Decision details

To receive an update on the work of the Police and Crime Commissioner

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Cheshire attended the meeting and gave a verbal update to the Committee.

For the purposes of transparency, the PCC noted that the PCC Panel is the only scrutiny panel for the Commissioner and that the update today was an overview that reflected the needs of the residents in Cheshire, in line with this Committees statutory Crime and Disorder obligation.

The PCC advised that his manifesto was drawn up during his campaigning and he then worked with the Police to determine how to deliver it against the budget.

Priorities included increasing the Police force by 20,000 across England and Wales, the core-handing of 101 non-emergency calls moving from between 40mins-1hour to 6 minutes following investment in the Control Force room.

The National Crime Agency estimated there were 700,000 active paedophiles online, there was a need to accept and understand the cyber world needed to be policed particularly with areas such as bank account fraud etc.  The PCC noted that modern policing was not all about Police on the streets.

The Committee were advised that there was Police and Crime Plan with an audio version available online, and sign language versions availability.

20,000 consultation responses have been fed into the new plan for 2023, following 520,000 household audits asking what future policing needs were.

£8million had been secured for Safer Streets.  This initiative used technology for those vulnerable on the streets or at home.  When calling 999 from a smart phone the operator would send a link to phone and link via video to the caller whilst deploying resources to help.

The PCC gave the opportunity to invite questions from the Committee.

There were some anecdotal points raised about Police Community Safety Officers (PCSOs) in specific areas of Macclesfield not being replaced, and information on the Police website not removing PCSOs that had vacated the post.  The PCC advised the best route to take was to contact his office.

The Safer Streets campaign had been televised on Northwest tonight and throughout the media but the PCC agreed to speak to his communications team to circulate information more widely.

There was praise by the committee for the Rural Crime Squad.  The Committee felt that it was an achievement that should be more widely publicised to move from 60mins to 6mins on the answering time for 101 calls and that it was recognised that a non-emergency could still escalate into an emergency.

The PCC acknowledged the Cost of Living Crisis and the potential impact to residents as a priority for the Police.

On the subject of carbon neutrality, the PCC acknowledged that there was no right answer and that his priority was to reduce costs but he had a team reviewing options for the Police to be carbon neutral by 2040.

John- yes will support road safety initiatives.  Would love to double that number, not going to happen- governed by government who provide figures and 60% of budget.

Government are now looking at  a new funding formula.  Happy that we have fair share of officers promised in 2019.

The Committee flagged the impact on Policing as a result of Cheshire East Council policies- such as the winter gritting policy.  The PCC was not aware of a negative impact but noted that if gritting isn’t happening as it used to, then collisions could be a risk.

The PCC summarised by stating that his attendance at the Committee had been useful and he encouraged a close working relationship with Members to ensure best outcome for residents.

RESOLVED:

That the update by the PCC be received and noted.

Councillor Rachel Bailey left the meeting.