Agenda and minutes

Members are reminded that, in accordance with governance procedure rule at Part 3 paragraph 2.6, Panel Members, or their constituent authority, may nominate substitute members of the Panel in the event that the appointed representative(s) is/are unable to attend the meeting.  Advance notice of substitution should be given to the host authority wherever possible.  Members are encouraged wherever possible to secure the attendance of a substitute if they are unable to be present.

Apologies were received from Mrs Sally Hardwick, Cllr Jane Whalen (Warrington Council) and Cllr Wendy Maisey OBE (Warrington Council).

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any disclosable pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest which they have in any item of business on the agenda no later than when the item is reached.

No declarations of interests were made.

To receive questions from members of the public. A total period of 15 minutes will be allocated for members of the public to speak at Panel meetings. Each member of the public shall be limited to a period of up to 5 minutes speaking. At the Chair’s discretion the period made available for questions and statements may be extended.

In order that an appropriate answer to the questions can be given, the deadline for indicating a wish to speak or for submission of questions is 3 clear working days before a meeting of the Panel. The Chair has the discretion to waive the 3-day rule for issues deemed to be urgent.

In response to questions or statements the Panel may choose to agree to either provide an agreed verbal response, that will be minuted or to provide a written reply to a questioners chosen address.

Those wishing to ask a question or make a statement should register by email to: martin.r.smith@cheshireeast.gov.ukor send the question or statement by post to:

Cheshire Police and Crime Panel

Democratic Services and Governance

c/o Municipal Buildings

Earle Street

Crewe

CW1 2BJ

A list of those speaking or asking questions at a meeting of the Panel will be drawn up by the Panel’s Secretariat in order of receipt. Copies of questions and statements will be circulated to all Panel members in advance of the meeting and will be made available to the public attending the meeting. Copies will also be available on the Police and Crime Panel’s page of the Cheshire East Council website.

Nobody may submit more than one question or make more than one statement at the same meeting, but a supplementary question, related to the subject raised in the question /statement, will be permitted for clarification at the discretion of the Chair.

Those speaking or asking questions will not be permitted to address any issue that is the subject of a current or proposed complaint by them against the Police and Crime Commissioner. They are also advised that reference to an issue that could become the subject of a future complaint by them could prejudice the Panel’s consideration of that complaint.

The Panel will not accept a question or statement if:

There is insufficient detail to enable a proper response to be provided.

It is not about a matter for which the Police and Crime Panel has responsibility.

It is potentially defamatory, frivolous or offensive against named individuals.

It is substantially the same question which has been put at a meeting of the Police and Crime Panel in the last six months.

It requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information.

No members of the public wished to speak at the meeting.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2022.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 21^st July 2022 be approved.

The Chairman noted that Mrs Sally Hardwick, who had been a member of the Panel since its creation, would be standing down at the end of the month. Panel members thanked her for the very significant contribution that she had made to the work of the Panel over many years.

To receive a verbal update from the Chair.

Mr Evan Morris, Panel Chair, outlined the procedure that had been followed to recruit a new independent Panel member. He noted that although the number of applications received had been fewer than in 2021, when a similar process had been followed, the quality of the applications received had been high.

He explained that three individuals had been shortlisted by the subgroup (Councillors Bisset, Whalen and Findlow, along with Mr Evan Morris) appointed to oversee the process, unfortunately one candidate withdrew shortly before the interviews were held.  Two candidates had been interviewed; the unanimous view of the subgroup was that Mrs Gemma Shepherd–Etchells should be appointed to the Panel. Brief details of her experience were circulated to Panel members.

Mrs Shepherd-Etchells was in attendance at the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That Mrs Gemma Shepherd-Etchells be appointed to the Panel for a three-year term with effect from 1^st October 2022.

To appoint a Chair of the Complaint’s Management Sub Committee.

Mrs Sally Hardwick had served as Chair of the Panel’s Complaints Management Sub Committee since its creation, as she would be leaving the Panel at the end of the month, a new Chair was required.

RESOLVED:

That Miss Yasmin Somani be appointed as Chair of the Panel’s Complaints Management Sub-Committee.

To receive a verbal update from the Chair

NB the draft Police and Crime Plan attached to the agenda is an informal draft shared with the Panel by the Commissioner for information. It is not a draft for formal consideration by the Panel, such a draft will be shared at a future date.

The Chair explained that the Commissioner was in the process of consulting over a refreshed Police and Crime Plan. Panel members were invited to provide feedback to the Commissioner on the draft plan. It was noted that the Plan would be formally presented to the Panel by the Commissioner at a later meeting.

To receive, note and inform any future scrutiny or work programme item.

The Panel noted the scrutiny documents published by the Commissioner.

To consider the work programme.

The work programme for the remainder of 2022/23 was reviewed by the Panel.

The Chair explained that a range of questions had been formally submitted to the Commissioner in advance of the meeting and that these questions had been included in the published papers. Rather than detailing questions to the Commissioner along with responses in the formal minutes of the Panel, questions and answers would in future be posted on the Panel’s page of the Cheshire East Council website. It was hoped that such an approach would make the work of the Panel more transparent and enable questions on similar or related subjects to be better linked together.

The Chair welcomed the Commissioner to the meeting.

The Commissioner paid tribute to the work of Mrs Sally Hardwick during her time as a Panel member. He welcomed Mrs Gemma Shepherd–Etchells to the Panel, saying that he was looking forward to working with her.

The Commissioner briefed the Panel on a range of issues, including the process that was being followed in relation to refreshing the Police and Crime Plan, successful external funding bids and the number of Officers now serving in the Constabulary. He also outlined improvements made to the Police 101 telephone system and noted that those whose first language was British Sign Language (BSL) could now access the 999 system. Work was being undertaken to see if the same service could be applied to the 101 system, but he noted that this would be more difficult, as the 101 system was provided by a number of telecommunication suppliers.

The Commissioner introduced his annual report, highlighting key achievements over the previous year.

Miss Yasmin Somani said that she welcomed the report and the positive news that it contained, but she suggested that the report could possibly be improved if areas for improvement had also been identified.

The draft report was noted by the Panel.

Panel members asked the Commissioner a range of questions. Details of questions and the Commissioner’s responses can be found on the Police and Crime Panel page of the Cheshire East Council website - Cheshire-police-and-crime-panel/questions-september-2022.pdf