Archived decisions

    AT A MEETING of the HAMPSHIRE POLICE AUTHORITY held at County Hall, Newport, Isle of Wight on Tuesday 11 June, 2002

PRESENT

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

Also present: Mr. P.C.B. Robertson (Clerk); Mr. I.R. Readhead (Deputy Chief Constable); Mr. P. Jacobs (Assistant Chief Constable, Territorial Operations); Mr. C. Smith (Assistant Chief Constable, Specialist Operations); Mr. M. Coombes (Director of Finance); Chief Supt. G. Stogdon (Corporate Services); Chief Insp. P. Clark (Newport Police Station), Chief Inspector M. Cooper; Inspector S. Evans; PC T. Winterbottom; Mr. A. Aldridge (Airwave Project Team); Miss S. Jackson; Ms. C. Vagg (Clerk's Office).

585 APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED:

That Councillor S.A. Hayes be appointed Chairman for the ensuing year.

586 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting of the Authority held on 30 April, 2002 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters arising:

      (a) Minute 572 - Adoption of Model Code of Conduct for Members

      The Clerk confirmed that all Members, including the external independent members of the Standards Committee, had signed up to the Local Code of Conduct adopted at the last meeting of the Authority. The Clerk undertook to provide Mrs. Barratt with a copy of the advertisement published in newspapers circulation the Authority's area which stated that the Code had been adopted and that it was available for public inspection.

      (b) Minute 577 - Police and Community Liaison Groups - Closing Report

      Mr. Gully confirmed that flexibility existed to invite former PCLG members to contribute to the new consultation arrangements.

      (c) Minute 584 - urgent business - 999 system failure

      The Deputy Chief Constable updated the position with regard to the BT telephone system failure which occurred on 25 April, 2002 causing failure of the 999 system for all emergency services. He indicated that meetings had been held with BT and OFTEL and that, as part of the investigative process, the Force would be interviewed later in the month. He also informed Members that the Force was continuing to examine its contractual relationship with BT in the light of money expended to guarantee the resilience of the Netley site following the incident. In addition, the Home Office, who recognised the significance of the failure were being kept briefed on developments.

      The Deputy Chief Constable advised that the meeting with BT, who had agreed to address the Authority, should be held after the OFTEL report had been finalised and he undertook to circulate this as soon as it was received. In the meantime, he would provide a written update report to the next meeting of the Authority in July.

      On related issue, Members restated their concern about the lack of guarantee with regard to resilience in the MM02 structure and, consequently, their ability to deliver the Airwave Service. The Deputy Chief Constable indicated that a response was awaited from MM02 on this issue.

      Members noted the position.

587 APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIRMAN

RESOLVED:

That Mr. R.J. Gully be appointed Vice-Chairman for the ensuing year.

588 APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from the Treasurer and the Chief Constable.

The Deputy Chief Constable indicated that the Chief Constable regretted his absence from the meeting but explained that he had been one of five Chief Constables asked by the President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to attend a meeting with the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and 100 Basic Command Unit (BCU) Commanders in London. ACPO wished to ensure that the meeting was aware that responsibility for operational control of Forces lay with Chief Constables and not BCU Commanders in accordance with the tripartite structure. The Chairman had agreed, in advance of the annual general meeting, that the Chief Constable should attend this meeting.

Members agreed that this matter was of critical importance and they supported the stance being taken by ACPO that there should be no diminution in the role of Chief Constables who were directly accountable to the Police Authorities.

589 COUNCILLOR J. FAZACKARLEY

Members noted that Councillor J. Fazackarley had been appointed for a second four year term by the Joint Committee of the relevant Councils established for this purpose.

590 CHAIRMAN'S REPORTS

      (a) Councillor J. Bowker

      The Chairman welcomed Councillor J. Bowker, the Vice-Chairman of the Isle of Wight Council, to the meeting and thanked him on behalf of the Authority for his Council's hospitality.

      (b) Families Day

      The Chairman referred to the success of the Families Day events which had been held at Netley on 8 June, 2002. He indicated that the Authority's stand had received a lot of interest and that the promotional material distributed at these events had proved very popular. He congratulated the Constabulary staff who had organised the day.

      (c) Royal Victoria Country Park

      The Chairman indicated that the Netley Support Headquarters' site had been designated a garden of special historic interest by English Heritage. He informed Members that the Force was contesting part of that designation for operational reasons and that relevant correspondence would be circulated to Members of the Authority.

      (d) Intoximeter Software

      The Chairman referred to a recent news article in respect of an Intoximeter machine at Andover Police Station which had been fitted with the wrong software. The District Judge at Alton Magistrates Court found that, consequently, any specimen given was not on an approved Home Office device.

      The Deputy Chief Constable indicated that all those affected by the use of this machine had been contacted with regard to the current position and the Crown Prosecution Service were considering the Judgement with a view to the possibility of appealing. He stressed that only one Intoximeter machine had been affected.

591 MEMBERSHIP OF PANELS AND APPOINTMENTS TO OUTSIDE BODIES

The Authority considered a report of the Clerk (Item 7 in the Minute Book) which dealt with the membership of its Panels and appointments to outside bodies.

      (a) That the membership of the Authority's Panels, as amended at the meeting, be confirmed. (a copy is appended to these Minutes)

      (b) That the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of Panels as indicated in the Appendix to the report be appointed for the forthcoming year. (a copy is appended to these Minutes)

      (c) That the appointments to outside bodies, as amended at the meeting, be confirmed. (a copy is appended to these Minutes)

592 POLICE AND SUPPORT STAFF STRENGTH

The Authority considered a report of the Chief Constable (Item 8 in the Minute Book) which set out police strength against budgeted strength at 31 May, 2002.

Members were particularly pleased to note that the Force expected to be able to appoint up to its Crime Fighting Fund allocation by the end of the year and, in this respect, the Authority thanked the Constabulary staff involved for all their hard work in continuing to produce such excellent results.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

593 RACE RELATIONS (AMENDMENT) ACT 2000

The Authority considered a report of the Clerk (Item 9 in the Minute Book) which indicated that, in accordance with the delegated powers conferred on them by the Authority at its last meeting, the Chairman and the Clerk had approved a Race Equality Scheme which was published on the Authority's website by 31 May, 2002.

Members noted that the Authority had a two-fold responsibility to meet the new duties in respect of its own functions and to ensure that the Force also met the new duties. In this respect, Members noted that the Chief Constable would present a report on the Constabulary's own Race Equality Scheme to the next meeting of the Authority in July.

In addition, the Clerk reported that a briefing session for Members and staff of the Authority in relation to the new duties, would take place in the informal session following the next meeting and that further training would be arranged with the Association of Police Authorities as it became available.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and that the Race Equality Scheme be endorsed.

594 POLICE AUTHORITY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - FOURTH QUARTER REPORT - JANUARY TO MARCH, 2002

The Authority received the fourth quarter report on the progress of the 2001/02 Annual Policing Plan (Item 10 in the Minute Book).

The Deputy Chief Constable informed Members that performance had been most successful for those indicators related to house burglary detections (at 19.5% up from 16.4% in 2000/01 and 14.6% in 1999/00) and traffic collisions/casualties where both fatal and serious casualties were at their lowest for 40 years. Also welcome were the reductions in violent and vehicle crimes, the reduction in police sickness days per officer (from 12.2 in 2000/01 to 11.1 in 2001/02) and the low numbers of repeat house burglaries and medical retirements.

He indicated that, most disappointing were the numbers of minority ethnic officers, although Members noted that two more had been seconded to the National Crime Squad, robbery detections and the differing numbers for stop/searches between ethnic groups.

Members were particularly pleased to note the improvements in quartile position of the Force when compared with other forces in normalised crimes and in detection rates for the four main crime categories. In this respect the Hampshire Constabulary had improved its position for all crimes per 1000 population (from the 2nd to the 1st quartile position), for house burglary detection rates (from the 2nd to the 1st quartile), for violent crimes per 1000 population (from the 3rd to the 2nd quartile), and for violent crime detection rates (from the 3rd to the 1st quartile position).

The Authority praised the work of the Constabulary for achieving these excellent results and stressed the importance of relaying this information to the public in a positive way in order to help allay the fear of crime which has a bigger impact on peoples' lives than actual crime. Members acknowledged that this was a difficult issue to tackle but felt that the communities of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight would benefit from understanding that they lived, generally, in a safe area when compared to other parts of the Country.

The Deputy Chief Constable thanked the Authority for the support that it had given the Force in its endeavour to reduce road death and injuries and he underlined the importance of positive publicity in order to reassure the public and, particularly, elderly residents.

In conclusion, the Authority asked that their thanks be conveyed to the Constabulary as a whole through Routine Orders and the Chairman undertook to liaise with the Chief Constable in this respect.

RESOLVED:

That the fourth quarter report on the progress of the 2001/02 Annual Policing Plan be noted and that the thanks of the Authority be conveyed to the Constabulary for the excellent results achieved via Routine Orders.

595 CONFERENCES AND OUTSIDE BODIES

      (a) Community Consultation, Better Research and Communications within Local Authorities - 9 May, 2002

      RESOLVED:

      That the attendance of Mr. R.J. Gully at the above conference held in London on 9 May, 2002 be approved.

      (b) Confidence in Local Democracy - 20 May, 2002

      RESOLVED:

      That the attendance of Mr. G.M. King JP, Mrs. W. Burton and Mr. R. Coldham at the First Annual Assembly of Standards Committees held in Birmingham on 20 May, 2002 be approved.

596 REPORTS FROM MEMBERS ATTENDING CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS OF OUTSIDE BODIES

RESOLVED:

That a report from Mrs. J. Griffin JP on her attendance at the Portsmouth Community Safety Partnership Conference "Trouble with Girls" held in Portsmouth on 16 May, 2002 be received (Item 12 in the Minute Book).

597 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 17 May, 2002 be received (Item 13 in the Minute Book).

598 MINUTES OF THE CRIME PREVENTION PANEL

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Crime Prevention Panel held on 23 May, 2002 be received, and where necessary, adopted subject to the inclusion of the words "can be claimed" after the word "expenses" in the last line of Minute 101 (Item 14 in the Minute Book).

599 MINUTES OF THE FINANCIAL AFFAIRS PANEL





RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Financial Affairs Panel held on 24 May, 2002 be received, and where necessary, adopted (Item 15 in the Minute Book).

600 MINUTES OF THE PERSONNEL PANEL

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Personnel Panel held on 28 May, 2002 be received (Item 16 in the Minute Book).

601 EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

RESOLVED:

That, by virtue of Paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting.

602 TECHNICAL SERVICES UNIT - RELOCATION

Minute 195 of the Minutes of the Financial Affairs Panel held on 24 May, 2002 refers. See Minute 599 above.

The Authority considered a confidential report of the Chief Constable (Item 18 in the Minute Book) which had been considered by the Financial Affairs Panel at its meeting on 24 May, 2002 in relation to the need to relocate the Technical Services Unit. In this respect, the Panel had agreed:-

      (a) That, the purchase and fitting/equipping of the Site Option A be supported.

      (b) That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the full Authority that the sum of £3,080,000 be included in the capital programme for 2002/03 and that the Capital Programme be amended as shown at Appendix C to the report.

      (c) That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the full Authority that delegated authority be given to the Clerk, Chief Constable and Treasurer in consultation with the Estates Working Party to proceed to purchase the property.

      The Deputy Chief Constable gave an overview on this matter and outlined the requirements of the TSU and how they would be fulfilled by the acquisition of the proposed site.

      The Director of Finance referred to the business case considered by the Estates Working Party and provided Members with information on estates and financial implications.

      Members noted that Appendix C was not attached to the report circulated with the agenda although it had been included in the papers considered by the Financial Affairs Panel. The Clerk undertook to send a copy to Members following the meeting.

      RESOLVED:

      That the RECOMMENDATIONS set out in the report as agreed by the Financial Affairs Panel at its meeting on 24 May, 2002 be adopted.

603 AIRWAVE RADIO PROJECT - PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT TO BE INSTALLED IN THE CONTROL ROOM AND FORCE ENQUIRY CENTRE FOR CONNECTION TO THE AIRWAVE SERVICE

The Authority considered a confidential report of the Chief Constable (Item 19 in the Minute Book) on the purchase of telecommunications equipment to be installed in the control room at Netley and the Force Enquiry Centre at Police Headquarters, Winchester for the provision of Computer Telephone Integration and connection to the Airwave Radio System.

In this respect, the Authority received a presentation from members of the Airwave Team.

Members discussed the progress of the role-out of the Airwaves Project and stressed the importance of ensuring a robust approach to securing a system which is fit for the Constabulary's purpose and that the product was accepted within the expected timescale.

RESOLVED:

      (a) That the purchase of the Cortex and Symposium Systems by way of the Office Government Commerce process be noted.

      (b) That the purchase of 60 connections to the Airwave Service be approved.

4fM100602