Agenda item

To note and discuss the report by her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) re-inspection into crime data integrity of Thames Valley Police published on 25 July 2019.

The report can be accessed via this link:

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/publications/thames-valley-crime-data-integrity-re-inspection-2019/

Responses to the questions from Members about the report have been supplied by Councillor Harrison, Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection.

The Commission noted and discussed the report by her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) re-inspection into crime data integrity of Thames Valley Police published on 25 July 2019.

The report was accessed via this link:

https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmicfrs/publications/thames-valley-crime-data-integrity-re-inspection-2019/

Responses to the questions from Members about the report had been supplied by Councillor Harrison, Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection in advance of the meeting.

The Chairman expressed his surprise at the overall judgement of inadequate for the Thames Valley Police: Crime Data Integrity re-inspection report 2019 and observed that this was not the message that had been provided at the recent full Council meeting on 11 September 2019 from the Police when the Chief Constable, John Campbell had been present.

Councillor John Harrison, Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection thanked Members for the questions relating to the re-inspection report they had provided to him and advised members that:

·        Their questions had been sent to the Chief Constable for a response.

·        The answers to the questions were provided in the report that accompanied the agenda.

·        He held a position on the Police and Crime Panel which was a scrutiny panel which looked at the performance of the Police Commissioner and the police force.  It was not an executive or management committee, it only held them to account. 

·        He had had a further opportunity to question the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) about the crime data integrity and it was that which was the issue not the performance of the Police overall.

·        The Police had questions themselves over how the inspectorate had compiled the data in the report and had pushed back.

·        He was not in a position or able to answer any detailed questions about the report itself.

·        The Police and Crime Panel had asked for a report at their next meeting which would possibly be in December 2019.

·        Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services were annual inspections.

·        The Police and Crime Commissioner’s office had a named person who was in charge of crime statistics.

Members discussed:

·        The recent full Council meeting when the Chief Constable attended and noted how the re-inspection report was not mentioned or referred to at that meeting.

·        The appropriateness of full Council being an appropriate forum to ask detailed questions to the Chief Constable and commented that a number of questions that they had submitted for a response remained unanswered by the Chief Constable.

·        If it would be appropriate to request that the Chief Constable and/or the Police and Crime Commissioner should attend an Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting to allow the Commission to pose more detailed questions directly.

Action:  The Chairman of the O&S Commission will discuss outside of the meeting of the Commission, the best way to take the situation forwards and decide who to invite to a focussed, single issue meeting of the O&S Commission in order to discuss the HMICFRS Thames Valley Police Crime Data Integrity re-inspection report 2019 in greater detail.

The Chairman gave thanks to Councillor John Harrison, Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection for attending the meeting.