Agenda item

1.    The Commissioner introduced the report which provided an overview of Kent Police’s progress as part of government’s Police Uplift Programme. He informed Members that all targets to date had been met and that the force was on track to meet the overall target by March 2023. Concerning 2021/22 he noted that there had been a dip in the number of applicants which reflected the national trend. Highlighting the increase in officers from black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds he recognised that there was more work to do to increase representation, although there had been a good volume of recent applications. The Panel were told that outreach events would continue. Regarding risk, he stated that the Metropolitan Police’s recent recruitment campaign, which included a one-off bonus of £5,000 for experienced officers transferring to the MPS, represented the foremost risk to Kent Police achieving the uplift. He confirmed that 46 officers had left Kent Police over the past year as a result of the campaign. He shared his concerns with the development and explained that home counties PCCs had written to the Mayor of London to share their concerns, which he had followed up personally. Regarding officer attrition, he expounded that there was a high attrition rate among new officers with 8% leaving within their first year and 16% within their first two. Recognition that new officer retention could be improved was shared with the Panel.

2.    The Chair referenced the concerns shared by the Commissioner in February 2022, when presenting his budget and precept, that staff costs presented a significant costs pressure to the force and represented over 80% of its overall revenue budget. He asked what the rationale had been behind accepting the Home Office’s over allocation of 43 officer and what financial impact this had. The Commissioner informed Members that Kent Police received significant financial incentives as a result of the over allocation, which included £20,000 per officer in addition to the ordinary Police Uplift Programme rate.

3.    The Vice Chair congratulated Kent Police on its female and BAME officer recruitment, noting that whilst recruitment shouldn’t be purely an exercise in proportions, that it was right to have a force representative of its communities. He asked the Commissioner to investigate what more could be done to proactively increase trust around recruitment in hard-to-reach communities. The Commissioner concurred with the view that it was right to aspire to have a representative police force and be proactive in achieving it, adding that he would continue to engage with staff associations on the issue. Regarding recruitment from hard-to-reach communities, he confirmed that he had been accompanied by a member of the recruitment team on events with faith groups, which had proved successful. Concerning the Police Race Action Plan: Improving policing for Black people, developed jointly by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and College of Policing, the Commissioner assured Members that he would ensure that the Chief Constable delivers against the Plan’s objectives and that communities least confident with the police are proactively engaged.

4.    Following a question from a Member on police officer allocation, the Commissioner reassured the Panel that he had held the Chief Constable to account for his allocation of officers, especially with regards to neighbourhood policing. He shared examples of when this had happened in the past and the overall impact of his efforts.

5.    The Commissioner agreed to continue to lobby government to secure financial support for a universal South East police officer salary allowance, reflective of the region’s higher cost of living and the impact of Metropolitan Police recruitment on officer retention. This was set within a context of home county forces funding, from their local budgets, a £3,000 allowance.

6.    Following a series of questions from a Member, the Commissioner confirmed that Kent Police retained a staff association, that the apprenticeship programme was an industry standard and the main form of entry to the force, and that police cadets partook in the Duke of Edinburgh’s award.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.