KEY DECISION
POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER FOR BEDFORDSHIRE
Title and Reference – PCC/D/022
Subject: 100 Day Report – Decisions Made
Report of: Police and Crime Commissioner
Date: 24.11.2021
Summary:
The PCC requested for his office to review the 100 day report and note each decision within this decision to ensure complete transparency with the public.
1. The PCC and Bedfordshire Police have agreed to support my model of Special Constables being ringfenced for the area they represent. There is an Agreement between the PCC and Chief Constable that Community specials would be directly recruited and after initial training of 12 months, they would be able to Police their own area if they chose to.
2. The PCC and Bedfordshire Police have agreed to ensure that the Community Policing Model of 64 PCs and PCSOs are ringfenced for neighbourhood work.
3. The PCC has issued £9,000 towards the speed watch groups across Bedfordshire to help bring down road collisions.
4. The PCC has agreed to fund and practically support the Black Police Officers Association Annual General Meeting to encourage and support those going for promotion and to focus on how we can truly make our Police services reflective of our communities.
5. The PCC Funded £20,000 for Bedfordshire Police employees to be able to access quality external counselling support from the Counselling Foundation.
6. The PCC had two young people come and work with him as interns over a few weeks so they could get an experience of a workplace before leaving school. The students from Woodlands school (SEN students) in Luton brought energy and a great attitude with them and the PCC is committed to providing opportunities for ALL young people in Bedfordshire.
7. The PCC also launched his longer-term Annual intern programme. He had two young people join his team in September 2021. They worked on a community-based project.
8. The PCC invested over £90,000 (Roads Fund – Phase 1) for Road Safety across Bedfordshire roads to reduce collisions and fatalities.
9. The PCC has promised £100,000 further investment across our roads for prevention of collisions in the Autumn – Road Fund – Phase 2 – due to conclude in Dec 2021.
10. The PCC has launched the ‘Next Steps programme’ alongside the Force which uses conditional cautions to support people out of drug and alcohol addictions in support of getting them away from a life of crime.
11. The PCC invested £27,000 on safe spaces for young people – Youth Space Fund – The PCC included young people in the decision making process to help decide where and how that money was spent. All funds have been allocated and awarded to various partners across Bedfordshire.
12. The PCC and his office won the Safer Streets fund of £432,000 from the Home Office. The winning bid was for the Dunstable and Houghton Regis area of Bedfordshire, known as Manshead. The fund will pay for 15 state of the art CCTV cameras, new and upgraded street lighting, alley-gates, fencing, and landscaping of target areas.
13. Summer of Fun – the PCC and OPCC set up martial arts and boxing activities over the summer holidays 2021 for Leighton Buzzard, Linslade, Eaton Bray, Toddington, Flitwick, Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Biggleswade, Luton, Kempston and Bedford Town so that young people can have somewhere to go and can be taught the focus skills that come with these sports. There is a commitment for this to be replicated and expanded in 2022.
14. The PCC delivered on his initial commitment to the Victim Code of Practice. The PCC ran a feature on all twelve elements of the code and will continue to support their delivery and the OPCC has worked closely with Bedfordshire Police to monitor compliance and will continue to do this to ensure the best service is delivered for Victims in Bedfordshire.
15. The PCC is committed to the delivery of the recommendations of the Victim’s Needs Analysis 2021 have been allocated to appropriate boards to progress action plans and partner contributions. I will ensure delivery of these actions so those needs are met.
16. The PCC has committed to a further year of funding for the Family Drug and Alcohol Court.
17. The PCC has started a county-wide campaign in an effort to tackle bullying which is a known contributor to Adverse Childhood Experiences, fear and vulnerabilities which can increase the push factors towards serious violence or criminal activities. This is all with the help of ten year old Alfie. Alfie contacted the PCC informing him that he was doing some work raising awareness against bullying and the impact on Mental Health. The PCC met with Alfie to discuss how they can work together and a decision was made to support Alfie and endorse his message.
18. The PCC has directly engaged with young people through school visits in his first 100 days. The PCC continues to commit to visiting as many schools in Bedfordshire in line with his commitment in his plan for proactive work in Early Intervention.
19. The PCC has kept to his commitment of transparent communication, he has published recordings of the Strategic Board Meetings/Delivery Board where he supports and offer scrutiny to Bedfordshire Police.
20. The PCC has spoken with Central Government since the start of his appointment and will continue to push the messages about Bedfordshire and lobby Government until permanent change is won in regards to Funding.
Recommendation:
To note decision
Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner
I hereby approve the recommendations above.