Chamber and committees

I understand that, but closures have still put money into your capital budget.

Okay—thank you.

That is helpful. I cannot help thinking about the contrast between what you have said about future proofing and forward planning and the problems that we are having with connectivity for body-worn cameras. Given that other forces in the UK are using body-worn cameras, I still cannot understand the problems and complexities that you are running into.

Good. Thank you.

Finally, I want to ask about the part of your submission on science, innovation and technology. It mentions developing the use of data science and so on, and also mentions artificial intelligence. What part would that play in on-going policing?

I move on to the part of your submission where you talk about supporting victims. You say that you will do so

“through improved trauma informed policing and a victim-centred approach”.

How are you doing that, and how is it going so far?

Thank you. I have a few questions about the three-year business plan priorities. I do not want to labour the point but, in your submission, you say that you

“will seek to streamline back-office functions to create efficiencies”.

Notwithstanding what you have said about getting police on to the front line, would that affect admin staff? Are we talking about redundancies among the people who work in offices and who do not have police training?

Good morning. I will pick up where my colleague Sharon Dowey left off and ask about body-worn cameras. That issue has been around for the past decade. How confident are you that the connectivity roadblock that you are talking about will be overcome? How far away is that? You anticipate that it will be in spring, but it seems to have been a long time in the mix.

First, I want to tell our witnesses how much I value the work that they do against all odds, it would seem. It is crucial.

The 2024-25 budget includes a £14 million increase in funding for nationally commissioned community justice services. Clearly, that is not enough. How much of your work has been restricted by not having enough funding? Is there a realistic ballpark figure by which you would want your budgets to increase? I put that to Lynsey Smith first.

That is fine. That is really helpful.

I have a question for anybody who wants to answer. What is the impact of annual funding for services on your ability to make progressive plans?