Agenda item
Commissioner’s Question Time
The Panel is asked to raise any issues or queries concerning crime and
policing in Sussex with the Commissioner.
There will be one question per member only and one supplementary
question; further supplementary questions allowable only where time
permits. The Chairman will seek to group together questions on the same
topic.
Minutes:
34. The Panel raised the following issues and questions of the Commissioner:
· The Panel expressed concern about the handling of 101 non-emergency calls, particularly the percentages of calls answered versus calls dropped. The Commissioner had previously stated that she was more concerned with how the calls were handled rather than focussing on targets for numbers of calls answered but the Panel did not feel this was a satisfactory response in holding the Chief Constable to account. The Panel requested that the figures be made public on a monthly basis. The Commissioner responded that the 101 non-emergency number had received 440k calls in a year, 52% of calls were answered within 60 seconds. The Commissioner asked the Panel whether it was about the speed the call was answered or how happy the person was at the end of the call. The Commissioner was keeping a close on performance and had asked the Deputy Chief Constable to monitor the situation, Additional staff ad been recruited and the online reporting facility has been improved. Performance has been improving aside from a drop when technical issues had arise and new recruits had been answering calls. A gold group has been established the monitor the situation. If there was a spike in 99 calls then 101 call handlers could switch to 999 calls and vice versa. Any planned savings for 2017 have been suspended as delivering a good service is critical and public feedback suggests improving consistency and the outcome of calls in more important the time taken to answer them.
· The Panel queried whether the Commissioner was satisfied that Sussex Police was still able to offer a satisfactory service given the extra demands on officers’ time following the London terrorist attacks. The Panel also questioned whether there had been any impact on health and wellbeing. The Commissioner informed the Panel that there had been no calls on Sussex Police to assist with the London attacks but when the threat level had been increased (Operation Temperer) police officers were working 12 hours shifts to cover the heightened security. The Chief Constable was aware of the additional strain this placed on staff and support was put in place.
· The Panel questioned when the Commissioner would publish the business case around the possible takeover of Fire and Rescue Services. The Commissioner told the Panel that the business case had been written and the OSPCC was currently convening a meeting with the relevant authorities. Once this had taken place the business case would be published.
· The Panel asked the Commissioner to keep a close eye on the changes to the Sussex Police following cuts to the ‘preventative’ strand of the Force. Whilst there were no compulsory redundancies being undertaken, concern was expressed that specialisms were no longer being valued. An example was given of previous changes to licensing officer arrangements resulting in a steep increase in alcohol related crime. The Commissioner noted the Panel’s comments and would pass them on.
· The Panel noted that the Commissioner had been meeting with a wider group of forces and questioned whether she had identified any particular police forces to work collaboratively with aside from Surrey. The Commissioner responded that Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Thames Valley Police had renewed their commitment to look at working closer together. The collaborative work with Surrey would continue as many units were shared.