Issue - meetings

1.    Superintendent Steenhuis (Kent Police) introduced the update and explained that the restructure had begun to be rolled out on 7 June 2023, and this hoped to streamline processes and increase community engagement through ward-based beat police officers. The new restructure also included Child Centred Policing Team, a Neighbourhood Task Force, a Rural Task Force, and Prevention Hubs. 50 ward-based police officers were now in post, with the rollout expected to be complete in September 2024 at the latest through a phased approach.

2.    The Chair raised a concern regarding the loss of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), who had been successful at engaging with their communities and engaging with disadvantaged children and young people.

3.    A Partnership Member echoed the Chair’s comments and felt that PCSOs had provided good continuity in their communities. A concern was raised regarding the new ward-based police officers being redistributed outside of their communities. Superintendent Steenhuis confirmed that a robust extraction policy was being implemented to ensure that neighbourhood police officers were last to be extracted for events or issues that occurred across the borough.

4.    A Partnership Member raised a concern regarding the definition of a ward, and if each ward in a district would receive one ward-based police officer. Superintendent Steenhuis stated that Kent Police had considered the volume of demand and level of harm when determining how many ward-based police officers to deploy. For example, one neighbourhood police officer might cover three to four wards depending on the demand and level of harm in an area. A map was available on the Kent Police website to show the area covered by a neighbourhood police officer.

5.    Mr Peerbux highlighted that the KCC budget saving proposals in February 2023 had agreed to reduce the Kent Community Warden Service (KCWS) budget by £1million over two years, which equated to almost half of the overall budget. A consultation was being undertaken on the KCWS and the team would be looking to retain support for elderly residents in the community and community development projects. A community base would be retained, but the team would need to consider where community wardens were deployed, and relevant partners would be included in these conversations.

RESOLVED that the Neighbourhood Policing Restructure Update be noted.