Hampshire Police Authority Item

26 November, 2002

Results of Consultation 2002

Report of the Clerk

Contact: Mrs. Claire Godding (01962) 871595 ext 1171

1. Introduction

1.1 One of the main reasons the Authority reviewed it's consultation structure in 2001 was as a result of comments made by District Audit in the Best Value Performance plan 2001-2001. District Audit had said that the Authority must clarify what it was seeking to achieve through consultation and report whether objectives for consultation were met and how the results would influence strategy.

1.2 To address this, the Police Authority set an objective in it's 2002/03 Annual Policing Plan stating it's intention to consult effectively.

1.3 In order for this effectiveness to be measured and for the results to inform future policing priorities, the new Core Groups were asked to provide detailed information on their consultation outcomes and processes.

1.4 Consultation to inform the Annual Policing Plan 2003/04 came to an end on 30 September 2002 and Police Authority Community Consultation Core (PACC) Groups were required to report back on their findings. These findings were reported to the meeting of the Community Affairs Steering Group held on 29 October, 2002 in detail.

1.5 This report gives an overview of those findings and makes recommendations for future consultation.

1.6 In addition, this report provides results of the analysis of Police Authority questionnaires which had been distributed by Core Groups at events throughout the spring/summer.

2. Effectiveness of Consultation

2.2 In order to measure their effectiveness, and to be able to respond to the comments made by District Audit - Core Groups were issued with a table to complete. This asked the group to consider various issues regarding their consultation processes. The responses are set out below:-

2.3 The conclusions that can be drawn from this are that consultation was, in the main perceived to be effective and from areas where there were difficulties much has been learnt and can be improved upon for future events. Asking groups to measure their effectiveness has caused them to look closer at how they work and consider ways in which improvements/changes can be made and identify why and where problems occurred.

2.4 Effectiveness can also be measured by the groups the Authority chose to consult with this year, and the ways in which this consultation was carried out. There had been many different methods of consultation employed this year which allowed for greater access to consultation for many groups which the Authority had not reached in previous years.

2.5 The new structure of Consultation has worked very well and the old problems associated with the previous Police and Community Liaison Groups - such as lack of interest has not occurred this year. Everyone who has been consulted with have welcomed the opportunity and have worked well with the Core Groups. Generally speaking Core Groups themselves have worked well and especially the Divisional Commanders and the Community Safety Officers, who have many other responsibilities, have given a lot of support to the new structure and have worked well as a team.

2.6 However it has been difficult to engage some Community Safety Officers to the level of involvement originally hoped for.

3. Feedback on results of consultation

3.1 Appended to the report are lists showing the main issues arising from consultation with the general public and "Harder to reach" groups.

3.2 Although the results of the general consultation are conclusive, this is less the case with the "harder to reach" groups. One of the reasons for this is that only a small sample from each "harder to reach" target group were consulted with. This questions whether the outcomes presented are accurate of the views of all these communities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

3.3 However , clearer conclusions can be drawn from consultation with the ethnic communities as the numbers consulted were in line with the proportion of the population made up by the minority ethnic communities and therefore there can be greater confidence the views given reflect the majority of these communities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

3.4 The Authority consulted with many groups throughout the summer and many of these have not been mentioned in this report as the sample group were very small. The results would not be representative of the views of these communities in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. However they were large enough to inform the Core Group members including the Divisional Commander. These groups included Hospitality Givers and Visitors to the Isle of Wight and Homeless people in the Test Valley Area.

3 Questionnaire Analysis.

4.1 Community Affairs also considered the results of questionnaire analysis by District (PACC) area. Although the Core Groups had consulted with a wider range of groups than ever before, there had still been a large amount of general consultation at shows and events and as such the results showed that the Authority had consulted predominantly with white people over 60 - as in previous years. This year the gender split between male and females was almost even.

4.2 The analysis showed that the results were the same as the past three years, with the top topics of concern showing as police visibility, youth nuisance and graffiti.

4.3 Community Affairs Steering group have now asked that proposals be put forward for a shorter, easier to complete questionnaire for next year.

4 Budget and Staffing Issues.

4.1 As expected, this year consultation has cost the Authority more than in previous years. Although these additional costs were expected due to the new structure, the "employment" of Core Group Administrators and the need to undertake better quality consultation.

4.2 Through the experience gained over the past few months, there is a need to build in some better control and closer monitoring of budgets for approved programmes whilst retaining good quality consultation. It must be remembered that consultation is not about numbers or how many people complete a questionnaire -it is about QUALITY of data.

4.3 To date this year, consultation has an expected outturn of £33,000.

4.4 Community Affairs Steering Group have recommended that Consultation continues throughout the winter, instead of ceasing, as originally planned, on 30 September. However it is recognised this will add to the already existing pressure on the budget, and the Authority should be mindful of this when approving any further consultations throughout the winter.

4.5 There were originally 9 Co-ordinators "employed" to cover 14 areas. Since April, 5 have left for one reason or another. This has left the Authority office to cope with covering these areas.

4.6 Currently two Core Group Administrators are covering 2 of the areas in addition to their original two. This leaves the Authority office holding the remaining 5 areas. This is unsustainable and now causes an added pressure if consultation is to continue at the same levels throughout the winter as the summer months.

4.7 To address this the Authority could choose to advertise more staff. In reality however this would not resolve the problem short term as it would be unlikely the relevant people would be in post much before February/March time.

4.8 The remaining administrators are all hard working and committed to furthering the aims of the Authority and work well with their respective groups. It is therefore suggested that the two counties be split into 4 areas with the remaining 4 core group administrators responsible for an area each.

4.9 At the meeting of the Financial Affairs Panel held on 5 November, 2002 it was agreed that the Chairman of Financial Affairs Panel, Chairman of Community Affairs Steering Group and the Chairman of the Authority meet to discuss consultation budgets for 2002/2003 and 2003/2004. It is suggested that in addition to this any further requests for consultation this financial year also be considered by this group.

5 Conclusions

5.1 It is suggested that the issue of budget and staff could be looked at more closely and one solution could be to scale down the quantity of consultation - without losing the quality.

5.2 If Core Groups were asked to continue to consult next year with a limited programme of targeted events. It would not be unfair to ask the current Administrators therefore if they would increase the number of Core Group areas they administer.

5.3 The Authority would still be offering the general public the opportunity to give their views at public events but at the same time increase consultation with some of the "harder to reach communities".

5.4 There is a need to provide more feedback and education to the public through the Authority's communication strategy. The Authority should be striving to seek more informed views from the public it consults with, and this will be managed centrally and recommendations will be brought forward to the Authority in due course.

5.5 The Authority needs to set itself CLEAR and MEASURABLE objectives within it's Annual Policing Plan 2003/04 - so that the effectiveness of consultation can be measured. There is a need to build upon last year's objectives and clearly state the Authorities priorities and how effectiveness and outcomes will be measured.

5.6 Within all future proposed consultation programmes - submitted by Core Groups to the Authority for approval - a detailed estimation of costs must be included.

6 The Future.

6.1 The importance of good quality consultation providing qualitative data is paramount. However there is a need to build upon the outcomes of the past year and balance good consultation with a pre-determined budget.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. That the feedback on consultation outcomes from Core Groups and Questionnaire analysis be noted.

2. That the Authority delegate the setting of clear measurable objectives for consultation for the Annual Policing plan 2003/04 to the Joint meeting of Community Affairs and Best Value to be held on 5 December, 2002.

3. That Core Groups include proposed costings within their proposed consultation programmes they submit to the Authority for approval each year.

.

4. That consultation should be limited throughout the winter this year, and that Core Groups should concentrate on preparing their proposals and detailed costs for next year to be submitted to the Authority by the end of January 2003.

5. Future Consultation periods from next year will run in line with the financial year of the Authority from April to March to allow for consultation to run through the winter months.

6. That consideration be given to review administrators geographic areas of responsibility.

7. Any further bids for consultation for this financial year will be submitted to the Authority office for consideration by the Chairman of the Authority and the Chairmen of Financial Affairs Panel and the Community Affairs Steering Group.

4fR451102