Agenda item

1.    Mr Matthew Scott (Kent Police and Crime Commissioner) informed the Panel that his Chief Finance Officer, Mr Rob Phillips, was on paternity leave and wished him and his family well. Also, Mr Scott thanked Kent Police officers, PCSOs, staff and volunteers for their exceptional work throughout the year in order to keep Kent residents safe.

2.    Mr Scott said that there had been a consistent reduction in many different types of recorded crime and antisocial behaviour (ASB). There were some areas where recorded crime saw an increase, such as shoplifting, although this was mainly the result of an increase in businesses coming forward to report theft.

3.    Changes in legislation, such as on the sharing of indecent images, caused other crime types to increase too - particularly those involving sexual offences.

4.    Tackling violence against women and girls remained a strategic priority for policing. Domestic abuse in parts of Kent accounted for between one-fifth and one-third of all the crime dealt with by Kent Police.

5.    New powers around domestic violence meant that police officers had more tools to protect women and girls. In addition, new services had been commissioned for male victims of similar offences, as men were victims of domestic violence in between 27% to 33 % of cases.

6.    County lines continued to reduce; the only reason for their increase at one stage was Kent Police’s reinvigoration of the intelligence model which resulted in the identification of additional lines.

7.    In October 2022, the average waiting time for a 101 call was 15 minutes and 50 seconds. Kent Police's Force Control Room was now one of the top performers in the country; the average time to answer a 101 call was 31 seconds.

8.    In terms of holding the Police to account, Mr Scott said there were several mechanisms but one of the main changes introduced during his term of his Office was police complaint reviews, where he became the appellate body for members of the public who complained to Kent Police and were dissatisfied with the response from PSD.

9.    In terms of holding other agencies to account, one of the main challenges was in relation to the wider criminal justice system. There were still challenges around insufficient physical court capacity and a national shortage of judges.

10. In local Magistrates Courts there was still a need for additional legal advisors. One consequence of arresting and charging more people was the additional workload into the system.

11. The Safer Streets Fund ended in 2024/25. It provided dedicated funding for hotspot policing and extra support for local communities, such as CCTV in Folkestone, active bystander training in Sittingbourne and Sheerness Town Centres as well as Street Marshals, CCTV and youth programmes in Chatham.

12. In answer to a question about national and local initiatives aimed at tackling the backlog of court cases, Mr Scott said Kent was a priority for capital investment to increase local capacity.

13. A Member asked the Commissioner what he felt the greatest challenge was, and how he was going to address it.

a.    The Commissioner replied that, in his view, it was Kent Police’s investigative capability. The Police Efficiency, Effectiveness and Legitimacy (PEEL) inspection identified this to be a weakness for the force across two successive inspections, and requiring a substantial amount of work to address it.

14. In reply to a question about Violence Against Women and Girls and any additional work to look at the causes of misogyny within schools, Mr Scott explained that the Child-Centred Policing Team was tasked predominantly with work around young people, and responded to the concerns of teachers, head teachers and parents within local schools around some of those behaviours.

15. In response to a question about what mechanisms were in place in the force to report racist, misogynistic and homophobic behaviour, the Commissioner said that an anonymous reporting mechanism was introduced allowing police officers and staff to report such incidents in confidence.

RESOLVED: To review and comment on the Annual Report.