THROUGH the Strategic Executive Board, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) continues to hold the Chief Constable to account. During the latest board meeting PCC Andy Dunbobbin and his team met with the Chief Officers of North Wales Police, to review overall Force performance, including the priorities in the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan.
The board, which was chaired by the PCC, heard an update from Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman on the overall performance for North Wales Police. This included general updates on areas such as finance, resourcing, risk, HMICFRS inspections, and the estates strategy. Furthermore, the agenda featured additional updates on work regarding child centred policing and how the Force has responded to the recommendations from the Angiolini Inquiry.
The Angiolini Inquiry, published in 2024, was launched in response to the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer. It focuses on improving police conduct, culture, vetting and safeguarding practices, with the focus on rapid action to restore public trust and ensure police forces are properly equipped to prevent the abuse of power.
In line with the PCC’s scrutiny model the meeting concentrated on two deep dive areas for closer analysis. The first of which was business and retail crime, with the second being cyber crime.
The Commissioner was provided with updates on how business and retail crime is investigated and covered areas as follows:
- An overview of performance and trends and how the national Retail Crime Action Plan was being implemented and embedded.
- The pro-active operations being taken to reduce offending.
- How the Force liaises with other partners in adopting an entire system approach to prevent crime.
- Work to encourage victims to have the confidence to come forward and report in a timely manner.
- As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee how problem orientated policing is being used in hotspot areas of such crimes, particularly town centres.
The Commissioner also scrutinised the work of North Wales Police with regards to tackling cyber crime. This included:
- How such offences are being investigated locally and overall performance.
- The specialist resources, training, and capabilities that exist for cyber crime investigations, including the emerging future technologies.
- How the Force maintains a visible local input in the national and the regional strategic cyber crime response.
- How the Force protects and prevents vulnerable people and other groups from becoming victims and repeat victims.
- How the force works with Get Safe Online to ensure we raise awareness among our communities.
The PCC also heard of the ongoing work of the Force addressing Part 2 of the Angiolini Inquiry which was published in December 2025 and examines broader issues about policing and the safety of women, and reviews measures to prevent sexually motivated crimes against women in public spaces. This will be an ongoing process by the PCC as part of continued scrutiny on the broader culture work instigated by the Chief Constable.
Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales Andy Dunbobbin said: “As part of my Police and Crime Plan, I will continue to use the Strategic Executive Board to provide me with the opportunity to scrutinise how the Chief Constable is performing in key areas.
“I hold the joint lead for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners on business and retail crime. Therefore, I am acutely aware of the damaging impact such crime has on our local economy, cohesion in town centres and the assaults and abuse shopworkers face.
“I wanted to ask the Chief Constable what work has been done in this area and to be reassured that previous initiatives and actions have been undertaken. I received a detailed brief on the continuing work in this area which did provide me and my team with that reassurance.
“I also heard of the work to combat cyber-dependant and cyber-enabled crime and how it is progressing. The Force are regularly promoting online safety across the whole of North Wales and their work, and that of key members of the team, has been recognised at a national level at the recent Home Office’s 2025 National Lord Ferrers Awards.
“I know residents in North Wales have concerns about this crime type, particularly the increasing sophistication and nefarious activities of criminals to swindle, defraud and scam unsuspecting victims, who may lose significant amounts of money or their personal data.
“I want to highlight that many such crimes can be prevented by being aware of the warning signs and guarding your personal information against threats. I would point people in the direction of both the OPCC and North Wales Police websites along with Get Safe online to keep up to date on what you can do to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of these criminals.
“As PCC for North Wales, I want to provide reassurance to the public that I will continue to scrutinise the Force performance and work closely with the Chief Constable to support the ongoing work.”
Residents can learn more about the Strategic Executive Board and read minutes of past meetings on the OPCC website here: Scrutiny of Policing Services | Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner North Wales (northwales-pcc.gov.uk)
