Agenda item

6.1

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), reported on the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Plan 2013/17, which had been renewed in March 2015, and current issues.  Also in attendance for this item was Sally Parkin, Office of the PCC.

6.2

Dr Billings explained that the Police had to show him how they had put the Police and Crime Plan into practice, so that he could then hold them to account, and that he had deliberately kept the Plan concise and brief.  The aim of the Plan was that South Yorkshire would be and feel a safe place to live, learn and work, with the strategic priorities being protecting vulnerable people, tackling crime and anti-social behaviour and enabling fair treatment, with safety being a common thread.  The Plan did not contain any targets for tackling crime and anti-social behaviour and was outcome focused, rather than target driven.  In relation to protecting vulnerable people, Dr Billings emphasised the need to adopt a wider definition to account for such issues as the ageing population and increased use of the internet. 

6.3

Dr Billings went on to refer to the difficult financial situation, where the Police had been affected by grant reductions, with continued reductions expected.  He added that there were two particular difficulties in South Yorkshire, the first of these relating to the funding formula, with South Yorkshire receiving 80% of its funding from the Government and only 20% from the precept.  Consequently, when Government funding was cut, this represented a bigger proportion of the funding in South Yorkshire.  It was also unlikely that the Government would tilt the funding formula in favour of urban areas.  The second particular funding challenge in South Yorkshire related to the ‘legacy issues’ of Hillsborough, Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and Orgreave.  In relation to Hillsborough, the PCC was legally obliged to fund the representation and participation of the Chief Constable, the Match Commanders on the day and a small number of others, in the inquests and inquiries.  There was provision for the Home Office to refund these sums, but it was never envisaged that something on this scale would occur.  There were separate inquests presently taking place at Warrington into the deaths of each of the 96 victims and, if a verdict of unlawful killing was found, then it may be that further actions would take place, so officers would need further representation.  The costs so far had been £17m, of which the Home Secretary would fund £10.7m, thus leaving a gap.  Dr Billings had contacted the Home Secretary, with a view to meeting her to discuss this shortfall.  In relation to CSE, some Police Officers had been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and the National Crime Agency investigation in Rotherham was expected to go on for up to three years at a cost of £3m-£5m per year and discussions were taking place in relation to funding this.

6.4

Members made various comments and asked a number of questions, to which responses were provided as follows:-

·                There was still a strong district identification in the four South Yorkshire Police Divisions and getting cross-fertilisation was not easy.  Steps were being taken to achieve more cohesion across the area, with the review by Professor John Drew into South Yorkshire Police responses to CSE looking at practice across the whole area.  In addition, the number of staff engaged in public protection had been increased, there had been co-location of staff in Rotherham, which was to be extended to Sheffield, and specialist training for CSE officers was being developed, using feedback from the Victims’ and Survivors’ Panel.

·                Statistics on the progress of legal proceedings in relation to CSE could be found on the South Yorkshire Police website.  There had been a number of arrests in the past three weeks and these would move towards Court cases.  It should be noted that the Police were getting better in relation to prevention work.  It was also important to ensure that the figures were not distorted, as most child abuse had been shown to take place in the family, and there was also the issue of online grooming. 

·                The Advisory Panel for Minority Communities (formerly the Black and Minority Ethnic Advisory Panel) would be asked to consider how the Police would ensure fair treatment in relation to the enforcement of such items as dispersal orders.  It was hoped that the Committee membership could also be broadened to include members of the Roma/Slovak community, but different ways were being considered in relation to the involvement of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender community.  Funding for diversionary activities had been reduced dramatically, but the Yorkshire Community Foundation ran a small grants scheme on behalf of the Commissioner and had some funding available. 

·                A small team of Police Officers in South Yorkshire were funded by the Home Office to work on the Prevent agenda, which related to preventing terrorism.  This team worked with local authority officers and undertook visits to schools and colleges.

·                As part of his report, Professor John Drew would look at the figures quoted in the media for the number of CSE victims/ survivors and would meet with the retired Police Officer who had been quoted on BBC News as having information in relation to the numbers of victims/survivors and perpetrators.  In so far as Rotherham was concerned, the National Crime Agency would be going through the relevant files.

·                The numbers working in the Public Protection Units were reviewed continually, but it was getting increasingly difficult to find people to work in these areas due to the IPCC investigations.

·                Professor Drew would have direct contact with the victims/ survivors and their families by meeting with the Panel comprising these individuals which had been set up.  At the last meeting of the Panel, Police Officers had attended to listen to victims’/survivors’ experiences.  It was important that Police Officers were sensitive to the different attitudes of the victims/survivors.

·                The failure to value women was not confined to any particular culture and it should be noted that, whilst the perpetrators of some incidents of historic grooming in Rotherham had come from one part of the community, this had come as a shock to other members of that community, as it had offended their religious and British values and some of the work funded had been in this field.  It was also worth bearing in mind that there was an ongoing struggle in institutions such as the BBC and the Church of England in relation to the equal treatment of women. 

·                Consideration would be given to the training of the Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in how they dealt with under 18s on the street, but the overall impression was that they knew their communities well.  There was however some concern at the numbers of people they were dealing with who had mental health issues.  In terms of numbers, South Yorkshire had been almost unique in holding the line, as there had only been a small reduction in the number of PCSOs in the last 5 years.  The numbers of Police Officers had reduced by about 16%, which was around the national average.

·                There was a need to maintain a neighbourhood focus in policing and the Response Policing and Neighbourhood Teams were to be combined into single Local Policing Teams, which would manage all anti-social behaviour and most crime.  Officers would be issued with laptops and handheld computers, which would result in timesaving efficiencies as well as keeping officers in the community.

·                Police Officers and PCSOs were trained to deal with people of all ages, so there was no cut-off created by any specialist training in dealing with under 18s on the street.

·                It was sometimes possible for a case to be built without witnesses having to give evidence in Court, but this could be complex due to changes in legislation regarding cases involving the age of consent in relation to sexual offences.

·                The reduction in numbers of Police Officers and PCSOs was due to the austerity agenda.  Locally, consideration was being given to the type of community and VCS (Voluntary and Community Sector) meetings attended by Police Officers and PCSOs, with other forms of contact such as e-mail being seen to be just as effective in some cases.

·                In response to the questioner, Diana Stimely, Dr Billings stated that the South Yorkshire Police website was updated weekly with statistical information of the sort which she required.  If there was insufficient information there, or she had further questions, he encouraged her to write to him and to speak to Sally Parkin who would advise her as to how to contact him.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       thanks Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, for his contribution to the meeting;

(b)       notes the information reported and responses to questions; and

(c)        agrees to set up a Task and Finish Group to consider the implementation of the Prevent agenda, with Councillor Cliff Woodcraft as Chair and Councillors Chris Rosling-Josephs, Ian Saunders and Jack Scott and Jules Jones and Alison Warner as members, to report back to the meeting of the Committee in September 2015 with a proposal for the review and with a final report at the meeting of the Committee in January 2016.