Interview with Matthew Nix, Chief Superintendent Kent Police

The Chairman formally welcomed Chief Superintendent Matthew Nix to the meeting, joining Mrs Cook and Mr Adams.

Mr Nix began by referring to Ian Learmouth, the newly appointed Chief Constable, explaining that his priorities for Maidstone and Kent demonstrated a clear steer on Public Services.

Mr Nix explained the Change Programme which would accommodate the 20% reduction in budget over the next four years.  He informed Members that there would be an operational policing model and that it was important to get this right first but also made reference to the ‘back office’ and said that no individual would be unaffected; everyone would have to think differently.  There would also be a freeze on recruitment. Neighbourhood policing would be the bedrock of everything they were doing, he was pleased to say.  They would be broadening frontline duties and there would a crucial sense of ownership for your ‘patch’.

Maidstone would stay as a custody centre and the centre of divisional headquarters which he said he felt it needed to be as the county town.

He expressed there needed to be senior management liaison at all level and included Inspector David Coleman, and a cross cutting relationship between the Town Centre and Councillors in this.

In his presentation Mr Nix, showed the new geographic police structure for Kent which would be divided into three areas; north, west and east. As Chief Superintendent of West Kent Division he would be a single point of contact and accountable for everything that happened in the vicinity.  He explained the proposed new shift pattern which would provide local flexibility with Officers on shift, when needed.  He spoke of the 24/7 response based at Maidstone as something that had wanted to achieve from a managerial point of view for sometime and would be based on demand. Mr Nix highlighted the reduction in crime in Maidstone over the past 4 years. He explained that Maidstone had the lion’s share of resources and would have ownership of 1^st line response with no artificial boundaries, it would benefit from the closest response.  This was highlighted as a big, structural change.  He described a back to basics, core business approach in response to the budget cuts that would keep the impact minimum.  Members were complimentary on the approach described and the idea of local ownership.  They questioned the implementation timescale and were told that it would be in place by the end of the calendar year.  Members questioned the Officer on staff awareness of the changes.  Mr Nix responded that there was a huge amount of communication with weekly open meetings and questions and answer sessions with staff.  Members questioned whether the cutbacks would result in greater powers for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs).  The Officer explained that it was a discretionary power that the new Chief Constable, Ian Learmouth, was in favour of enhancing. With regard to the spending review, he explained that the budget for PCSOs was ring fenced. The officer explained the huge amount of background work completed over the past year in line with the changes and that those selected to command would be developing over the next nine months.  Kent Police Association Member (KPA), Councillor Chittenden, spoke of his involvement and his role in scrutinising the work of the Police which would continue over the next 12 months until they were replaced with Police Commissioners. Mr Nix returned to the changes and explained neighbourhood policing and its principles. The number of officers would depend upon the demand with details to come in April which would include implementation time. Once the details were known it would be communicated to the public.

Members congratulated Mr Nix on his appointment as Chief Superintendent of the West Kent Division particularly as positions were to be halved across Kent.  Members questioned the capabilities of the new ways of working. The Officer explained that there would be the same capability in response policing and that he as well as front line Officers were confident that it would work.  There would be less senior managers which would make communication and accountability easier and reinforce links between the control room and staff.

Links with other counties were explored by Members, Essex in particular.  Mr Nix explained that Kent were not looking to merge with Essex but that there was collaboration on IT and procurement and that Kent could make use of their helicopter.  The Serious Crime Directorate was based in Ebbsfleet and this shared service also saved Kent money, making the back office function cheaper to run with no significant impact on Maidstone.  Councillor Chittenden[AW1] reiterated this opinion and explained that the Serious Crime Directorate was similar to Maidstone Borough Council’s partnership working. Members questioned staff morale.  Mr Nix explained that whilst people wanted to live and work in the right place in order to have a quality of life there was an enormous sense of goodwill within the police with the job being something of a vocation.

In response to Members questions Mr Nix explained that there had been an increase in PCSOs due to the freeze on recruitment and because the role was seen as a stepping stone in to the Police.  Members referenced the crime statistics which showed a 5.7% reduction in crime in Kent. Mr Nix told members that Maidstone’s Basic Command Unit (BSU) was the best performing in Kent and overall for Maidstone there had been a 2% reduction in crime which was the 5^th continuous year.  The Committee asked Mr Nix what his personal ambitions were.  He told members that despite the changes he was confident the right ethos was in place to provide continuity for local people and to provide ownership on local issues.

Mr Nix discussed with Members the possibility of magistrate’s courts harmonising to accommodate the new policing boundaries.  Mr Nix felt that it would be better if this was to happen for the victim and witnesses so everything could be dealt with, within ‘the patch’ but he said he did not feel that this would happen across all partnerships.  With regard to the new divisional boundaries of north, east and west Kent Members asked if the patrols and shifts had changed.  Mr Nix explained that they had but they had work to do to ensure the model was correct and that once that happened there would be force wide changes across the county.  He explained that the police federation was currently engaged with the force on working out shift patterns. Members were told that Maidstone would see an increase in staff and that the night time economy would benefit from the same officers building relationships with business and door staff.

The Officers were all thanked for attending the meeting.

It was resolved that: the Committee should be updated on the Change Programme at the time of implementation which will coincide with the Crime and Disorder Committee’s next meeting.