College of Policing
Title of meeting:Professional Committee
Date:8 January 2015
Time:11:00 -14.00
Venue: Conference Rooms 1.10, 1st Floor, Riverside House, 2A Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA
Attending Committee Members / Other AttendeesAlex Marshall (Chair) / Diane Peake
Alf Hitchcock / Kate Tonge
Andy Fittes / Harbinder Dhaliwal
Caryl Nobbs / Jayshree Vekria
Chris Eyre / Khadijah Rafiq
Douglas Paxton / Michael Brown
Gavin Thomas / Nilgun Marshall
Giles York / Oliver Cattermole
Joan Donnelly / Paul Philips
Julia Lawrence / Rachel Tuffin
Lynne Owens / Simon Bailey
Mark Rowley / Simon Parr
Martin Innes / Shirani Gunawardena
Neil Rhodes / Steve Kavanagh
Nigel Green / Steve Otter
Peter Vaughan / Vaughan Willmore
Sara Thornton
Simon Cole
Sir Jon Murphy
Steve Finnigan
Sue Steen (on behalf of Phil Gormley)
Tracey Bleakley
Apologies: Simon Parr, Douglas Paxton, Katy Bourne, Phil Gormley, Julia Lawrence
1: Welcome and administration
1.1The meeting observed a minute’s silence for the victims of the Paris terrorist attack.
1.2Mark Rowley provided an update following his attendance at the COBR meeting convened following the Paris terrorist attacks.
1.3Minutes from 5 November 2014 meeting: To include Gavin Thomas in the attendance list. Otherwise approved.
1.4Actions arising from the previous meeting- refer to the table at the end of the paper.
Item 2: Vetting Code of Practice (Lead: Ray Marley)
2.1The Committee received details on the work to develop the Vetting Code of Practice. Changes include introducing a greater degree of transparency in the decision making process, the inclusion of the Code of Ethics and a set of guiding principles that underpin the rest of the Code of Practice, setting out the overarching standards. The Code of Practice will have statutory status. This means that Chiefs must ‘have regard to’ the Code in the application of their vetting policies.
2.2A number of points were raised, including:
- The need to clearly understand the resource implications of implementing the Code,includingresources required to undertake full re-vetting at the point of renewal and costs of implementing the aftercare and the appeals processes;
- Engaging partners such as the CPS and IPCC,as different vetting regimes result in varying standards;
- Whilst the Code includes an existing list of offences, it is not absolute - forces are advised to use their discretion;
- The APCC suggested changing the wording in relation to PCCs vetting Chief Constables to state that vetting officers ‘should’ be (rather than ‘could’) from another force;
- The importance of a comprehensive equality impact assessment.
ACTION: Alex Marshall to discuss vetting standards with the IPCC, in light of the College’s draft Vetting Code of Practice.
ACTION:The College to provide members with additional details on a) resources required to implement the Vetting Code of Practice and b) the equality impact assessment.
Item 3: Digital Intelligence and Investigation(Lead: Steve Kavanagh)
3.1The Committee noted progress to develop the Digital Intelligence and Investigation (DII) strategy.
3.2The Committee noted the progress made to date and discussed the process in place to obtain public consent, noting the external oversight group for undercover policing. It was suggested that the strategy should link in with the online police visibility, crime prevention work and CT related cyber strategy. Members also noted the work of Athena and Minerva forces to address digital evidence transfer.
3.3The Committee agreed this item will come back to Professional Committee once the outcomes from the February workshophavebeen progressed.
ACTION:College to consider an appropriate mechanism for gauging public consent for contentious matters within policing.
Item 4: Mental health strand of the Local Policing Programme (Lead: Paul Philips)
4.1The Committee noted a progress update on the College’swork on mental health, including the completion of the triage evaluations, the development of mental health training for front line officers and work with health partners to address the use of restraint in mental health incidents.
4.2Members recognised the work of the College, the National Policing Lead, Christine Jones and the Local Policing business area in building positive relationships with key stakeholders and developing tactical options to support front line staff.
4.3The need for strong leadership in setting out the appropriate role and response from the police in handling incidents involving individuals with mental health issues and the respective role of health partners, including ambulance and accident and emergency services was emphasised. The contribution of PCCs in providing leadership in this areas was acknowledged.
4.4It was agreed that the College would work with the Local Policing Business Area and National Police Chiefs’ Council to define police responsibilities in this area and agree how best this can be taken forward with health partners.
4.5Further points were made in relation to engaging the right stakeholders such as the NHS Trust Development Authority. The Committee also suggested engaging with HMIC on their forthcoming thematic inspection on custody, which includes restraint and recommended inviting a representative from health to a future meeting.
ACTION:Alex Marshall, Lynne Owens and Simon Cole to discuss the potential to reposition the debate on mental health and the role of the police and consider convening a meeting with the Heads of Colleges to discuss respective roles and responsibilities.
ACTION:Alex Marshall to consider inviting an appropriate health representative toa future Professional Committee meeting.
Item 5: Demand Management (Lead: Steve Finnigan)
5.1The Committee received details of the work being undertaken by the College in relation to demand management. The College is establishing the evidence base for what a typical force is dealing with on a day to day basis. Members welcomed the draft findings attached to the paper and emphasised the need for the College to establish an authoritative picture of the true nature of demand in policing. A clear communications plan would be important given the appetite across the service as well as the public, for evidence on demand.
5.2The work commissioned by the Performance Management and Finance and Resources business areas is focused on understanding the changing nature of demand. Steve Finnigan is taking a proposal to Chief’s Council for a ‘Joint Enterprise’ approach which will be a long term collaborative programme of work to understand the changing nature of demand on the police service.
5.3The Committee raised the following points in the discussion:
- The demand work should address further issues such as: digital demand; the time spent neutralising risk such as time spent on vulnerable ‘mispers’; examining service failure, when other emergency and statutory service providers do not turn up (Wales are collating this); and where existing areas of work are increasing in scale and complexity.
- Martin Innes suggested using the British Crime Survey which has longitudinal data to strengthen the analysis undertaken so far.
- The importance of taking a broader system approach given the impact of cuts to other public services impacting on police demand;
- Looking at the longer term approach, what action is required now to influence the next Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR)?
ACTION:The College to provide members with ‘lines to take’ in relation to the demand management work to date and the College’s intentionsregarding the best available evidence.
Item 6: Domestic Abuse (Lead: Alex Marshall)
6.1The Committee noted the update on the work of the College and national policing lead in relation to domestic abuse, including the publishing of provisional APP and a proposal for ’25 days of action’ to deliver an intensive training for frontline responders, their supervisors and coaches. A force has been identified for the pilot which will commence in March 2015.
Item 7: HMIC update (Lead: Steve Otter)
7.1Steve Otter provided an overview of the work of HMIC since the publication of the PEEL assessments and State of Policing report in November 2014. This includes the first inspection of the National Crime Agency and work to better understand how changes to the crime recording process (due to the inspection process) result in increases in recorded crime.
7.2Members discussed the Ofsted style grading and suggested it would be helpful for forces to understand what is required in order to achieve the next level.
Item 8: Development of Professional Communities (Lead: Rachel Tuffin)
8.1The Committee considered the College’s proposals to develop Professional Communities including proposed roles, the timetable for the appointment of new Professional Community Chairs and how Chiefs, NPCC and wider membership would support standards development.
8.2Members provided feedback, requesting greater clarity in relation to the interface between College and NPCC structures, the availability and suitability of candidates for the proposed roles of professional Community Chairs and National Policing Lead. Some members expressed concern about the potential for confusion in using the term national policing leads.
8.3 The Chair noted the strong feedback from Chiefs and confirmed that the proposals would be taken to Chief Constable’s Council for wider input.
Item 9: National Police Chiefs Council(Lead: Sara Thornton)
9.1The Committee received an update on the work to establish the NPCCincluding: Section 22a;replacing the business area structures and introducingnew co-ordinating committees and developing branding for the new organisation. This will be discussed at Chief’s Council next week. Members also discussed the funding arrangements for NPOCC. The support from PCCs in progressing this matter was noted.
Item 10: APCC update (Lead: Tracey Bleakley)
10.1Tracey Bleakley provided an update from the APCC, including: PCCs currently submitting feedback on the possible powers of recall by the Home Secretary and the operation of the standing groups,with PCCs continuing to work collaboratively. The APCC is also working with the Home Office and CPS on scenario planning in anticipation of the general election. An invitation to participate in this work was extended to members of the Committee.
Item 11: Child Sexual Exploitation (Lead: Simon Bailey)
11.1Simon Bailey provided an updateon Child Sexual Exploitation work. Every force has a National CSE action plan and 30 forces are being supported through the peer review process.The College is now conducting more than 30 peer reviews at the request of forces.
11.2The Home Office has its own peer review team which is linked into the College peer review process. The Holmes team has identified best practice with regards to investigating historical cases, which is currently being shared with professionals in the field.
Item 12: Any Other Business
12.1The Chair requested that members forward on their comments on the Gold Commander Accreditation for Civil Emergencies paper to the College secretariat.
ACTION: Members to provide their comments on the Gold Commander Accreditation for Civil Emergencies paper.
****MEETING CLOSED***
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