4 September Monitoring of Complaints against the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner March to August 2014

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1 4 September 2014 Monitoring of Complaints against the Merseyside Police and Crime March to August Purpose of the Report The purpose of this report is to update Panel Members on how complaints against the Police and Crime falling within Panel s remit are being handled. 2. Recommendations The Panel is recommended to note the progress in relation to the handling of complaints during the period March to August Background 3.1 The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act placed a statutory obligation on the Police and Crime Panel to deal with complaints about the Police and Crime and any appointed Deputy. The Act also provided for the publication of regulations in relation to this responsibility ( The Elected Local Policing Bodies (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012 ). 3.2 In essence, the Regulations give the Panel three specific key functions in relation to such complaints:- Initial handling of complaints and conduct matters; Informal resolution of relevant complaints within the Panel s remit; and, The provision and recording of information.

2 3.3 In accordance with the legislation, the Panel originally delegated responsibility for initial handling of complaints to the Chief Executive of the s Office in December In late March 2013, the s Interim Chief Executive notified the Panel that this delegation was no longer accepted. Consequently, the Panel was obliged in April 2013 to agree a new Complaint Handling Procedure, which now includes delegation to the Host Authority s Monitoring Officer to handle initial complaints and, where appropriate, to attempt to resolve such complaints informally. 3.4 Complaints submitted since the Panel s 30 April 2013 meeting have therefore been dealt with by Host Authority s officers in accordance with the agreed Complaint Handling Procedure. 3.5 The Panel s work programme provides for updates to be provided twice yearly. The Panel previously received an update on complaints handling in March Complaints Handling March to August Seven complaints have been handled by the Host Authority during the period between March and August, one of which is a new complaint received since the last update (a brief summary of progress on each is attached at Appendix A). 4.2 Four of the complaints (1-2013, , and ) have been brought to a conclusion during this period. Each of these complaints had been referred for informal resolution. Complaints , and were ultimately taken to meetings of the Complaints Sub-Committee held during May In each instance the Sub-Committee concluded that the informal resolution proposals agreed by the Monitoring Officer with the were reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances. The has subsequently complied with the terms of each resolution. 4.3 In relation to complaint , the complainant ultimately accepted the terms of the informal resolution having previously rejected those terms. The has since enacted the informal resolution terms. 4.4 The only new complaint received since the last update (2-2014) was not recorded by the Monitoring Officer. Initially the complainant was provided with the opportunity to supply information to support his substantive allegations against the individually. Whilst the complainant did provide a substantial volume of information in response, the Monitoring Officer judged that this information still did not justify the recording of a complaint. This decision was taken on the grounds that it was felt the information did not relate specifically to the behaviour/conduct of the. 4.5 In relation to complaint , the Monitoring Officer has brokered informal resolution proposals with the. A response remains awaited from the complainant on whether he finds them acceptable.

3 4.6 In the remaining case (5-2013), a response remains awaited from the s Office on the substance of the complaint. 5. Conclusion The Panel has statutory responsibilities regarding the handling of complaints alleging misconduct against the. Since its last update on complaints matters, the Monitoring Officer has been involved in handling a number of complaints. Four of the complaints have been brought to a conclusion. Two complaints still remain outstanding. A further complaint has not been recorded due to it not being deemed to be a valid complaint against the. MIKE HARDEN Deputy Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council (Host Authority) David Moran, Scrutiny and Partnerships Manager, Knowsley Borough Council (0151) david.moran@knowsley.gov.uk Appendices:- A. Complaints against the May 2013 to March 2014

4 Recorded Complaints REF NO. 1/2013 COMPLAINT RECEIVED 11 March 2013 Complaints against the March - August 2014 RECORDED Yes DATE 30 th April 2013 CURRENT STATUS Informal resolution proposals agreed with Complainant rejected informal resolution Sub-Committee considered matter at meeting on 2 May 2014 and agreed that the informal resolution proposals were reasonable and proportionate. The s Office has fulfilled the REF NO. 2/2013 COMPLAINT RECEIVED 6 April 2013 RECORDED Yes DATE 30 th April 2013 CURRENT STATUS Informal resolution proposals agreed with Complainant has rejected informal resolution Sub-Committee considered matter at meeting on 2 May 2014 and agreed that the informal resolution proposals were reasonable and proportionate. The s Office has fulfilled the

5 REF NO. 3/2013 COMPLAINT RECEIVED 10 April/ 20 May 2013 (Original submission did not make clear the grounds for complaint and thus allow a decision to be made on whether to record or not. Later submission provided clarity) RECORDED Yes DATE 24 May 2013 CURRENT STATUS Informal resolution proposals agreed with Response awaited from complainant as to whether proposals are acceptable.. REF NO. 4/2013 COMPLAINT RECEIVED 9 May 2013 RECORDED Yes DATE 24 May 2013 CURRENT STATUS Informal resolution proposals agreed with Complainant has rejected informal resolution Sub-Committee considered matter at meeting on 9 May 2014 and agreed that the informal resolution proposals were reasonable and proportionate. The s Office has fulfilled the

6 REF NO. 5/2013 COMPLAINT RECEIVED 23 September 2013 RECORDED Yes DATE 9 th October 2013 CURRENT STATUS Comments on substance of complaint requested from s Office. This will allow Monitoring Officer to frame informal resolution The s Office have been liaising with the Force in relation to the detail behind the complaint. A formal response remains awaited from the s Office REF NO. 6/2013 COMPLAINT RECEIVED 21 October 2013 RECORDED Yes DATE 19 December 2013 CURRENT STATUS The complainant originally rejected the informal resolution proposals that had been agreed. A meeting of the Sub-Committee was arranged to consider the complaint. In the meantime the complainant reconsidered his position and agreed the informal resolution The s Office has since fulfilled the

7 Complaint not recorded REF NO. 2/2014 COMPLAINT RECEIVED 31 March 2014 RECORDED REFERRAL No No CURRENT STATUS On receipt of the original complaint referred by the s Office, the complainant was requested to provide further information to support his allegations against the. Despite the complainant providing a significant amount of information in response to this request, it was deemed that the information provided did not justify the matter being recorded as a valid complaint against the. The complainant was informed of this outcome by letter on 23 July 2014.