Correspondence

Crime and policing news update: December 2015

Published 18 December 2015

1. New measures to protect victims of stalking, domestic abuse and violence announced

To mark the 16 days of action against gender-based violence, the government announced a package of measures designed to protect victims of stalking, domestic abuse and violence on 5 December.

The Home Office set out proposals on a new stalking protection order which aims to deter perpetrators before they become fixated with their victim, and to prevent them from moving on to further victims. A consultation on introducing a stalking protection order seeks views on whether the introduction of a stalking protection order will provide the required protection to victims. We are particularly keen to hear the views of organisations representing victims, the police, criminal justice practitioners, frontline workers such as mental health workers, service providers and local authorities. The consultation is open until 23 January 2016.

A new domestic abuse offence which will protect victims of coercive or controlling behaviour will come into force on Tuesday 29 December. Statutory guidance on controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship for professionals has been published. It will mean victims who experience coercive and controlling behaviour that stops short of serious physical violence, but amounts to extreme psychological and emotional abuse, can bring their perpetrators to justice. The offence will carry a maximum of 5 years’ imprisonment.

The government also announced that it would be providing £3.85 million to develop a new phase of the campaign dealing with abuse within teenage relationships. The campaign, which is jointly funded by the Home Office and Government Equalities Office follows on from the acclaimed ‘This is Abuse’ campaign, which has encouraged teens to rethink their views of violence, controlling behaviour and what consent means within their relationships – thereby helping to change attitudes which can underpin violence against women and girls.

2. Proposals to change the way non-serious complaints against police and crime commissioners are managed

The government is committed to reforming the police complaints system, making the process more transparent and easier to navigate. To further increase transparency in the police complaints system, the Home Office has set out proposals to amend the system for complaints made against a police and crime commissioner (PCC).

The government is committed to developing the role of PCCs, and has set out proposals to enable PCCs to take on responsibility for fire and rescue services, where a local case is made, as part of ensuring greater collaboration between emergency services.

With PCCs taking on a greater role in the handling of complaints made against their police force, and with their responsibilities increasing, this government believes the time is right to amend the system for complaints made against a PCC. Serious complaints (ie those which could relate to criminality) will continue to be handled by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. This process will remain unchanged.

The consultation on complaints about PCCs lasts until 10 March 2016 and sets out proposals in 3 broad areas:

• clarifying, through non-statutory guidance, what constitutes a complaint, ensuring police and crime panels (PCPs) take forward complaints about a PCC’s conduct rather than their policy decisions
• providing PCPs with greater investigatory powers to seek evidence pertinent to a complaint
• clarifying, through non-statutory guidance, the parameters of informal resolution and setting out that, where agreement cannot be reached, it is open to PCPs to make recommendations on the expected level of behaviour of a PCC, and that they have powers to require the PCC to respond

The proposed changes to the complaints system ensure the fundamental principle that the PCC is accountable to the electorate is not undermined. The proposals will improve the transparency of the complaints procedure and result in more satisfactory outcomes for complainants.

3. Consultation on proposals to reform the structure and governance of the Independent Police Complaints Commission

On 17 December, the Home Office launched a public consultation on the governance arrangements of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The consultation, which runs until 28 January, was published alongside Sheila Drew Smith OBE’s independent review of the IPCC’s own proposals for governance reform.

The IPCC is expanding, with a major change programme underway, to provide it with increased capacity to investigate all serious and sensitive matters involving the police. The proposed governance changes include replacing the existing commission model with a single head of the organisation, who would be a crown appointment, and establishing a unitary board, with a majority of non-executives to provide reliable external challenge.

The consultation, ‘Reforming the IPCC: structure and governance’, is open until 28 January 2016.

4. Provisional police settlement 2016 to 2017 announced

On 17 December the provisional police settlement for 2016 to 2017 was published. The provisional police grant report sets out force-level funding allocations for 2016 to 2017 and provides details on main areas of policing activity which will be funded nationally through specific grants and reallocations from within the overall police funding settlement.

Overall direct resource funding for the next financial year will be maintained at current cash levels when local income is taken into account. In addition, funding will be provided to support the police innovation fund, the College of Policing’s direct entry scheme and the Independent Police Complaints Commission, as well as a new police transformation fund.

The publication of the provisional grant report triggers a consultation period which ends on 25 January 2016. The final grant report will be laid before Parliament in early February.

5. Review of local targets in policing published

A review into the use of targets in policing commissioned by the Home Secretary was published on 8 December. The review, led by Chief Superintendent Irene Curtis, President of the Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales, gathered feedback from all 43 forces in England and Wales. It included a focus group with police and crime commissioners (PCCs), a review of police and crime plans and an online survey which received more than 6,000 responses from police officers and staff.

The review found that while forces have generally moved away from the use of hard numeric targets, there are still some individuals in policing who believe targets for call handling or response times exist, even though Home Office performance targets were abolished in 2010.

The review makes recommendations for chief constables, PCCs, the College of Policing and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), as well as the Home Office. They include:

• chief constables should improve their performance measurement, monitoring and reporting processes - they should ensure managers are trained to manage performance effectively, holding their officers to account while empowering them to use their professional judgement
• PCCs should develop a more sophisticated dialogue with the public on what they consider success to look like and to consider the potential negative impact of setting numerical targets in their police and crime plans
• the College of Policing should develop a set of principles for measuring performance, identify good practice for measuring the success of safeguarding and welfare and incorporate the skills required for performance management into the implementation of its leadership review
• HMIC should improve the way they present performance data and communicate their monitoring processes
• The Home Office should review the requirement for forces to submit victim satisfaction data as part of the annual data return and consider taking back ownership of the national standard for incident recording

6. College of Policing publishes report of trial of body worn video

A report on a trial of the use of body-worn video (PDF, 1.93MB) by the Metropolitan Police has been published by the College of Policing and the Mayor of London’s Office for Policing and Crime.

The year-long trial, which is the largest of its type ever conducted, saw response officers from 10 London boroughs wearing the cameras during day to day duties. The trial found the use of body worn video reduced allegations against officers by a third, as well as helped to collect evidence. The cameras also offered officers greater confidence if challenged, as well as footage to support their decision-making.

Following the success of the trial, 22,000 body-worn devices will be rolled out across the Metropolitan Police by spring 2016.

7. Welsh government announces new agreement between police and the NHS to improve mental health crisis care

The crisis care concordat, an agreement setting out how the police, mental health trusts, ambulance trusts and other local agencies in Wales will work together to better respond when people with mental health problems urgently need help, was announced on 10 December by the Welsh government.

The concordat aims to ensure that people experiencing a mental health crisis receive the most appropriate support. All organisations which have signed the concordat have made a commitment to work together to intervene early and to find the most appropriate support needed for people experiencing a mental health crisis. Among other things the concordat states that:

• police vehicles will rarely be used to convey people in crisis except the most violent of individuals and only in exceptional cases to transport people between NHS facilities
• NHS transport or other health vehicles, but not necessarily an ambulance, should be commissioned to take people in a mental health crisis to hospital. If a young person under 18 is detained under section 135 or 136 of the Mental Health Act and taken to a police station for assessment, a case review will be held within 7 days to determine whether this could have been avoided in order to learn from that incident
• monitoring groups within health boards will review every section 135 and 136 detention within police custody to determine its appropriateness

More than 20 organisations have signed the concordat, including the Home Office, College of Policing, police and crime commissioners, Chief Police Officer Group Wales, Wales Alliance for Mental Health, NHS Wales and the Welsh government.

8. New allocation guideline issued by the sentencing council

The sentencing council has published new guidance to help courts determine if a case should be dealt with in magistrates’ courts or a crown court. The guidance is designed to ensure that cases are tried and sentenced at the appropriate level. The guideline is available on the sentencing council’s website and comes into effect on 1 March 2016.

9. Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s annual report published

The Surveillance Camera Commissioner Tony Porter published his second annual report on 19 November. The report looks back on the commissioner’s first full year in office and identifies future challenges. In his report, ‘Surveillance Camera Commissioner: annual report 2014 to 2015’, the commissioner calls for:

• organisations using surveillance camera systems to raise standards; in particular by those who must pay due regard to the surveillance camera code of practice as set out in the Protection of Freedoms Act
• police forces to build on work around the transparent use of automatic number plate recognition cameras, body-worn video and automatic facial recognition technology
• government to consider widening the scope of organisations who must pay due regard to the code
• consideration to be given around how to effectively regulate emerging technology such as automatic facial recognition and other systems that use algorithms
• strategic leadership among relevant authorities and business to develop partnership approach to CCTV, thereby reducing costs, raising standards and providing a framework for future development

10. Charity governance awards nomination period open

The charity governance awards is a new not-for-profit initiative designed to celebrate outstanding governance in charities. The nomination period for entries is now open and you can submit your nomination via the online form. There is no charge to enter and the nomination period closes on 15 January 2016. There are 6 award categories and award winners will receive £5,000 of funding.

11. Speeches

Home Secretary’s speech at the Police Reform Summit.

The Home Secretary’s speech celebrating women in policing.