The Chief Executive presented the above report, part of which introduced the representatives present from the South Wales Police.

 

The Mayor introduced the Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael and DCC Jenny Gilmer to speak on policing covering the 3 basic Command Units and 7 Police Authorities that covered the area of South Wales.

 

He began his submission, by explaining how hard the last 18 months had been for the Police due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which had also affected other large scale organisations, such as the Health Service and local authorities such as BCBC. The situation was also still ongoing, he added.

 

During this time however, he assured that the South wales Police had still maintained a clear focus on its priorities, with local delivery of services and support still being at the heart of the Police and Crime Delivery Plan, the detail of which had previously been shared with local Councillors.

 

The likes of the NHS and Social Care services had been left ‘reeling’ as well as the Police he added, with the Police facing some massive demands during the above period. He confirmed that during the first lockdown, crime had reduced but as society began to re-open, levels had once more increased to as they had been previously and even above that level.

 

Today’s discussion he advised, would look at neighbourhood policing, the role of PCSO’s, responsiveness to 999 and 101 calls, crime levels, violence against females and community and neighbourhood safety. He was pleased to advise Council, that Welsh Government had funded 100 extra PCSO’s across Wales, with 41 of these covering South Wales. Neighbourhood teams also supported these Officers, confirmed the Police Commissioner.

 

With levels of work starting to increase and at times, to an unprecedented demand, the Police had previously looked at ways where they could be contacted other than by 999 or 101 calls. They had therefore added to these methods of contact also, through email and a new single on-line social media system.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner advised that in July 2021 there had been a peak in demand in terms of 999 calls, ie 18,000 which had slightly reduced at the present time. 99% of these were responded to very quickly. Calls made by 101 were not classed as emergency, however, these were also responded to by the Police as quickly as possible. These had also peaked last July, he further added. The latest statistics in terms of 101 calls, reflected that 85% of these were responded to as soon as possible after they were made.

 

Most of the calls were dealt with by the Control Room initially, with the most urgent calls responded to quickly by a police presence visiting the caller/their location in person.

 

As was probably expected, crime levels had fallen during the period where there had been complete lockdown, as there was no night time economy and only essential retail food outlets were open. But certain serious acts of crime, such as for example, drug dealing levels did not reduce in number. Contrary to many people’s belief also, in the County Borough of Bridgend, incidents of domestic abuse or violence had surprisingly reduced. However, numbers of these had now started creeping up to normal levels and above, sadly as had child abuse. Similarly, as the might time economy had opened back up, incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour had increased too back to previous levels or above the pre-Covid period.

 

There were also groups being introduced, such as ‘Drink less, Enjoy more’ and further training for late night premises Door Control staff to look out for vulnerable patrons who may be preyed upon by perpetrators.

 

The Police were also working with the Hospitality industry and joint Local Authority Enforcement Teams, to ensure prevention as well as enforcement of occurrences.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner emphasised the fact that 999 calls were very much a drain on the Police resources, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings. He added that the 101 service had never meant to be operated by the Police alone, as this was initially introduced as a joint service with other key organisations, for example the Fire Authority.

 

He advised that if any Members wished to view the Control Room at the Police headquarters that took the majority of calls, then that would be welcomed.

 

DCC Gilmer then proceeded by giving some information with regards to tackling violence against women and girls through:-

 

·           Actively pursuing perpetrators and where appropriate, ensuring that they are prosecuted, sometimes resulting in a custodial sentence;

·           The Safer Spaces initiative – including reporting to the Police anonymously and introducing a more safer night time economy environment (eg patrolling staff in establishments being alert to drink spiking and acts of crime and violence, etc);

·           Improving trust and confidence in policing (including through important initiatives such as Black Lives Matter);

·           The All Wales Taskforce (that feeds into the UK Taskforce)

 

She then shared some information with Members on Community Safety – Neighbourhood Policing activities, which targeted the likes of:

 

1. Partnership and togetherness
2. Re-aligning leadership to provide improved support to neighbourhood policing (eg through the provision of more PCSO’s)
3. Explore problem solving jointly with key partners

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner advised that he had been one of the people who had introduced Community Safety Partnerships, as part of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. This was introduced as a mechanism of support during austerity, at a time when public organisations such as the Police, Fire and local authorities were forced to make cutbacks in their finances and staffing compliment.

 

There was in place a Safer Communities Board that assisted in co-ordinating safer communities across all the 4 Police Authorities in South Wales, that looked at preventing crime and harm to people, so as to enhance community safety.

 

He explained that the PCSO’s had reduced in number in the last 18 months, in that they had been seconded to cover essential other work that had increased due to Covid-19. However, these were slowly returning to their substantive role, as they were seen as key in that they had knowledge of issues and problems within the local communities in the areas they served and therefore had a head start on being aware of these and of the steps required to resolve these. PCSO’s also had a key relationship with local Members in the areas they served.

 

The Mayor then opened up debate, by asking Members whether they had any questions of the Invitees.

 

A Member asked how much time the Police spent while patrolling town centres, in terms of supporting and picking up members of the public, who may have been involved in a fight and injured or found on the street overly intoxicated, that should have by right been picked up by the ambulance service and taken to hospital. She was aware that this was sometimes the case as the Police were often in the vicinity, whilst the call-out for an ambulance often took a considerable amount of time. Cases of this she felt, must impact on police resources.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner advised that this did sometimes occur and it was something that had been raised by Welsh Government as an area of concern. It was a bit of a vicious circle he added, in that the Health Service as well as the Police were under a tremendous amount of pressure, particularly since the inception of the pandemic and a considerable amount of ambulances and staff were often required as back-up outside hospitals and other essential care service establishments. It was a very difficult situation to resolve all round, he felt.

 

DCC Gilmer added, that often the Police arrived quicker than an ambulance would to provide support to people in situations such as those mentioned above, due to having received a 999 call which are acted upon urgently. With winter months still yet to come and a possible rise in Covid cases, she felt that the current situation could get worse before it gets better.

 

A Member confirmed that he had been well informed that at any one time, only one Local Neighbourhood Police Officer was present ‘on the streets’ north and west of the County Borough. Though he was conscious of the presence also in local communities of PCSO’s, he felt that this was inadequate and that the number should be increased in order to achieve more effective policing.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner confirmed that he would look into this issue. He added however, that a lot of Police time and commitment was spent concentrating on reactive responses to 999 or 101 calls and other on the ground incidents, hence the difficulty placing Officers to patrol smaller community areas.

 

DCC Gilmer added, that neighbourhood policing was at its most effective when addressing individual problems raised by constituents to the Police, that were then fed down to PCSO’s to deal with. Central Government had sanctioned an uplift which would increase Police support across England and Wales by the introduction of 20,000 more Officers. These however, would initially receive training and be subject to a significant level of abstractions in their 1^st and 2^nd year of employment, so the full effect of the increase in South wales, would not be seen until after this time. Recruitment was presently ongoing here she added. DCC Gilmer further added, that it was not only about numbers of Police Officers patrolling in communities and town centres on foot, but more knowing what to do and being aware of the issues that require solving.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner thought it was worth pointing out, that even with the extra 20,000 Officers as referred to by DCC Gilmer, this number was still below the level that there were back in 2010.

 

A member expressed some concerns over the pay freeze the Police had faced in recent times. She also felt that indicating direct reference to ‘domestic violence against women’, may give perpetrators some ammunition, with this being so specific.

 

The Police Crime and Commissioner felt that the pay freeze that had been experienced by the public sector during the last few years had been unfair. When this was relaxed, a significant offer in terms of a percentage increase should be offered, he added. The problem was, that the Police Authority itself would have to fit the bill then for any such enhanced pay increase.

 

With regard to the problem of domestic violence and abuse, this did not just relate to physical and violence, but also incidents of coercive control. The Police had been involved in a programme known as DRIVE, which had involved work that attempted to reform individuals who were prone to acts of violence etc. This had been piloted in Merthyr and Cardiff where it had proven to be successful. It had involved nearly all men, the Police Crime and Commissioner confirmed. Though the funding for this initiative had  been exhausted, it had proven to be so successful and had reduced the demand on Police resources, it had been re-introduced across all 7 local authorities in Wales in 2020.

 

A Member raised a point regarding unauthorised parking and parking infringements often being committed by drivers of vehicles. He was aware that this was a matter for BCBC and its Enforcement Officers. However, he asked if PCSO’s or Police Officers had any active role to play to deter such a problem.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner advised that this was primarily a function of the local authority, though Police Officers could intervene if anyone parked their vehicles anywhere that could prove a danger to the public or other vehicle users. There was scope he added, for some degree of joint working between the two Authorities to reduce cases of this however.

 

A Member said that he could not overstate the importance of PCSO’s in the community. He was concerned however, that when these individuals were trained and moved on perhaps through promotion, this would eave a void in terms of replacement Officers being provided.

 

The Police and Crime and Commissioner assured the Councillor, that there would continue to be a significant turnover of PCSO’s if they were for example, promoted to Police Officers. However, a significant amount of these Officers often remained in their role for reasons of job satisfaction, eg working in and supporting communities, as well as getting to know the residents who lived there.

 

A Member felt that there was a drain on police resources when a person may get arrested in Porthcawl and the support for this arrest comes from Bridgend. Back in 2020 in Llantwit major, four services were re-located in one building, ie the Police, Coastguard service, Fire Authority and the Ambulance service. Llantwit Major had 9,500 constituents. The Police, Fire and Ambulance stations in Porthcawl were all in relatively poor condition and Porthcawl had 16,000 residents. He asked in light of this, if a similar operation undertaken in Llantwit major could take place at Porthcawl.

 

The Police and Crime Commissioner confirmed that this is something that could be looked at in the future with the support of the partner organisations, both in Porthcawl and Maesteg.

 

The Leader closed the debate on this item, by thanking the representatives of the Police for attending the meeting, sharing some key information with Members and responding to questions. He wished to place on record his thanks to Geraint White from the Police who was leaving Bridgend for a promotion, as he had provided a great deal of support to constituents while in post.  

 

RESOLVED:                           That the report of the Chief Executive together with the presentation from the representatives of the South wales Police be noted.