Update on Authority Matters June 2011
1. Report - The Police Authority, at its Annual Meeting on 1 June 2011, appointed David Pearsall as its Chair for what could prove to be its last year if proposals currently passing through the House of Lords are enacted whereby police authorities will be replaced by directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners in May 2012.
The Authority continues to oppose the idea of Police and Crime Commissioners and, until it becomes law, will continue to fulfil its key role in ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of policing in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. It is however, under the Chair’s leadership, preparing for the potential changes in the governance of policing to ensure a smooth transition and this will necessitate working even closer with the Force and its partners, including those in local government, to ensure that service delivery meets the aspirations of our communities.
At the same meeting, Peter Vigurs was re-appointed as its Vice-Chair for the coming year.
Condolences
2. Report – The Authority has noted with regret the death of Peter Beresford on 4 May 2011, a former Councillor Member from Staffordshire County Council. The Authority and the Force were represented at his memorial service and condolences have been passed onto his family.
Former Members - Thanks
3. Report - The Police Authority has expressed its thanks and appreciation to Clive Brian and Brian Ward for their contributions to the work of the Authority. Both members ceased to be members of the Authority following the local elections in May 2011.
New Members – Welcome
4. Report - The Authority is pleased to welcome Peter Davies, Joy Garner and Peter Hayward as new Councillor Members with effect from 27 May 2011.
Appointment of Assistant Chief Constable
5. Report – The Authority and the Chief Constable have offered their congratulations to former Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Marcus Beale who has taken up a new post (ACC Security) with West Midlands Police on 6 June 2011.
The ACC vacancy has been advertised with a closing date of 17 June 2011 and short listing is planned for 22 July 2011. Ch. Supt. Nick Baker has taken up the role of Acting Assistant Chief Constable (Territorial) until a permanent appointment to the post is made.
Force Performance Review 2010/11
6. Report – The Authority has reviewed the annual performance of the Force for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011, including the performance challenges faced by the Force and how these had been progressed against the priorities outlined in the ‘Policing Staffordshire Strategy and Plan 2010/13 and the Force’s ten key objectives for 2010/11. The level of performance achieved at the year-end, with eight targets being met, had been achieved with significantly less resources following reductions in police officer and police staff numbers in-year.
Almost 5,000 fewer crimes had been recorded during the year – a reduction of 7% from 76,047 offences to 70,890; the overall satisfaction of victims of crime had continued to increase – 90.2% of crime victims being either completely, very or fairly satisfied - including anti-social behaviour (87.2% of victims being either completely, very or fairly satisfied); the numbers of serious acquisitive crimes had fallen by 13% over the year, from 10,695 in 2009/10 to 9,272 in 2010/11; business crime had fallen during the year by 9%, 9,297 to 8,504; there had been a 12% reduction in the number of violence with injury crimes recorded, following focused management action in-year; and a 4% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions had been recorded, with 38 fatalities during 2010/11 down from 49 in 2009/10.
The Authority has congratulated the Chief Constable and Force on the outstanding performance figures for 2010/11 and welcomed the continued fall in crime trends despite the many challenges that the Force was facing.
Staffordshire’s successes were highlighted in the national Home Office report ‘Crime in England and Wales: Quarterly Update to December 2010’. The report showed that the Force and its partners were making real progress in dealing with local issues – up a statistically significant 3.5% on last year’s figures, putting Staffordshire in the top 10% of the 43 forces in England and Wales. Staffordshire is a safe place and is getting even safer; a real tribute to the efforts of the Authority and the Force, partners and local communities working together to deal with the issues that matter to our localities.
Force Re-structuring through the Communities First Programme
7. Report – A new Force structure was introduced county-wide from April 2011, seeing the creation of eleven local policing teams and the streamlining of the organisation to respond to the challenges of performance targets for 2011/12 onwards and the tight on-going financial constraints. These significant changes to the way policing is delivered have been achieved through the Communities First Programme, a blue-print for the Authority and the Force to keep the communities of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent safe and reassured. The successful delivery of these changes, coupled with the maintenance of high levels of service to our communities, has placed the Force in a strong position to meet the challenges that lie ahead, not least the realisation of substantial budget savings.
The Authority will continue to drive the strategic direction of the Force and the scrutiny and challenge of its performance through the next phase of the Programme that involves reviewing the way the new structures are working to ensure that the way things are being done (ie everyday systems and processes underpinning the new structures) is as streamlined and efficient as they can be. External consultancy support has been approved to assist the Force with this review and, in order to protect the front-line budget, is being funded from the Authority’s reserves.
Provisional Revenue Outturn 2010/11
8. Report – The net revenue budget for 2010/11 of £188.258m showed savings of £5.6m (3.0%) at the year-end. The final accounts are being completed, with a view to the Authority’s Audit Committee agreeing the draft Statement of Accounts 2010/11 on 27 June 2011.
Provisional Capital Outturn 2010/11
9. Report – The Authority’s capital spend up to 31 March 2011 was £11.351m and included £5.489m on building projects, £4.237m on IT projects and £1.625m on vehicles. The Authority has noted the reasons for slippage on individual projects, mainly IT schemes delayed as a result of a lack of resource availability and the development of the new amenities block at the Headquarters site.
Annual Governance Statement
10. Report - The Authority has reviewed its Annual Governance Statement, in accordance with the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2011, setting out how it has complied with the Code of Corporate Governance and commenting on the effectiveness of its systems of internal control.
The Statement will form part of the draft Statement of Accounts 2010/11, as mentioned in paragraph 8 above.
Police Reform Update
11. Report - The Authority has received an update on recent activity in relation to the Police Reform proposals, noting that the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill had been presented to the House of Lords on 11 May 2011 when Peers had voted down the proposal to introduce directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (as mentioned in paragraph 1 above) and instead introduced an amendment which would lead to the creation of a Police Commission. If no compromise could be found on the clauses of the Bill in dispute it was possible that the House of Commons could use the Parliament Act and insist on its primacy. However, at this stage it was likely that a compromise could be the most likely outcome as the Government had signalled its intention to press ahead with their original proposals.
Work was, however, continuing to plan for the transition process up to and beyond May 2012, including the development of a project initiation document and the creation of a Governance Transition Board, to include colleagues from local government.
The Chief Executive has extended an invitation to all local authorities in the Force-area to attend a meeting at Police Headquarters (date to be arranged) to update colleagues on the reform agenda and the implications for key stakeholders, such as local government. Once the proposals are clearer, arrangements for the meeting will be made.
A further update on activity in relation to the Police Reform proposals would be made in the next Periodic Report to be presented in October 2011.
Collaboration with the West Midlands: Establishment
of a Joint Committee
12. Report – The Authority has agreed to the establishment of a Joint Committee with delegated powers between Staffordshire and the West Midlands Police Authorities to formalise and progress joint working following the agreement of a West Midlands Collaboration Strategy in March 2011.
Three members of the Authority are represented on the Joint Committee, which held its inaugural meeting on 8 June 2011, which is progressing the development of bespoke work streams to achieve enhanced service delivery and operational efficiencies to both forces.
Arrangements for the Police Authority on 19 July 2011
13. Report – To underline the Police Authority’s commitment to partnership working, the next meeting of the full Authority on the morning of Tuesday 19 July 2011 will be hosted by the City Council. The meeting will be preceded by a short presentation from the Chief Constable on the new policing arrangements operating in Stoke-on-Trent and the Chief Executive on Police Reform.
Together with the usual invitations to the public and the press, all City Councillors and Directors have been invited to the Briefing and to stay for the meeting that will include items on Force performance, the budget and other key issues.
GILL HEATH JOY GARNER
Nominated PA Member Nominated PA Member
Staffordshire County Council Stoke-on-Trent City Council
| Issued: | 23/06/2011 |
|---|