Well I have to say that watching the play One Man, Two Guvnors last week was hilarious and I would definitely recommend going to see the play. It had me in stitches. James Corden (Smithy from Gavin and Stacey) was the star of the show, but everyone who performed in it was excellent - a real team effort!
This week is again a very busy one. I have Home Office appointments today and tomorrow on a variety of issues, and the Association of Police Authorities' Council meeting on Thursday. My poor husband is very long suffering - I am away from home for days at a time - but he does say that he gets to watch decent television when I am away instead of the rubbish I watch!
Did anyone else read The Daily Telegraph article about crime and transparency over the weekend? The article basically questioned how crime statistics released for a 12 month overview saw offences recorded by the police fall by four per cent, in a year when we had the biggest riots for 30 years, and which conflicted with the British Crime Survey that showed an increase in crime.
So what is the public to make of all of this? The Home Office stipulate that forces record data in a certain way but that sometimes conflicts with other organisations, so we get two "stories" and what is the real picture?
But does the public really care about stats? I would suspect that most of the time the public are sceptical about number crunching and would take more notice of an encounter they had with a service at first hand, or what's happening where they live. And that's why I think it is so important that we get out there and speak to people.
For example, as part of the Authority's communication and consultation work, we regularly visit Age Concern. Our member Cllr Tom Gates and his team last week visited the Dover Age Concern for another opportunity to find out what local people want from their policing and to answer any queries they had.
The group raised a few concerns, mostly council related I have to say, and we will make sure that information is passed on. Age Concern members also had police representatives on hand to listen to them and to take away actions. The whole process was open and transparent, and very, very useful to all concerned.