Archived decisions

PUBLIC CONSULTATION ARRANGEMENTS

1. The requirement for Police Authorities to consult with their communities was first included in legislation under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984 (Section 106). This legislative requirement was consolidated in the Police Act 1996 (Section 96) which requires authorities to make arrangements to obtain the views of the community about the policing of their area although it does not stipulate how this consultation should be carried out. It does, however, require authorities to review arrangements from time to time in consultation with the Chief Constable.

2. In 1985, the Authority first established a network of Police and Community Liaison Groups (PCLGs) to provide an opportunity for dialogue with the public. This was primarily through public meetings at venues throughout Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and these arrangements have remained little altered for the last 16 years.

3. The Authority has now completed its latest review of its consultation arrangements which has taken many months and has included a detailed examination of the methods employed by other authorities in order to identify areas of best practice.

4. The review was considered vital in order to ensure that the Authority receives quality information which it can use to improve its services to the public. The Authority's existing arrangements are not broad based enough to reach all sections of the Community and particularly the harder to reach groups such as ethnic minority communities, gay and lesbian groups, older people and young people.

5. In particular, the District Auditor has clearly stated that the Authority must clarify what it is seeking to achieve through consultation and report whether objectives for consultation have been achieved and how the results have influenced strategy.

6. The new arrangements, agreed by the Police Authority in November and which have the full support of the Chief Constable, build on the attributes of the PCLGs but enable consultations to be targeted in a much better and more thorough way. Police Authority Community Consultation Groups will be set up mirroring district and unitary authority boundaries which will aid partnership working. These groups will be expected to set the consultation framework for their area at the beginning of the year and report this to the Authority and then review the outcomes at the end of the year. These results will then form part of the Authority's own local objectives in its published Annual Policing Plan. This structure will lead to more innovative consultation and produce measurable results.

7. Whilst public meetings (mirroring PCLG arrangements in effect) will remain part of that structure, they will not be relied upon as the only means of consulting the public. The Core Group will be expected to focus, in particular, on the harder to reach elements of the community and also be encouraged to arrange special consultation events in order to reach a wider cross section of people. This structure will also greatly assist when the Authority is required to consult about Government led issues such as Stop and Search and the Reassurance Agenda. The Authority is confident that, by seeking to revitalise and reinvigorate this key area of its work, the new arrangements, which come into effect on 1 April, 2002, will achieve an improvement in the quality of consultation that it carries out.

COUNCILLOR SIMON HAYES

Chairman

4IR021101