Agenda item

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire, Mr Matthew Ellis, will be attending the meeting to outline his plans and priorities for the next twelve months. 

The Chair welcomed the Police Commissioner, Mr Matthew Ellis to the meeting. 

Mr Ellis stated that he had been in post for the last twelve months.  His early reflections indicated that Staffordshire Police were a good Police Service.  He believed the Police Force to be good at operational policy but improvement was needed in how the budget was spent.  He also believed improvements could be made in the procurement procedure and improving technology within the force.  He was investing £19 million on Police computer systems in the next 15 months.  He was taking steps to put the budget firmly on track.   

Mr Ellis stated that he had stopped the forced retirement of Police Officers who had conducted 30 years’ service.  He believed this policy to have been damaging the organisation.    He had also scrapped the planned  merger with West Midlands Police.  He was pleased to report that thirty new Police Officers had been recruited in the last six months.  One of the areas he was addressing was the fragmentation of the sector.  He wanted to improve the integration of the Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Courts.  He also wished to improve the arrangements the Police had with Local Authorities and the Health sector where there was huge potential for increased partnership working.  Introducing new technology would significantly improve the capacity of the Police to improve the integration of the Police within the Public sector.  He was aware that where costs were cut in one area it was causing significantly more money to have to be spent to fill the gap.  From some of the savings that had been made in the Police, he was offering a £2 million incentivisation fund.  He hoped that this would help change the way agencies operated.  As an example he cited mental health services in North Staffordshire.  It was evident that some people were in the criminal justice system when really they should have been receiving mental health care treatment before a crime had ever been committed.  There had been a phenomenal response from organisations applying to the incentivisation fund. 

Mr Ellis outlined some of the priorities contained within the Safer Communities strategy which included a desire for early intervention, reducing re-offending and increasing public confidence.  Part of increasing confidence in the Police was about transparency.   He had recently set a precedent by publishing an internal report about how improvements could have been made to the Policing arrangements of a Football match.  The crackdown on motorists not having insurance had led to a significant reduction in people not driving without insurance in the area.  He was pleased to report that the insurance companies were in discussions with him about offering a special insurance rate in Staffordshire. 

Mr Ellis stated that the Police Operation in Burton which had targeted over 30 high end criminals had led to a 70% reduction in crime.  Twelve months later it was 50% of what it had been in the previous year.   The Community had felt their Town had been returned to them.  He was looking at ways of improving the way the Police recorded crime figures and making the process more accurate and detailed.  By removing targets the Police had more time to focus on more important areas.  Investment was being made in Neighbourhood Watch schemes.  He expected local Police Commanders to spend more time engaging with the public.  He also wanted to improve the criminal justice process for victims and witnesses, who often found this worse than the original crime.    There were a total of forty one different organisations which contributed to the process of victim support.  Presently the system was based on types of crime rather than on the profile of the victim.  He wanted to improve on the number of young people who were offered support when they had been a victim of crime.  He thought improvements could be made to the speed of justice and the reduction in the number of cancelled cases which was a real inconvenience to witnesses.

A Member asked in which areas the Commissioner had been able to make savings within the Police.  In reply, the Commissioner stated that there had been a structures review which had reduced costs and the policy of early intervention and reinvesting savings to change the cycle of spending. 

The Chair asked the Commissioner about the recent unsuccessful bids by the Borough Council to the PCC Local Policing Fund because of the eleven projects put forward only one had been successful.  In response the Commissioner stated that the funding distribution had been managed by an independent body, called the Community Trust.  They had been three and a half times oversubscribed for the funding available.  Over half of the applications had not been funded.  There was a chance of more money being made available and so he was happy to look at any proposals the Borough Council had if they were sent direct to his office.  The Partnership Manager offered to co-ordinate a written submission to the Commissioner detailing the projects which it would like to receive funding. 

A Member asked about enforcing yellow lines.   In response the Commissioner stated that he was in discussions regarding awarding extra powers to PCSOs, who were often frustrated through their lack of powers.  He wanted to improve customer service.  Complaints took considerable resources to handle and so if these could be reduced not only would the service be improved but resources would be freed up to focus on service delivery. 

A Member asked if there would be a further reduction in Police numbers in the future.  In reply, the Commissioner stated that it was inevitable that there would be less Police numbers in three years time than the present numbers.  They would be spending less time on paper work administering targets though and so they would spend more time on the frontline than in the last decade.  Work was being completed on the estate strategy and the concept of elite Special Constables of which he was hoping to recruit 200 in the near future. 

The Chairman thanked the Commissioner for attending the meeting.