Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Fry.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / 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 party whip.

The minutes of the meeting of Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel that took place on 1^st November 2023 were presented for Members’ consideration.

There was one Member of the Panel who was present at last year’s meeting but submitted his apologies for tonight’s meeting.

The only Member in the room who was present at the meeting of the Panel last year, Councillor Kane, confirmed that the minutes submitted were an accurate record of the meeting. However, no seconder was proposed for the minutes as other Members abstained from discussion on the matter.

RESOLVED that

the approval of the minutes of the meeting of Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel on 1^st November 2023 be deferred and that agreement be obtained as to their being an accurate record by the Member of the Panel who has submitted his apologies for this meeting.

The Chair invited the Portfolio Holder for Community Services and Regulatory Services to address the Panel. The Portfolio Holder reassured the Panel that all partners within the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership (NWCSP) remained fully committed to the aims of the partnership and to dealing with emerging challenges; it was highlighted that these emerging challenges were reflected in the new priorities for NWCSP. The Portfolio Holder took the opportunity to thank the Community Safety Officers and the Chair of NWCSP.

The Community Safety Manager provided a detailed presentation on the work of the NWCSP in Redditch Borough. It was noted that the Partnership’s Plan was reviewed in February 2024 and following from this there were new priorities for the period April 2024 to March 2027, which were:

·       Public, Place Violence & the Serious Violence Duty

·       ASB, Nuisance and Environmental Issues

·       Shoplifting and Neighbourhood Crime: [Neighbourhood Crime is defined as domestic burglary, robbery (against the individual/household), theft from a person and vehicle crime]

·       Protecting Vulnerable Communities including Hate Crime & Targeted

·       Harassment, Domestic Abuse & DHRs and Sexual Violence

·       Serious Organised Crime via a Joint Action Group (SOCJAG).

Alongside these local priorities NWCSP worked closely with the South Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership, through the countywide Safer Communities Board (SCB), which identified and addressed countywide issues. Through Worcestershire SCB, the two statutory CSPs collaborated on key countywide projects and initiatives.

It was reiterated that local authorities had a statutory duty to scrutinise the work of its local Community Safety Partnership, under Section 19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006. The Partnership had a duty to collaborate with the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and there was a direct role for the Council’s elected members to scrutinise the PCCs work through the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel (PCP).

It was explained that from 2023-24, new funding had been made available by the Home Office via PCCs to support Community Safety partners in Implementing the Serious Violence Duty (SVD). Worcestershire received a funding allocation of £50,599 for the current year to implement activities to prevent and tackle serious violence. The Youth Violence Intervention project had been implemented jointly by NWCSP and SWCSP using this fund. Through this project, intensive 1:1 mentoring was being delivered to support and guide young people who were identified as being at greater risk of criminalisation.

Alongside the PCC’s force-wide commissioning, NWCSP had been allocated an annual ring-fenced amount from the PCC of £139,250 to identify and address issues at district levels. The details of the NWCSP agreed project

allocation for 2024/25 was set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

In addition to the annual ring-fenced grant, the PCC also allocated additional Safer Communities funding to NWCSP. This funding was allocated to the Partnership to complement the ring-fenced grant and address identified issues that were of most concern and/or were having a detrimental effect on local communities across north Worcestershire.

The use of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) tools and powers by NWCSP during the period 2024 was outlined. At  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.