Minutes of the Senior Command Team Meeting
Monday 6 April 2009

 

Present:

CC Meredydd Hughes (Chair)
DCC Bob Dyson
ACC Mark Whyman

85. Declaration(s) of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

Presentations

86. Restorative Justice

Superintendent Steph Widdowson gave a presentation on Restorative Justice, the purpose of which was to brief the Senior Command Team on developments at a national level and to inform on the current position within South Yorkshire. Her presentation was supported by a paper which recommended that SCT authorise the implementation of Restorative Justice in Neighbourhood (RAiN) approach across South Yorkshire, on an incremental basis before it being adopted Forcewide.

At the conclusion of the presentation and after discussion SCT agreed to support the introduction of Restorative Justice around both adults and youths; agreed the need to develop a corporate model; that it should firstly be introduced at Barnsley and Rotherham; funding to be found from existing budgets, but funding opportunities to be explored; Supt Widdowson to submit a Gen 14 to formulate a project plan.

Standing Items

87. Minutes from SCT Meeting 9 March 2009

The minutes were approved as a true and accurate record.

88. Action Schedule and Work Programme

The action schedule was discussed and will be updated by the SCT Corporate Support Assistant.

89. Portfolio Issues

CC Hughes

Gave an update on Olympic planning which he said was progressing well and will now start to allow him more time in-Force.

Hillsborough - CC Hughes said the media are directly approaching officers who were at Hillsborough. He said that he had issued a formal instruction that prior to any engagement with the media on this subject, officers should contact Corporate Communications who will offer guidance and ensure that SCT are made aware of all such requests. He continued that this is the most sensitive issue the Force has dealt with and unguarded, inaccurate and false comments by police officers in the past have led to distress for the families of victims. CC Hughes said he was determined to ensure such distress does not occur again. The Force will arrange for appropriate representatives at all levels in the organisation to be available to the media and will mark the anniversary by the lowering of Force flags to half mast for the day. CC Hughes will attend a ceremony in Sheffield which will be low key and private in nature.

DCC Dyson

• Referred to a letter of commendation from Jersey Police which had been received thanking SYP for their assistance with the investigations surrounding the Haut de la Garenne Childrens' Home. The letter had been circulated to appropriate staff members.

ACC Whyman

• Referred to a letter he had received from the Superintendents' Association requesting that SCT extend the recipients of the Post-Related Allowance to include BCU Commanders at Rotherham and Barnsley. CC Hughes to reply indicating that SCT did not support this proposal.

• Gave details of a letter he had drafted to the Home Office in respect of Special Priority Payments to request flexibility in the upper threshold currently applied to South Yorkshire Police. SCT approved the letter subject to slight amendment i.e. it should include the fact that other Forces who are part of the WFM pilot site have already been granted permission to raise their ceiling to this figure. Also a mention should be made that the letter has the full support of the Police Federation and the Senior Managers who are members of the South Yorkshire Police panel.

• De-fibrilators have been provided in custody areas. Training will be delivered within the current schedule of first aid training for custody staff at no additional cost. The de-fibrilators will provide the capacity to provide assistance to someone who has suffered a heart attack either within the custody area or within the building.

• LCJB are creating a role of Business Manager under New Ways of Working in the SYP system on a two year fixed term contract. SCT in agreement.

• Provided an update in relation to the progress of discussions with the NPIA in relation to NPIS. It is clear that the NPIA are keen to work with South Yorkshire Police on development of a new case system, however they have a hole in their budget in relation to support and maintenance which they wish to bridge. In progressing the developments of the in-house solution, South Yorkshire Police CJAD have identified a significant increase in costing, which they have, through prudence, been able to bridge but not fully, there still being a £40,000 budget shortfall which is the subject of ongoing discussions. While we are confident that a replacement system can be developed within 12 months, full connectivity with Libra, CJX etc may take a little while longer, but could be speeded by the inclusion of NPIA.
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DF Hiller

• Gave previous notification that SYP will need to purchase additional Oracle licences, due to the employment of PCSOs and the growth of police pensioners. Similarly Oracle Finance/HR licences are dependent on the total head count of the Force and there may be a need to procure additional licences on this system also.

90. Force Performance

SCT welcomed the excellent performance figures (as yet unaudited). CC Hughes said that for the second year in a row the outstanding performance by the Force has led to there being nearly 30,000 less victims of crime than there were just two years ago. He continued that the Force needs now to focus on ensuring that public confidence reflects the hard work that has gone into our performance and ensuring we do everything possible to support the Policing Pledge and deliver what the public want.

Decision Papers

None.

Discussion / Information Items

91. Implementation Plans - 2009-10 Growth Bids

This report was intended to inform SCT of the district and department implementation plans for each of their approved 2009-10 growth bids. Report received and noted and it was agreed that there should be a bi-monthly update. Queries were raised about some areas of detail.

92. Corporate Health Check Agenda - Departments 2009

DCC Dyson presented the proposed agenda and asked colleagues if they had any additions/amendments. DF Hiller had previously asked that Audit recommendations, particularly in respect of Facilities Management, Personnel Services and Specialist Crime Services, and Implementation Plans for 09-10 Growth Bids be included. DF Hiller had offered more financial support to the CHC process. No other additions.

 

93. Budget Monitoring Report

The Budget Monitoring Report for February 2009 was presented. SCT considered the report, but were concerned that the vocabulary used gave the impression that even positive examples of prudent financial management were labelled as ‘underspends', thus implying that active financial management to the benefit of everyone was portrayed as an error. CC Hughes asked that the vocabulary used be reviewed to reflect which variations in budget were the result of good financial management, to distinguish them from accidental or unplanned departures from the proposed budget.

Audit Reports

94. None

Papers to Review

95. Police Authority - 17 April 2009

95.1 Central Custody Suite - Sheffield

Approved.

96. Business Support Committee - 24 April 2009

96.1 HR Strategy

Approved.

96.2 WFM Strategy and Action Plan

Approved.

96.3 Health and Safety Update

Paper to be amended - need to provide a broader update with a verbal item only on the Health and Safety Inspection

96.4 Equal Pay Audit *Restricted*

Paper to be amended. Clarification around why Band A pay points are a problem and why doesn't that apply across other Bands and also clarification in relation to the allocation of market rate supplements. Also needs to state that if the financial implications are not known at this time then the report should reflect that.

96.5 Efficiency and Productivity Gains 2008-2009

Approved
 
Standing Items

97. Notification to Police Authority

Restorative Justice - CC Hughes to notify Chair of Police Authority of SCT decision when they meet on 7 April 2009.

98. Notification to Force

No issues

99. Any Other Business

Paper on Lead Force to go to special meeting of the Police Authority (yet to be arranged)