The Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) is keen to support national policing agendas and inform and influence national debates on the future of policing and criminal justice.
Highlight good work
The Commissioner believes a key part of his role is to highlight the good work that is on going in Northamptonshire at a national level, both to develop our national lead on various aspects, but also to lobby the Government for changes and funding that will make a difference to the safety of Northamptonshire.
Lobby for changes
The Commissioner is working with colleagues in the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) to ensure that Government hears a collective voice in order to utilise the strength of the PCCs and PFCCs to lobby collectively for change that is beneficial to all our localities. He is seeking to influence national policy through this approach.
The Commissioner also intends to engage with the Government, in particular the Home Office and Ministry of Justice, to put forward Northamptonshire’s case for change, at every opportunity.
Seek to bring in additional funding
The Commissioner is hoping to bring additional funding to the county through the Government’s Transformation Fund. He intends to influence decisions over the use of the Fund through the Police Reform and Transformation Board so that people in Northamptonshire benefit from the funding at every opportunity.
Listen to inspectors to ensure the force is efficient and effective.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspect police forces and fire & rescue services on a range of subjects and their judgements of Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue will inform the Commissioner on the efficiency, effectiveness and leadership that the services have in place.
The Commissioner is working constructively with HMICFRS to ensure that residents in Northamptonshire get the very best police and fire service.
Support threats to national security by providing Northamptonshire resources
The Home Secretary produces a Strategic Policing Requirement which outlines the resources and capabilities that are required for the county to support any national efforts to prevent and deter threats to national security.
The Commissioner has a statutory duty to have regard to this and will continue to ensure that Northamptonshire can contribute to the national agenda with appropriate levels of resourcing whenever required.
College of Policing
In early 2018, The Commissioner joined the board of the College of Policing.
Through this important national role he is able to shape the development, training and leadership of the future within policing, not just for the benefit of Northamptonshire but more broadly for policing across the country.
Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC)
The Commissioner leads on ‘standards in policing’ for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), which is heavily linked to his role on the College of Policing Board.
Through this role, he helps to ensure that the standards that the public expect of their police forces are upheld and that increasingly the best evidence practice is delivered in policing. It means he is exposed to that best practice and is able to bring it back to Northamptonshire for local implementation.
Police ICT Company
Having placed technology, online safety and data sharing at heart of his Police and Crime Plan – with the aim to bring policing forward to match private industry’s technological innovation – the Commissioner now sits on the Police ICT Company’s board, where he is championing local best practice for Northamptonshire.
This work is also enabling Northamptonshire to be at the forefront of national developments.
National Police Air Service (NPAS)
Acting as the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner representative with the National Police Air Service, the Commissioner is helping to ensure that helicopter provision remains adequate across the country.
National Enabling Programme
The Commissioner is on the board of the National Enabling Programme, which amongst other things is seeking to strengthen the response of policing in the UK to cyber crime.