Comments on: Setting Local Police Priorities in Cambridge City

By: Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:42:16 +0000

At a recent meeting of the North Area Committee Cllr Nimmo-Smith replied to my chasing to say he had abandoned his commitment to seeking more openness in the way the NAG is run. (In doing so he was turning his back on the Lib Dem policy of openness and transparency).

At the August 2011 West/Central Area Committee councillors were facing many problems arising from the fact they didn’t know what the Neighbourhood Action Group was doing with the priorities they had set; a number of members of the public questioned why the councillor set priorities were being altered by the secretive group.

I suggested the committee should ask the (unelected) member of the Police Authority present, Ruth Joyce, to look into the problems the committee was having in relation to the secrecy, and lack of feedback from, the Neighbourhood Action Group. In response Ruth Joyce made a commitment to the committee to look into the problem and get back to them.

My view is councillors should hold the police to account for their action on the priorities councillors set; if the police have changed or ignored what councillors set they need to be able to explain what they’ve done to the councillors. I think the Police Authority (or in the future perhaps the Police and Crime Commissioner should have a role in solving problems if councillors are unhappy with the police’s performance in relation to the priorities set.)

By: John Lawton

John Lawton — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:34:19 +0000

This is interesting in the light of my comments here: http://www.rtaylor.co.uk/no-police-enforcement-new-20mph-limits.html#comment-56424

I had assumed that the confusion as to whether a policing priority for ’speeding and anti-social use of vehicles’ was set or not set in the August 2010 West/Central Area Committee has resulted in the council minutes listing this priority and the police website not. However I am going to contact Inspector Kerridge to ask for his explanation of this situation. I might ask about the role of the NAG too.

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:13:27 +0000

I followed this up today (26th August 2008) with Mr Nimmo-Smith:

[...]
At the April 2008 North Area Committee Meeting you said you would: “pursue making the membership and minutes of the NAGs public”. You wrote to me at the end of May confirming you were still working on this saying: “I will be pursuing further the matter of ways in which the role of the Neighbourhood Action Groups (NAGs) can be conducted in a more open manner”

You know that I have been lobbying over the past year for the dates of the NAG meetings to be publicised so councillors setting priorities at the area committees know when they will be considered and enacted by the NAGs. I have also suggested that the NAGs report back to the area committees noting if they have accepted or amended the priorities.

I find it hard to get information out of the police, they appear to be institutionally secretive. I am wondering if you have had any more success?
[...]