Agenda item

To consider a report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development presenting a summary of the findings arising from the recent Scrutiny review regarding Police Community Support Officers for the Board’s consideration and agreement.

(Report to follow)

The report of the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development related to the Scrutiny Board’s recent review on the role, number and allocation of Police Community Support Officers in Leeds.  This review was undertaken via working group meetings held during November and December, with a final meeting taking place on 22nd January 2014.  Attached to this report was a summary note of the key findings arising from this review.  This summary note also presented the advice of the working group that met on 22nd January 2014 in respect of the Scrutiny Board’s response to the Executive Board.

The following were in attendance for this item:

-  Neil Evans, Director of Environment and Housing

-  Councillor Peter Gruen, Executive Board Member for Neighbourhoods, Planning and Support Services

-  Chief Superintendent Sam Millar, Chief Officer Community Safety

The key areas of discussion were as follows:

·  The Board received a budgetary update from the Executive Board Member for Neighbourhoods, Planning and Support Services and the Director of Environment and Housing.  It was highlighted that the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has proposed a two year agreement which would see an increase in the PCC’s overall contribution towards the cost of PCSOs.  Currently the Council funds 30% of the costs of PCSOs and under the current proposals this will reduce to 21% with a proportionate increase in the PCC contribution.  As a result, the grant payment to West Yorkshire Police will reduce by £454,000 whilst retaining 165 PCSOs in Leeds. 

·  In light of this budgetary update, the Scrutiny Board acknowledged that the budgetary proposals considered as part of this review were no longer relevant and that this should be reflected within its final report.

·  Reference was made to the West Yorkshire Police Force Policy regarding PCSOs.  A request was made for Board Members to receive a complete copy of this Policy.

·  The Director of Environment and Housing provided further clarification regarding the budgetary proposal surrounding cost reductions of £200k to be realised in the Enforcement and Anti-Social behaviour teams.  It was noted that this was to be achieved through the deployment of resources, linked closely to a review of the duties of PCSOs.

Members considered the advice of the working group that met on 22nd January 2014 and agreed the following conclusions:

Allocation model for Council funded PCSOs in Leeds

As the Scrutiny Board was unable to reach a consensus in relation to the allocation model for Council funded PCSOs in Leeds, the Board agreed to reflect both advisory positions in its recommendation to the Executive Board.  In doing so, it would be made clear that position two had reflected the majority view of the Scrutiny Board.

However, the Board agreed to amend the wording of position two to indicate that this particular model should apply a minimum baseline of 4 PCSOs within each ward.

The role of PCSOs

The Scrutiny Board supported the advice of the working group and agreed to recommend to the Executive Board that it supports the principle of enhancing the role of PCSOs to maximise environmental enforcement resources and ensures that any additional functions placed upon PCSOs is managed effectively in view of the expectations already placed upon them.

The Board also agreed to recommend that the Executive Board supports the principle of moving towards more locally deployable bases and developing a more integrated partnership approach between police and other partners within neighbourhoods to enable decisions being taken collectively around how best to deploy resources to address a particular problem within a community

Members acknowledged that there would be ongoing consultation with the Police and other key stakeholders surrounding the principles for change identified during this review and the practicalities associated with these principles.  The Board therefore agreed to actively monitor feedback from this consultation.

RESOLVED – That the Principal Scrutiny Adviser, in liaison with the Chair, finalises the Scrutiny Board’s report to reflect the key findings arising from this review and the above conclusions agreed by the Board.