PCC Accountability Meeting
Your Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has regular formal meetings with the Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary to hold him to account for the policing service delivered in the county.
Under PCC Giles Orpen-Smellie, who was elected in May 2021, these meetings are known as the PCC Accountability Meeting.
Next meeting
The PCC Accountability Meeting scheduled to take place on Tuesday 30 January 2024 has been cancelled at the request of the PCC. The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 17 July 2024 from 10am.
Read the Public Questions received and published responses
The latest PCC Accountability Meeting was held on Tuesday 17 October 2023 at 10am and was recorded in two parts:
PCC Accountability Meeting Tuesday 17 October 2023 - Part 1
PCC Accountability Meeting Tuesday 17 October 2023 - Part 2
The papers, minutes and recordings of previous meetings can be found in the section below.
The PCC has a statutory duty to hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of efficient and effective policing, management of resources and expenditure by the police force.
The PCC is responsible to the public for the overall policing within their force area and holds the Chief Constable to account through their governance framework.
Transparency is an essential part of the democratic process. For the PCC to be accountable to the public they serve, it is important that information is accessible, easy to understand and fit for purpose, and enables people to have a voice in policing and that Norfolk Constabulary is accountable to the communities they serve.
The PCC has made it one of his priorities to increase community engagement and strengthen the relationship between the police and build public confidence.
The PCC Accountability Meeting will:
- Hold the Chief Constable to account for delivering policing that is efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of the people of Norfolk
- Enable the PCC and the Chief Constable to openly and publicly demonstrate accountability, transparency and value for money over a broad range of police functions, decisions and national publications and inspections
- Demonstrate progress made against the policing and crime objectives set out in the Police and Crime Plan.
The meetings will be attended by:
- Police and Crime Commissioner
- Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constable (and support officers)
- OPCCN Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer, Chief Finance Officer, Director of Performance and Scrutiny and Director of Policy, Commissioning and Communications.
The management, co-ordination and minutes of the meeting will be provided by the OPCCN Performance and Scrutiny Team and all relevant documentation will be made available on the Norfolk PCC website.
PCC Accountability Meetings will be held at Police Headquarters, Wymondham on a quarterly basis. If there are national restrictions in place that impact on public meetings (such as the Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations) then the meetings will revert to a virtual format
You have the opportunity to put forward a question to be posed at the PCCs Accountability Meeting. Please see our guidance on submitting a question for details.
Anyone wishing to put a question to the PCC is asked to adhere to the following criteria:
- Any member of the public who lives, works or studies in Norfolk can submit one question at each PCC Accountability Meeting, limited to a maximum of 100 words.
- Notice of the question must be submitted in writing and titled PCC Accountability Meeting Questions to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk and received at least 10 working days before the scheduled meeting.
- Submission of questions can be done in any one of the following ways:
submitting your question via the contact form on the Norfolk PCC website
emailing your question to opccn@norfolk.police.uk
submitting your question by post to Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Jubilee House Falconers Chase Wymondham NR18 0WW submitting your question using the following SmartSurvey link: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PCCNorfolkPAMquestions/
The questioner must provide their name, address and contact telephone number. Questions must relate to policing priorities in your area or within the county, and should not be those that:
- would more appropriately be addressed to another party or organisation, relate to matters covered by legal or other proceedings
- cover matters relating to the employees of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk
- not be substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting in the past twelve months
- not be defamatory, frivolous, vexatious or offensive
- not require the disclosure of confidential or exempt information
- not refer to any matter of a personal nature.
The OPCCN Performance and Scrutiny Manager, in consultation with the Director of Performance and Scrutiny, will review each question to ensure that it meets the criteria for public questions set out above. Questions that do not meet the criteria will be disallowed but, where appropriate, the questioner will be advised of the correct place to direct their question. Confirmation of receipt of the question and whether it has been allowed will be provided by the Performance and Scrutiny Manager. The final decision as to whether a question will be allowed is for the Chief Executive of the OPCCN in consultation with the PCC.
During the meeting there will be an allocated agenda item for PCC Public Questions of 30 minutes. The PCC can extend or reduce this time allocation at their discretion. Submitted questions that meet the criteria will be read out by the PCC and answers provided by the PCC or the Chief Constable and/or their relevant staff and will be published on the Norfolk PCC website within two working days after the meeting.
Any questions that are not read out at the meeting will be published on the Norfolk PCC website along with the answers within two working days after the meeting.
Where questions cannot be answered at the meeting, an answer will be provided and published on the Norfolk PCC website within ten working days.
Members of the public are welcome to attend and observe a PCC Accountability Meeting, however due to limitations on space and capacity, attendance will be administered through the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk (OPCCN). If you would like to attend, then please email OPCCN@norfolk.police.uk or telephone 01953 424455 and provide the following details:
- Full name
- Address
- Telephone number
- Organisation (if applicable)
- If you consent to being recorded as a video recording of the meeting will be published on our website (we can make necessary arrangements accordingly).
You will be required to pre-register at least two working days before the meeting and agree to the following conditions of entry:
- All visitors must report to the Police Headquarters reception at least 15 minutes prior to the commencement of the meeting to allow time to be signed in.
- You will be provided with a visitor pass which must be worn at all times. At the end of the meeting, you must return the visitor pass back to an OPCCN member of staff.
- Entry will not be permitted once the meeting is in session.
- All mobile phones and electronic devices must be switched off.
- Recording is strictly prohibited – no video/photographic/audio recording equipment are allowed in the meeting.
- You must not ask questions during the meeting, but you can propose a question to the PCC beforehand in accordance with our guidance on submitting a public question.
- You must not disrupt proceedings – your entry is as an observer only and any disruption may result in you being removed from the meeting.
- With exception of guide or assistant dogs, pets or children (under the age of 18) will not be permitted.
- The PCC may impose other conditions before or at the meeting at their discretion.
Visitors’ car parking is available at the front of police headquarters which you will be required to park in to access the main reception and obtain your visitor's pass. You will be met by an OPCCN member of staff and taken to the meeting room. The OPCCN building is wheelchair accessible and accessible toilets are available. We will do our utmost to facilitate access and support for people with specific accessibility requirements; if you have any specific requirements, please advise the OPCCN at the earliest opportunity to discuss any necessary arrangements.
The ninth PCC Accountability Meeting took place on Wednesday 5 July. The meeting was held in person in the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Wymondham.
The meeting was filmed in two parts.
PCC Accountability Meeting - 5 July 2023 - Part 1
PCC Accountability Meeting - 5 July 2023 - Part 2
To view the subtitles on this YouTube video, click the 'CC' icon to open 'subtitles/closed capitals', featured at the bottom of the screen.
The eighth PCC Accountability Meeting took place on Wednesday 19 April 2023. The meeting was held in person in the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Wymondham.
PCC Accountability Meeting - 19 April 2023 - Part 1
PCC Accountability Meeting - 19 April 2023 - Part 2
The seventh PCC Accountability Meeting took place on Tuesday 31 January 2023. The meeting was held in person in the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner in Wymondham.
PCC Accountability Meeting - 31 January 2023 - Part 1
PCC Accountability Meeting - 31 January 2023 - Part 2
To view the subtitles on this YouTube video, click the 'CC' icon to open 'subtitles/closed capitals', featured at the bottom of the screen.
The sixth PCC Accountability Meeting took place on Tuesday 25 October 2022. The meeting was held in person in The Council Chamber at Norfolk County Council. Due to technical difficulties, the beginning of the second half had no sound. Below is a link to the transcript of what was said about stop and search.
PCC Accountability Meeting - 25 October 2022 - Part 1
PCC Accountability Meeting - 25 October 2022 - Part 2
To view the subtitles on this YouTube video, click the 'CC' icon to open 'subtitles/closed capitals', featured at the bottom of the screen.
The fifth PCC Accountability Meeting took place on Tuesday 16 August 2022.
Please note, that due to technical difficulties, there is no video coverage for this meeting.
The fourth PCC accountability meeting took place on Tuesday 3 May 2022.
At the opening of the meeting, the PCC explains how the questions received will be addressed, with the responses then being provided under 'Item 4' - 3 minutes 15 seconds into the video.
To view the subtitles on this YouTube video, click the 'CC' icon to open 'subtitles/closed capitals', featured at the bottom of the screen.
The third PCC Accountability Meeting took place on Wednesday 26 January 2022.
At the opening of the meeting, the PCC explains how the questions received will be addressed, with the responses then being provided under 'Item 5' - 16 minutes 15 seconds into the video.
To view the subtitles on this YouTube video, click the 'CC' icon to open 'subtitles/closed capitals', featured at the bottom of the screen.
The second PCC Accountability Meeting took place on Wednesday 20 October 2021.
Read the Public Questions not covered in the meeting
The meeting was held virtually and a video of the meeting is available to watch below.
At the opening of the meeting, the PCC explains how the questions received will be addressed, with the responses then being provided under 'Item 5' - 15 minutes 45 seconds into the video.
To view the subtitles on this YouTube video, click the 'CC' icon to open 'subtitles/closed capitals', featured at the bottom of the screen.
The first PCC Accountability Meeting took place on Thursday 29 July 2021.
This meeting was held virtually and a video of the meeting is available to watch below.
There was a public questions and answers segment at this meeting. At the opening of the meeting, the PCC explains how the questions received will be addressed, with the responses then being provided from 13 minutes into the video. We have also published a list of questions submitted and the responses given which, for questions asked at the meeting, shows at what point in the video these can be viewed.
Due to technical issues, there is a short break in the video at 45 minutes. A transcript of the missing section is provided under the video.
To view the subtitles on this YouTube video, click the 'CC' icon to open 'subtitles/closed capitals', featured at the bottom of the screen.
PCC Accountability Meeting - 29 July 2021
(Missing extract from 00:45:20)
Chief Constable Paul Sanford: “Looking to minimise abstractions as much as possible, by sharing functions across the force and using smart use of overtime to help this. July has been a busy month for the Constabulary but hoping demand will settle in the next few months.”
PCC Giles Orpen-Smellie: “We have received four public questions related to Roads Policing which I would like to group together – these refer to speeding traffic using St. Michaels Road in Long Stratton; the lack of ‘visible’ policing on Norfolk’s roads and that more ‘unmarked’ policing would be welcome; please can you commit to more visible Traffic officers for non-speeding issues from someone who commutes from Gt Yarmouth to Diss daily; and someone asks what is being done regards to speeding through villages?”
Date: 2021-03-09 / PDF (179 KB)
Date: 2021-03-02 / PDF (2.2 MB)
Date: 2021-01-26 / PDF (186 KB)
Date: 2021-01-20 / PDF (3.7 MB)