Minutes:
1. The Commissioner advised the Panel that dealing with mental health issues continued to represent a significant part of non-crime related work undertaken by Kent Police and reasserted his view that this should not be case. He noted that some Chief Constables had expressed concerns that only 17% of police time was spent dealing with criminal offences and that mental health was a significant contributor to this issue. The Commissioner emphasised that it was important that other agencies with formal responsibility and appropriate training play a greater role in dealing with mental health issues and meet their obligations.
2. The Commissioner explained that the Mental Health and Policing Oversight Board had held its third meeting on 1 February 2018. He explained that this Board involved the ACC, the CCG and Mental Health Trust and now the Ambulance Service and the Commissioner. The Board had considered Kent Police’s Mental Health and Policing Strategy and was seeking to identify improvements. The Commissioner advised that the recent discussions had included updates on the Street Triage programme, including plans for further evaluation of the scheme to assess whether it should be rolled out across Kent.
3. The Commissioner advised the Panel that additional work was being done to address issues relating to repeat callers to the Police who experience significant mental health problems, noting that 17 callers were responsible for 4% of all calls to Kent Police. He commented that managing this required sensitivity and understanding of the needs of the people in question.
4. The Commissioner also commented on the good work being undertaken to map wider issues and services relating to mental health across the county including crisis management and as well as general health and wellbeing, praising the excellent contribution from Kent County Council and Medway Council.
5. The Commissioner updated the Panel regarding the changes to custody arrangements for people sectioned under the Mental Health Act following the implementation of the Policing and Crime Act 2017. This meant that under-18s could not be detained in police custody under mental health legislation at all and that the circumstances for detaining adults had been restricted. The Commissioner was pleased to advise the Panel that the numbers of people detained by Police under s.136 of the Mental Health Act had fallen and he also noted that the care pathway improvements had reduced the handover periods between relevant agencies from hours to less than forty-five minutes. The Commissioner also advised the Panel that he would be organising another Mental Health Conference, which would involve service users, stakeholders and other partners.
6. The Commissioner updated the Panel on changes to the Mental Health Act which meant that s.136 powers could be exercised in any place other than a private dwelling. This meant that people could be sectioned while in a Police station which made it easier for the Police to ensure people got the support and help they required without being unnecessarily criminalised. The maximum detention period had been reduced from 72 hours to 24 and it was now mandatory for the police to consult a health professional before using s.136 powers to detain someone. The Commissioner commented that Kent Police had already been ensuring consultation with health professionals was undertaken prior to any s.136 power usage but that it was positive that this had been made a consistent requirement. He noted that this had meant that Officers were now having to spend more time at A&E to achieve this but that he was happy that this was necessary to ensure people were supported appropriately.
7. The Commissioner advised the Panel of recent activity around mental health linked to Mental Health East with DCC Alan Baldwin of Cambridgeshire Police via a conference featuring all seven Eastern Region Police Forces, Zoe Billingham of HMICFRS, Mark Collins (National Policing Mental Health Lead and Professor Tim Kendall (National Clinical Director for Mental Health). Since the conference, the NHS had advised that more money was put aside for mental health but that this was not being channelled correctly yet by the CCGs but that national investment standards for mental health had since been implemented which would be applied to all CCGs. The Commissioner advised the panel that further discussions were taking place with the health sector regarding mental health in policing on a regular basis.
8. The Commissioner praised KFRS for its recent achievement of winning the Kent Dementia Friendly award, narrowly beating Kent Police to the trophy.
RESOLVED that the Commissioner’s update be noted.