Agenda and minutes

Officers in attendance:

·  Ian Fisher, County Secretary and Solicitor - Lancashire County Council

·  Roy Jones, Assistant County Secretary - Lancashire County Council

·  Mike Neville, Senior Committee Support Officer - Lancashire County Council

·  Miranda Carruthers-Watt, Chief Executive - Lancashire Police Authority

·  Christopher Long, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor and Chair of the Lancashire Local Criminal Justice Board.

Apologies for absence were presented on behalf of Councillor S Blackburn (Deputy Chair), Councillor J Cooper and Councillor D Smith.

(Copy attached)

It was noted that since the papers for the meeting had been circulated the Minutes had been amended to show that Councillor P Barton from Hyndburn had attended the first meeting.

Resolved:- That, subject to the above amendment the Minutes of the meeting held on the 31^st July 2012 be confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

Roy Jones, Assistant County Secretary, informed the Panel that following the meeting in July formal notification of the establishment and membership of the Police and Crime Panel for Lancashire had been sent to the Home Office as required by the regulations.

With regard to the requirement for the 3 additional co-opted elected members to the Panel Mr Jones reported that the necessary formal approval by the Home Secretary was still awaited. However, the Home Office had indicated that the submission for Lancashire would be included in the next tranche of requests to be put to the Home Secretary for consideration once ministers returned to Parliament after Recess and a formal response was expected in mid October.

Resolved: That the response from the Home Office regarding the approval of the three additional co-opted elected members be noted and an update presented to the next meeting of the Panel.

The Chair informed the meeting that in accordance with the decision of the Panel at the last meeting a Selection Panel had been established to consider applications for the positions of two co-opted independent members of the Police and Crime Panel who would serve on the Panel for a four year term.

It was reported that following a shortlisting process of the applications received six successful candidates were interviewed and following the interviews Mr P Richardson and Mr S Vali were recommended for the positions of independent co-opted members as it was felt they had the necessary knowledge/experience that would help satisfy the balanced appointment objective.

In response to a query regarding any political affiliation the independent members may have it was reported that the Selection Panel had not felt that to be an issue and Mr Jones advised that in any event the guidance regarding the appointment of independent co-opted members did not exclude people who were affiliated with a particular political party. 

Resolved: That the recommendations of the Selection Panel be approved and Mr Paul Richardson and Mr Shiraj Vali appointed to serve on the Police and Crime Panel until July 2016.

Ms Carruthers-Watt will give a presentation on the transfer of policing governance to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire

Ms Carruthers-Watt, the Chief Executive of the Lancashire Police Authority,  gave a presentation regarding the transfer of policing governance to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire and the potential future working relationship between the Police Commissioner and the Panel.

The following points were discussed. 

·  Following elections in mid November the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) would formally take office on the 22^nd November 2012.

·  If the PCC were to appoint a Deputy Commissioner the Panel would be required to hold a confirmation hearing regarding the appointment.

·  The PCC would need to establish decision making arrangements and formulate a Police and Crime Plan which sets out their police and crime objectives along with the resources to be provided to the Chief Constable.

·  It was noted that funding previously allocated to community safety partnerships would be redirected to the PCC.

·  The Police and Crime Plan would be informed by a public consultation regarding the priorities across Lancashire and take account of the priorities of other bodies and partner organisations including the Health and Wellbeing Board.

·  There was general agreement amongst the members of the Panel that in the future it would be beneficial if the PCC were to regularly attend meetings so that a dialogue could be established. It was also suggested that the Chief Constable could be invited to attend if it was felt necessary.

Resolved:

1.  That the Police and Crime Commissioner be invited to attend the next
meeting of the Panel in order to discuss their initial thoughts regarding potential priorities.

2.  That a report regarding the potential working arrangements between the Panel and the PCC be brought to a future meeting.

The Chair has accepted an offer from Mr Long to give a presentation to the Panel regarding the role and responsibilities of the Lancashire Local Criminal Justice Board and how it can work with the Panel in the future.

Mr Long, the Chair of the Lancashire Local Criminal Justice Board (LCJB) gave a presentation on the role and responsibilities of the Board and how it could work with the Panel in the future. A copy of the Board's current strategy document was circulated to the members of the Panel, a copy of which is set out in the Minute Book.

The following points were covered in the presentation.

The LCJB is made up of the Police, Crown Prosecution Service, Her Majesty Courts and Tribunal Service, the Probation Service, Prison Service, Youth Offending Team, Legal Services Commission and Victim Support working together to deliver improvements across the whole criminal justice system.

The Board operates at a strategic level and aims to encourage joint working within the criminal justice system in order to:

a)  Continuously improve joint working to make the criminal justice system in Lancashire more effective and efficient that meets the needs of victims and witnesses and brings offenders to justice;

b)  Reduce crime and prevent re-offending

c)  Improve the confidence of the communities we serve in the Criminal Justice System

The Board could assist the Panel when considering strategic issues by providing a wealth of knowledge/information regarding the criminal justice system.

In noting the presentation the panel expressed concern that in seeking information about services in the future the Panel could become involved in more operational matters and it was recognised that care would need to be taken to ensure that the Panel maintained its strategic role.

There was general agreement amongst the members of the Panel that in the future information regarding particular issues or aspects of the criminal justice system would be required and support from the LCJB would be beneficial.

Finally it was noted that the Centre for Public Scrutiny and the Local Government Association was due to publish a paper on a Guide to Scrutiny for Police and Crime Panels which would be presented to the next meeting for discussion.

Resolved: That the presentation be noted.

A report was presented regarding potential dates for future meetings of the Panel which would rotate between County Hall, Preston and the Town Hall at Blackburn.

In noting the proposed dates it was suggested that some meetings be held in the evenings and Mr Jones informed the meeting that in finalising the programme of meetings consideration would be given to evening meetings and that a further report would be presented to the next meeting.

Resolved:

1.  That the next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel for Lancashire be held at 10.00am on the 26^th November 2012 at the Town Hall, Blackburn.

2.  That future meetings of the Panel be held on the following dates.

17^th December 2012  - County Hall, Preston

29^th January 2013  - Town hall, Blackburn

12^th February 2013  - County Hall, Preston

13^th March 2013  - Town Hall, Blackburn

8^th July 2013  - County Hall, Preston.

3.  That consideration be given to some meetings being held in the evenings and proposed start times for all future meetings be reported to the next meeting.

Resolved: That consideration of the PCC complaints handling arrangements  be deferred the next meeting of the Panel.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chairman of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Wherever possible, the Secretary to the Panel should be given advance warning of any Member's intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of urgent business for discussion at the meeting.

The date of the next meeting will be subject to the agreement of a programme of future meetings as set out at item 7 above

In accordance with an earlier decision of the Panel the next schedule meeting will be held at 10.00am on the 26^th November 2012 at the Town Hall, Blackburn.