The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner have written to DALC to ask if we can share the letter below, which contains information about the Councillor Advocate Scheme.

Dear local councillor

In case you are not a member already, I am writing to you to tell you about the Councillor Advocate Scheme.

As a local councillor in your area, we look to sign up members to join a policing advocate scheme which works by:

Improving the consistency and frequency of communication, and offers advocates:

• A direct point of contact within the Commissioner’s office
• Face to face and online seminars around policing, crime and victim service matters
• Regular email updates to include media releases
• Access to frequently asked information in terms of policing issues

Councillor advocates are invited to volunteer for the scheme from each council in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Advocates are welcome from unitary, district, and parish councils. At a town and parish level advocates are identified ‘single points of contact’ on behalf of their council. District and unitary councils may have more than one advocate. Councillors who have a desire to act as a positive and proactive communication conduit between the police, the Commissioner and the public are invited to volunteer for the scheme. Advocates are not intended to be treated as political appointments.

Every quarter the councillor advocates for each policing area will meet with a representative from Devon and Cornwall Police. A representative from the relevant Community Safety Partnership (CSP) will also be invited to attend along with any police engagement volunteers in the area.

This discussion will enable each councillor advocate to raise issues on behalf of their council’s communities, and allow the police the opportunity to update all councillor advocates on relevant information and/or request support with a specific issue. After the meeting the police representative will send a brief written summary of the meeting, along with any other key documents and actions to the councillor advocates and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC). The councillor advocates will then cascade the information discussed to all elected members from their own council.

This form of contact is not designed for discussing individual cases or problem solving on specific issues. Those discussions should take place within existing processes (e.g. crime reporting) and forums (e.g. community safety partnership).

Each quarter advocates will be invited to attend a ‘councillor advocate seminar’ which will focus on one key priority area of:

•  Antisocial behaviour
• Tackling drugs and alcohol
• Tackling serious violence
• Tackling theft including rural crime

(More information of the above priorities can be found online here as set out in the Police & Crime Commissioner’s Plan).

Attendance at seminars will be exclusively for councillor advocates by prior confirmation and will provide opportunities to receive information and updates from professionals, and enable councillors to ask questions, raise queries and feedback on the views of their communities to the police and the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The police and crime commissioner’s councillor advocate scheme aims to ensure that:

• a relationship is formed or built upon with your local policing team through the Local Sector Inspector
• consistent, accurate and honest information relating to crime, victim services and community safety is cascaded to the public
• councillors feel more equipped to inform the public about crime, victim services and policing, educate their communities about crime and support/encourage greater reporting of issues to the police and other appropriate partner organisations
• police officer time is used to its optimum by enabling the cascade of information to be efficient and without duplication
• councillors feel more informed about crime and policing in their local area
• a practical and positive route exists to enable councillors to bring overall views from their communities to the police
• the commissioner is kept informed of community views across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, so that she can effectively hold the chief constable to account for policing
• councillors have an understanding of the Commissioner’s policing priorities, as well as her role as the public’s voice for victims of crime

There’s more information in the Induction Document. If you are interested in joining please email councilloradvocateopcc@dc-pcc.gov.uk to sign up.