AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE POLICE AUTHORITY held at The Castle, Winchester on Tuesday 19 February, 2002

PRESENT:

Councillor S.A. Hayes (Chairman); Mrs. R. Atkinson; Mr. M.J. Attenborough-Cox; Mrs. C. Barratt; Councillor A.P. Collett; Councillor J. Fazackarley; Councillor D. Gillett; Mrs. J. Griffin JP; Mr. R.J. Gully; Councillor P. Heath; Mr. G.M. King JP; Councillor D. Knowles; Councillor P. Mason; Councillor Mrs. J. Rayment; Councillor Mrs. M. Snaith.

Also present: Mr. P.C.B. Robertson (Clerk); Mr. P. Kernaghan (Chief Constable); Mr. J. Pittam (Treasurer); Mr. I.R. Readhead (Deputy Chief Constable); Mr. M. Coombes (Director of Finance); Chief Supt. G. Stogdon; Ms. J. Bodman (Corporate Services); Mr. D. Steele; Mr. C. Stimpson; Ms. M. Adams (Business and Property Services); Mr. G. Ford (Performance Review Manager); Mrs. M. Boyes; Ms. S. Jackson; Ms. C. Vagg (Clerk's Office).

552 APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from Mrs. L. Cawsey JP and Mr. R. Palmer.

553 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Authority held on 22 January, 2002 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matter arising:

Minute 542 - The Vetting of Members of the Police Authority and Police Authority Staff

The Clerk indicated that vetting forms would be distributed to Members at the meeting for completion and return at the earliest opportunity.

554 CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS

(a) Appointment of Core Group Administrators

The Chairman referred to the recent appointment of nine Core Group Administrators who would be instrumental in taking forward the Authority's revised consultation arrangements and, in this respect, he welcomed Sally Beard (Havant and Gosport), Cheryl Lovelace (Isle of Wight), Greta Dixon (Basingstoke), Karen Woods (Southampton), Brian Edwards (Hart and Rushmoor), and David Couchman (East Hampshire) who were in attendance at the meeting.


(b) Meeting with John Denham MP

The Chairman reported that, together with the Vice-Chairman and the Clerk, he had met with John Denham MP to discuss a wide range of issues of interest to the Authority.

He indicated that, in relation to Crime Fighting Fund (CFF) issues where the Authority was seeking assurances that the funding would be maintained beyond the current year, the Minister could not give any guarantees. He emphasised the Government's intention to achieve the figure of an additional 130,000 police officers nationally by March, 2003 and indicated that, should Hampshire appear to be struggling to recruit to its CFF targets, it was likely that the money would be transferred to other Forces who were not experiencing the same problems.

On the subject of the Reform proposals and the Authority's concerns with regard to the shift in the balance of power within the tri-partite relationship, Mr. Denham stated that the Government did not share this view.

Other matters discussed included salary levels for police officers, recruitment methods, the Standards Unit, and difficulties associated with achieving year on year cashable efficiency savings which the Minister recognised but on which he gave no indication that this requirement would be phased out in the immediate future.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Denham stressed that he wished to maintain a good relationship with both the Authority and the Force in view of his local connections and his current Government portfolio.


(c) Meeting with Jonathan Black, Clerk to the Justices, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Magistrates Courts Committee

The Chairman also reported on a meeting which he and the Clerk had attended with Jonathan Black, Clerk to the Justices, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Magistrate Courts Committee. He indicated that this had been a useful meeting and discussion had centred, in particular, on sentencing and the need to understand the view of the magistracy on these issues. He informed Members that Mr. Black had been invited to attend a future meeting of the Authority.

555 FORWARD REVENUE BUDGET AND COUNCIL TAX PRECEPT 2002/03

The Authority considered a report of the Clerk (Item 4 in the Minute Book) which set out the recommendations of the Financial Affairs Panel held on 5 February, 2002 in relation to the revenue budget for 2002/03 and the level of the council tax precept.

In this respect, the Treasurer presented the budget which required net revenue expenditure of £227.5m representing an increase of 7.5%, compared with an increase in total Standard Spending of 3.4%. He indicated that the 3.4% increase in Government support was not enough to meet the underlying pay and price changes and the continuing increase in pensions which resulted in a 5.2% increase in the budget. The Authority was also being asked to agree to £5m in growth to maintain an effective police force, by increasing the use of civilians to release operational police officers and to meet information technology and communication needs. As a result, all the budget increase over 3.4%, would fall on the council tax resulting in a rise of 27.3% on the current year to £75.15 for a Band D property, an increase of £16.11 per year (equivalent to just under 31p per week).

He informed the Authority that, although strong representations had been made to the Government about the result of the grant settlement, there had been no material change in the final settlement figure which had resulted in the significant increase in the precept as outlined above. Despite this increase, he indicated that the Authority's council tax precept would still be one of the lowest in England. He also reminded the Authority that it had a record of setting consistently low council tax precepts and that the high increase proposed in 2002/03 was exceptional and was the result, in the main, of the top slicing of police authorities' budgets to fund national initiatives. He expected that the situation should be much improved in the following financial year.

Members expressed concern that the Authority's budget was being driven by the national agenda and not by local needs although it was accepted that, whilst the increase in the council tax precept was high, the areas of growth identified were necessary in order for the Force to continue to be both efficient and effective.

The Chief Constable added that he was committed to identifying ways of increasing the numbers of police officers on the streets of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by freeing them up from jobs which could be performed by civilians.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the revenue budget as set out in Appendix 1 be approved.


(b) That the capital programme as set out in Appendix 5, including the additional item for the development of the Headquarters site, be approved.


(c) That the Police Authority's basic Council Tax for the year beginning 1 April, 2002 be £75.15 at Band D.


(d) That the Police Authority's basic Council Tax for the year beginning 1 April, 2002 for each Band be as follows:-

Band £

Band A 50.10
Band B 58.45
Band C 66.80
Band D 75.15
Band E 91.85
Band F 108.55
Band G 125.25
Band H 150.30


(e) That precepts be issued totalling £48,159,992.48 on the billing authorities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight requiring payment, in such instalments and on such dates set by them and previously notified to the Police Authority, in proportion to the tax base of each billing authority's area as determined by them and as set out in Appendix C.

(NB: The vote was unanimous)


(f) That the work of the Financial Affairs Panel on the forward revenue budget and council tax precept for 2002/03, be recognised.

556 ANNUAL POLICING PLAN 2002/03

The Authority received the final draft of its Annual Policing Plan for 2002/03 (Item 5 in the Minute Book) as approved by a joint meeting of the Best Value and Performance Management Panel and the Community Affairs Steering Group held on 5 February, 2002. In addition, Members were also asked to comment on the draft precept notice for 2002/03.

In respect of the precept notice, Members made various suggestions with regard to its content which the officers undertook to consider for future editions. With regard to the Annual Policing Plan, the Authority was broadly content with the document which Members felt encompassed most of the points raised at the joint meeting of the Best Value and Performance Management Panel and the Community Affairs Steering Group. However, the officers agreed to produce an alternative layout of the table on page 10 for consideration by the Chairman prior to publication of the final document.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the Annual Policing Plan for 2002/03 be adopted.


(b) That the precept notice for 2002/03 be approved.


(c) That the Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman, be authorised to agree any final amendments to the 2002/03 Annual Policing Plan and the precept notice.

557 POLICE AND SUPPORT STAFF STRENGTH

The Authority considered a report of the Clerk (Item 6 in the Minute Book) which set out police strength against budgeted strength as at 31 January, 2002.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

558 POLICE AUTHORITY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - THIRD QUARTER REPORT

The Authority considered the third quarter progress report on the 2001/02 Annual Policing Plan (Item 7 in the Minute Book).

The Chief Constable drew attention to improved performance in the number of violent crimes per 1,000 population which was down 5% from 2000/01 and in the detection rate for violent crimes which had increased from 67.6% in 2000/01 to 72.5% in 2001/02.

Members also sought further information in relation to the figures for house burglaries, robbery crime detection rates, the number of 999 calls answered within 10 seconds, and the number of complaints received, to which the Chief Constable responded.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

559 POLICE AUTHORITY COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

The Authority considered the report of the Clerk (Item 8 in the Minute Book) which proposed that, in view of timescales, the Community Affairs Steering Group be authorised to consider the outcome of the recent MORI consultation research and, as a consequence of this, to approve the core group consultation strategies.

The Authority's Media Services Officer referred to the work undertaken by MORI to date which included the use of focus groups during January and February, 2002. She referred to early indications of the MORI results which would be presented in detail to a meeting of the Community Affairs Steering Group in March to enable them to consider force-wide consultation aims. The outcome of this research would be taken into account in the Core Group consultation strategies which, due to the tight timescale following the recent appointment of the Core Group Administrators, would also need to be considered by the Community Affairs Steering Group in March in order for the strategies to be in place by 1 April, 2002. In future, the strategies will be approved by the full Authority.

Finally, the Group would also be asked to consider revised publicity material to coincide with the launch of the new consultation arrangements at the end of March.

RESOLVED:

That, in view of the tight timescale, on this occasion, responsibility be delegated to the Community Affairs Steering Group to:-

(a) approve the Core Group consultation strategies.


(b) include the results of the MORI focus groups in the Core Group consultation strategies.


(c) approve the publicity materials for police authority community consultation.

560 HAMPSHIRE INDEPENDENT CUSTODY VISITING SCHEME - JULY TO DECEMBER, 2001

The Authority considered a report of the Clerk (Item 9 in the Minute Book) which reviewed the progress of the Hampshire Independent Custody Visiting Scheme for the period July to December, 2001 and attached as Appendices the six monthly progress reports from the four Panel Convenors.

The report referred to a forthcoming recruitment campaign in order to fill the vacancies across the four Panels and reported briefly on the attendance of the Scheme Administrator and four Custody Visitors at the Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Independent Custody Visiting Association held in Scotland from 30 November to 2 December, 2001.

Members also noted that the Convenor of the South East Panel, Mrs. Ruth Pepper, would be relinquishing this role after six years due to work commitments although she would continue to serve as a Custody Visitor.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the report be noted.


(b) That all Custody Visitors be commended for their continuing contribution to the maintenance of the high standard of the Hampshire Independent Custody Visiting Scheme.


(c) That the thanks of the Authority be conveyed to Mrs. Ruth Pepper, the retiring Convenor of the South East Panel, for her valued contribution to the development of Custody Visiting in Hampshire.

561 NATIONAL CRIME RECORDING STANDARD

The Authority considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 10 in the Minute Book) on the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) together with an indication of the likely effect of its implementation on the level of recorded crime and police resources.

The Chief Constable reported that the introduction of the NCRS would address the previous inconsistent approach to crime recording among police forces although this more victim-focused approach would lead to an increase of approximately 15% in recorded crime figures. Members noted that this figure would vary from Force to Force depending on current practices and was likely to have the most impact in respect of the recording of minor assaults and public order offences which would contribute to a rise in recorded violent crime levels of well over 15%. In contrast, however, there should be little or no effect on recorded crime levels for such offences as vehicle crime and burglary.

The Chief Constable outlined the benefits accruing from the implementation of the NCRS which would establish a standard baseline against which Forces could be compared on a like for like basis for the foreseeable future. He indicated, however, that there was likely to be an increase in workload particularly among officers and support staff involved in the management of certain classifications of volume crime and the Force would need to be mindful of the additional demand that the NCRS was likely to create for the Force Crime Recording System.

RESOLVED:

(a) That the report be noted.


(b) That the potential impact on existing performance targets and the potential increase in demand for operational and IT resources arising from the implementation of the NCRS be noted.

562 MINUTES OF THE BEST VALUE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PANEL

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Best Value and Performance Management Panel held on 24 January, 2002 be received (Item 11 in the Minute Book).

563 MINUTES OF THE PERSONNEL PANEL

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Personnel Panel held on 29 January, 2002 be received (Item 12 in the Minute Book).

564 MINUTES OF THE FINANCIAL AFFAIRS PANEL

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Financial Affairs Panel held on 5 February, 2002 be received, and where necessary, adopted (Item 13 in the Minute Book).

(NB: Councillor Mrs. J. Rayment wished her name to be recorded as dissenting from the above decision insofar as it related to the adoption of the Members Allowances Scheme).

565 MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE BEST VALUE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PANEL AND THE COMMUNITY AFFAIRS STEERING GROUP

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Joint Meeting of the Best Value and Performance Management Panel and the Community Affairs Steering Group held on 5 February, 2002 be received (Item 14 in the Minute Book).

566 MINUTES OF THE CRIME PREVENTION PANEL

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Crime Prevention Panel held on 14 February, 2002 be received (Item 15 in the Minute Book).

567 EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That, by virtue of the Paragraphs of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as set out below, the press and public be excluded from the meeting.

Minute 568 - Paragraph 1
Minute 569 - Paragraphs 7,8 and 9

568 MINUTES OF THE COMPLAINTS PANEL

RESOLVED:

That the confidential Minutes of the meeting of the Complaints Panel held on 18 January, 2002 be received (Item 17 in the Minute Book).

569 ESTATE STRATEGY

The Authority considered a confidential report of the Chief Constable (Item 18 in the Minute Book) which sought approval to the Estate Strategy following a strategic review of property, in consultation with the Members' Working Group.

Members noted that the Strategy document comprised two volumes, the first of which had been circulated separately. Volume 2 had been made available for perusal at Westgate Chambers.

The Director of Finance outlined the report and drew attention to the overriding objective for the Authority which was to ensure that the Estate was fit for purpose in meeting operational policing needs through to the year 2020. This strategic goal should secure a good fit between what was required and what was available although, it was noted that, aspirations for change might have to be moderated in the light of funding provision. He referred in particular to the Appendices to the report which prioritised the Authority's capital projects and set out an implementation plan up to 2008/09.

Members asked questions on various aspects of the review to which the Director of Finance and the Head of Business and Property Services responded. Matters raised included the conduct of the space utilisation audit and the Force consultation surveys in order to identify available accommodation, and parking issues associated with the Police Headquarters site in Winchester which was under consideration in order to identify possible solutions. The Deputy Chief Constable also responded to queries concerning IT issues.



RESOLVED:

(a) That the Estate Strategy be approved.


(b) That it be noted that the Members Estate Working Party will receive regular progress statements and that a summary report will be presented annually to the Police Authority.

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