Commissioners Response to Panels Report
Mr B Adams
Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
Date: 7 August 2025
Dear Mr Adams
Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel – 28 July 2025 -Consideration of Annual Report 2024/25
In accordance with Section 28(4)(d) of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, I am writing on behalf of the Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel to formally report to you their views on your Annual Report for 2024/25 following consideration of its contents at the Panel’s public meeting on 28 July 2025.
I summarise below the main points of interest and concerns as discussed bythe Panel. The minutes of the meeting which are on the Panels website provides a summary of the complete discussion which was wide ranging and also covered issues which were not part of the Annual Report.
The Annual Report sets out your priorities and the progress you have made in the last 12 months and covers both the Police and Crime and Fire and Rescue Plans.·
You provided a brief summary of the report highlighting the main areas of progress over the previous 12 months. You informed the Panel that crime figures for Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) and rural crime had reduced. Call handling had improved; road safety has been enhanced; and arrests and police productivity and prosecutions had increased. There had been a number of distractions over the past 12 months, such as the public order disturbances last summer and on going protests which were affecting progress. Other challenges were from Court backlogs both Crown and Magistrates; pay2settlements and government financial settlements. Road policing and Children’s services remained a priority and work was ongoing to ensure that the right support was offered by the right service.
The panel felt that the results from your public consultation exercise were not adequately reflected in the report. The way the results had influenced priority setting and how the priorities were being addressed, should be more clearly visible. You explained that the public consultation had informed the plans and priorities, but there was a balance which you had to make with other priorities such as children at risk or domestic violence which carried greater risk but affected less people. You stated that the plan needed to demonstrate openness and cover all priorities but you accepted that there may not be enough link between the public conversation and how it had influenced the plans.
During questioning, you confirmed that some types of crime e.g. ASB and other community crime, had reduced and it was not due to less reporting. The Panel suggested more data in the report could demonstrate this as it could show increased contact levels but reduced incidents. You did confirm that the data was publicly available in the performance packs on your website.
In summary, the Panel thanked you for your update and suggested that future Annual Report would benefit by containing a thread, linking the results of the public consultation exercise with priority setting and performance data, in order to demonstrate trends.
This letter will be published on the Panels website. You are requested to publish it on your website alongside your Annual Report.
Yours sincerely
Richard Cox
Chairman – Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel