Commissioners Response to Panels Report

Mr B Adams
Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel

Date: 7 October 2024

Dear Mr Adams

Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel – 30 September 2024 - Consideration of Annual Report 2023/24

In accordance with Section 28(4)(d) of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, I am writing on behalf of the Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel to formally report to you their views on your Annual Report for 2023/24 following consideration of its contents at the Panel’s public meeting on 30 September 2024.

I summarise below the main points of interest and concerns as discussed by the Panel. The minutes of the meeting which are on the Panels website provide a summary of the complete discussion which was wide ranging and covered issues which were not part of the Annual Report.

The Annual Report sets out your priorities and the progress you have made in the last 12 months and covers both the Police and Crime and Fire and Rescue Plans.

You informed the Panel that the recent inspection reports for both the Fire and Rescue and Police Service had shown improvements in all areas. The reports could be found on your website.·

Under the Police and Crime Priority 2 and 3, the Panel discussed the Domestic Violence pilot in the Stoke on Trent area and were keen to hear the results and how this would be used throughout the county. This lead to a discussion on the ‘New Era’ service, and the support to the community before police2intervention was needed. The panel supported this, and the other services commissioned to provide specialist support.

You highlighted the lack of progress in some local partnership working, particularly around the wider local criminal justice aspect and court backlogs. You explained that this was a challenging area and that you would continue to use your influence with other agencies to improve the effectiveness of the system.

The Fire and Rescue part of the report, priority 4 mentioned the current pilot of Fire crews of three. You explained that these were normally used as a backup response and wouldn’t normally be expected to be working alone and that the aim was to get to incidents quickly and provide support. You did inform the Panel that there had been one incident recently where the crew had made a decision to enter a burning building, but this had been based on their own professional judgement and their safety evaluation. This incident was being reviewed to ensure that officers safety was not compromised. The Panel asked to see the results of the pilot prior to any decisions taking place on the rollout throughout the county.

The Panel thanked you for your update. This letter will be published on the Panels website. You are requested to publish it on your website alongside your Annual Report.

Yours sincerely

Bernard Peters

Chairman – Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel