Questions to the Commissioner

Submitting Questions to the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner

From September 2015, the North Wales Police and Crime Panel (PCP) accepts questions from members of the public or Panel Members, which can be put to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) at its public Police and Crime Panel meetings.

Please see the Procedure below for further information about how to put a question at these meetings.

1. Questions must be submitted to the North Wales Police and Crime Panel 10 working days or more prior to a meeting of the PCP. Email your question to policepanel@conwy.gov.uk or send to the North Wales Police and Crime Panel, Conwy County Borough Council, Bodlondeb, Conwy, LL32 8DU.
2. Questions submitted 10 working days or more prior to a PCP meeting will be taken at that PCP meeting, subject to the procedure set out below. Any questions which are received less than 10 working days prior to a PCP meeting will not be submitted to the meeting, unless in the opinion of the Host Authority (Conwy County Borough Council) the question relates to an item on the agenda of the PCP meeting following the submission of the question or is otherwise of such urgency that it should be taken at the meeting.
3. In order for a question to be accepted, it:
   
   

   Must relate to the strategic functions of the PCC (including the Police and Crime Plan) and not relate to any ‘live’ cases or the operational management of the North Wales Police.
   (Any questions relating to the operational management of North Wales Police will automatically be directed to the Office for the Chief Constable, who will endeavour to respond in accordance with normal practice – the questioner/Panel Member will be notified that it has been forwarded. These questions will therefore notbe taken in public at PCP meetings.)

   Must not be substantially similar to a question put at a meeting within the preceding six months unless circumstance have changed such as to justify the question being put.

   Must not require the disclosure of exempt or confidential information.

   Must not be vexatious or defamatory.

4. If the Host Authority, in consultation with the Chair of the PCP, considers that a question does not comply with paragraph 2 and 3, it shall advise the questioner accordingly and, if appropriate, direct the question to the appropriate public body. In the event that a question seems substantially similar to a question put at a meeting within the preceding six months, all Panel Members shall decide whether the question should be accepted or not.
   
   If the Host Authority considers that the question does comply with paragraph 2 and 3, the question will be referred to the PCC and will be treated as having been adopted by the PCP and be subject to the procedure below.
5. Questions adopted by the PCP in accordance with paragraph 4 above become questions to be put by the PCP to the PCC and responsibility for asking the question will be allocated to a Panel Member, at the discretion of the Chair, having regard to the relevance of the question to particular area(s) within the jurisdiction of the PCP.
6. The PCC will issue a response to the question, which will be made available to the person who raised the question ("the questioner") and PCP members by noon on the working day prior to the PCP meeting at which the question is to be submitted.
7. The question and answer will be "taken as read" at the beginning of the meeting.
8. Only a Panel Member may ask a supplementary question, which must relate to the initial question and answer and be for the purpose of clarification only and not raise any new question or issue. Only one supplementary question will be permitted for each initial question and answer. Supplementary questions and responses will be included in the formal minute of the meeting.
9. There will be instances where the PCC (or his/her officers) are unable to respond to a supplementary question put at the meeting. In instances such as these, a written response will be issued to the questioner by the PCC within 5 working days of the meeting and a copy of the response provided to the Host Authority.
10. A question and answer will not be the subject of further discussion or resolution at the meeting. The subject matter of the question may be the subject of a further report and debate at a later meeting of the PCP.
11. It will be accepted that the PCP will allow up to 10 minutes for public questions, though it may wish to lengthen this in the appropriate circumstances.