APA NEWS 153

Regards,

APA Secretariat, July 2009


	APA NEWS Edition 153 – 30 July 2009

Consultations: Police authorities will wish to note the following ongoing consultations and their closing dates for responses to the APA. 11 August: Policing of Public Protest consultation 14 August: Strategic Growth Toolkit 18 August: Vetting of Police Authority Members and Staff (ACPO proposals). 18 September: Government Equality Bill Consultation 23 September: IPCC Statutory Guidance consultation GEMs : 219 - CLG Consultation on strengthening local democracy (28/07/09) 220 - Local Confidence Surveying Sampling Guidance (28/07/09) 221 - Local Accountability Update (29/07/09) Meeting Papers: No meeting papers this week Events and Training: Police Appeals Training 2009 Flyer (see attached) Booking form (see attached) 9^th Annual Criminal Justice Management 2009: Delivering the Future of Justice Conference Flyer (see attached) www.govnet.co.uk/cjm Vacancies: No vacancies this week	This week: Police Appeals Tribunal Information Violent Offender Orders: Home Office Guidance and Circular The Public Prosecution Service: setting the standard Research Document - Measuring the Effectiveness of Neighbourhood Watch on Crime Reduction New heads of the Police Reform Unit and Public Confidence Unit Police Appeals Tribunal Information *Has your Police Authority run a Police Appeals Tribunal recently?* The APA in conjunction with the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales (PABEW) is monitoring the numbers of Police Appeals Tribunals being run by Police Authorities. Police Authorities will be aware that following the introduction of the Taylor Reforms in December 2008, a new process for managing police appeals was introduced, with the intention of streamlining the procedure and reducing bureaucracy. The monitoring work undertaken by the PABEW will ensure that the new process is working as intended, and will allow for opportunities for improvement to be identified. Accordingly, the APA would like to hear from any Police Authority that has run a Police Appeals Tribunal since the introduction of the Taylor Reforms on 1^st December 2008. We are seeking: Number of Police Appeal Tribunals either dealt with or currently being arranged since December 1^st 2008 Whether or not the Police Appeal Tribunal relates to the previous misconduct system or is being held under the new Police Appeals Tribunals Rules 2008. Colleagues are asked to email or phone Oliver Shaw ([email protected]) on 0207 664 3183 with any numbers they may have by August 31^st 2009. *List of Police Appeals Tribunal Chairs* The composition of Police Appeals Tribunals is outlined in Schedule 6 of the Police Act 1996. It requires the panel to have a Chair appointed by the Secretary of State. The Policing Powers and Protection Unit, Home Office maintains the list of people approved to Chair Police Appeal Tribunals. Unfortunately the APA cannot distribute the list direct to Police Authorities as a result of changes to the release of personal information procedures at the Home Office. Accordingly, Police Authorities that require a copy of the list are advised to contact the Home Office direct: Sarah Muir Police Powers and Protection Unit Tel: (020) 7035 0836 [email protected] The APA is currently in negotiations to publish a copy of the list on the secure section of the APA website; however this process may take some time as it requires the various information security checks from Home Office. The APA will advise Authorities in due course, once the list has been published. *Schedule of Fees for Police Appeal Tribunal panel members* Please find attached a copy of the most recent schedule of Fees to be paid to panel members sitting on Police Appeals Tribunals. The schedule is being updated in the near future and the APA will circulate a copy once it has been finalised. However, in the meantime, Police Authorities are advised to continue using the 2007 schedule. Fees.Mem 2007 (see attached) Fees Chairs _QC_ 2007 (see attached) Fees Non QC 2007 (see attached) Violent Offender Orders: Home Office Guidance and Circular Violent Offender Orders come into force on 3 August 2009. In anticipation of that, the Home Office have published a circular which can be found at the following link: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/publications/home-office-circulars/ The full guidance will be available in pdf from Monday, 3 August 2009 at the following link (currently just a reserved page): http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/violence/violence027.htm The circular contains sufficient information to provide a background on VOOs and their use and we would be happy to provide any further information that you might find useful. The Public Prosecution Service: setting the standard Keir Starmer QC has launched The Public Prosecution Service: setting the standard which sets out the future plan for the merged Crown Prosecution Service and Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office . The Public Prosecution Service - Setting the Standard (see attached) In presenting a clear agenda for the public prosecution service, a debate has been opened about how criminal justice delivery across the board can be improved so that a better service is provided to the public. Authorities are encouraged to contribute to this debate so please send any comments to [email protected] Research Document - Measuring the Effectiveness of Neighbourhood Watch on Crime Reduction Chief Constable Whiteley, Hertfordshire Constabulary has circulated a letter to his ACPO colleagues in England and Wales concerning the effectiveness of Neighbourhood Watch. Letter re Effectiveness of NHW -15 07 09c (see attached) · Effectiveness of NW Research (see attached) The letter gives you what you need in bullet point format, suffice to say, after many years of people asking "is NHW effective?" the research delivers an unequivocal yes it does. Mark Custerson, Programme Manager to Chief Constable Whiteley, will be working with the author of the research, Richard Slatter, to develop the last bullet point in the Chief Constables letter, that is; "With encouraging results on the effectiveness of Neighbourhood Watch in reducing crime, this paper now proposes that future research into effectiveness should focus on the other aspects of Neighbourhood Watch that the public value and on learning from the successes to promote Best Practice within the Watch movement". For more information please contact Mark Custerson ([email protected]) New heads of the Police Reform Unit and Public Confidence Unit The Police Reform Unit and Public Confidence Unit were formed from a restructuring of the Police Reform Unit, headed by Richard Clarke until the end of May. They continue to sit in Police Reform and Resources Directorate, reporting to Stephen Kershaw. The Police Reform Unit (PRU) headed by Sue McAllister now leads on : - Strategic Policy on policing in particular continuing to implement last year’s Policing Green Paper and preparing for the White Paper this autumn Tackling bureaucracy Work on Police authorities and strengthening the Home Office’ relationship with ACPO, APA and HMIC The Public Confidence (PCU) headed by Gus Jaspert leads on: - The target on public confidence that the police and local council are dealing with the ASB and crime issues that matter locally The Policing Pledge Neighbourhood policing and PCSOs; Participatory budgeting; the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme and 101 number. If you would like to get in touch to discuss anything, please do not hesitate to contact: Sue McAllister on 0207 035 3128 or e-mail on [email protected] Gus Jaspert on 0207 035 1929 or e-mail on [email protected] 15 Greycoat Place Westminster London SW1P 1BN www.apa.police.uk For a list of staff and their contact details please click here