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The Sussex Police Authority met at County Hall, Chichester, on Thursday 14 February 2002. Attendances:
Mr D O Rogers (Chairman), Mrs M G Bishop, Mr K C Bodfish OBE, Miss J A Corcho, Miss M Dean, Mrs M D Johnson, Mr P Jones, Ms J Kramer, Mr C H Marsh, Mr J Mortimer, Mr I Scotland, Mrs A Swain, Mr G T Theobald OBE, Mrs M C Turner and Dr J M M Walsh RD.
1 Revenue Budget 2002/2003 and Capital Programme 2002-2005
1.1 The Police Authority has approved a revenue budget for 2002/2003 of £189.799m, This funding comprises Revenue Support Grant of £19.307m, business rates totalling £37.919m, Home Office grants totalling £91.312m, Council tax totalling approximately £41.1m and an overall surplus of £0.149m in the collection fund surpluses received from the 13 collection authorities within the Sussex Police Authority area.
1.2 The Police Authority, which has a duty to secure efficient and effective policing for Sussex, set its budget after taking account of the following:-
• the very tight settlement for police authorities • considerable demands on the budget from commitments and new developments • the level of the current police element of the Council tax for Sussex being the fifth lowest in England and Wales • the position of Sussex Police in the bottom quartile of spend per 1,000 population based on the current year’s budgets • Sussex having the seventh lowest number of police officers per 1,000 population • its Performance Plan for 2002/03.
1.3 At its December meeting, the Authority had asked the Chief Constable and the Treasurer to report to the budget meeting of the Authority on two options:-
(i) setting the budget at £186.077m being the level of the commitment budget, which, on the up-to-date grant figures, would represent a budget increase of 3.4% and a Council tax increase of 7.5% (an additional 8p per week for a band D Council tax payer);
(ii) setting the budget at £189.799m being the commitment budget plus an extra 2%: this would comprise a budget increase of 5.5% and an increase in Council tax of 18.1% (additional 21p per week for a band D Council tax payer).
1.4 In asking for further work to be undertaken on these two options, the Authority had taken account of the position set out in paragraph 1.2 above and that local communities across Sussex had indicated through the Police Community Consultative Groups (PCCGs) that they wished to see more frontline police officers.
1.5 The Chief Constable’s strategy in preparing the 2002/2003 budget has been to meet the following objectives:-
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• getting more out of current resources • providing support for operational policing • further improving performance.
1.6 The budget proposals for 2002/2003 include planned efficiencies amounting to £3.9m. Both the Commitment Budget (option i) and the Service Development Budget (option ii) include reinvesting cashable efficiency gains in supporting divisional policing budgets and other operational policing activities.
1.7 The Authority and the Force have always sought to achieve efficiency savings and 2002/03 is the fourth year that the Home Office has formally required each police authority to achieve 2% efficiency gains year on year. This means that by the end of 2002/2003 total efficiency gains of £16.6m will have been achieved since 1999.
1.8 The Commitment Budget (option i) supports a level of operational policing activity broadly in line with the financial year 2001/2002 and meets the requirements of the 2002/2003 annual performance plan. It provides limited growth for key requirements, but otherwise assumes levels of expenditure similar to 2001/2002.
1.9 The principal points of the commitment budget are that it would:-
• meet inescapable revenue requirements • maintain the existing target for police officer staffing of 3050 full-time equivalent posts • allow for in-year pay awards of 3.5% for police and support staff and 2% for non-pay inflation • provide additional funding for custody services in 2002/2003 including the new PFI contract report custody suites scheduled to commence in September • provide additional funding for the Airwave project which is currently timetabled to be ready for service in the final quarter of 2002/2003 • retain the contingency at £1.4m to meet unexpected or exceptional costs.
1.10 The commitment budget would not, however, provide additional revenue resources for further service developments, including more police officers.
1.11 The service development budget (option ii) would provide additional funding to support further improvements in police visibility, detections and other key areas of Force performance in 2002/2003. It would allow for all the items included in paragraph 1.9 above plus:-
• part year funding of £0.989m for 50 net additional police officer posts (i.e. in addition to the 50 to be recruited under the Crime Fighting Fund) • increase police officer numbers to 3,100 full-time equivalent posts by 31 March 2003 • additional funding of £0.846m for the policing divisions to directly support front line policing costs and to be targeted at local priorities
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• funding of £0.700m for forensic/DNA testing costs directly related to the investigation of major crimes and other priorities such as burglary and vehicle crime • additional revenue funding of £0.357m for the capital programme to be held as matched funding against the new Home Office scheme for modernising the police estate and associated revenue costs in 2002/2003 of £0.050m • additional funding of £0.260m for applying the national intelligence model to continue to improve intelligence analysis • funding of £0.098m for diversity project management and training costs in support of Home Office and operational priorities • funding of £0.068m to enhance the police national computer capability • 0.195m “one off” costs in support of the Force operational review; and • £0.069m for additional finance staff to meet the District Auditor’s recommendations.
1.12 The Authority agreed to set the budget at £189.799m to enable the service developments set out above to be implemented including increasing the numbers of front line police officers and improving Force performance in preventing and detecting crime across Sussex. For a Band D Council Tax payer, this will mean that the policing element of Council Tax will be increased by less than 21 pence a week (£10.71 a year) so that the cost of policing services in Sussex for a Band D payer will amount to £69.84 a year which represents very good value. This is still well below the national average for a Band D payer for 2001/2002 of £74.21 for policing services.
1.13 The Police Authority’s capital programme for 2002/2003 will total £13.684m. This will be financed from Home Office grants, direct revenue financing, capital receipts and capital reserves. The major projects incurring expenditure in 2002/2003 will be implementing the Airwave Radio project (National Communications project which is largely funded by specific Home Office grant totalling £4.575m), and developing major incident suites across the Force area as part of the Estates Strategy so as to provide suitable modern facilities for investigating major crime. Other major capital projects will include the further enhancement of communications and information systems under the Authority’s Information Technology strategy. That strategy will be reviewed in the autumn to ensure that it fits in with the new chief Constable’s views on future policing developments in Sussex.
2 Performance Plan for Policing Sussex 2002/2003
2.2 The Performance Plan for Policing Sussex 2002/2003 was prepared following wide consultation through the Police Community Consultative Groups (PCCGs) and within Sussex Police. The Plan was also subject to detailed consideration by the Police Authority’s Best Value Steering Group and was considered at the annual meeting held with the Chairs of the PCCGs on 29 January 2002. The Plan reflects local crime and disorder reduction strategies prepared by the Responsible Authority Partnerships, Ministerial Priorities and Best Value Performance Indicators.
2.3 At the date of the Police Authority’s meeting, the Ministerial Priorities were still out for consultation, but they were not expected to change substantially. They are:-
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• to help create safe communities by reducing crime, anti-social behaviour and disorder through effective partnership working, including reducing the availability and use of Class A drugs • to reduce the fear of crime in all sections of the community and in particular to increase the trust and confidence in policing amongst minority ethnic communities and those experiencing repeat victimisation and persistent anti-social behaviour • to deliver justice more effectively by increasing the number and percentage of recorded crimes for which offenders, particularly persistent offenders, are caught and brought to justice, in partnership with other criminal justice agencies.
2.4 The seven operational priorities in the Performance Plan have been grouped under the following headings:-
(a) Public confidence – to improve public confidence in policing; (b) Crime and detection – to reduce crime and increase detection; (c) Road safety – to save lives and prevent serious injury.
2.5 The numbering of the priorities has been removed to emphasise the equal importance given to them all and setting the priorities has been balanced between taking account of views expressed locally and national priorities. Realistic targets have been set within each of the priorities which should be achievable. When the draft plan was discussed at the annual meeting held with the Chairs of the PCCGs in January, the Chairs had been very pleased to see that the Police Authority had listened to comments coming through the PCCGs from local people and had welcomed the different tone and feel to the then draft plan. Public reassurance and the fear of crime had been recurring themes at PCCG meetings and the Chairs had been pleased to see these were high in the Police Authority’s and the Chief Constable’s thinking.
2.6 Crime reduction and public reassurance are key priorities for the police but issues surrounding them are complex and intangible. A statistical reduction in crime rates does not automatically result in increased public confidence and whilst a visible police presence is important to public confidence in the police service, officers on foot patrol may not be the most efficient way to cut crime. Others have a key role to play as well. Local authorities, for example, can make a great impact on the appearance of an area and this can do much to reduce the fear of crime. This is why partnership working is so important and is emphasised in the Plan.
2.7 The aims and targets of the priority relating to improving public confidence in policing across the whole community, seek to reduce the fear of crime and the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime, increase the feeling of public safety, respond to 80% of calls requiring an immediate response within 15 minutes, provide at least 5,000 additional hours of high visibility policing and achieve a pubic satisfaction level of at least 90% for Sussex Police’s actions in answering and responding to emergency calls.
2.8 Improving public confidence in policing is crucial and the operational priority reflects comments made through the PCCGs by local communities about reducing the fear of crime, responding to calls more quickly and increasing the numbers of police officers out on
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______the streets. The target to provide at least 5,000 additional hours of high visibility policing in 2002/2003 was especially welcomed by the Chairs of the PCCGs.
2.9 Within the operational priority for reducing crime and increasing detections, targets have been set for: reducing the overall level of recorded crime and increasing the number of detections by 5% from the 2001/2002 figures; ensuring that 70% of persistent young offenders are charged within two days of arrest and appear at court within seven days of charge; increasing by 10% the number of offenders dealt with for supply of Class A drugs; and increasing the percentage of adults who are referred to drugs treatment programmes after arrest.
2.10 Targets are also set for: reducing the number of domestic burglaries by 2% from the 2001/2002 figure and increasing the percentage detected to at least 18% of all recorded domestic burglaries; and for reducing the incidence of public place violent crime by 5% and increasing the percentage of all violent crimes detected to 65%.
2.11 On crime reduction, burglary in particular is an invasive crime that impacts greatly on its victims. Sussex Police have made inroads in this area with incidents of burglary in Sussex over the past two years being reduced by almost 20%. Sussex Police are on course to achieve the Government’s five year target for burglary reduction by exceeding the 4% target set for 2001/2002. The fear of violent crime is also a significant issue for all local communities. The Home Office has widened the definitions of this type of crime and has supplied new indicators to both police and local authorities recognising that the police must work in partnership with local authorities to combat both the perceived and real threat of violent crime. Sussex Police will continue its active contribution within the 13 Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in Sussex all of whom have identified violent crime as a priority issue. The Force will also participate in the emerging local strategic partnerships across Sussex to encourage wider partnership engagement in reducing crime and will work with local authorities in developing proposals for public service agreements.
2.12 This operational priority also includes improving confidence in policing amongst minority groups and victims of domestic violence, stalking, racist and homophobic crime. The aim is to encourage people to report such crimes and targets have been set for reducing the percentage of repeat victims of domestic violence and increasing to 80% the percentage of arrests made at incidents of domestic violence, where a power of arrest exists. This priority reflects one of the ministerial priorities and supports the national campaign against violence in the home. There is also a target for detecting 49% of all racially aggravated crimes in 2002/2003 rising to 66% by 2004/2005. Making the appropriate response to domestic violence and hate crime is crucial in order to win the confidence of the victim and to ensure that such crimes are reported in the future.
2.13 On vehicle crime, there are targets for reducing the level of vehicle crime by 6% from the 2001/2002 figure and for detecting at least 10% of all recorded vehicle crime. Performance in this area has been very encouraging recently with some of the policing divisions achieving greater reductions than 6%. 2.14 The operational priority on road safety sets targets for reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured in road collisions by 40% by 2010 compared with the 1994-98 average and for reducing by 50% the number of children killed or seriously injured in road
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______collisions by 2010 compared with the 1994/98 average. The volume of traffic in Sussex increases on average by 2% each year. This brings increasing burdens on the police and partner agencies working towards making the roads safer. The main causes of road collisions are speeding and drink driving. Sussex Police will continue to concentrate on these areas in order to reduce casualties.
2.15 The Plan highlights the impact of major crime investigations on policing resources. Such investigations are complex and must be undertaken with meticulous care. As such, they take up a great deal of staff time and resources. While relatively straightforward inquiries may last only a few days, others can run for years. The successful conviction of Roy Whiting for the abduction and murder of Sarah Payne was one of 51 incidents in Sussex during 2000 which were classified as major crime. By the start of 2001, almost one in seven of the Sussex Police workforce were committed on major crime investigations and yet these incidents represented just 0.04% of all crimes reported to Sussex Police during the year.
2.16 The Plan also includes the Police Authority’s efficiency plan for the next financial year, its Best Value Performance Plan, and what has been achieved in relation to the targets in this year’s plan.
2.17 As for 2001/2002, the Police Authority has agreed that the principal point of access for the Performance Plan for 2002/2003 will be via the internet. This will mean that only a limited number of hard copies of the Plan will be printed for distribution to the Home Secretary, Sussex Members of Parliament, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Members of the Police Authority. Copies of the whole plan will also be sent to local authorities across Sussex, the Police Community Consultative Groups and will be available at each of the main libraries. Those bodies/people who may previously have received hard copies of the Plan will be informed of its location on the internet and those that do not have access to the internet will be given a point of contact to request a printed copy. A summary of the Plan will also be produced for general use; copies of the summary will be available on request to the Clerk and it will be included in the Annual Report/Newspaper which will be distributed to every Sussex household.
3 Performance Information
3.1 Information on Sussex Police performance to the end of December 2001 showed that crime had been reduced in every policing division across Sussex in December and that there had been welcome improvements in many of the policing divisions in both crime reduction and detection rates. The increase in total crime in December had been cut back to less than 1% compared to an increase of 5.9% in August. Domestic burglaries had been reduced by 10.4% (against a target reduction of 4%) and vehicle crime had been reduced by 9.3% (against a target reduction of 6%). Improvements had also been continued in detections with overall detections standing at 24.8% (against a target of 26%) and the detection rate of 64.6% for violent crime exceeding the target of 63%.
3.2 The Police Authority was pleased to note that these were the best performance figures for a long time. While fully reliable figures comparing families of forces would not be available for some time after the end of the year, early indications were that the improvements being made in Sussex should compare very favourably with the national picture. In fact, the very latest information showed that Sussex Police performance had improved more than any other Police Force in England and Wales over the last 18 months.
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3.3 The Police Authority commended the Force for their commitment and achievements and everyone who has played a part in working together to achieve the improvements in performance.
4 Partnership Working
4.1 Partnership Working is the involvement of Sussex Police in a discretionary arrangement with one or more organisations which provides additional resources in order to deliver a greater level of service, a more efficient service or higher quality of service than it could otherwise achieve by itself. This excludes Home Office specific grant funded initiatives.
4.2 The Authority agreed a sponsorship policy in September 1996 and a policy in relation to local authority grants for police funding in January 1997, which are both relevant to partnership working.
4.3 The sponsorship policy requires the Chief Constable to refer all individual gifts, loans and sponsorship above £50,000 to the Authority for approval before they are accepted. Sponsorship covers goods and services as well as funding and is defined as promoting or assisting the development of initiatives which can be regarded as enhancing or extending the standard of service. One of the main conditions of the policy is that sponsorship should not compromise the Chief Constable’s authority to deploy resources in accordance with Force objectives and priorities.
4.4 In relation to local authority grants, the agreed policy was to:-
• accept unconditional grants from local authorities that did not involve a guarantee of increased police resources in that local authority area • reject grants that were conditional on the provision of extra police officers • consider accepting grants to pay overtime for specific purposes after all alternatives had been explored.
4.5 Since these local policies were agreed, there has been a significant increase nationally in partnership initiatives. Expectations of future partnership working will frequently now involve the joint funding of services in order to resource cross-agency working in a specific geographic area. Local authorities are increasingly likely to continue to take advantage of Section 92, Police Act 1996 which allows County, District and Borough Councils to make grants to police authorities, either unconditionally, or on terms agreed with the Chief Constable. A recent approach along these lines received from East Sussex County Council is to make a grant of £50,000 during the next financial year as a contribution towards the cost of any pilot initiative that it might be possible to agree following discussions between the County Council, the Chief Constable and the Police Authority on the scope for further supporting or improving community policing in rural areas, through parish warden schemes.
4.6 The Police Authority has reviewed its existing policies in relation to sponsorship and local authority grants in the light of these developments. 4.7 One reason why local authorities wish to give grants is to promote additional high visibility policing in their area. However, it will often be unviable for Forces to recruit extra
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______officers on the basis of a grant. If the grant ended after a short period, the Police Force would be left to fund the officer for the remainder of his or her service. Equally, conditions might constrain the deployment of officers to meet operational needs.
4.8 Taking this into account, the Authority has agreed to amend its policy on local authority grants so that external funds for partnership working can be accepted in return for enhanced police services subject to the proposal:-
• being in accordance with the Authority’s objectives as set out in the performance plan • not compromising the Chief Constable’s authority to deploy resources in accordance with Force objectives and priorities • not involving a potential financial receipt or liability in any one year in excess of £100,000 in any one case without the approval of the Authority • not leaving the Authority at risk of any unsupported capital or revenue commitments when a scheme terminates • complying with the overall approach set out in the sponsorship policy and to be implemented in the same way.
4.9 The Authority also agreed to amend the £50,000 threshold in its sponsorship policy to £100,000.
5 Police Reform
5.1 The Police Reform White Paper sets out the Government’s proposals for modernising the Police Service. The Police Authority has commented in detail to the Home Secretary on the proposals which are now contained in a Bill currently in the House of Lords.
5.2 The Police Authority has supported the Association of Police Authorities (APA) in welcoming the modernisation approach of the White Paper. However, the Authority and the APA have concerns that the cumulative effect of the Home Secretary’s proposals in the Police Reform Bill will be to change fundamentally the current tripartite government structure and undermine local accountability. In particular, the proposals will result in significant centralisation of power in the hands of the Home Secretary through a number of measures.
5.3 Policing is currently provided through what is known as the tripartite relationship which is a partnership between the Home Secretary, the Police Authority and the Chief Constable. That relationship is of constitutional significance which recognises the differing roles and responsibilities of each of the partners, as well as the fact that each partner is dependent on the others. Maintaining a proper balance within that relationship is vital so that power does not become over-centralised in the hands of any of the partners. It ensures that policing, under the operational control of the Chief Constable, is locally accountable to the Police Authority. At the same time, policing is of course subject to the Home Secretary’s powers in terms of priorities etc and those arrangements which need to be subject to a common standard across the country, but still delivered locally.
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5.4 The Police Authority believes it is essential to both retain and develop the tripartite relationship so that each partner can make its proper contribution to the modernisation process. Retaining a proper balance between the parties is essential if both the modernisation proposals and the service are to be fully effective.
5.5 The Police Authority has endorsed the APA’s position in not supporting proposals which have the effect of turning police authorities into local agents of government or which side- line the voice of local communities. Maintaining the operational independence of Chief Constables within the tripartite relationship and local accountability remains an essential foundation of local policing by consent.
5.6 The Police Authority has also commented on the introduction of community support officers and community safety accreditation schemes. There are very important issues of how these will be seen and accepted by the public locally and the role of police authorities is not properly recognised in the proposals as a key element of developing and improving working together as part of the local policing agenda.
5.7 On behalf of police authorities, the APA will be seeking to support modernisation while at the same time maintaining a proper balance between the powers of the Home Secretary and local policing as the Police Reform Bill proceeds through Parliament. How the reform programme is to be funded is far from clear and the Police Authority believes that the opportunity should have been taken to look at the whole pay structure for police officers. The Bill, which is currently in the Lords, is expected to reach the Commons in April.
DAVID ROGERS
Chairman
14 February 2002
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REPORT OF THE SUSSEX POLICE AUTHORITY
The Sussex Police Authority met at Pelham House, Lewes, on Thursday 18 April 2002. Attendances: Mr D O Rogers (Chair) Mrs M G Bishop, Mr K C Bodfish OBE, Mr M Dunn (Vice-Chairman), Mr C Garrett, Mrs M D Johnson, Mr P Jones, Ms J Kramer, Mr C H Marsh, Mr I Scotland, Mrs A Swain, Mr G T Theobald OBE, Mrs M C Turner and Dr J M M Walsh RD.
1 Force Operational Review
1.1 On appointment, the new Chief Constable set a number of proposed reforms for Sussex Police over the coming five years. These included developing proposals aimed at improving public confidence in the Force and building confidence and pride in the workforce whilst continuing the increasingly successful fight against crime. Central to the reforms was a pledge that Sussex Police would, in time, come to represent excellence in the delivery of local policing. People have a right to be, and to feel, safe and secure in their homes and communities across Sussex. Policing alone, however, cannot deliver the desired improvements. The proposed changes will create local police teams who will be better able to offer local leadership to work in partnership with and co-ordinate the efforts of other agencies, local businesses, schools, and the voluntary sector and encourage active communities.
1.2 The Chief Constable has reported to the Authority on the work undertaken so far by the Force Operational Review (FOR) Project Board. Their work has covered examining the following key issues:
• returning to a localised traditional police service delivery • integrating local teams under a single commander • establishing continuity with officers and staff known to and by the local communities • everyone in the team becoming a beat officer with long-term accountability for solving local problems • identified local police chiefs with devolved authority to control their teams and true geographic accountability • re-establishing a presence within localities; re-opening reception areas with extended evening hours • restoring authority to small police stations through extended reception hours for local teams operating from them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week • supporting local teams with corporate intelligence and information systems • having teams coterminous with local authority boundaries • leaning heavily on good practice in other forces and HMIC’s thematic report of 2001 “Open All Hours” • making localised policing the bedrock of policing in Sussex • increasing visibility, enhancing accessibility and greater familiarity
• investigating a greater number of incidents and crimes • further developing the Force’s capability for dealing with serious/organised crime and disorder • further developing information support systems to allow the targeting, arrest and disruption of those who commit crime and disorder.
1.3 Other significant drivers for change include the need for coterminosity of boundaries with 13 local authorities and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) in Sussex and improving the way in which calls are currently graded and serviced which is unpopular with public and staff alike. Moreover, existing structures work against the Force maintaining vital strategic reserves. Extra capacity must be found through greater efficiencies within the organisation.
1.4 The review has now developed to the point where more detailed consultation and planning can begin with the public and with staff.
1.5 The Chief Constable has constantly stressed that the aim of the operational review is to create local capacity, integrated local teams and publicly acceptable change at the local level. A “bottom up” approach has been adopted which seeks properly to consider the local public interest. A key point is that the proposed changes to divisional structures are important, but are secondary to the proposed changes and expansion at local community level.
1.6 The Police Authority has considered proposed new structures for Sussex Police operating on the following three levels: