Annual Report 23/24 Accessible Version
2. Introduction
Commissioner’s Introduction
As your Police and Crime Commissioner, it is my privilege to present the Annual Report for 2023/24, my eighth year in office.
The role of Police and Crime Commissioner covers a wide range of duties across policing, criminal justice and community safety, but the cornerstone is public engagement informing effective scrutiny. Through a comprehensive programme of visits and events I engaged with residents and businesses, listening to what they had to say, and holding the Chief Constable to account.
In this capacity I am delighted to report that Kent Police continued to improve its public call handling performance, with its national ranking for 999 calls answered in under 10 seconds improving from 28th in April 2023, to 2nd in March 2024. Importantly, this means the public are now receiving the service they expect and deserve. The Force also worked incredibly hard to address the areas for improvement identified in HMICFRS’ most recent PEEL inspection, such as how it stores problem-solving plans and shares good practice. With some already discharged, I am confident progress will continue serving only to strengthen Kent Police’s capabilities.
In 2023/24 Kent Police introduced a new Neighbourhood Policing Model. At its heart is early intervention and effective engagement with every Ward having a named police officer. Whilst it has taken time to fully resource, feedback has been positive, and I am confident that it will deliver a better policing service to the communities of Kent and Medway.
As Chair of the Kent Criminal Justice Board, one of the biggest challenges continues to be the backlog in cases. Despite efforts by criminal justice partners and engagement with Ministers, caseload numbers remain unacceptably high. Victims and witnesses should not have to wait months, or years, for their case to be heard in court, and I will continue to press for action that makes a difference locally and nationally.
With the support of my office, I was successful in securing additional funding of £3.2m for my commissioning budget. This enabled me to: provide support to victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse; help organisations to manage increased demand due to delays in the justice system; and to deliver services for young people at risk of youth violence and criminal exploitation. I also issued grants to the Community Safety Partnerships so they could support the priorities in my Making Kent Safer plan.
Kent is a high performing force, but I know they could achieve more with extra funding. Every penny is precious, and I will ensure Kent taxpayers get value for money. I also give you an assurance that I will continue to press for a funding formula that is fit for purpose to secure the funding and resources necessary to protect local communities – now and in the future.
Finally, I would like to thank every Kent Police officer, Police Community Support Officer, member of staff and volunteer for their tireless efforts during 2023/24. My thanks also to the staff in my office for their hard work and support to me as your elected Police and Crime Commissioner.
Matthew Scott
Kent Police and Crime Commissioner
NB: For electronic readers this version has replaced the bullet points in the original report with either numbers or letters. The numbers and letters do not indicate higher or lower priority.