SPCC Candidate Briefing Pack

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SussexPolice & CrimeCommissionerCandidate Briefing Pack

P C CS

Candidate Briefing Pack2

An introduction to therole of Police & Crime

Commissioner

Following the PoliceReform & Social

Responsibility Act 2011,the public in Sussex will

elect a Police & CrimeCommissioner (PCC), on

15 November 2012.

PCCs will be responsible for settingthe police force’s strategic priorities,cutting crime, appointing and, ifnecessary, dismissing the ChiefConstable, and ensuring thatpolicing is efficient and effective.

With the advent of this role, the ambition of the

government is that PCCs will play a major role

in the wider criminal justice landscape in the

counties where they serve. It is important to

note that the PCC will not be simply replacing

the Police Authority but will be, in the words of

the Policing and Justice Minister, responsible

for policing and crime in its totality. It is the

emphasis on the ‘and crime’ part of the job title

that should not be overlooked.

The Government intends that the PCC will

reinvigorate democratic principles by ensuring

that the public have an elected representative

with a duty to the citizen and the welfare of the

communities they represent. They will hold one

of the most challenging oversight roles in the

public sector. The successful candidate will

need to work with and influence a significant

number of stakeholders, as well as navigate

local political currents.

Policing and the criminal justice system are

complex and multi-layered and require cross-

sectoral cooperation and collaboration.

Consulting with partners on a regular basis will

provide further opportunities for

neighbourhoods and citizens to get involved in

measures to reduce crime.

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Can I stand?As the PCC you will be an important

figure in the community, but you don’t

have to be an established politician to

stand. In fact, you can be independent of

political parties.

The election will be run by a Police Area

Returning Officer (PARO), appointed by the

Secretary of State who will manage the election

process. The returning officer for Sussex is Mr Lee Harris,

Chief Executive of Crawley Borough Council.

If you require any more information on the election

process please contact the Electoral Services within

Brighton & Hove City Council on 01273 291999 or

visit their website for more details.

Term of officeYour tenure of office as the PCC will be four years. The

next election will take place in May, 2016.

Candidates must be:

• A British, Commonwealth or EU citizen

• 18 or over

• A resident in the police force area in which theywish to stand

Key datesThere are a number of key dates throughout the

election process.

The following dates are subject to change and are

taken from the draft legislation.

8 August 2012 100 days till election

8 October 2012 Election period (Purdah)

9 October 2012 Earliest nomination date

19 October 2012 Latest nomination date

15 November 2012 PCC Election

21 November 2012 Final day of Sussex Police Authority

22 November 2012 PCC takes up office

A timeline to show the key stages in the PCC process

can be found here.

Candidates must not:

• Have been convicted of an imprisonable offence

• Be a public servant, including; civil servants; judges;police officers; members of armed forces; employeesof councils within the Force area; employees of apolice related agency; employee of a governmentagency; members of police staff (including policeauthority staff); and members of a police authority.

If you are in any of these groups, you must resignyour post or office before formal notification.

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Police & Crime PanelBeing held to account

As the PCC, you will ultimately be responsible to the

electorate at the ballot box on your personal

performance in office. However, Parliament has

decided that as the PCC you will be held to account

during your term of office by a Police and Crime Panel

(PCP) which will be set up in each police force area.

Key functions of the panel:• Review and endorse the Police and Crime Plan;

• Review and report on the PCC’s Annual Report;

• Review, report and make recommendations on the

precept;

• Scrutinise key strategic decisions;

• Review and have the power to veto Chief Constable

appointments via a public confirmation hearing;

• Review other senior appointments;

• Carry out initial handling and informal resolution of

complaints against the PCC and any Deputy PCC;

• Make reports or recommendations to the PCC on the

discharge of his/her functions; and

• Publish its reports and recommendations made.

The PCP will be made up of representatives from all of

the local authorities in the policing area (county,

unitary, district and borough). It will operate as a formal

joint committee of the constituent authorities and each

council in the force area will be expected to nominate a

member to the panel (15 in Sussex). There is also a

requirement to co-opt a minimum of two independent

members who cannot be councillors. Additional places

can be allocated as long as the number of panel

members does not exceed 20.

The Panel will have the power to suspend the PCC if

charged with an imprisonable offence and may appoint

an acting PCC should the PCC be incapacitated, resign

or disqualified.

PCPs will not replace police authorities or Community

Safety Partnerships. Powers will not include:

• The ability to scrutinise the force or its work;

• The ability to work with the PCC on decisions about

funding and priorities;

• Management or control of Community Safety

Partnerships; and

• Local police or community safety scrutiny.

In Sussex, it has been decided that West Sussex County

Council is responsible for setting up the PCP and for

operating it for the first year.

Shadow PCPA Shadow PCP is being formulated and it will aim to

settle its administrative arrangements and rules of

procedure prior to the election of the PCC.

Key Contact

Ninesh EdwardsWest Sussex County Council

Tel: 01243 752714Email: [email protected]

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Setting the strategic directionand accountability for policing

Working with partners toprevent and tackle crime

Invoking the voice of the public,the vulnerable and victims

Contributing to the resourcingof policing response to regional

and national threats

Ensuring value for money

Working in partnership

What will your responsibilities be as theSussex Police & Crime Commissioner?

More information on these powers can be found on the Home Office website.

• Being accountable to the electorate

• Setting the strategic policing priorities

• Holding the Force to account through the Chief Constable

• Ensuring that the police respond effectively to

public concerns and threats to public safety

• Promoting and enabling joined-up working in

community safety

• Increasing public confidence in how crime is cut

and policing is delivered

• Ensuring that public priorities are acted upon and that the

most vulnerable individuals are not overlooked

• Complying with the general equality duty under the

Equality Act 2010

• Ensuring an effective policing contribution, alongside

other partners, to national arrangements to protect

the public from other cross-boundary threats in line

with the Strategic Policing Requirement

• Being responsible for the distribution of policing grants

from central government and setting the police precept

raised through Council Tax

• Commissioning services from partners that will

contribute to cutting crime

Working with a full range of partnerships including:

• Community Safety Partnerships

• Criminal Justice Sector

• Local authorities

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How can you achievethese responsibilities? In order for these responsibilities to be achieved you

will be required to:

• Build confidence with the public and within local

public sector bodies;

• Define your overarching vision, objectives and

strategy for policing and crime in Sussex;

• Develop delivery plans and understand the data

requirements to develop business plans;

• Engage and understand the full range of partners

(CJS, voluntary sector, local authorities and more)

and how they contribute to the criminal justice

system in Sussex.

Setting the strategicdirection Police & Crime Plan

Currently, a Local Policing Plan is produced by the Police

Authority and Chief Constable which can be viewed here.

As the PCC you will be required to set a five year Police and

Crime Plan in consultation with the Chief Constable that

sets out the priorities, budget, community safety funding

and how you will hold the Chief Constable to account.

As well as listening to views of the public, you will need

to ensure that they understand how their area is being

policed. This means publishing information clearly,

reporting progress regularly and helping the public to

hold you and the police force to account. The more

informed the public feel, the more interest they will

take in policing.

The format or style and detailed content will be your

decision, although there may be specific requirements

during the preparation.

Strategic PolicingRequirementAs the PCC, you will hold the Chief Constable toaccount for policing, both locally and nationally.

The Home Secretary’s Shadow Strategic PolicingRequirement (SPR) sets out the collective capabilitiesthat police forces across England and Wales will beexpected to have in place in order to protect the publicfrom cross-boundary threats such as terrorism, civilemergencies, public disorder and organised crime.

The SPR ensures that a national capacity and capabilityis maintained against a localised agenda. Individualforces are advised what, in strategicterms, they will need to achieve, butthe SPR is non-directive, and does notspecify how this should be achieved.

As the PCC, you and the Chief Constablemust have regard for the SPR in terms ofplanning and resource allocation when itbecomes statutory in November 2012.

Ensuring value formoneyBudget Setting

As the PCC you will hold a shared responsibility withthe Chief Constable for providing effective financial andbudget planning for the short, medium and longerterm. In consultation with the Chief Constable, you willbe required to set a budget for the forthcoming year.Read more information on the current 2012-13 budget.

The Financial Management Code of Practice providesclarity on financial governance arrangements withinthe police service in England and Wales.

A range of other funds will be transferred to the office ofthe PCC for you to commission services. This will meanthat for 2013-14 you will need to identify how you intendto use the money. These currently include communitysafety funds, money for youth offending, drugintervention and treatment and a number of other areas.

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£

Working inpartnershipA huge role like this cannot be carried out in isolation.

Partners from across the community safety and

criminal justice sectors will play a vital part. As the PCC,

you will need to work with the right organisations to

deliver against your Police and Crime Plan. There will

be reciprocal duty on yourself and relevant local

agencies (including local authorities), the fire service,

probation and health services to co-operate.

Agreements will need to be reached with a range of

public, private and voluntary partners working in

criminal justice. This could be contracts or other forms

of commissioning.

The Sussex landscapeAs the PCC you will be responsible for holding Sussex

Police to account for the totality of policing in the

county; from counter terrorism and organised crime, to

tackling anti-social behaviour and crime in partnership

with the communities we serve. As the democratically

elected PCC, you will have a local mandate to drive

collaboration and partnership working.

Sussex Police, under the leadership of the Chief

Constable, has embarked on the Serving Sussex 2015

programme, which is designed to build the right model

of policing for Sussex in the future, by both

modernising the way the Force works, whilst making

savings. This includes a full review of the Sussex Police

estate and streamlining working practices.

Sussex Police has established a structure based on

three pillars of policing; Keeping People Safe,

Neighbourhood Policing and Best Use of Resources

designed to tackle crime, keep the public safe and

make sure that Sussex is a place where we can form

strong, positive communities. A commitment to

spending wisely cuts across all these activities.

A complex network of organisations in Sussex works to

help victims of crime. This includes specialist voluntary

support services, statutory agencies, and a number of

effective strategic and operational partnerships, with

representation from all sectors.

As the PCC, you will need to build on existing

relationships and develop new ones with, amongst

others, local authorities, the Sussex Criminal Justice

Board (SCJB), Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs)

and the voluntary sector. You will also need to work

with national and regional partners such as the newly

created National Crime Agency, to deliver positive

policing outcomes for the people of Sussex.

Sussex Criminal Justice Board (SCJB) brings together

local, regional and national partners from across the

South East with strategic responsibility for criminal

justice in Sussex. The priority aim for SCJB is to deliver

an effective Criminal Justice System (CJS) for Sussex,

achieved through modernising justice for victims,

witnesses, suspects and offenders. As the PCC you will

be invited to attend meetings of the SCJB.

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 makes it a legal

requirement for local authorities to form CSPs and work

with other local agencies to reduce reoffending, tackle

crime and disorder including anti-social behaviour and

the misuse of substances in their area. Priorities are set

using an evidence base of police recorded crime and

local community intelligence. This approach ensures

both county wide and shared localised issues are

identified and tackled by the partnership.

As the PCC you will have a wider role in commissioning

community safety services in Sussex, in close

consultation with these key partners.

East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove CSPs

share some similarities in the way that their strategic

aims are assessed, agreed and monitored. However, the

work of each Partnership reflects the specific

community safety priorities in their area.

East Sussex has five Community Safety Partnerships

(CSP) at a District and Borough level and one strategic

county-wide CSP, known as the East Sussex Safer

Communities Partnership. The Safer Communities

Partnership agrees priorities, oversees a business plan

and monitors performance against agreed outcomes.

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Actions which contribute to the delivery of county-

wide priorities are further developed by four Thematic

Groups which focus on domestic abuse, alcohol, anti-

social behaviour and re-offending. The Steering Group

also has links to other strategic boards which operate

at a county level, including Road Casualty Reduction,

Families with Multiple Problems, Drug and Alcohol and

Youth Offending. At an operational level District and

Borough CSPs priorities are delivered through Joint

Action Group meetings.

In Brighton & Hove information from community

forums and the 38 Local Actions Teams (LATs) is used

to inform plans, which are set out in the three year

Community Safety, Crime Reduction and Drugs

Strategy. This is approved by the Community Safety

Forum and The Safe in the City Partnership Board,

which oversees the work of the partnership and

regularly reports priorities and progress.

West Sussex has six CSPs, a county-wide strategic

group known as the West Sussex Strategic Community

Safety Partnership, which agrees priorities and actions,

and a Members Portfolio Group. The county-wide

group feeds up to the West Sussex Cooperative, which

brings together a number of cross-cutting areas of

focus including Think Family. Two strategic boards –

the Reducing Reoffending Board (RRB) and the Sexual

and Domestic Violence Board (SDVB) – also report into

the partnership. All activities are monitored against a

performance framework and regularly assessed against

anticipated outcomes.

Several key partners have each producedtheir own briefing documents to helpfacilitate PCC candidates’ preparations.

Read our partners Briefing Documents

> Read the Sussex Police Briefing Document

> Read the East Sussex Community SafetyPartnership Briefing Document

> Read the West Sussex Community SafetyPartnership Briefing Document

> Read the Brighton & Hove Community SafetyPartnership Briefing Document

> Read the Sussex Criminal Justice BoardBriefing Document

> Read the Sussex Crimestoppers Briefing Document

Read the Victim Services Briefing Documents> Executive Summary> Listening & Learning

VictimServices

Office of the Police &Crime CommissionerAs the PCC you will have the support of the Office of

the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Sussex,

and you can also appoint a Deputy PCC.

The OPCC will include the small team currently

employed by the Police Authority and these

experienced officers will support you in delivering your

manifesto. The PCC is required to appoint a Chief

Executive who will have a monitoring role to ensure

that standards are upheld and a Chief Finance Officer

who will have Section 151 responsibilities. These

responsibilities can be found within the FinancialManagement Code of Practice, under section 4.1.

The PCC will have the power to appoint or dismiss the

Chief Constable and the Chief Constable will appoint all

police officers.

Independence ofthe PoliceChief Constables will remain accountable to the law for

the exercise of police powers. They will be accountable

to the PCC for the delivery of efficient and effective

policing, management of resources and expenditure,

and ultimately the delivery of policing in Sussex.

While the Chief Constable, constables and staff will be

operationally independent, the PCC will be able to

require a report from the Chief Constable at any time

about the execution of their functions.

IndependentCustody VisitingThe PCC will have a duty to implement and co-ordinate

the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme for Sussex.

The primary purpose of the Scheme is to provide an

independent scrutiny of Sussex Police’s handling of

detainees in custody, ensuring these vulnerable people

are being treated fairly and in accordance with Code C

of the 1984 Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE).

Sussex Police has six custody centres (investigation and

detainee handling centres); Brighton, Chichester,

Crawley, Eastbourne, Hastings and Worthing.

Independent Custody Visitors (ICVs) are members of

the local community who visit police custody centres to

observe, comment and report on the conditions. An

essential purpose of independent custody visiting is to

strengthen public confidence in procedures within custody.

The Authority currently engages with around 70

volunteers, some of whom are also involved in the

monitoring of public place CCTV.

In order to ensure that the role of volunteering works

well for both parties, the Authority has submitted its

volunteer schemes for the Investing in Volunteers

Quality Standard for Volunteer Management.

The process has enabled the Authority to benchmark

the quality of volunteer management and involvement

and improve the effectiveness of the schemes.

Ultimately accreditation of the Investing in Volunteers

standard will enable the organisation to attract the

best volunteers to carry out these important functions.

To find out more about ICVs please visit the ProfessionalStandards section of the Authority website.

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CiEqualities The PCC will be subject to the General Equality Duty of

the Equality Act 2010.

The Equality Act requires public bodies, in the exercise

of their functions, to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation;

• Advance equality of opportunity between people who

share a relevant protected characteristic and people

who do not share it; and

• Foster good relations between people who share a

relevant protected characteristic and those who do

not share it.

The protected characteristics are: age, disability,

gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership,

pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and

sexual orientation.

For more information visit the Force’s Equality andDiversity page.

Complaints aboutthe Chief ConstableAs the PCC you will consider complaints or conduct

matters in respect of the Chief Constable and consider

the outcome of any investigation into a complaint

concerning the conduct of the Chief Constable in

accordance with appropriate regulations.

Want to findout more?If you want to find out moreabout policing and crime,please visit the following websites;

• Sussex PCC

• Sussex Police Authority

• Electoral Commission

• Home Office

• Association of Chief Police Officers

• Association of Police Authorities

• Independent Police ComplaintsCommission

• National Policing ImprovementAgency

• Sussex Police

• Her Majesty’s Inspectorate ofConstabulary

• The Crown Prosecution Service

• Surrey & Sussex Probation Trust

• HMCTS

• Serious & Organised Crime Agency

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Further UpdatesThis page will be continually updated as more of our

partners develop briefing documents for candidates.

We will update the www.sussexpcc.co.uk website when

something new is added to this page.

> Read the Guidance for Police & CrimeCommissioners (PCCs) from theFederation of Small Businesses

> Read the The manifesto for the Policeand Crime Commissioner (PCC)elections from theNFU (National Farmers Union)

www.sussexpcc.co.uk 12

Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner

www.sussexpcc.co.uk