Attendance MINUTES OF THE POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER S PERFORMANCE AND SCRUTINY GROUP MONDAY 6 JUNE 2016 POLICE MUTUAL, 20 CHAPEL STREET, LIVERPOOL at 2.30pm Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) Sue Murphy - Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (Acting Chair) Jo Liddy - Chief of Staff John Riley - Chief Finance Officer Kim Dawson - Community Engagement Officer Merseyside Police Andrew Cooke - Deputy Chief Constable Nikki Holland - Assistant Chief Constable (Investigation and Intelligence) Julie Cooke - Assistant Chief Constable (Local Policing and Criminal Justice) Ian Critchley - Assistant Chief Constable (Response and Resolution) Louise Kane - Corporate Support and Development (Head of Operational Support) Elayne Gibson - Human Resources (Head of Employee Relations) Paul Vautrinot - Corporate Support and Development (Secretary) Apologies for Absence Jane Kennedy - Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner (Chair) Geoff Broadhead - Director of Resources OPEN MINUTES (FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REFERS) 1. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Actions Tracker The minutes of the last meeting held on 9 March 2016 were accepted as a true and accurate record. Members also considered written updates in respect of actions from the last meeting. With reference to the action where it had been agreed that the Force should consider separating the category of adults average hours detained into vulnerable and non-vulnerable adults average hours detained, it was agreed that owing to the practical difficulties and time required to extrapolate this information, this action should no longer be pursued. 2. HMIC Programme of Work Members considered the HMIC Programme of Work, including recently published reports, inspections and anticipated inspections. Reference was made to the HMIC report Missing Children Who Cares? and members were provided with a full explanation of the way in which Merseyside Police applied missing and absent categories. On a related matter it was confirmed that the Force had a policy in place for dealing with incidents emanating from local authority and privately owned PCC P&SG 6.6.16 Page 1 of 5
children s homes. Issues in relation to persistent absent persons would be raised at the national Safeguarding Board in July 2016. It was also confirmed that, as recommended by HMIC, information management processes (Iplans) which focused on children who went missing and aimed to provide better analysis to understand the effectiveness of the police and multi-agency responses, would be in place by September 2016. The PCC funded post of Missing from Home Co-ordinator had been filled. Analysis of missing from home persons was ongoing and action plans would be drawn up in order to address any issues identified. Members went on to discuss the JESIP review and were advised that over 1,000 staff including frontline staff and supervisors had received JESIP training. There was a strong partnership in place with the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and a number of joint planning scenerios had taken place. Merseyside Police fully adhered to the 5 joint working principles, aimed at improving the way Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and Ambulance Service worked together when responding to major multiagency incidents. 3. Crime Data Integrity Members considered the latest crime data integrity chart showing current levels of compliance. In response to a query by the Deputy PCC in respect of harassment where compliance with incidents with correct crime classifications was 100% but incidents closed with correct closing code stood at 45%, members were advised that robust governance was in place to monitor this issue. A couple of factors had resulted in the current closing code performance including Niche software issues and the splitting of the Home Office offences, both these issues were being addressed. The crime data was noted. 4. Strategic Priorities Members considered the Force s strategic priorities, risks and priority map. Members were advised that assessment of the Force s strategic priorities was a dynamic process: the receipt of information/intelligence allowed the Force to better understand the issues involved in any given area which frequently led to a reduction in risk and a constant shift in emphasis placed on priorities. On a separate issue it was confirmed that the majority of missing persons were children. Members discussed how Morile was displayed to demonstrate key priorities for the Force. Members were advised the national tool was in development and observations in respect of scale were noted and would be referred back to the national team. Shirley Jones/ Louise Kane 5. Custody Data Members considered slides on custody including average detention times, use of police custody as a place of safety (mental health) and youth accommodation compliance. PCC P&SG 6.6.16 Page 2 of 5
The Chief of Staff highlighted length of detention times where the average time a person was detained was 10.5 hours. Members were informed there was no national data available to enable a comparison of these figures with other forces. The Force would review detention times but it was suggested that rather than focusing on detention times per se it was more important that the Force did the right thing at the right time. It was recognised there were issues with the national CPS Direct, but members were assured that the Force would not detain a person any longer than was necessary. Conversely, emergency charging would be invoked and individuals retained in custody if release was inappropriate. In relation to youth accommodation members were advised that youths were kept in custody only when the local authority was unable to provide accommodation but this was seldom the case. Whilst adhering to charging protocols overnight detention of youths was avoided, if possible. It was noted that independent evaluation had shown that use of the mental health triage car had had a positive impact and reduced the number of persons detained under Section 136, Mental Health Act 1983. 6. Killed or Seriously Injured Members considered the latest Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) statistics and advised that since 2010 there had been a 14% increase in the number of KSIs, however there had been a 5% reduction since last year. Education was key to achieving a further reduction in KSIs and the Force continued to work with the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership to target specific groups including young persons, senior pedestrians and cyclists. Merseyside Police were also to embark on operations to target specific risks including scrambler bikes and drink/drive offenders. Wirral and Sefton BCUs had a greater number of road traffic collisions compared to other BCUs and bespoke activity was in place to tackle this issue. It was acknowledged that, in tandem with the Merseyside Road Safety Partnership, there was also a need to consider redesigning road layout to make them safer to road users and pedestrians. Going forward there were already some innovative schemes in place aimed at reducing KSIs. Longer term, a balanced approach between education and enforcement was considered to be the most effective option. It was agreed that a copy of the hotspot data and locations should be forwarded to the Deputy PCC. 7. Victim Satisfaction ACC R&R/ Chief Insp Roads Policing/ Louise Kane The Chief of Staff noted that, in general, performance around victim satisfaction was good, however victim satisfaction with vehicle crime was lower than other crime types. Members were informed that the current survey did not accurately reflect Force process and therefore could result in false results. In respect of victims of vehicle crime, policy had been changed so that members of the public had an opportunity to collect their vehicle rather than being charged for storage providing the vehicle had not been used in the perpetration of crime. There was also a need to fully inform the public of the role performed by the police so the public did not have unrealistic expectations of the service. It was envisaged that future surveys would confirm that these changes had improved vehicle crime satisfaction. PCC P&SG 6.6.16 Page 3 of 5
In response to a query by the Chief Finance Officer in respect of satisfaction with follow up of hate crime incidents, which was lower than other stages of the service, members were informed that satisfaction in this area was improving and the Force was not treating victims unfairly or differently than any other aspect of the service. 8. Force Alert Summary Members considered charts and statistics in respect of Force alerts including violence against the person, sexual offences, stealing and domestic abuse. In response to a query by the Chief Finance Officer in relation to outcome rates for violence which were low, members were informed that, owing to strict adherence to Home Office Counting Rules there had been a significant increase in violence recorded. This was a significant increase in volume where offences were often difficult to detect, which resulted in a lower outcome rate. However, the Force would review outcomes to see where opportunities may be getting missed and an update would be provided at the next meeting of the PCC s Performance and Scrutiny Group meeting on 13 September 2016. ACC LP&CJ The Deputy PCC went on to discuss stealing where outcome rates for vehicle crime were lower than expected. The Force focused on threat, harm and risk to the public. This strategy had drawn resources away from unproductive tasks relating to crimes with no solvability factors to the key objective of keeping the public safe. On a related matter members were informed that due to changes within Home Office Counting Rules the incidence of vehicle interference had seen a significant increase since 2014. In response to a queries by members of the OPCCM, members were advised that there was an ongoing review of domestic abuse including the percentage of cases investigated via MARAC. Repeat victimisation would be given particular attention. An increase in the incidence of domestic abuse recorded since autumn 2014 was attributed to an increase in confidence in reporting such offences to the police. In relation to domestic burglary and shoplifting there was an acceptance that outcome rates were lower than previous periods and the Force would look at other forces with higher outcome rates to establish any good practice. 9 Key Risks Child Exploitation, Child Sexual Exploitation and Economic Position/ Budget Members were provided with a comprehensive update and explanation of the processes involved in the investigation of two key risk areas, child exploitation and child sexual exploitation. Reference was made to specific cases and details provided of the initiatives in place to tackle such offences. The update was noted. Members were also given details of a further key risk, the economic position and Force budget. The Force had firm plans in place to achieve required savings over the next two years, thereafter savings would be increasingly difficult to achieve. However, the Force remained committed to the delivery of a quality service to the public. The update was noted. PCC P&SG 6.6.16 Page 4 of 5
10. Organisational Risks - Sickness Members were provided with a comprehensive update on current organisational risks, in particular sickness absence, which was noted. 11. ANY OTHER BUSINESS No items were raised. 12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the PCC Performance and Scrutiny Group will take place on Tuesday 13 September 2016 at Police Mutual, 20 Chapel Street, Liverpool 3, commencing at 9.30am. Abbreviation/ Acronym BCU CPS HMIC JESIP MARAC OPCCM PCC T Definition Basic Command Unit Crown Prosecution Service Her Majesty s Inspectorate of Constabulary Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Temporary PCC P&SG 6.6.16 Page 5 of 5