The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting including the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner and representatives from his Office, members of the public and the media.  A warm welcome to was given to Councillor Allan Beal of South Holland District Council who had recently been appointed to the Panel.

No apologies were received.

At this point in the meeting, Members were invited to disclose any relevant interests.

Councillor Burke requested that it be noted that in relation to item 8 he was a Board Member of the Lincolnshire YMCA, however would remain in the Meeting to speak on that item.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 22 September 2023.

The Minutes of the Panel Meeting held on 22^nd September 2023 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

To confirm the Actions of the Meeting held on the 22 September 2023.

Members noted that the following actions were now completed:

• Action No. 18 from the PCP Meeting held on 18th August 2023.

• Action Nos. 28, 29 and 32 from the PCP Meeting held on 22nd September 2023.

To consider an update report from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire regarding delivery of the Police and Crime Plan.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (the Commissioner) introduced his latest report on the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan 2021-2025.  The report covered the period up to November 2023 and was attached as Appendix Afor the Panel to review, pages 31 to 54 of the Agenda refer.

The Commissioner invited Questions from Panel Members.  A copy of the questions and responses are attached at Appendix A to the Minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the update report on the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan be noted.

The Chairman informed Members that there were no communications.

To answer written questions pursuant to the Panel’s Rules of Procedure.

There were no questions from the public.

To receive information on complaints made against the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire during the period 2 September 2023 to 31 October 2023.

A report was presented that provided details of the procedures in place for dealing with complaints made against the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire and an update on the number of complaints received during the period 2^nd September 2023 to 31^st October 2023.  The Complaints Position Statement was attached as Appendix A, page 59 of the Agenda refers.

It was noted that no (zero) complaints were made against the Police and Crime Commissioner during the aforementioned period.

No informal resolution of complaints had been required by the Monitoring Officer.

Following which, it was

RESOLVED:

That the Complaints Position Statement be noted.

To receive a verbal update on the work of the National Association of Police, Fire and Crime Panels.

Councillor Chris Burke advised Panel Members that he had attended the AGM for the National Association for Police (Fire) and Crime Panels on the 8^th and 9^th of November 2023.  A copy of the report was tabled at the meeting and is attached at Appendix B to the Minutes.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward, following which the Chairman thanked Councillor Burke for attending the conference and acknowledged the importance of national networking for crime panels.

The recommendations from issues raised at the conference, proposed that future consideration was given to recruiting more than two independent panel members as evidenced in other county areas, and that independent members should be given an allowance to compensate for their time and effort on par to what was provided to councillors.

In response, the Assistant Director - Governance & Monitoring Officer advised that an allowances scheme was being reviewed by the Independent Remuneration Panel and a review was set to take place later this financial year (2023/24) by ELDC as the host authority.  The Remuneration Panel would evaluate and report back on allowances for all co-opted members including the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel. 

Further to discussion, it was

RESOLVED:

That the Assistant Director Governance & Monitoring Officer report back to the panel with any recommendations for establishing additional independent members and provide further updates on feedback opportunities following the next meeting of the Independent Remuneration Panel.

To note the meeting dates and consider the work programme for 2023/24.

A report was presented that detailed the work programme and proposed meeting dates for the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel for 2023/24.  The report also included details of the Panel’s training and development programme. 

Members were informed that the OPCC regretted that due to the considerable programme of work underway at the present time, including the budget and strategic planning for the coming year, it was not possible to provide a viable report on substance misuse, including drugs and alcohol as a strategic topic of the Police and Crime Plan.  The OPCC would welcome earlier liaison on any such topics in the future in order to plan in advance.  Members were asked to consider the re-scheduling of the topic to a future meeting. 

Further to a discussion, it was

RESOLVED:

That the work programme and training and development programme be noted, and that the topic around substance misuse be added to the Panel’s Work Programme for the February 2024 meeting.

An Extraordinary Meeting of the Panel will be held at 3pm on Thursday 30^th November 2023.

The programmed date for the next Meeting of the Panel is 11am on Wednesday 7^th February 2024.

An Extraordinary Meeting of the Panel was to be held at 3pm on Thursday 30^th November 2023.

The programmed date for the next Meeting of the Panel was 11am on Wednesday 7^th February 2024.

To receive a recommendation from the Task Group on the appointment of a Co-opted Independent Panel Member to the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel.

Councillor Graham Marsh, as Chairman of the Recruitment Task Group, advised Members that two candidates came forward for interview who were equally qualified in all aspects and highly suitable for making a positive contribution to the panel.

Through the assessment of the candidates scored against a standard set of questions, and following a recommendation from the Recruitment Task Group, it was

RESOLVED:

That David Williams be appointed as an Independent Co-opted Member of the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel for a four-year term.