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“If they want to be seen as working with the community, they actually need to attend meetings.”

That was the view of the police from community councillor Lesley Pulsford.

Speaking at a meeting of Rhymney Community Council on December 8, she said: “I think it’s disgraceful. We represent the community, why are they not coming to the meetings?”

It is a view shared by other community councillors who represent the Upper Rhymney Valley and who have called for better attendance from officers. They believe community councils and Gwent Police would be able to work together better – benefitting the communities they all represent.

Community councillors from Rhymney and Darran Valley community councils have called for increased police presence at meetings in order to better community engagement.

Police attendance at community council meetings and town council meetings should be a regular occurrence, as officers can provide a verbal report to councillors about incidents in their area. 

There is also an opportunity for dialogue. This could be seen at a recent meeting of Bargoed Town Council last month where councillors were able to pose questions to Caerphilly north Inspector Lysha Thompson and Sergeant Brooke about whether or not incidents had decreased with the winter weather. It was confirmed that general incidents had decreased but antisocial behaviour had increased. 

When officers do not attend, apologies are sent and the only update on criminal activity in the area comes by way of a newsletter.  

It is not seen as an adequate replacement by councillors and is not, they say, detailed enough for their particular ward. 

“The newsletter is very generic,” said Cllr Eddy Blanche, who represents Fochriw on Darran Valley Community Council.

Though positive relationships with police were highlighted by Rhymney and Darran Valley community councils, there was a sense of frustration that things could – and should – be better. 

“I understand there are operational issues,” said Cllr Blanche, “but it’s very frustrating. We ask for police to be in attendance so we can voice our concerns as well as listen to what’s going on.”

Cllr Blanche said there have been times when councillors have been asked to call the non-emergency 101 telephone number to raise an issue they have. 

“I don’t want to phone 101 – I want to speak to you,” he said, of the police. “It’s frustrating because there’s no engagement in the community.”

Attendance has dropped significantly since the start of the pandemic, according to councillors. 

“It used to be the case on that every month they would arrive,” said Cllr Blanche, adding that this is no longer the case.

In fact, according to figures from Gwent Police released to Caerphilly Observer, Community Support Officers (CSOs) attended Darran Valley community council meetings just twice in 2022.

The lack of police at community councils can also be seen elsewhere.

When Gwent Police did attend a recent meeting at Bargoed Town Council apologies were offered by Inspector Thompson and Sergeant Brookes for previous non-attendance after it was raised by councillors.

Inspector Thompson added that “increased resilience” would be built into schedules in the future, which should allow regular police attendance. 

For Cllr Blanche, presence at the northernmost community councils is also important. 

“Every other month would do, every month if possible,” said Cllr Blanche, adding that they are ultimately all working towards a common cause. 

“What’s the point in having a community engagement team if they’re not engaging with the community?”

Gwent Police was asked by Caerphilly Observer to provide attendance records of its officers at the meetings and for a response to the councillors.

In a statement, a force spokesperson said: “Since the beginning of 2022, the inspector for Caerphilly north has attended over ten council meetings in person. The neighbourhood policing team has held over 120 police surgeries. We’ve also delivered or attended numerous engagement events in schools, community centres and public spaces.

“As well as these events, we produce monthly and quarterly newsletters as additional contact touch points which are sent to councillors in the area to keep them updated on the relevant work carried out by Gwent Police.”

In a further statement provided to Caerphilly Observer, Caerphilly north Inspector Lysha Thompson said: “Throughout the pandemic and up to now, we’ve acted safely and responsibly to ensure as many frontline officers as possible have been able to respond to emergency calls. This has sometimes included limiting the number of face-to-face meetings we’ve attended. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped officers from joining meetings remotely, sending regular updates and communicating our results and safety advice.

“We look forward to attending further council meetings in the future, hope to see councillors at our surgeries and look forward to building on the positive relationships we have built across Rhymney, Bargoed and New Tredegar.”