You might have seen local coverage over the weekend on potential closures to Kent Police buildings. I have to say that personally the key to success of any change is absolute transparency and engagement.

Members actually agreed in principle for the Chief Constable to push ahead with rationalising operational police buildings at our Full Authority meeting the other week. The main consideration will always be to work with communities and to make sure they have the right communication channels. However, we cannot escape the fact that we are in a time of austerity cuts and the force has to find £53million worth of savings in four years, so this balanced approach makes perfect sense.

Did you know that only six per cent of the public communicate with the force through a public enquiry office, so times are changing. For me this is about having a new strategy for a new age. It’s a very emotive subject but people all over the country are making hard decisions everyday on how to spend their money.

It’s useful to look at other ways of talking to the public. Take for instance the police pod approach. There’s some really good police partnership work here between Kent Police and ASDA in Canterbury. Together they have a pod – like a mobile office – where locals can drop in and talk to neighbourhood officers and other partners. Getting feedback this way is a great idea and it’s very convenient to just be able to stop by to talk to who you need too.

Talking of being out and about in the county – has anyone seen the latest idea in Lancashire. A mobile jail is giving young people a taste of what it’s like to be in prison. It’s quite literally stuck on the back of a lorry. A group of former criminals, working with volunteers and police staff, hope the project will teach young people about what will happen to them if they commit a crime – scary but effective, I hope.

Also I saw some research the other day that shows just what a good job drug rehabilitation programmes are doing. The latest research on criminal behaviour shows that crimes committed by known offenders fall by almost half if they successfully complete a drugs treatment programme. So this is great news. These findings will be of interest to the new Police and Crime Commissioner who will have a new role to commission services from providers. The providers will of course have to prove that their services directly impact on crime reduction and will be paid accordingly.

Tonight I’m heading off to help open the British Red Cross HQ in Canterbury. Talking of launches I’m also looking forward to Friday where I’ve been invited to launch a new online initiative called STATUS – Stay Safe and Tell us. The event is in Margate on Friday night with music bands, and upcoming artists! I probably won’t recognise any of their names mind you. The new online social media site is a dream for parents’ everywhere as it’s monitored 24/7. It’s the first online initiative of its kind in the UK that joins partner agencies together such as CXK, formerly Connexions, the Kent People’s Trust, Achieve Digital Ltd and Amelix Ltd.

Lastly about a month ago we asked stakeholders for their views on our new way of policing the county. Thanks for everyone who gave feedback. All the views have been presented to senior officers – good or bad.

What a dire weekend, the weather was terrible.

Lots in the news today of the rise in cannabis farms around the UK with media reports that the police are discovering 21 factories daily in Britain, you wouldn’t believe but that’s a street value of £100million. Here in Kent I’m really proud of our Serious Crime Directorate – a dedicated team that deals with hard-hitting crimes – including drugs. I’m very happy to say that there have been a handful of cannabis incidents in the county in the last couple of months, so that’s really good news.

We’ve just launched our Commissioning Conference that will be held on the 25 May. This is a very exciting initiative by the Authority to help raise awareness about the changes ahead under the Police and Crime Commissioner.

I personally believe that commissioning will play an enormous role in the new governance arrangements. So we decided to open the debate and to inform our stakeholders of the changes ahead and what it might mean for them.

We have a very busy agenda but I think one that captures everything from those who provide a service and could potentially bid, to private companies who are already doing this. We will hear from a variety of speakers – some from Kent – as well as the national perspective. I’m confident it will be a very interesting day and will get lots of people thinking about the future of commissioning police services.

Another busy week ahead, what with the usual admin work to be done, briefings with the Chief Constable, two meetings in London with colleagues on the Police Negotiating Board, representing the Association of Police Authorities on the group that looks at performance issues for forces and our own Protective Services Board. The latter looks carefully at the work done by officers and staff who deal with the really difficult ‘bits’ of policing, from child exploitation, to countywide illegal drug activities, all the things that cause untold misery, but which the average person in the street rarely thinks about.

We all tend to be too focussed on what is happening where we live in our neighbourhoods – understandably so – but we should never lose sight of the other issues that affects our lives so deeply in one way or another.

At the Full Authority meeting last week we had to say a sad farewell to one of our members, Graham Hodkinson. Graham spent five years as our South Kent lead and has made inroads with risk assessments and worked really hard to improve policing in the Folkestone area. He is now off to become a Magistrate – so congratulations to you Graham – you’ll be missed.

I just had a meeting with the Chief Constable and heard that our Kent officer, PC Appleby, came 3rd in the National Dog trials! Very well done.  I’m also pinning my hopes on our Kent Police football team – think the final is next week.

On a lighter note, I went to the Turner exhibition in Margate last week – stunning! If you haven’t been to the Elements exhibition, then give yourself a treat. You could also do what I did and treat yourself to a really delicious lunch at Eddie Gilbert’s fish restaurant in Ramsgate. Marvellous food and really nice service – all in all a great day out.