After some gentle persuasion, I'm back representing Stroud District Council on the Gloucestershire Police & Crime Panel. It can be a tad stressful at times, but I believe the work is necessary for our wonderfully diverse community. So, some informal notes and personal comment from yesterday's meeting.

Words Matter – Girls and Young Women Research Project

We noted an excellent piece of work that the OPCC has undertaken called Words Matter. How police communicators report on male violence against women and girls using the active voice, precise crime names and non-victim-blaming language.

Last week I attended a StopWatch strategy day up in London and discovered a report called the Girls and Young Women Research Project which focused on how officers treat young women and girls. I was alarmed that it confirmed a long-standing concern I had about community scrutiny down here in Gloucestershire.

These two documents together cover both sides of the trust equation. How police communicate about women and girls, and how officers treat them. So, yesterday, I challenged the PCC on the findings in the StopWatch study.

The crux of my question was this: How are complaints detected by the community (as opposed to the constabulary), and how do we ensure that the constabulary learns from them?

A few years ago at the constabulary there was a 'Community Complaints Trigger'. A complaint about stop and search, for example, should have prompted a meeting of the Scrutiny Panel, where the stop would be reviewed by members of the community themselves. It was Gloucestershire's local policy that set this trigger at just one complaint, going beyond national guidance of three. It was designed as a circular system of continuous improvement, forming part of the excellent Best Use of Stop and Search Scheme introduced by Theresa May when Home Secretary.

But recent changes at the constabulary have quietly dispensed with this trigger. Complaints are now known about only internally, with a very slim chance of ever being picked up by the community Scrutiny Panels — who have limited time to check only a tiny fraction of the stop and searches that take place between meetings.

That cycle of community-driven accountability has, in effect, been broken. And given how much emphasis policing places on trust and legitimacy, it's a step backwards that we should be honest about.

Chris Nelson's response

Rather than the considered response I asked for, the PCC was quick to dismiss the relevance of the StopWatch study and asserted that the constabulary has one of the best find rates in the country. But that's not answering the question about how procedural failings would be detected by our scrutiny panels here in Gloucestershire! Besides, the find rate measures what officers found after deciding to search. A force could find something in every search and still be searching the wrong people. And in any case given the evidence that stop and search records routinely fail at the point of encounter; no record given, no grounds logged – that statistic is only as reliable as the paperwork underneath it. Stop Search is hugely disproportionate too.

Community Engagement Strategy

Later in the meeting there was a frank and enlightening presentation by the OPCC Volunteer & Engagement Officer. Some of that presentation was a response to my initial question. The officer described some work being done around strip searches where, it seems, problems have indeed been identified.

My initial concern and question stands and I am going to get a bit more involved with the Scrutiny processes to gain a deeper understanding.

Chief Constable Recruitment

The process to recruit the new Chief Constable is well underway.

Candidates will be interviewed by panels of local and national stakeholders once one emerges successfully they will be subject to a confirmation hearing by the Police and Crime Panel on the 20th November.

For the first time there is a community consultation (survey) underway. Answers that members of the public provide for this survey will be themed to inform the first stage of the interview which will be a presentation about the concerns of the communities in Gloucestershire.

Have your say using this Microsoft Form

PEEL Assessment

The PEEL inspection programme is the HMICFRS regular assessment of the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of police forces in England and Wales. The constabulary had an inspection earlier in the year. The inspection is due to be published in the next couple of weeks. The top table seemed relaxed about it.

StopWatch background

StopWatch formed in 2010 as a coalition of academics, activists, marginalised youth, and legal experts seeking to challenge police use of stop and search powers by drawing attention to the realities for those on the receiving end of them.

Their study that had some straightforward recommendations:

• A complete prohibition on the use of force against girls and boys during stop and search.
• A presumption that under-18s are victims, not offenders, to prevent traumatising and unnecessary interventions.
• Strip searches, if they ever occur, should only happen under strict legal conditions: conducted by healthcare practitioners, not officers, and followed by safeguarding referrals to support the person searched when they need it most.
• And a duty of care to ensure those released from custody are not abandoned on the streets, alone and vulnerable.

Meeting information

Full Agenda pack available here.

The full webcast of the Panel meeting is available at the Gloucestershire County council portal.

Contact

As always, if you have any questions or just want a chat, I'm easily contactable – phone numbers and email on my home page. Use my contact info if you spot errors or if I've got something completely wrong!

I'm not using Facebook much anymore, but feel free to link and share these reports using whatever social media you fancy.

*You can also find me on the Fediverse (social media without adverts, algorithms, or outrage) here: https://stroud.social/eco-g

PS. As you may have noticed the listed.to platform is closing down before too long, so I'm having to embark on a migration process. I'll send an e-mail in due course. #video #OPCC

I represent Stroud District Council on the Gloucestershire Police & Crime Panel. Today the Panel supported my Green recommendation which will now accompany the Constabulary's budget:-

To request more information be brought to the panel that preventative work is undertaken in Gloucestershire by the OPCC and the Constabulary to tackle inequity which includes stop & search, arrests, charging decision & use of force through genuine community engagement to improve trust in policing, building on the police and crime prevention plan.

This meeting was focused on the budget and the precept being increased to the max, plus some. As the precept is collected by the Council Tax ,which is regressive, I was wanting to point out the impact..........

The PCC's response missed the mark, but T/CC Maggie Blyth was more on target.

To the Chair's annoyance a long rambling build up to the impact on excellent community engagement initiatives because of overtime cuts. I wanted to highlight that the Peel Inspectors thought we were a leading force in terms of Community Legitimacy. Things seem to have drifted from there. This is difficult work.

T/CC again on target, explanation of PRAP Maturity Plan and the Legitimacy Panel has a new name! OK I could detect issues and this is news! Actually, this was the answer to another question I'd noted from the backing papers. I need to follow up on this response in the community.

If you vote not to accept the budget as is and vote only to approve it with conditions, you find yourself in a position where it suddenly dawns on you that have to work out what to say as that recommendation! I'm not good at thinking on the hoof like this... :( Trust in Policing in tatters flowing from community meetings following a racial attack in Stroud.

We quickly drafted a more concise text version and ran around the room to seek consensus. We actually checked wording with the PCC too! The monitoring officer was on hand to make sure it ticked the legal boxes. Then it went to the vote. Only two voted against it, so approved.

The full webcast of the Panel meeting is available at the Gloucestershire County council portal. #video #OPCC

Development Control Committee – S.23/2101/VAR

So, finally, the variation, effectively to complete the Symn Lane Car Park, was granted unanimously last night at SDC.

SDC will ensure that the development will complete as soon as practically possible using a legal agreement called a section 106. The planning officer indicated this will likely mean June, July 2026.

I felt I had to draw attention to the fact that this project has been dragging on for nine years. There remains great annoyance in the community that developers make promises to gain planning consents then water down or wriggle out of those same promises through variations such as that discussed last night.

When I started my 330 signature petition against this variation, reducing the number of spaces to 60 odd back in 2023, it was long before I decided to run for election at district council. It then became an election promise, so last night I had to deliver on that promise. I hope I've properly represented the views of all those who voted for me.

Now, I will do my utmost to press for a lessons learnt exercise to prevent these sagas from repeating because our communities deserve far better that this.

Officer's Report Site History The Development Control meeting at SDC #video #SymnLaneCarPark

Internal audits are evaluations conducted to assess internal controls, risk management, and operational efficiency and should be aimed at improving processes. I was more than a little concerned about a comment in backing papers. An unhappy auditor makes for a concerned councillor. :(

I've been working for many years around the Scrutiny Panels at the constabulary. I've been perpetually frustrated with my enquiries but continue to work doggedly to seek improvement. And a decade later change is coming, extracting these panels from the constabulary and handing them over to the OPCC. I thought that the recent abolition of the PCC role may scupper these plans.

IT Resilience – Cloud ACT, Resilience and US Big tech. An admission that US Big Tech is entwined into the fabric of the constabulary, not surprising but as a country we need to be developing our own sovereign infrastructure.

Cllr Dean raising the issue of flags, Stonehouse & Stroud Against Racism.

Cllr Hilton very unhappy about members being pulled up for making statements rather than asking questions. Not pleasant behaviour. I wonder if the monitoring officer will have a word?

There was a complaint made about Chris Nelson which was leaked to the press. As a Panel we weren't permitted to discuss it but I made a point. Lessons need to be learnt, I think.

#video #OPCC

Representing Stroud District Council on the Gloucestershire Police & Crime Panel also intersects with my volunteer work with Stroud Against Racism.

The Constabulary along with the Community Legitimacy Panel hosted Community Engagement Forum up in Gloucester recently. I thought that this was an ideal platform to tell the story of a recent racially motivated attack in Stroud. The story demonstrates the lack of trust in policing by sections of the community.

The Community Engagement Forum is an important event for the community but was missed off the list of meetings by the Police and Crime Commissionaire at the Police & Crime Panel on the 5th September.

As the panel was discussing performance monitoring and the community forum event was not on the meetings list I wanted to know if the issue of measuring performance on the basis of how the police are treating people from different backgrounds to a certain standard was brought to the PCCs attention. The issue was powerfully and clearly raised by the outgoing chair of the Community Legitimacy Panel at the forum.

I suppose this is the coalface of local politics, that was a bit of a curve ball question for the PCC. However, these are precisely the concerns I come across in my community and I have been elected to represent those views. Here's the reply.

I think that it's appropriate to finish these clips with the views of the outgoing chair of the Community Legitimacy Panel offering an explanation as to why he thinks sections of the community often don't report race hate crime (responding to my story, above).

The full video of the Community Engagement Forum is here:–

The Constabulary's report on the Community Engagement Forum is here.

This one is more for personal reference. At the Panel meeting on 6th September 2024 I asked some questions about IAG and CLP in the followup. There were already some reviews under way. #video #OPCC

An excellent discussion at Stroud District Council this evening. As a Green there is no party line, so we are free to contribute in the best interests of the residents and business who we represent.

I said what I thought needed to be said. The recommendation passed unanimously and I feel the wide ranging opinion will help shape and deliver the best possible outcome.

I acknowledge that our leaders do a remarkable job of keeping the whole council on track, despite the tough choices and strong opinion that many of us hold.

My Speech at Full Council

After seeing the initial top level work streams I have little doubt that our hard working officers and staff can deliver whatever option is chosen, in the broadest sense and in skeletal form.

But, having analysed the background papers, some which only arrived yesterday, I cannot accept a conclusion of just two or maybe three possible outcomes.

What concerns me most is that our tier of local government represents thousands of delicate fibres of a complex social web. A web that connects town and parish councils, hyper local organisations, charities, small community groups as well as individuals. The anchor points of this web maybe easily identified but the web itself is a delicate and fragile structure that has taken decades to evolve. It is this fragile structure that nurtures and supports us all, as individuals. Consequently, I think there is grave danger ahead for the communities we represent.

We are like sheep we are being herded towards a pre-determined destination by a farmer who claims to be looking after all our needs and welfare.

However, as a Green, I know that there are other destinations which are being shrouded from our collective view.

I say we all need to flock together, make our voices heard, shout out about subsidiarity (that's decision making being made at the most local level), challenge the befuddled assumptions, call out arbitrary claims, seek more detail and demand proper detailed answers to our questions.

But, we are being rushed, we're being given no time to think. We are being told by Westminster that this gift of devolution is good for us and we must accept what's on offer.. We have no choice... We don't hold the cards...

I draw everyone's attention to the EIGHT vitally important principles in 3.3 on page 8 of the pack.

Based on delivering those principles, but not the final destination, and wanting only what is best for the residents and businesses I represent. Therefore to claim our place at the table I feel have no choice but to reluctantly support this recommendation.

But I will not say thank-you to this remote and increasingly authoritarian government.

Principles for Assessing Final Proposals

• Support for the development of inclusive economic prosperity, which meets the needs of all, particularly the most vulnerable members of society.
• An equitable and financially viable council structure which does not exacerbate wealth or service need imbalances.
• Ability to maintain the delivery of key services at a local level to our residents and businesses with a focus on long term effectiveness rather than short term efficiency. Savings to be achieved by economies of scale not service reductions.
• Strengthening of participative democracy including adequate elected representation.
• Alignment with other public service providers and structures which support our parish and town councils and the voluntary and community sector.
• A structure which facilitates continued joint and ambitious working for our local environment, nature recovery and climate action.
• A structure which builds on local identity incorporating best practice from the current councils and ensuring valued local assets are retained for community use.
• A structure which facilitates the delivery of the SDC Council Plan priorities: environment, climate and nature; communities and well-being, local economy, housing and working for our communities.

#SDC #LGR #UKPOL #video

A meeting summary and some personal notes authored by Cllr. Gareth Kitchen, SDC.

Brief report feeding into the Community Services and Licensing Committee at SDC is here. Webcast of meeting. Agenda packs etc.

A few apologies. Space on the panel for a Green Party member. Minutes of the previous meeting approved and no declarations of interest.

The main purpose of the meeting was to support the proposed precept from the PCC.

The PCC is seeking the full £14 (4.5% increase) the maximum he is permitted to levy.

The PCC kicks off with an overview of the budget. Wide pressure across all forces. Govt. hasn't given them full cover for pay rises, NI and drift. With the 20,000 uplift 25/26 will see big rise in drift (pay increase after 4-5 years service), financial penalty if numbers not retained. So Police staff have to be cut. Extra £1.5m for Neighbourhood Police. No new money for capital investment for the last four years. XL bully dogs housing. Failure to deliver new funding formula causes problems for rural forces. 7th lowest funded force per 1,000 population. New Govt. must address this.

OPCC Interim Chief finance Officer then goes into detail. Bulk expenditure relates to staffing. 50% of budget relates to police officers pay. Cannot reduce number of officers. Staffing is significant and where cuts will have to fall. Most other costs are fixed, limited flexibility. No capital grants. Borrowing has to therefore increase.

As things stand things don't balance, pressures vs. funding. So efficiencies have to be made:-

Officer overtime, Staff overtime, Mutually Agreed Resignation Scheme, Frozen posts, Re balancing of Neighbourhood Policing Establishment, Third party, regional and national contracts, Service Choice Reviews & OPCC Efficiencies. Totaling £12m. Reserves are going to be used a bit more but at absolute minimum.

OPCC Interim Chief finance Officer offers confidence and gives assurance that the savings are deliverable and hands over to the Temporary Chief Constable.

Temp CC been in post for six months. Crime is more complex and volume of certain crimes is changing. Crime moving to behind closed doors (online). 20% of Glos. crime is domestic abuse. 300 referrals a week for online child abuse. Need to keep most vulnerable safe. Need to have best ICT to deal with crime. Implementing new crime recording system, the last force in the country to do so. Working with SW forces to collaborate. Never in 35 years service has the Temp CC seen such financial stretch. But workforce is motivated and confident.

PCC says with deep regret that along with Chief they will have to face redundancies and staff cuts to balance the budget. They are cornered with their backs to the wall.

Questions

I kicked off the questions with one about premises. There has been a relentless rise, but an additional £4m. in recent years and I wanted to know why. A long answer came back, citing utilities, facilities management, day-to-day lifecycle costs, business rates in addition to the PFI costs which go up by inflation..... But even so, but I'm still not sure why such a big increase..... Seems like more costs coming with old estate.

A Cllrs. asks about bench marking. How does Glos compare to other forces. PCC focuses on MSG (most similar group) but there's not just one measure. The Deputy CC jumps in to say that we are compared with North Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Suffolk, West Sussex, West Mercia, Cambridgeshire, Devon and Cornwall. She looks at performance, charge rates etc. Glos. positive outcomes. 23 out of 43. Glos is good at out of court disposals. Not so good at charges and that's going to be a focus this year.

A Cllr asks what are we going to get for out £168m (half a million a day). What the 10 biggest items of expenditure. PCC says this will be detailed in the Council Tax pack leaflet. Temp CC jumps in again with stats. Custody suite at WW has 9,000+ detainees every year. Also, share arrest rates (mainly men) on domestic abuse. 5,000 mental health incidents, not normally crime related. 47,000 crimes reported every year. Not all about crime, duties elsewhere.

Cllr. asks about NI contributions, maybe Police should be exempt. PCC says it's just the way the system works. Cllr asks about PCSO's. Neighbourhood Policing is a combination of staff and warranted officers. Problem solving policing, hot-spots. Will number of PCSO's going up or down? CC can't comment, operational, reviewing this right now. PCC commends current Govt. for 13,000 extra Neighbourhood policing.

Now questions on the mutually agreed resignation scheme, £1.5m and whether warranted officers doing the work of police staff. CC says this means reconfiguration, will work these through. Excellence in basics, will ensure basic service. 110 PCSO's currently.

Cllr. interested in Community Safety. Small groups working in partnership. Small grants budget. Will this continue? PCC says pressure, every aspect under review. Small projects may have to go. Some money in team for ASB, looking at how to deliver. CC comes back to excellence in basics..... Um... this sounds grim.... focus on prevention isn't going to be there.... PCC jumps in to say there is money for district shared partnership...... matched funding for common problems..... PCC wants to do more on ASB case reviews, helping victims. Cllr asks about the cost of the mounted unit. £230k for 25/26.

Cllr ask questions about Police pay and news article about some officers using food banks. PCC says that is probably an old story from a few years ago. Very tough for the newest officers traveling to the Sabrina Centre. Previous CC arranged with GCC for food vouchers to help. But pay rises since and band zero removed, things have moved on. Workload needs to be managed, every officer needs a laptop, need better ICT systems.

I get to throw a curved ball question. Here was an opportunity to raise a long standing issue off the back of a Perception of Crime survey and confidence in Policing. It was relating to four black sixth formers given a shakedown by Police outside Stroud's prestigious Grammar recently. The question also links into SDC's EDIEB consultation too. Having the PCC and CC in the room it seemed more than appropriate to get this tetchy subject on the record. Why members of the black community in Gloucestershire are SEVEN times more likely to be Stop Searched and subject to Use of Force than a white person. I thought the PCC deflected the question with 'find rate', however the CC answered directly and straight forwardly, I thought.

Another Cllr, representing the most diverse ward in the county chips in and ask how can we make sure that these surveys (Perception of Crime) are absolutely inclusive. He thinks there's more work to be done. DPCC says the current survey is not statistically relevant per district. DPCC is willing to work with Cllrs. Surveys was for CSP's and OPCC wants to improve this.

Motion to approve precept passed unanimously.

Update from PCC, report taken as read. But I asked the DPCC if the Crossing campaign was raised at his visit to Thomas Keeble School the day before.

Meeting concludes.....

Official Minutes #video #OPCC

I attended a meeting of Wotton Town Council meeting last night along with SDC Cllr Cohen and SDC Cllr Braun, I took some informal notes.

Two apologies from Cllrs. and the Mayor questioned if the reasons were valid. One Cllr declared an interest on the Planning item. Previous minutes were approved, but one Cllr questioned how the Action Points were tracked and a discussion ensued. [Performance Management and Risk registers seem to be a hot topic at various meetings (right down to parish level) that I attend nowadays, this is a really good thing imho.]

Next we were treated to a presentation on the refurbishment of the Tolsey Clock by Mark Woolfrey. There has been a clock in this location since 1595 and has been refurbished many times. Its current persona dates from 1897 or was it 1914? Overwhelmed with info, Mark loves this subject! Anyway, I learnt that Renishaw was involved manufacturing new parts for it, using high tech laser cutters. Also, existing LED lighting was replaced. Consequently, there maybe a surprise for residents when the Blues Festival is in train. Anyway, the Town Council is going into PR mode to announce all this shortly. Cllr. Cohen thought the history of the clock is really important and should be taught to our school children.

Next was Public Forum where residents are able to talk on issues that are important to them. However, the sole speaker at this meeting had to rapidly amend a multi-page speech when told their spot was limited to three minutes.

The speech was about wanting Woman safe places in Wotton. I think they were objecting to the Town Council's support of the recent Pride event too. Maybe the ask of the Town Council was lost in the editing? The Mayor suggested sending a copy of the speech to the Clerk and he reminded that the Town Council is bound by equality legislation.

Some questions were asked of the County and District Councillors reports. Cllr. Cohen was asked if there was any further update on the 84/85 bus route? The Cllr. hadn't seen her latest speech at GCC but was told there is nothing more that she could do apart from self-immolation (maybe I misheard, but that was the gist). Cllr Braun discussed the possibility of using the StroudFunding scheme to add some more benches around the town as per recent social media activity.

Various items of Finance were approved including £630 for urgent tree works at New Road allotments. One item about the Council's VAT status caused much discussion as professional advice is clearly needed with the upcoming work on the Chipping and Town Halls. Also, a Legionella audit is required in all locations. However, one Cllr. mentioned this shouldn't include the Heritage Centre on cost/responsibility grounds. Cllr. Cohen left to attend another parish meeting at Ham and Stone.

The Budget 2024/25 was noted and during discussion a Cllr. mentioned some staffing budget under-spend in the previous financial year. The meeting then moved on to approve the Carter Jonas contract. It was clear that there was better understanding of the decisions to be taken now as the item had been deferred from the August meeting after it was decided that everyone needed to be brought up to speed. I did ask if the Council was aware of the new Procurement legislation coming into force in October. The Mayor indicated that they were.

At 8:30pm and myself and Cllr. Braun left for a 'street meet' in the car park to catch up on current Town and SDC issues. #video #wotton

I asked about the IAG (Independent Advisory Group) and how representative it is of our diverse communities. The CLP (Community Legitimacy Panel) wasn't consulted by Gold Group although the IAG was. The CEO conceded that diversity is an issue on the IAG and needs to improve. The Constabulary is already 'holding a review' of IAG and CLP. OPCC (PCCGB?) received a paper a couple of months ago (July 2024?) from the constabulary informing them. They are constituted and CEO offers to forward the Terms of Reference for that review. (Not in minuted (4.5), but need to chase).

JIAC(Joint Independent Audit Committee) – receive SWAP audits. OPCC has commissioned a review of all lay supported scrutiny....... I assume delivered by SWAP. Seems to be separate from the 'review' above and detailed in various Internal Audit Plans.

CLP on pause/hold due to review.

#policeandcrimepanel #video