Independent Custody Visitors' Annual Report. The Independent Custody Visiting Scheme gives us real insight into conditions in custody and provides reassurance that someone independent of the Police is monitoring standards. The scheme is run by volunteers. Note that this is the only police custody suite in the whole of Gloucestershire. It was a good report highlighting staff professionalism and volunteer dedication. I asked about documentation quality as the report does not detail any new digital tools or audit schedules to assist. The no black representation on the ICV Panel so not representative of the community. 577 young people detained Cllr. wants to know if this figure is going down because we don't really want to see children being held in custody.

Next was a presentation on how Police and Crime Commissioners use the Office of National Statistics Data to hold the Chief to account. They use ONS and Police data. They look at 100 metrics per month to compare constabulary performance. OPCC looks at data over a longer term trend. It changes month to month and can go up or down. They look for signals in the data. They can spot quite early when things happen. This triggers further investigation. Normal bounds are established for normal monthly fluctuation. They focus on breaches of these bounds (immediate flag). Three consecutive months close to limits also a flag. PCC loves the methodology, it helps him hold T/CC to account.

I was pointed out that the picture maybe different when MSF (Most Similar Forces) or national data is overlaid on the Gloucestershire data. Went on to show shop lifting and crime trend. DPCC says looking at local data in isolation can give a perverse picture of what's going on. But the presentation concluded, that when compared to MSF "Rising crime figures aren’t necessarily a concern", which I thought seemed complacent. The PCC and DPCC pointed out that they had identified and reacted to local spike. Operation Shield . How this helps local businesses in Wotton, Dursley, Nailsworth and Stroud remains to be seen.

Update from the PCC. Royal Air Tattoo went off well, huge effort. Meeting with GCC Chief Exec, good levels of communication. Operation Shield spend overtime budget on Jul, Aug, Sept, six fold increase on patrol hours. In Cheltenham and Gloucester seen more uniformed activity. Led to many arrests, more stop search and a reduction in ASB.

PCC and Constabulary put in much time in preparation for the protest at the immigration hotel in Gloucester. PCC says the assistant chief put out a message to the whole force about when you are involved in protests to remember the importance of being independent, impartial, no perception of two tier policing etc. Which is what they did. No arrests. Had help from other forces.

Meeting with MP about street medics and funding. One element of the night time economy and wants NHS to stump up more cash for this. PCC insists attending the Air Tattoo is not a 'jolly', DPCC joins in the defence. PCC laments that the peaceful Palestinian Action protesters in London caused the Met to arrest over 500 people. Questions about custody capacity should that happen in Glos. No problem as they can use other forces custody suites, like Wiltshire's, if required.

Chief Executive Report was taken as read. I asked, regarding performance monitoring, why isn't dis-proportionality measured? Our constabulary is the worst in the MSF group, now 10 times more likely to be stop searched if you are black in Gloucestershire. PCC finds the phrase, Institutional Racism, difficult and thinks it could be used as a weapon against the police. He wants to treat all protected characteristics the same. DPCC says monitoring dis-proportionality is in the new plan (new priority for trust and confidence in policing comparing that nationally). Work in progress.

Cllr looks at savings £12m wants to know about the 95% achieved what impact it has that had? Another £9m saving will have to be made in future. T/CFO says it's tough but hasn't seen degradation of service. However they are in a minority of half a dozen forces who are going to struggle over the medium term to make savings. 2026/27 they can make the savings but beyond that is going to be very difficult.

Agenda pack.