STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT BOARD 12/2009

Meeting Number

12/2009

Date

15/12/2009

Location

Conference Room 3

Duration

10:00–13:00

Present:

Mrs S Sim – Deputy Chief Constable (Chair)
Mr S Ashman - Assistant Chief Constable (Area Operations)
D/ Chief Superintendent N Adamson – Head of Crime
Chief Superintendent G Calvert – North Tyneside
Mr D Cutting – Head of Learning and Development
Chief Superintendent G Davis - Gateshead
Chief Superintendent M Dennett – South Tyneside
Mr P Godden – Corporate Development Department
T/ Chief Superintendent G Milward – Communications Department
Superintendent J Simmons – Operations Department
Chief Superintendent G Smith – Newcastle
Chief Superintendent S Storey – Northumberland
Mr M Tait – Head of Finance
Mr D Taylor - Corporate Communications Department
Mr J Taylor – Information Systems & Telecommunications Department
D/ Chief Superintendent C Thomson – Professional Standards Department
Superintendent A Veitch - Sunderland
Mr R Watson – Federation
Mrs V Wilson – Head of Corporate Development
T/ Chief Superintendent D Wormald – Criminal Justice Department
Miss C Taylor - Corporate Development Department (Secretary)

Invitees:

Apologies for absence:

Mr P Armatage – Director of ICT
Ms M Berne – Head of Corporate Communications
Mrs J Lawson – Head of Human Resources
Chief Superintendent N Mackay – Operations Department
Ms C Nobbs – Unison
Chief Superintendent D Pryer - Sunderland

PART 1 - OPEN SESSION UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

1. OPENING

The Chair opened the meeting by welcoming all members.

2. MINUTES OF THE OPEN SESSION OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT BOARD HELD ON 19 NOVEMBER 2009

The minutes of the open session of Strategic Management Board held on 19 November 2009, having been previously circulated, were agreed as an accurate record.

3. MATTERS ARISING INCLUDING:

  1. Unfinalised Crimes and the Impact on Satisfaction Levels (Item 4(ii))
    The Consultation and Quality Assurance Manager informed members that further research had been carried out to determine the impact unfinalised crimes are having on satisfaction levels. He advised the User Satisfaction Surveys (USS) had shown no impact on satisfaction levels over a three month period.

    The Consultation and Quality Assurance Manager stated that to get a more informed result he is liaising with the Victim Care Bureau to enable a questionnaire to be sent to victims of crime after the 3 month period, to understand if there are any implications. He said that results from the questionnaires will be collated by January/ February 2010, which will enable a report to come back to the Strategic Management Board in March 2010.
    Following a brief discussion, members AGREED:

    To a report highlighting the results of questionnaires sent to victims, by the Victim Care Bureau, in order to ascertain the impact on satisfaction from unfinalised crimes, following a 3 month period.

    ACTION: CONSULTATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER/ SECRETARY

  2. Responses to Priority 1 Calls (Item 4(iv))

    T/Chief Superintendent (Communications) advised further research had been carried out regarding the increase in Priority 1 calls. Two hundred calls had been dip sampled to ensure the accuracy of the gradings. He stated that all the calls sampled were recorded correctly. With regard to the proportions of calls graded as 1 in relation to the Forces Most Similar Group (MSG), the Force is slightly behind West Yorkshire and Merseyside and slightly ahead of Cleveland. He further stated that due to the increase in Priority 1’s the health and safety aspects of this have been highlighted by Area Commanders to their staff, and Communications Department staff have been reminded to ensure the correct use of terminology is used when allocating incidents. He said that if any further concerns needed to be highlighted regarding grading, then this should be raised through Senior Management Teams (SMTs).

    Members NOTED the update provided.

    DISCHARGED

  3. Priority 3 Calls and the Non-attendance Rates (Item 4(v))

    T/Chief Superintendent (Communications) informed members that further research had been carried out regarding responses to Priority3 calls. Priority 3 calls were graded appropriately and in the case of those where a resource did not attend, that was due to the likely further enquiries attached to a Priority 3 call. Some minor grading issues had become apparent and have been addressed.

    Members NOTED the update provided.

    DISCHARGED

4. ESTATES STRATEGY REVIEW 2010

The Head of Finance presented to members a previously circulated report informing members of proposed facilitated sessions, to inform the 2010 Estates Strategy.
Following a lengthy discussion, members AGREED:

  1. To individual Estates Strategy Review facilitation sessions being set up for each Area Command, Crime Department and Operations Department.

  2. To an overall Estates Strategy Review facilitation session to be set up for all other departments.

ACTION: HEAD OF FINANCE

DISCHARGED

5. FORCE PERFORMANCE

The Corporate Development Manager presented a breakdown of Force performance relating to the effectiveness of crime investigation and how well we perform at meeting our customers’ needs. Of particular note was:

  • The current detection rate is 38.7%, from 41% prior to the introduction of Community Resolution (CR). Including CR, the positive disposal rate is 40.6%. The projected detection rate for total recorded crime for the end of the financial year is 38%.

  • The disposal rate difference is made up of CR, but more important is confidence and that appropriate disposals are applied. A sample of 127 crimes where CR was applied, since its introduction in August 2009, has been completed. Based on the sample, 5% were disposed of by CR inappropriately, for the following reasons:

    • Offence was inappropriate.
    • Offender’s past history.
    • Offender’s possible future re-offending.

  • There has been an increase in recorded sexual offences compared to 2008/09 (+18.5%), an increase in serious sexual offences of 12.1% compared to last year and generally, volume of sexual offences similar to 2004/05 through to 2006/07. There were lower levels of recorded sexual offences in 2007/08 and 2008/09. There is the potential that 2007/08 and 2008/09 were not indicative of levels of recorded sexual offences. Equally, the Force needs to be mindful that there will be a degree of under reporting.

  • Timeliness of locating wanted persons - performance ranges from 82.5% to 86.6%, exceeding 75% targets for category A (14 days), B (21 days), C (28 days). At 28 days, there remains between 10% and 15% of persons outstanding with warrants issued. Percentage of wanted persons located is lower than those with warrants issued.

  • Police And Community Together (PACT) meetings – there is generally low public attendance at meetings; partnership attendance is varied and less likely for those meetings held outside core working hours. Overall, value of PACT meetings and engagement opportunities are limited as a result.

The Corporate Development Manager stated that at the last Strategic Management Board there was a discussion regarding the proportion of unfinalised crime. Approximately 50% of sexual offences committed this year are unfinalised to date, which can be broken into the sub-categories of up to 8 weeks, 8 to 16 weeks and older than 16 weeks. He said that numbers are relatively small, however, the largest proportion of crimes committed this year, older than 16 weeks, and unfinalised, tend to be for the offence of rape. In addition, there are 20 outstanding crimes for last year which are unfinalised, mostly for serious sexual offences, including offences of rape.
The Deputy Chief Constable informed members that from April 2010 performance updates will be presented in relation to the balanced scorecard.

The Federation representative queried with members shift changes of officers when asked to attend partner agency meetings.

D/Chief Superintendent (Head of Crime) informed members of an example of excellent work by a patrol officer in Newcastle which led to the identification of a stranger rapist. The officer had observed a lone male acting suspiciously in Newcastle City Centre, observing drinkers as they wandered about. Thinking the individual was a pick pocket, the officer made a stop check and completed a full CIS entry. The individual allegedly then raped a drunken female later that night. The CIS entry assisted in identifying the offender and corroborating evidence against a predatory rapist. D/C/Supt (Crime) will be complimenting the officer for her attentiveness and the quality of her intelligence update on the force system. Discussions followed re further preventative measures being undertaken around city centre locations and busy drinking areas.

Chief Superintendent (North Tyneside) informed members of Operation Angel, which is a multi agency operation involving Rape Examination And Counselling Help (REACH), the Local Council, and Domestic Violence charity, aimed at protecting vulnerable women on their own when on a night out. He stated that the operation involved marketing initiatives such as mints, lipsticks, Bluetooth messages and bombarding the public with messages of how to keep themselves safe, question how they are getting home and where their friends are. He said that the operation is working really well and had funding from the Local Authority.

Following a brief discussion, members AGREED:

  1. To Area Commanders ensuring that supervisory officers are informing officers personally in relation to feedback from inappropriate use of CR in order to discuss and action a way forward.

  2. To Assistant Chief Constable (Area Operations) looking at the consistency of Community Resolutions across the Force.

  3. To T/Chief Superintendent (Criminal Justice) designing a corporate process for following up Community Resolutions and submitting a report to Assistant Chief Constable (Area Operations) for consideration.

  4. To T/Chief Superintendent (Criminal Justice) submitting a report regarding the way forward for Community Resolution follow-up, to a future Strategic Management Board for members’ information.

  5. To D/Chief Superintendent (Head of Crime), through the Harm Reduction Unit, liaising with South Tyneside retailers to discuss Community Resolution and satisfaction issues.

  6. To Area Commanders appraising their respective areas of the officer’s initiative in Newcastle and to implement this initiative in all city centre locations.

  7. To Area Commanders informing Motor Patrol officers to patrol city centre areas during busy periods in the run up to Christmas in order to be proactive against rape offences.

  8. To T/Chief Superintendent (Criminal Justice) informing the Crime Recording Bureau to update the Northumbria Police Integrated Computer Communications System (NPICCS) with a familial flag for sexual crimes in order to identify familial offences within the various sexual offence categories.

  9. To T/Chief Superintendent (Criminal Justice) communicating the update of NPICCS across the Force, once the familial update has been carried out.

  10. To Area Commanders highlighting to officers on foot patrol the need to talk and engage with the public.

  11. To Area Commanders, where possible, taking PACT meetings to the community for e.g. schools, supermarkets, on the street, car parks etc.

  12. To Area Commanders informing supervisory officers not to change officer shifts in order to attend partner agency meetings and that this should be monitored by the area command Chief Inspectors.

ACTION: AREA COMMANDERS/ ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE (AREA OPERATIONS)/ T/CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT (CRIMINAL JUSTICE)/ CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT/ D/CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT (HEAD OF CRIME)/ SECRETARY

6. STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

The Deputy Chief Constable circulated to members a paper outlining the Home Secretary’s Strategic Policing Priorities for 2010/11 which are to:

  • Continue to increase public confidence so that by March 2012, 60% of the public agree that the police and local council are dealing with the anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in their local communities.

  • Reduce and prevent crime and anti-social behaviour and help tackle youth offending and the problems caused by drug and alcohol misuse, in line with Public Service Agreements (PSAs) 14, 23 and 25, and have a coordinated approach with other Criminal Justice Service (CJS) partners to deliver an effective criminal justice response in line with PSA24, putting the needs of victims, including young victims, at its heart.

  • Work jointly with police forces and other agencies, such as Serious and Organised Crime (SOCA) and United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA), to ensure that the capability and capacity exists across England and Wales to deliver effective protective services, including tackling serious and organised crime.

  • Work jointly with and through partners and local communities to tackle terrorism and violent extremism in line with the counter terrorism strategy (CONTEST) and PSA 26.

  • In all of the above, ensure that value for money is central to the strategic vision for improving policing; that best use is made of resources in line with the policing White Paper and the Efficiency and Productivity Strategy for the Police Service, both within forces and through collaboration between forces and with the wider public sector; and that chief officers and senior leaders are visibly associated with this organisational priority.

The Deputy Chief Constable asked members to recommend strategic priorities for the Force in order that Corporate Development Department can develop them further. Members’ suggestions included:

  • Protecting vulnerable people.

  • Quality of life.

  • Confidence.

Following a lengthy discussion, members AGREED:

  1. To Assistant Chief Constable (Area Operations) further discussing the proposed strategic priorities for the Force at the next Area Commanders meeting and update Corporate Development Department of the outcomes.

ACTION: ASSISTANT CHIEF CONSTABLE (AREA OPERATIONS)

DISCHARGED

7. POLICING PLEDGE

T/Chief Superintendent (Communications) informed members that a team is to be set up to generate efficiencies from the Policing Pledge and Citizen Focus agendas. He stated that a paper is being developed to incorporate the team’s objectives and general principles; once agreed by Assistant Chief Constable (Central Support) the paper will be submitted to Executive Board for approval.

Members NOTED the update provided.

DISCHARGED

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

  1. Vehicle Pursuit Management

    Assistant Chief Constable (Area Operations) informed members that the Vehicle Pursuit Management policy is currently under review.
    He said that the role of a Pursuit Tactical Advisor, who will have 24 hour operational availability, is to be considered and includes them in a pursuit situation to advise the Critical Incident Manager (CIM) of documented real time options.
    He stated that in order to re-launch vehicle pursuits there will be a number of road shows across the Force to ensure relevant officers and staff are aware of the updated standards, policy and procedure.

    Members NOTED the update provided.

    DISCHARGED

  2. Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Inspection

    The Corporate Development Manager informed members that the Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) will be carrying out an ASB inspection from 13 to 14 January 2010 and that they have currently requested details for September 2009 ASB crimes.

    Members NOTED the update provided.

    DISCHARGED

9. DATE, TIME AND VENUE OF NEXT MEETING

19 January 2009, 10am, Conference Room 3.