Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety presented a report on the new overarching Community Safety Partnership Plan (CSPP) for 2023-2026.

The Cabinet Member explained that the CSPP had been developed by the Borough’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Board and represented a significant commitment by partners, including the Council, Police, Fire, Probation and Health authorities as well as local voluntary groups, to working together to improve the lives of the Borough’s residents.  A Crime and Disorder Strategic Assessment (CDSA) was undertaken last year to understand trends and patterns in crime and disorder locally and to support priority setting. The CDSA identified that burglary, robbery, theft and vehicle offences during 2021/22 were below pre-Covid 19 levels although in comparison to 2020/21, total offences were up by 10.4% to 20,560.

The previous three-year CSPP had established five key priorities and the public consultation on the 2023-2026 plan supported the retention of those five priorities, namely:

·  Priority 1 - Keeping children and young people safe.

·  Priority 2 - Tackling safety in the neighbourhood & community.

·  Priority 3 - Reducing offending.

·  Priority 4 - Standing up to hate, intolerance and extremism.

·  Priority 5 - Tackling violence against women and girls.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Integration advised the Assembly that as part of the consultation process, a question-and-answer session was hosted with women and girls in the borough.  Following on from this session, a Women’s Safety Forum was launched which would be meeting on a regular basis.

The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement advised the issues of gang culture and knife crime was being discussed openly in schools and children were being offered the opportunity to talk about or report issues they were scared of anonymously.  There was also a regular Police presence after school in many secondary schools in the borough.

In response to questions, the Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety advised that:

Ø  The Council had invested in a new Community Safety Enforcement Team and were undertaking partnership working by working closely with the Borough Superintendent;

Ø  Residents were being asked to report to the Council crime hotspots in the borough that they were aware of; and

Ø  The Council and the Police were working collaboratively to tackle gang culture and knife crime in the borough, including looking into and stopping ‘County Lines’ drug dealing.

The Assembly resolved to approve the Community Safety Partnership Plan 2023-26, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

The Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety presented a report on the new overarching Community Safety Partnership Plan (CSPP) for 2023-2026.

The Cabinet Member explained that the CSPP had been developed by the Borough’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Board and represented a significant commitment by partners, including the Council, Police, Fire, Probation and Health authorities as well as local voluntary groups, to working together to improve the lives of the Borough’s residents.  A Crime and Disorder Strategic Assessment (CDSA) was undertaken last year to understand trends and patterns in crime and disorder locally and to support priority setting.  The CDSA identified that burglary, robbery, theft and vehicle offences during 2021/22 were below pre-Covid 19 levels although in comparison to 2020/21, total offences were up by 10.4% to 20,560. 

The previous three-year CSPP had established five key priorities and the public consultation on the 2023-2026 plan supported the retention of those five priorities, namely:

·  Priority 1 – Keeping children and young people safe.

·  Priority 2 - Tackling safety in the neighbourhood & community.

·  Priority 3 - Reducing offending.

·  Priority 4 - Standing up to hate, intolerance and extremism.

·  Priority 5 - Tackling violence against women and girls.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the CSP Board and its sub-groups would be responsible for ensuring that progress against the CSPP was maintained and regularly reviewed.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Integration welcomed the CSPP and the prioritisation of local concerns alongside national priorities.  She also alluded to the Baroness Casey Review and the need for a fundamental change in culture within the Metropolitan Police that would be clearly visible to the local community in order to regain confidence.  The Leader also referred to discussions with the local Chief Superintendent on a joint local plan to rebuild the “policing by consent” principle within the Borough.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Endorse the Community Safety Partnership Plan 2023-26, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report; and

(ii)  Recommend its adoption by the Assembly.