 the FAT rate was 24 percent.

·       The average FAT rate for the group of the most similar police forces to Wiltshire, was 15.4 percent. The FAT rate for Calne in January was 29.3 percent and the FAT rate in Calne for cases investigated by the neighbourhood team was 41 percent.

During the discussion, points included:

·       The Area Board thanked Inspector Foster for his interesting and informative update. Praise was given to the police for the job that they were doing in protecting local communities. It was noted that the Area Board had a much lower crime rate than may other parts of the country.

·       The neighbourhood team had worked closely with Wiltshire Council and Trading Standards to obtain a closure order on a vape shop illegally selling tobacco products. A number of test purchases had taken place. The shop would be able to reopen to trade legally in three months’ time.

·       The Vice-Chairman noted that he had recently tried to contact 101 after witnessing a young person attacking a car with an extension cable. After being on hold for 15 minutes he instead decided to contact the Police via the social media platform X and later filled out an online form. In response, Inspector Foster apologised for the delay and advised that anyone witnessing a crime in progress should ring 999. He explained that the call answering system was being enhanced so that people could join a priority queue if they said certain words.

·       Diana Gooch, the Area Board’s Older Person’s Champion, said that she would welcome further promotion by the police of the Herbert and the Philomena Protocols for vulnerable adults and children who were missing.

Chief Constable Catherine Roper gave a brief update on the financial pressures impacting Wiltshire Police.

·       Wiltshire Police were facing a £6.8 million budget shortfall in 2025/26 and £1.6 million of the required savings had already been identified.

·       A financial review was underway to find the rest of the required savings, which would look at the force’s estate and vehicle requirements. The last option to be looked at for efficiency savings would be staffing and the force had a commitment not to reduce the number of police officers.

·       No police station with a front counter would be closing.

·       The Chief Constable was committed to improving the level of service provided to the public despite the financial challenges facing the force.

During the discussion, points included:

·       The Chief Constable had attended Calne more than any other Area Board.

·       The Area Board thanked the Chief Constable for her update and recognised the financial pressures facing the force.

·       The Vice-Chairman stated that he had seen, from his role sitting on Wiltshire Police and Crime Panel, that Wiltshire Police offered extraordinary value for money.

·       In response to a query about whether the rural crime team would be moving from Calne Police Station and whether community officers would lose the ability to access the building, Inspector Foster confirmed that that station was not closing, so the neighbourhood police team would still be able to access the building. The rural crime team had been moved to Trowbridge, for complex operational reasons, but this would not negatively impact the visibility of the police in the local community.

·       Police Community Support Officer Mark Cook was getting an e-bike. 

·       Details about what the required savings were as a percentage of Wiltshire Police’s budget were not readily available. The overall budget had actually increased but not as fast as cost pressures caused by factors such as increased pay, employer national insurance contributions and changes to dangerous dog legislation.

·       An urgent review had been commissioned into child sexual exploitation to establish whether there were any trends in Wiltshire.