20 May 2025

​Record of actions and decisions

Title: Chief Officer's Management Board - Strategic
Date: Tuesday 20 May 2025
Venue: Clift Room

Attendees

Apologies

• ACO Gavin McKinnon
• T/ACC Tracey Quiller

1. Approval of the record from Tuesday 6 May 2025

The record of the last meeting was approved.

2. Matters arising/action updates

• Action 02/25 – a paper was provided at item 3 in the meeting and the action discharged.

3. Attendance management update and PSE absence

PSE Becky Humphreys presented the paper as previously shared and highlighted the absence position and the local and force-wide work being undertaken to address the review findings and the further opportunities.

It was noted officer absence rose by 0.2 average days and PSE absence by 1.0 average days compared to the last reporting year, though a downward trend was observed over the past six-month period. Psychological absences accounted for the highest proportion of absences for both officers and staff. Absence levels and reasons for absence for Kent Police tracks in the middle compared to other forces and the wider public sector nationally.

It was noted Public Protection, FCIR and Crime Commands had the highest levels of absence and of the three divisions, East tracked the highest. Home based workers had lower average absence compared to non-home based workers.

PSE Humphreys outlined the strategies in place for managing and reducing absence and Chief Officers provided further updates and context for their commands.

PSE absence – action item 02/25
PSE Humphreys advised a review of the Attendance Management Protocol was undertaken and a number of work-streams for improvement were identified. An update on these work-streams was provided in the report and opportunities for further improvements were identified.

Chief Officers discussed the findings and further potential enhancements, including resilience, and were supportive of the current and future work proposed.

It was agreed the next report will continue to include details of current and future work-streams. Further discussions would take place between HR and managers, with an update on observations made to be included in the next six-monthly COMB report.

4. Health and safety update

PSE Becky Humphreys presented the paper as previously shared and highlighted key points on the eight areas identified within the report. Health and safety governance is strategically managed by the quarterly force H&S Board, chaired by the Director of Human Resources and attended by heads of department. Local boards are held and feed into this meeting.

Fire drill compliance has been 100% in recent years with drills scheduled six-monthly, however the legal requirement is only annually. Chief Officers approved the amendment of the force’s policy to annual fire drills but agreed to revisit this decision if compliance drops.

The chief constable encouraged any Chief Officers who have not yet completed first aid training to do so and encouraged continued health and safety messaging to officers and staff via inSite. The chief constable was resolute on maintaining a sufficient provision of Evac chairs, AEDs and first aid kits in good working order.

5. Tasers

Ch/Supt Simon Alland presented the paper as previously shared setting out proposals for the current and future operational Taser fleet, and seeking agreement to:

• an extension of the existing Taser X2 fleet beyond seven years operational service
• consideration of the purchase of Taser T10 and implementation timescales timings
• agreement to support further development of training, resource and estate implications

New action 10/25:
It was agreed Ch/Supt Alland would produce a document outlining how risk and operational availability would be mitigated for the chief constable to then authorise the removal of Taser X2 units over seven years old from operational use.

Chief Officers agreed to procure the Axon T10 taser units as soon as possible balancing procurement and training needs.

New action 11/25:
Chief Officers requested Ch/Supt Alland review the STO eligibility criteria and explore a STRA based proposal and bring a paper back to COMB.

Ch/Supt Alland agreed to work with Finance, IT and L&D to develop a business case for allocation, procurement, roll out and training.

6. Single emergency attendance time

DCS Pat Holmes presented the paper as previously shared. It was noted as development continues across the county, there is less differentiation between urban and rural areas and the proposal for a standardised response time reflects this changing demographic.

Chief Officers agreed to the use of a single emergency attendance time of 20 minutes, regardless of location.

DCS Holmes agreed to discuss and agree longer-term performance aspirations and the publication of attendance times with the DCC.

5. Any other business

Kent Police Federation officer post
ACO Richard Leicester presented the paper as previously shared requesting consideration of a fourth full-time Federation post being extended beyond October 2025, with consideration for the extension lasting until the end of the current Federation triennial election cycle.

Chief Officers approved the fourth full time Federation post.

Date of next meeting

Tuesday 17 June 2025, 1pm, Clift Room.