Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and details of any Councillor nominated to attend this meeting in place of a member of this Committee.

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Jane Potter and it was confirmed that Councillor Gareth Prosser was attending as her substitute.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests, and any Party Whip.

There were no declarations of interest nor of any party whip.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel held on 15th September 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider an update on the work of the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership in the Borough of Redditch.

(Report attached)

Officers presented a briefing note which outlined the work of the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership in Redditch in 2016/17.  During the delivery of this presentation the following points were highlighted for Members’ consideration:

·                Since May 2013 there had been a single Community Safety Partnership for the whole of north Worcestershire, covering Redditch, Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest districts.

·                The Safer Redditch Group took an operational lead on behalf of the partnership in respect of the Borough of Redditch.

·                There was a statutory duty for the partnership to produce a three year rolling plan outlining how partners would address key crime and community safety priorities during the period.

·                The partnership had links to the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).  Although not a statutory partner, the PCC had a duty to co-operate with the Community Safety Partnership and vice versa.

·                The West Mercia PCC provided funding to the Community Safety Partnership.  The funding process was due to be reviewed and it was anticipated that this would lead to a more robust, outcome based framework in future.

·                There was a typographical error in the total figure that had been quoted in Appendix 2 to the report in respect of funding requests by the partnership to the PCC for 2017/18; this should have been recorded as £199,950.

·                The partnership had proposed a series of projects to be funded using grants from the PCC.  These had been identified based on available data.

·                During the period the Safer Redditch Group had received a referral from Councillor Brunner requesting action to address anti-social behaviour (ASB) in Matchborough district centre.

·                A decision had been taken to allocate £10,000 to targeted youth intervention work that aimed to address youth ASB. 

·                Based on available data Appendix 3 had been developed to enable Members to assess the frequency of particular crime types in Redditch.  Data had been provided for previous years and for both Bromsgrove and Wyre Forest for comparative purposes.

·                The Safer Redditch Group had been working to address an increase in shoplifting in Redditch revealed by the data.  This would involve identifying targeted retailers, persistent offenders and options for intervention that could help to address the problem.

·                The Safer Redditch Group was also encouraging retailers to utilise an online platform called Facewatch.  Local authorities and retailers could share information about offenders such as shoplifters and people who had been banned from premises on this platform as well share information about possible threats or goods being targeted. 

·                The Police managed Facewatch and could use this system to warn retailers about persistent offenders and the license conditions for those leaving prison.

·                The figures indicated an increase in hate crimes.  However, it was noted that these statistics mainly reflected numerous reports made by and against a single household, and did not represent an overall increase in this area.

Following presentation of the report Members discussed a number of points in detail:

·                The definition of violence without injury.  Members were advised that this was generally any type of violent incident  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider the content of the Panel’s Work Programme.

(Work programme attached)

Members considered the Panel’s work programme and noted that, as requested at the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 14th February 2017, there would be two meetings of the Panel in 2017/18.  At the first of these meetings, scheduled to take place in September 2017, a more detailed update would be provided in respect of ASB in the Borough.  However, there were no items scheduled for consideration at the subsequent meeting of the Panel due to take place in March 2018.

The Panel discussed potential items for consideration at the meeting in March.  The possibility of inviting the West Mercia PCC to attend a meeting was raised.  However, Members were advised that, in line with legislative requirements, the Panel could only hold the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership to account and not individual partner organisations.  Furthermore the PCC was not a member of the partnership and he was already held to account by the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel (WMPCP).  The Council’s representative on the WMPCP, Councillor Y Smith, could highlight any concerns on behalf of Members and would be providing an update about the work of this Panel for Members’ consideration in a future edition of the Members’ Bulletin.  In the meantime copies of the minutes from meetings of the WMPCP could be viewed on Worcestershire County Council’s website.

RESOLVED that

1)        Members notify officers of any items in respect of the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership that they would like the Panel to scrutinise further; and

2)        the Panel’s work programme be noted.