DN 13/2022 – Northallerton Video Recorded Interview Suite

DN 13/2022       Date 26/07/2022 

Background

Video Recorded Interview (VRI) suites provide an option for vulnerable victims and witnesses to pre-record their evidence away from the court room, and ensure North Yorkshire Police (NYP) are compliant with increasing emphasis in law placed on special measures to accommodate vulnerable individuals in the criminal justice process, and have the capacity to meet this increasing demand.

There are currently four VRI suites in North Yorkshire, one which is in Northallerton. However, the Northallerton suite no longer meets requirements and therefore needs to relocate so it can expand and provide the appropriate facilities and confidentiality. There is currently no other appropriate accommodation within either police or fire estate, or within the Joint Strategic Estates Strategy, and therefore a new property is required to meet the requirements.

The objective of this move is ‘To provide a safe and comfortable environment which enables vulnerable victims and witnesses to give their best evidence’, helping NYP to meet its statutory obligations.

It is projected that a capital investment of around £390,000 would be required to purchase and fit out a new building, with a revenue budget of £19,000.

Decision Record

The Commissioner has decided to invest up to £390,000 of capital in the purchase and fitting out of a new property to house the Northallerton VRI suite with a further revenue investment of £19,000 per annum to maintain it.

Zoë Metcalfe

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire

Statutory Officer Advice

Legal, Management and Equality Implications

The Commissioner’s Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer, having read this report and having considered such information as has been provided at the time of being asked to express this view, is satisfied that this report does not ask the Commissioner to make a decision which would (or would be likely to) give rise to a contravention of the law.

Financial and Commercial

The Commissioner’s Chief Finance Officer and S151 Officer has advised that the Force had highlighted this, as an area of needed investment, as part of their planning process and therefore the funding to support this investment was accommodated within the medium-term financial plans that the Commissioner approved in February 2022. The Commissioner can therefore make this decision with the certainty that sufficient funding is available to support the proposal set out within this decision.