Agenda item

1.    The Commissioner introduced the report which provided an update on Kent Police’s progress responding to the findings of HMICFRS’ PEEL Inspection 2021/22 report as well as his scrutiny of performance. He reminded Members that he had held a bespoke Performance and Delivery Board to consider the measures put in place by the then Temporary Chief Constable, one year after the investigation. He summarised the measures put in place and confirmed that he had received assurances from the Chief Constable that HMICFRS would find significant improvements when conducting their next investigation of the force. He emphasised that the Chief Constable would be held to account against the commitment. Regarding ‘protecting vulnerable people’, he noted that the Domestic Abuse Hubs had 100% user satisfaction, whilst the overall rate of domestic abuse had decreased by 7%. Concerning ‘investigating crime’ he told Members that an Assistant Chief Constable now chaired an investigation quality assurance board to ensure standards and improvement in that area of policing. He informed the Panel that he planned to visit other police forces, who were outstanding in areas that Kent Police was found to require improvement in.

2.    Following a question from a Member on what operational governance measures were in place to monitor response times, the Commissioner confirmed that Chief Inspectors reviewed attendance times and absence rates locally, with analysts monitoring the long term trends as well as discrepancies between districts as well as urban and rural areas.

3.    The Commissioner confirmed, in response to a question rom a Member, that there were mechanisms in place for officers to follow up emergency calls.

4.    A Member asked for reassurance that the areas of policing, which were not found to require improvement, had not been negatively impacted by a reorganisation of resources to respond to the findings of the PEEL report. The Commissioner confirmed that the Chief Constable had deployed officers from across force in order to spread demand and build experience across force. He reassured Members that he had requested a list of the teams impacted by force control room staffing from the Chief Constable.

5.    In response to a question from a Member on data usage, the Commissioner confirmed that officers from sergeant and above, as well as his Office, had use of Kent Police’s data hub, which included outcome rates and district breakdowns. He noted that the data hub was utilised when holding the Chief Constable to account on performance. He acknowledged that it took time for the reporting of new offenses, such as stalking, to increase to a level that local trends could be understood.

6.    A Member asked how Kent Police’s approaches to tackling domestic abuse were enhanced by commissioned voluntary and community sector organisations. The Commissioner confirmed that both his Office and Kent Police worked with a number of organisations, with DAVSS based at Tunbridge Wells police station given as an example. He added that Protection Against Stalking delivered training for Kent Police in order to enhance the understanding of the impact and signs of domestic abuse as well as share lived experiences, whilst Interventions Alliance worked with the force to better understand and change perpetrator behaviour.

RESOLVED to note the report and agree to a further update at the April 2023 meeting.