Agenda and minutes

1.    The Panel Clerk asked for nominations for Chair of the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.

2.    Cllr Nolan proposed, and Cllr Murray seconded, that Mr Sandher be elected

Chair of the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.

3.    No other nominations were received.

RESOLVED: That Mr Gurvinder Sandher be elected Chair of the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.

1.    Cllr Peake proposed, and Cllr Nolan seconded, that Mr Moreland be elected

Vice-Chair of the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.

2.    Cllr Keers proposed, and Cllr Cole seconded, that Mr Rayner be elected

Vice-Chair of the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.

3.    Voting was carried out, with nine votes in favour of Mr Moreland and four votes in favour of Mr Rayner. There were no abstentions.

RESOLVED: That Mr John Moreland be elected Vice-Chair of the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.

1.    Apologies were received from:

·         Cllr Mike Blakemore

·         Cllr Peter Feacey

·         Cllr Teresa Murray

2.    Councillor Martin substituted for Councillor Perkin.

1.    Mr Moreland declared that he worked in the Criminal Justice System across criminal law courts, family law courts and civil law courts. He said that he was also a Member of the National Law Society's Criminal Law Committee.

1.    The Panel agreed that the minutes were an accurate record of the previous meeting.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2025 were an accurate record.

1.    Following a report on the Criminal Justice System (CJS) that was presented at the 16 July 2024 Panel meeting, this report provided an update on the challenges facing the CJS in Kent and the work of partner organisations and the Kent Criminal Justice Board (KCJB) which was chaired by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).

2.    Kent’s PCC, Mr Matthew Scott, thanked the previous Panel’s Chair, Mr Mike Hill, for his excellent chairmanship and long service as Chair of the Panel. He congratulated Mr Sandher and Mr Moreland for their appointments as the Panel’s new Chair and Vice-Chair respectively.

3.    The Commissioner said that he chaired the Criminal Justice Board, whose membership included: Kent Police, Kent County Council, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the courts, Legal Aid Society and the Defence Community. A key role of the Board was to oversee the CJS and bring partners together to improve performance.

4.    The Commissioner explained that Kent experienced one of the highest levels of backlogs in court caseloads in the country. Although there had been a backlog for a long time, it had increased sharply in recent years.

5.    There were a number of reasons for this. In recent years policing had put more work into the system. Compared to pre-Pandemic levels, the Police had charged 50% more people, so therefore more work was entering the system. Also, during the Pandemic, Kent's courts were not equipped appropriately for managing social distancing effectively.

6.    There was a shortage of judges to hear cases in the Crown Court, as well as a shortage of legal advisors in Magistrates Courts. These problems were putting a significant strain on victims and witnesses, who were having to wait a long time for their cases to be heard. It also put pressure on the staff managing these cases. The Kent Victim and Witness Care Team did an exceptional job supporting victims and keeping them engaged in the CJ system. The Commissioner said that the backlogs in court caseloads was a national issue.

7.    A number of measures had been implemented to tackle the backlog. Communication between the CPS and Kent Police during the trial/hearing process had improved; this ensured that queries could be dealt with expeditiously, reducing case delays. From June 2025, live streaming communication between the CPS, Kent Police Criminal Justice Unit (CJU) and VWCU would be rolled out. A number of Legal Advisor trainees were about to start working in the courts in the coming months. It was hoped that, as a result, there would be a reduction in Kent’s backlog.

8.    Additional activity was taking place in an effort to tackle the backlog. In terms of out-of-court resolutions, there had been a significant increase as there was a need for effective diversion and rehabilitation for first-time offenders. Also, making sure that prisoner transport contractors managed more effectively their capacity and delivered offenders to courts in a timely manner.

9.    Two recent initiatives might also help to address this problem. One was the government's  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

1.    Following reports presented at the February and October 2023 Panel meetings, this paper provided an update on Kent Police’s performance in managing public demand within the Force Control Room (FCR).

2.    The Commissioner said that this had been an area of particular concern, and one that had been reported to the Panel regularly over the course of the last three years. This provided a good example of how the Commissioner’s scrutiny of Kent Police performance had led to improvement.

3.    The Commissioner reported that, in 2022-23, Kent Police's 101 performance was poor. Its call-handling function was one of the worst in the country. The main reason was insufficient capacity in the Force Control Room.

4.    A number of measures were put in place to address this problem, including recruiting more staff to work in the Control Room. As a result, over the last couple of years, performance in terms of managing 999 emergency and non-emergency 101 calls had improved significantly, and the number of calls not answered had reduced to very low levels.

5.    National comparisons indicated that Kent Police was now performing to a high standard. In terms of 999 call performance, its ranking had improved from 27^th to 2^nd for average answer time, with calls answered in under 10 seconds improving from 33^rd to 2^nd.

6.    In terms of 101 call performance, in 2024-25, 97% of calls were answered, and the average waiting time was 31 seconds. In contrast, in October 2022, 55% of calls were answered and the average waiting time was 15 minutes and 51 seconds.

7.    Digital contact methods had also been promoted in order to help victims engage with Kent Police, and for people to report other matters, for example vehicle collisions and anti-social behaviour. The Commissioner stressed that it was not intended to be a replacement for the 101 non-emergency service.

a.    In answer to a question, the Commissioner clarified that there was no expectation or requirement that residents had to provide digital evidence to the police.

8.    The Chair asked whether it was possible for the Panel to visit to the Force’s Control Room.

a.    The Commissioner welcomed the request.

9.    In reply to a question about what measures had been adopted to reduce staff turnover in the Control Room, the Commissioner said that contributing factors were: increased staff engagement, shift pattern reviews, pay reviews, workplace site re-location, improved working environment, technological changes and improvements to working practices.

10.A Member asked whether, in addition to figures, evidence of the quality of caller satisfaction was collected.

a.    The Commissioner said that Kent Police did not routinely collect victim satisfaction surveys, except for three specific crime types: rape, hate crime and domestic abuse. Qualitative evidence was also gathered via the Rapid Video Response Program, where victims opted to speak to a police officer via a video link.

11.In response to three operational questions in relation to specific crimes/incidents which had affected Panel Members personally –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

1.    The Panel noted the Decision.

RESOLVED: That the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel note this Decision.

Question 1

How widespread across the County are problems with off-road trail bikes, and what can be done about them? They are a real menace to adults and young children walking in the countryside.

(Councillor Connie Nolan, Canterbury City Council)

1.    The Commissioner said that this was a matter that he took very seriously. The previous year, 4,900 of such incidents were reported to Kent Police; this was a decrease of 9% on the year before.

2.    In terms of how this matter was addressed - as prescribed in the Neighbourhood Policing Model, there were a number of proactive officers in local communities who were able to address these problems. Tactics used included the deployment of both plain-clothed and uniformed officers across the areas of reported activity, the issuing of Community Protection Warnings to owners of off-road vehicles and the use of drones to identify offenders.

Question 2

Against a background of a sharp rise in shoplifting, fraud and sexual offences in Kent^[1], unlawfulness is now driving fear into the heart of residents in Kent. The recent attack on restaurant staff in Broadstairs^[2] by out-of-control youths proves the growing view that Kent Police are now out-of-depth and can longer maintain the Rule of Law.

Despite a majority opinion forming that reporting a crime to Kent Police is not only futile, but a waste of time, it appears that our local police force, duty bound to protect members of the public from crime, are actively pursuing cases that undermine public confidence and trust; the shameful treatment Mr Foulke’s had is one such example^[3] .

With Kent Police failing to resolve crime in Kent, it is totally and utterly unacceptable that residents in Kent now face possible police action for expressing their right to free speech. Will Mr Scott confirm that he will commit to ending the continued erosion of free speech in our county and seek to end this ‘Orwellian’ and dystopian behaviour?

(Mr Maxwell Harrison, Kent County Council)

Question 3

As highlighted in The Spectator, in one of the key areas Kent Police have oversight over, zero culprits across 123 burglaries^[4] were located. Whilst too busy arresting septuagenarians for ‘Thought Crimes’, and not burglars and thieves, Kent Police continues to fail local jobseekers by taking over 53 days to complete a DBS check.^[5]

The new Reform UK administration was overwhelmingly elected back in May to put the best interests of residents first and serve local people. I seriously suggest senior officials at Kent Police start doing the same. Without doubt, Kent is becoming ever increasingly unsafe and unlawful with criminal activity appearing on our doorsteps.^[6]

With confidence in our police an all-time low, and priorities politicized by Kent’s top chiefs, it is time residents in Kent start getting their value for money. Will Mr Scott confirm that Kent Police will start “Policing our Streets, Not our Tweets” whilst he takes the strongest disciplinary action against those actively pursuing these cases?

(Mr Paul Webb,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

1.    The Panel Clerk presented the report. He said that, between February 2024 and February 2025, the Panel had received a number of reports including updates on:

·         the HMICFRS PEEL Inspection 2023/25

·         the Kent Police Neighbourhood Policing Review

·         the Criminal Justice System update

·         Shoplifting

·         Road Safety and

·         the Divisional Policing Review.

2.    The key points from the 2025/26 Budget and Precept Proposal from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) were:

·         A proposed increase in the precept of £14 a year, or 5.5% for a Band D property, equivalent to £1.17 a month, or 3.8p per day.

·         A council tax for an average Band D property of £270.15.

·         An increase in Government funding of £14.1m.

·         A savings gap of £10m.

3.    He also reported on other areas, including Commissioner’s Decisions, the Panel’s budget and terms of reference.

RESOLVED: That the Panel consider and approve the content of the 2024/25 Annual Report of the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel.

1.    The Chair reminded Panel Members to let the Panel Clerk know if they wished to suggest any items for the work programme.

2.    The Panel noted the work programme.

RESOLVED: That the Panel note the Work Programme and contact the Panel Clerk with any items they would like to add to it.

RESOLVED: That the Panel note the minutes of the Commissioner's Performance and Delivery Board meetings held on 11 December 2024 and 19 February 2025.