Police & Crime Plans The Local Police and Crime Plans have been jointly produced with partners in South Gloucestershire and Bristol. Development of joint plans has begun with North Somerset, Somerset, and B&NES are underway. The annual report for 2016-17 has been produced and can be found here on the PCC website.
Stations & co-locations… We have recently published a revised Estates Strategy, updating the original strategy which was launched in 2014. The strategy carefully considers the needs of local people, stakeholders and operational policing as well as seeking collaborative opportunities to relocate police stations. We remain committed to producing capital receipts by moving police buildings from oversized, costly old buildings to more appropriate buildings whilst maintaining local accessibility. Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS) have moved into headquarters, Portishead (saving over £9m for the fire service), creating a new joint Police and Fire Headquarters. The Southmead neighbourhood policing team will be moving to a temporary base within the Southmead Fire Station site, while options for a permanent home in the heart of the community are being sought. We have also agreed to co-locate with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service in Yeovil and AFRS in Nailsea, as well as with Taunton Deane Council, at their council offices in Belvedere Road, Taunton. Response officers for North Somerset have moved to a new Police Centre “Weston Gateway” on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare to ensure they can easily access the whole of North Somerset.
Within that document is an assessment of delivery against the plan which concludes there has been good progress within each priority, but with improvement to be made in a number of areas including improving victim satisfaction, increasing positive outcomes, establishing a representative workforce, reducing reoffending and improving the criminal justice service. Great strides have been in moving the Constabulary from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ in the Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services assessment of its effectiveness. More recently the Constabulary received ‘good’ in the HMICFRS assessment of efficiency. You can read the plans and the latest performance results at www.avonandsomersetplan.co.uk
Scrutiny, oversight and engagement Scrutiny of Police Powers The PCC has established a new Scrutiny of Police Powers panel (pictured) which scrutinises the use of Stop and Search, Taser, Body Worn Video, and the use of force by the police. The aim of the panel which includes 18 newly recruited local people, is to provide feedback, organisational learning and to increase transparency, Spotlight on the call centre confidence and public understanding about the safeguards and complexity in relation to the use of The OPCC carried out a service delivery powers by the police. The Panel met for the first time assurance exercise in May on the on 13 June and you can read further information on the Constabulary’s Communications Centre. This PCC website was designed to test delivery against a number of key objectives within the Plan such as - the police are accessible and responsive when needed and victims are satisfied with the service they have received. The exercise consisted of an interview of senior staff within the centre, an independent panel’s evaluation of 90 randomly sampled calls made between January and March 2017 and the panel’s observations of the centre in operation during what is typically a period of high call volume.
Scrutiny of police powers panel Independent Residents’ Panel The 12 local people on the Independent Residents’ Panel continue to scrutinise electronic files of complaints against the police. The panel set up in 2013 meets on a quarterly basis and during the last meeting in June they reviewed complaints of: incivility, impoliteness and incivility; assault (use of force); and cases where body worn video camera has been used during the complaint investigation. Also, as standard practice, a selection of complaints will be reviewed that have been resolved by the ’informal/early resolution’ method, which aims to resolve a complaint to the complainant’s satisfaction within 72 hours. All reports are published on the PCC’s website.
Assurance following the tragic death of Mr Ebrahimi The PCC is holding an enquiry day in March 2018 with the police, Bristol City Council and SARI (Stand Against Racial Inequality) to check and test how vulnerable people are treated. Assurance work on the theme of vulnerability was selected because it’s the top priority within the Plan and in response to the IPCC report into the death of Mr Bijan Ebrahimi. In Mr Ebrahimi’s case, the police failed to identify him as a vulnerable victim.
Analysis of the findings, alongside quantitative performance information is underway to produce a report which will be published on the PCC website shortly. Shadow the PCC This year the PCC launched a shadowing scheme to give local people the opportunity to follow her in her role with the aim of encouraging a greater diversity of candidates in PCC elections in the future. The scheme was open to all but, the PCC was keen to see under-represented groups including women, BME, LGBT and disability – apply to ensure greater future representation. Following the recruitment process the PCC has appointed four candidates to shadow her for this year.
The IPCC made three key recommendations which have been accepted and progressed. The police and other agencies who were in contact with Mr Ebrahimi and could have bettersupported him and in doing so potentially prevented his tragic death. All organisations have undergone change in order to ensure mistakes are not repeated. The day will test that risks have been managed; processes and culture have changed for the better; and that organisational learning has been embedded.
Commissioning The PCC has a budget of £3.4m per year to commission services to deliver her Police & Crime Plan.
Grants & support services The PCC has agreed to co-commission local projects this year which prioritises supporting our most vulnerable people, such as: Barnardo’s have been awarded £1.5 million Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) support service contract which is co-funded between the PCC and the five local authority areas of A&S. The new service will start on October 1, 2017 and will run until April 2021.
Restorative Justice Week This week is Restorative Justice (RJ) Week and we will be promoting a new Avon and Somerset wide restorative justice service called ‘Restorative Approaches’ which went live this summer. The PCC has provided a single point of contact for RJ in the area, supporting victims who wish to communicate with their offender in a protected environment.
Custody and Courts Referral Service – PCC has partnered with NHS England to set up a single assessment and referral service for vulnerable people covering police custody, courts and voluntary attendance at police stations. The new service will bring together the roles of the existing Arrest Intervention Referral Service (AIRS) which focuses on drugs and alcohol and Liaison and Diversion which focuses on mental health and learning difficulties, into a single, jointly commissioned model. This will end the duplication which currently exists. The service will commence in April 2018
Referrals into the service, or questions about the service can be made via email cases@restorative-approaches.org or telephone 0117 9415879.
Sexual Assault Referral Centre NHS England is lead commissioner for SARCs which are a vital pathway in the support of victims of rape and sexual assault. The OPCC is co-commissioner of the SARC in Avon and Somerset. NHSE has worked with OPCCs across the South West to recommission services and is currently in the tender evaluation stage of the process.
Violence against Women & Girls funding The PCC has been awarded over £123,000 from the Home Office’s Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) Service Transformation Fund.
New contracts will be awarded in the New Year with new services commencing in October 2018.
A bid was submitted by the PCC in partnership with SAFE Link (part of Nextlink) and Womankind and will see the new service receive £41,000 a year, for the next three years.
The new service will see additional investment in Avon and Somerset for a Centre of Excellence which will provide enhanced paediatric care for Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire as well as improvements in consistency and access across the South West.
The funding will be used to provide specialist support services for victims of sexual assault with additional needs linked to learning difficulties or mental ill-health across Avon and Somerset, enhancing existing support service provisions.
Governance Reducing reoffending In 2017 a new Avon and Somerset wide Reducing Reoffending Board was created by the PCC with the aim of strengthening oversight and partnership working with regard to the transforming rehabilitation agenda. Since its inception the Constabulary, National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) have come together to review, refresh and reinvigorate the approach to Integrated Offender Management. Secondly a working group comprising representatives from NPS, CRC, HMPs Bristol and Eastwood Park, the Constabulary, OPCC and the Golden Key Partnership have been meeting to look at developing a proposal for a pilot collaborative piece of work relating to offenders who are subject to recall from HMP Bristol or Eastwood Park.
Criminal Justice Transformation Project The PCC was awarded ÂŁ190,000 from the Home Office Police Transformation Fund to deliver a whole system review of the local criminal justice service. The review applied learning from behavioural science to put forward practical solutions to increase efficiency and effectiveness. The final project report presents key findings and three areas for improvement firstly better early decision making; secondly effective case management; and finally user experience in the criminal justice service (CJS). The report presents a proposed model for transforming criminal justice in A&S and beyond, including recommendations to influence change at a national level, and develop the role of the PCC in the CJS. The final project report presents key findings and a menu of practical solutions. Funding has been secured from criminal justice partners, the police and the PCC to appoint a Senior Responsibility Officer (SRO) to implement the recommendations and they will commence in post in the New Year.
Key Events Easton Community Centre Drop-in, Thursday 23rd November
Home Office Transformation Fund The PCC submitted three bids in the latest round of the Home Office Transformation Fund (formerly the Innovation Fund). Two bids have been approved. One piece of work is to provide early generic legal and HR advice to OPCCs, Fire and Rescue Authorities and other relevant stakeholders which can be used as required in the consideration of local approaches to Police and Fire Collaboration and governance changes, including the development of business cases. The second bid is to develop a Multi-Agency Integrated Services Analytics Hub which will support closer working between all the partners to identify and protect vulnerable people at the earliest opportunity, making communities safer and reducing partner agency demand and cost.
Railing against abuse with the Soroptomists, Saturday 25th November PCC Pride Awards, Tuesday 5th December Bristol Community Day, Thursday 14th December Visit to Cop Shop in the Galleries, Wednesday 6th December Police and Crime Panel, Wednesday December 13 Scrutiny of Police Powers panel, Tuesday December 19 Facebook Live with Chief Constable, January 16 PCC Public Forum, Thursday February 1 Police & Crime Panel, Thursday February 1 Vulnerability Assurance Day, Friday March 9