Date: Tuesday 4th March 2025 – 14:00hrs
Chair: John Campion
Minutes: Mandy Elliott
Attendance
- John Campion (PCC) – Police and Crime Commissioner
- Marc Bayliss (DPCC) – Deputy Police nd Crime Commissioner
- Richard Cooper (T/CC) – Temporary Chief Constable, WMP
- Rachel Jones (T/DCC) – Temporary Deputy Chief Constable, WMP
- Charity Pearce (CP) – Senior Policy Officer, OPCC
- Nicola Lowery (NL)- Policy Officer, OPCC
- Mandy Elliott (ME) – Business Support Officer, OPCC
Review of Action Tracker
Actions were reviewed, closed and progressed as per the action tracker.
The Chief Constables Assessment on Quarterly Performance
The T/CC provided an update on key areas of performance as requested by the PCC ahead of the meeting.
The PCC sought further detail on burglary and shoplifting action taken, out of court resolutions and clarification on why offenders would accept additional offences.
The T/CC gave an overview of the current process to upskill officers to take a proactive approach to crime resolution with the aim to give victims of the crime closure including those offences that are taken into consideration. The T/CC advised that the incentive for prisoners to admit additional offences is to prevent further arrests at the point of being released from prison.
The DPCC acknowledged the 33% action taken rate for shoplifting and highlighted the public perception that the rate is lower. The DPCC was reassured that the action taken was accurate and an overview was given of the work the force is undertaking with businesses to raise awareness on how to reduce organised shoplifting such as placing higher value goods away from the entrance of the store.
The T/CC praised the standard set by high performing shifts at Local Policing Areas (LPA) with a particular focus on Telford where the Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) has driven up standards with learning shared across other policing areas in the force.
The DPCC highlighted the 15% reduction seen for total recorded crime and questioned if there was any understanding behind the drivers of this. It was confirmed by the T/DCC that cyber enabled offences such as fraud are more favoured by offenders over traditional offences such as acquisitive crime.
The T/CC added that the Hot Spot patrolling initiative has early signs of improved policing to target persistently high areas of crime and disorder. Reassurance was also provided that whilst Op Franklin (Operational change to the local operating police model) will result in an alteration to the local policing boundaries it will not change policing operationally and strengthen the force’s ability to respond to the public.
Quarterly Update on Performance Emergency Response Times
Grade 1 incident attendance
The T/CC updated that response times remain stable across West Mercia. However, it was acknowledged that the force is below their performance target of 90% for Grade 1 incidents to be attended within 20 minutes with only 75% of Grade 1 responses meeting this target. Differences between urban and rural geography were used to explain disparities between policing areas.
Grade 2 Violent incidents attendance
The T/CC highlighted the improved median response time for Grade 2 incidents and discussion took place on the inclusion of Domestic Abuse (DA) figures in the violent crime data. It was acknowledged that the response to DA incidents requires a more bespoke approach to suit the victim and ensure safety. It was made clear that DA will continue to be included within Grade 2 violent crime data due to the level of risk in such cases regardless of the impact on response time performance.
ACTION: T/DCC to reshare the analysis of response times / violent crime data with PCC.
Public Contact Update
999 and 101 performance answered and abandonment rates and resourcing and planning to meet forecasted demand.
The T/CC confirmed that 999 demand is reducing and that 101 non-emergency performance remains consistent with a call abandonment rate of 2%. Further discussion took place on the force’s introduction of a call back facility on 101 non-emergency calls and the T/DCC provided clarification on how this affected waiting time performance and the perceived benefit that the call back facility will provide to the public.
The issue of abandonment rates for 101 calls were discussed as this remained high. Reassurance was given that this is being addressed by wider improvements to increase capacity. The PCC referred to the high performance in the West Midlands for 999 and 101 calls and sought reassurance on the force’s efforts to understand their approach to inform best practice as one of the best performing forces in the country.
The T/CC acknowledged the high levels of performance in the West Midlands and confirmed that work has taken place to understand what learnings could benefit our force area. It was confirmed that further work is required to better understand the feasibility and viability of replicating a similar model in West Mercia.
The following action was agreed:
ACTION: T/CC to bring feasibility and costs of replicating best practice learnings for 999 and 101 performances to WMGB at the end April. (WMGB date: 24/4/25)
SOC Disruption – Drone Activity and Policing Response Near HMP Long Lartin Prison
The T/DCC stated that the briefing report provided to the PCC ahead of the meeting is a preparedness plan and that the overall responsibility for drone activity sits with the Prison Service. It was confirmed that engagement from the local community in the vicinity of the prison was encouraging following the force’s leafleting campaign to raise awareness and the addition of signage in the area.
The PCC drew attention to the importance of people feeling safe regardless of their proximity to the prison. Discussion also focussed on the importance of police visibility to provide reassurance to the community particularly during the evenings when drone activity is more prevalent.
The T/DCC confirmed that organised crime groups (OCGs) continued to test prisons vulnerabilities and clarified that this was for the prison service to mitigate that risk.
Quarterly HMICFRS Update
The T/CC provided an overview on the HMICFRS PEEL hot debrief acknowledging the main areas that were referenced, the improvements that had been made and that were still required. The T/CC confirmed the timescales to respond to the HMICFRS report and advised of his intention to establish a ‘What’s Next’ plan to be in place within the next two months.
ACTION: T/CC to share at WMGB April meeting the HMICFRS PEEL report as appropriate and the draft report for the HMIC inspection plan. (WMGB date: 24/4/25)
Summary of Actions Arising
The actions from the meeting were summarised as follows:
1) T/DCC to reshare the analysis of response times / violent crime data with PCC
2) T/CC to bring feasibility of replicating the West Midlands model for 999/101 calls with costs to WMGB end April. (WMGB date: 24/4/25)
3) T/CC to share at WMGB April meeting the HMICFRS PEEL report as appropriate and the draft report for the HMICFRS Inspection Plan.
AOB
The PCC expressed his desire to work with the T/CC to conduct a review of the Assurance and Accountability (A&A) process following the recruitment of the Chief Constable into the substantive post. It was agreed that it would be beneficial for the OPCC to meet their counterparts in the force to further review the A&A process and focus of thematic meetings.
Confirmation of Next Meeting Type / Date / Time / Venue
Thematic – DE&I – 26 March 2025, 14:00 – 16:00, Room 12 – PCC Conference Room
