Agenda and draft minutes

Received from Councillor Davies.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member's judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

None.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business.  Late items will be considered under the agenda items where they appear.  New items will be dealt with at item X below.

None.

To receive the views of volunteers from Victim Support.

The Panel welcomed six volunteers who worked locally with victims of crime.  They all either worked for Victim Support or the Witness Service, who provided a service at the courts and were run by Victim Support. 

They had been inspired to become volunteers for a number of reasons.  In some cases, this was after they had become victims of crime themselves.  They stated that liaison between the Police and victims could be improved, although matters had improved since the establishment of the Victim Focus Desk. 

Victims had on occasion complained that, amongst other things, statements and crime reference numbers had not been taken.  It was possible that front line officers were sometimes overwhelmed by the considerable demands that were placed on them and therefore occasionally remiss.  It could also be difficult at times to get hold of relevant officers due to their shift patterns or them being out and about.  Messages could be left for them but officers did not always respond.

The perception amongst some victims was that, whilst crimes were logged by the Police, there was not necessarily an interest in investigating all of them.  In addition, victims occasionally felt that they were treated as if they were themselves criminals.   However, it was acknowledged that the Police Service was a very large organisation with many different staff.  Front line officers were different from community officers.  Volunteers had a very high opinion of community officers, who were always very helpful.  It was noted that a high percentage of front line officers were relatively young and inexperienced.

There could sometimes be language difficulties in dealing in communicating with victims.   Victim support could arrange for interpreters but had to pay for them out of their budget.  Not all interpreters were reliable but unfortunately the pool of interpreters for some languages could be very small.  It was suggested that, in some instances, volunteer interpreters could be used from institutions such as the School of Oriental and African Studies.  It was possible that, in particular, students studying law might be interested in assisting.

There were generally a good relationship between the Witness Service and the Police and, as far as was known, there had not been any complaints.  The service from the Witness Care Unit (WCU) was variable.   One particular issue was that the WCU did not always provide the information that Witness Service volunteers required, leaving them with little or no information on victims and witnesses that were attending the magistrates court and whether they were vulnerable or intimidated.  The service received the list of witnesses to attend court (LWAC) documentation but this did not provide all the necessary details such as the charge.   Sometimes the Witness Service was not informed by the Police when cases were dropped.  Such occurrences could cause embarrassment and de-motivate volunteers.  If the Witness Service was made aware of all the necessary information in good time, they could contact witnesses in advance.  It was noted that the same problems did not exist  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.