Agenda item

(Safer, Greener & Transport Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-041-2017/18).

(1)        That £215,000 per annum budget provision be made in the District Development Fund (DDF) for 3 years, to fund the following provision, for a pilot period of three years from April 2018 to March 2021:

            (a)        the employment of three full-time Police Officers by Essex Police,    including a Sergeant and two Police Constables, to be tasked and directed by   the Council;

            (b)        the commissioning of Parkguard security company to undertake       targeted patrolling and youth engagement work; and

            (c)        the delivery of additional, targeted sessions at Crucial Crew and      Reality Roadshow;

(2)        That a Service Level Agreement (SLA) be drawn up with Essex Police to set out the detailed requirements and arrangements relating to decision 1(a) above, in line with the Heads of Terms for the SLA set out in the report;

(3)        That the cost of £215,000 per annum be funded by increasing the Council Tax by £3.69 (2.5%) per annum for a band ‘D’ property; and

(4)        That regular monitoring reports be submitted to the Communities Select Committee every six months by the Community Safety Team throughout the life of this initiative.

The Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener & Transport presented a report on the options and implications of the Council directly funding the employment of Police Officers within the Epping Forest District.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that, at its meeting on 7 December 2017, it had considered a report on the proposal for the Council to fund the employment of additional Police Officers, employed by Essex Police, but tasked by the Council’s Community Safety Team. This would be to supplement Essex Police’s existing District Community Policing Team in light of the high number of burglaries, crimes and anti-social behaviour in the District.

The Portfolio Holder advised the Cabinet that a recommendation from this report was that Officers would further investigate the implications of the Council funding additional Police Officers. The work undertaken to collate this information included an initial meeting with the Police District Commander and desk research, followed by a telephone conference with Nottinghamshire Council and a meeting with the management of Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, both of which employ additional Police Officers within their areas.

The Portfolio Holder stated the District Commander was very clear that Essex Police saw the proposal as a really positive initiative and that the abstraction of Officers would only happen in extreme cases and for very high priority incidents in Essex. He also confirmed that any staff sickness and Police training of the Council-funded Police Officers would be covered by a credit to the Council. The Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock had been operating a direct Policing service for over five years with Essex Police and the arrangement had worked very well. There had only been a small number of abstractions over the period of their Service Level Agreement.

The Portfolio Holder reported that the costs of employing dedicated Police Officers, along with the commissioning of Parkguard Security Company to undertake targeted patrolling and youth engagement work, for a pilot period of three years would be £215,000 per annum. It was requested to make provision for this from the District Development Fund, and increase the District Council Tax to pay for it equating to an increase of £3.69 (2.5%) for a Band ‘D’ property. A Service Level Agreement with Essex Police would be drawn up to set out the detailed requirements for the employment of the three Police Officers.

Cllr Breare-Hall (Environment) felt this was a good proposal, although it was  acknowledged that it was unfortunate for the Council to have to fund this. Cllr Breare-Hall also requested some form of monitoring to ensure that Essex Police did not remove the current regular Police resources within the District. Cllr H Kane (Leisure & Community Wellbeing) supported the use of Parkguard Security Company, but enquired whether there were any savings that could be made to fund these initiatives. Cllr Mohindra (Finance) stated that possible savings were investigated but none could be identified, therefore it was right to increase the District Council Tax precept for this, although this was only expected to be a three year stop-gap measure. Cllr Grigg (Assets & Economic Development) felt that residents would be prepared to pay a little extra District Council Tax for this initiative, and supported the suggested monitoring regime.

Cllr Murray welcomed the acknowledgement of the issue but could not support the District Council funding a service which it should not be providing. It was highlighted the precept for Essex Police was higher than the District Council precept for a Band ‘D’ property, and Essex Police was planning to increase their precept for 2018/19 by £12 so the District Council should be arguing for its fair allocation of resources from Essex Police. Cllr Murray reminded the Cabinet that the Government was considering increasing the resources available for the Police, and the stated priority of the new Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner would be increasing Community Policing resources in 2018/19. It was emphasised that the Council did not intervene to replace other services which were previously closed or run down by other bodies; the District Council Tax precept should only be raised to provide services that the District Council was legally responsible for, and the District Council should not be paying for Police Officers!

Cllr Mohindra responded that the Council had been very successful in generating revenue over the years, and hence the District Council precept was generally lower than comparable authorities throughout the country. Essex had fewer Police Officers than any other county in England, and it was hoped that Essex Policing would get an increased level of funding from the Government in due course. However, it was only right that the Council should assist until more resources from elsewhere became available as the Council was financially stable with the resources to do so. The Portfolio Holder added that the proposed increase in the District Council precept would be ring-fenced for this initiative and it was hoped that it would not need to be extended after the three-year pilot had finished. The Council was arguing its case with Essex Police but the District needed extra resources now. If the proposals were agreed tonight then it was expected that the extra resources would be deployed by June 2018 at the latest.

Cllr Sartin requested that this initiative benefit the whole of the District, and not just the urban areas, as the current Police presence in the rural areas was negligible. The Portfolio Holder accepted that the proposals would have to provide a visible Police presence across the whole of the District, but they would double the number of Police Officers across the District from three to six. Cllr Knight felt that this proposal would send the wrong message to Essex Police in that the District Council would make good any shortfalls, and enquired whether any other Councils had something similar. The Portfolio Holder responded that there were other Councils doing something similar - some of the London Borough Councils and Nottinghamshire County Council – and the work of these Officers would be directed by the Council’s Community Safety Team. Monitoring of their duties would also be included in the prospective Service Level Agreement. The Council would not give any assurances that it would always make up any shortfall in resources, but the Council would bring pressure to bear on the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner to give the District the Police Service it needed.

Cllr Mohindra commented that the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner would see this initiative as only a short-term measure, but the Council also needed to manage the expectations of residents as they would not see Police Officers continually on patrol with only three extra Police Officers being provided. Cllr Mohindra also highlighted the additional funding for the Crucial Crew event.

The Leader of Council opined that Essex Police had been under-funded over the past decade, and anti-social behaviour had increased across the District in both rural and urban areas. The District Council was taking action now to deal with this, but only for a three-year period, and the Council would not have to pay for these Officers if they were called away to deal with an emergency elsewhere in Essex (i.e. an abstraction). There was a need to monitor the success of this initiative, and the Leader proposed that regular progress reports be submitted every six months by the Community Safety Team to the Communities Select Committee.

Decision:

(1)        That £215,000 per annum budget provision be made in the District Development Fund (DDF) for 3 years, to fund the following provision, for a pilot period of three years from April 2018 to March 2021:

            (a)        the employment of three full-time Police Officers by Essex Police,    including a Sergeant and two Police Constables, to be tasked and directed by   the Council;

            (b)        the commissioning of Parkguard security company to undertake       targeted patrolling and youth engagement work; and

            (c)        the delivery of additional, targeted sessions at Crucial Crew and      Reality Roadshow;

(2)        That a Service Level Agreement (SLA) be drawn up with Essex Police to set out the detailed requirements and arrangements relating to decision 1(a) above, in line with the Heads of Terms for the SLA set out in the report;

(3)        That the cost of £215,000 per annum be funded by increasing the Council Tax by £3.69 (2.5%) per annum for a band ‘D’ property; and

(4)        That regular monitoring reports be submitted to the Communities Select Committee every six months by the Community Safety Team throughout the life of this initiative.

Reasons for Decision:

This proposal originally emanated from a series of high profile anti-social behaviour and crime incidents in Hillhouse, Waltham Abbey and in Epping High Street. However, over recent months, the District had also seen a significant escalation in the number of dwelling and motor vehicle burglaries (currently the highest number out of all Essex Local Authorities), which had resulted in Essex Police deploying a range of county-wide resources to try to address and deter the high level of crime.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To await the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner plan and timescale for increasing the Council Tax precept for Local Community Policing, to see if additional Policing resources were deployed to the District as a result.

To await the results of the recent Government plan to increase the Policing Budget across the UK.