11 December 2024
Minutes of Meeting
Meeting: COT Board
Venue: Scarborough Station Conference Room and via Teams
Date and Time: 11th December 2024, 11:00 – 14:00
ITEM 1: ATTENDANCE
CC T Forber – Chair
DCC S Bisset
ACC C Clarke
ACC B Moseley
ACO L Stitt
Ch Insp M Roffe – Staff Officer to CC
M Chappell – Head of Corporate Communications
I McClelland – GSO, Executive Support
APOLOGIES CFO L Branford-White
ITEM 2: Review of Minutes.
Summary of Discussion:
The Minutes of the meeting held on 02.12.24 were reviewed and approved.
ITEM 3: Review of Action Log.
Summary of Discussion:
Action #591 – Retail Crime Strategic Comms. Initiatives to further drive down retail crime, including the retail crime action days through Dec and in-depth scrutiny of investigations and a better joined-up approach with Neighbourhood Teams, Specialist Teams and Intelligence were highlighted. Comms strategy is developed with input from the Retail Crime Lead and will be reviewed next week.
Action #622 – Angiolini Enquiry. The survey has received over 300 responses thus far and is to remain open for two further weeks. Results of the survey are to be presented at COT w/c 13.01.25. Forward Planner.
Action #632 - Detective Numbers. Assurance was provided that the projected DHEP numbers meets the workforce requirements. Close.
ITEM 4: Estate Plan Update.
Update provided by ACO.
T Edwards, Head of Estates, joined the meeting.
Summary of Discussion:
Future locations for modernised collaborative Police/Fire Stations were discussed in detail, noting that collaborative solutions could only be pursued if it remained in the interest and suited the requirements of both Police and Fire services.
Preferred options will be taken to Collaboration Steering Board in due course for decisions and onwards to planning.
The arrival of the newly appointed Estates and Sustainability Manager has immediately seen improvements being made.
An updated Estates Plan, aligned with the Sustainability Policy, will be ready by end of the financial year.
An update was provided on the progress being made on improvements across the three Custody Suites with Phase 1 of the refurbishments scheduled to be complete by 20.12.24.
Affray Strips have been replaced in York and replacement has started in Harrogate. Scarborough refurbishment is due to start in Mar 25 with all Phases set for completion by Jun 25.
Feedback on the improvements work from the Custody Officers published via Viva Engage is very positive.
Ripon Station is progressing very well and is ahead of schedule for delivery. Acer House, the Sexual Assault Victim Centre in York, will also be complete by Jan 25.
CC will be visiting in the New Year. COT noted the progress being made across a number of estates projects. Estates are encouraged to publish regular updates, with photos, on the progress of the refurbishments via Viva Engage for the information of the wide Force.
ITEM 5: Performance.
D Southern, Data & Insight Lead, joined the meeting.
Summary of Discussion:
The November 2024 performance data was reviewed and scrutinised.
The overall picture remains on a positive trajectory with no concerns highlighted.
Key items of data noted were that response times across both rural and urban incidents are holding well. Priority graded incident response times once again had improved.
Total crime incidents continue on the long-term decrease across all crime types compared with previous years.
Violence against women and girls has reduced.
Noted that Domestic Stalking & Harassment and Hate Crimes are slightly elevated. These areas will continue to receive targeted scrutiny through the Vulnerability Board.
Continuing with the theme of retail crime action, discussions focussed on the opportunities for Retail Crime Coordinators (one per Command) to engage with retailers across the county to sign up to distributed Retail Crime Packs and effectively report crime via the GoodSAM app.
Further engagement with retailers will be coordinated.
Safeguarding crimes were noted as reduced, with missing persons incidents reduced by half.
A discussion took place regarding data analysis options that could be utilised in the future.
ITEM 6: Operational Command Resilience.
Supt Berriman, Head of Specialist Operations, joined the meeting.
Summary of Discussion:
Tactical Firearms Commander (TFC) Arrangements. As a result of the Manchester Arena attack, analysis following major training exercises and review of NYP demand, the number and spread of qualified TFCs within NYP was discussed to ensure sufficient resilience is held to respond to a major event, however low the probability is within NY.
Maintaining an appropriate and effective provision of TFCs, within budget, is key. Various options for coverage with associated costs were discussed.
Options for any subsequent uplift of the TFC rota, shift patterns and locations will be discussed further. After agreement and direction, an updated paper will be brought back to COT in mid-Feb 25.Forward Planner.
Command Roles. A review was undertaken to ensure that NYP held sufficient qualified senior officers (Ch Insp to DCC) to maintain coverage of all command responsibilities. To ensure future resilience it is essential that early selection of the right officer for the right course is undertaken. Following discussion and scrutiny it was agreed in principle that: All officers of Ch Insp rank or above will be expected to hold a command function commensurate with their rank.
Head of Specialist Operations will be responsible for monitoring command role resilience and succession planning to ensure the Force remains able to fulfil command requirements internally and nationally.
Command roles and responsibilities to be implemented with immediate effect. It is anticipated it will take 18 - 24 months to fully transition to the new model.
Decision #379. The DCC will take this process forward. The consultative feedback from Police Federation colleagues throughout the review taking place was noted.
ITEM 7: People Management
Update provided by ACO.
Summary of Discussion:
Detective Numbers. Assurance was provided that the projected increase in detectives following the DHEP course in Mar 25 meets the workforce requirements.
Restricted Duties. The Terms of Reference for Restricted Duties have been reviewed by both the Federation and UNISON colleagues and a communication article will be published imminently.
ITEM 8: COT Forward Planner.
Summary of Discussion:
Items on the Forward Planner were reviewed and noted.
ITEM 9: Chief Officer Team Commitments.
Summary of Discussion:
The COT Commitments were reviewed and noted.
ITEM 10: Any Other Business.
Summary of Discussion:
Retail Crime Operations. Details regarding the planned Retail Crime Operations scheduled for York on 20.12.24 were noted.
COT members will be joining both plain clothes and uniformed foot patrols during the operation.
DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING :
18th December 2024 Time: 11:00 – 15:00