Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Huxley, for whom Councillor Moore was present as substitute. Apologies were also received from Councillor Saunders and Councillor King.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the Minutes of the Community Safety Partnership Working Party meeting held on 22 January 2015, copy attached.

It was proposed by Councillor Gregory, seconded by Councillor Campbell and AGREED that the minutes be signed as a true record.

Chief Inspector Simon Thompson, Kent Police, presented the update looking at crime performance.  In particular he noted that:

-  Victim Based Crime, had seen a general downward trend of crime reduction.

-  Violence Against a Person, there were a number of instances when the level of incidents were below average.  This was encouraging, however the last two weeks had seen above average levels of incidents.  It was suggested that this could be connected to the school half term holiday and the good weather.

-  Dwelling Burglary, levels often fluctuated depending on who was out of prison, the trend was steady with exception of a couple of spikes.  It was encouraging that offenders had been identified so quickly.

-  Burglary Other than Dwelling, had seen an increase in cases, this could have been due to the good weather.

-  Criminal Damage, rates were stable around the average line.

-  Vehicle Crime, levels were a little concerning, however recent arrests had resulted in a drop in rate.

Chief Inspector Thompson then displayed a graph overlaying crime rates for 2012, 2013 and 2014.  It was noted that the fall in crime rates for 2014, compared with the two previous years, demonstrated that the recent restructure within Kent Police was successful, and that the enthusiasm and commitment from the Police and partner agencies had made a positive impact.  In addition to this reduction, it was also noted that there had been an increase in crime recording accuracy from 90% to 97%, this was one of the highest accuracy rates in the Country.

The update was noted.

Penny Button, Head of Safer Neighbourhoods, noted that since the report had been produced, a number of actions had progressed.  The number of actions that had not started had reduced from 5 to 2, the number of actions underway had increased from 5 to 6, and the number of actions completed had increased from 27 to 29.  Penny added that she would expect to see further progress in the run up to the end of the year, 31 March 2015, which would be included in the end of year report presented to the next meeting.

Penny highlighted that action nine of the Plan would be carried forward to the 2015/16 year, with more options for intervention.  She added that this had been looked at across Kent and had been accepted into phase two of a national programme.

The update was noted.

Draft Community Safety Plan for 2015/16 to follow.

Penny Button introduced the report, and noted that the statutory partners in the Community Safety Partnership felt that the Community Safety Partnership Working Party should focus on high level targets, which were detailed as priorities on pages, nine, ten, eleven and twelve of the plan.  It was felt that the plan needed to be fluid and able to respond to any needs that may arise.  The Community Safety Partnership Executive would be responsible for updating the plan.

In response to comments and questions from Members, Penny Button and Chief Inspector Thompson advised that:

-  although item one mentioned vulnerable young people, it was the intention that the plan would support vulnerable people of all ages.  DCI Thompson added that an initiative working with Dementia support in Dover could be extended to Thanet if proven to be a success.  The Police force had seen an increasing number of missing people cases;

-  item six would involve partnership working with a number of agencies including KCC, licensing, and trading standards;

-  anti-social behaviour problems as a result of drinking on public transport premises such as trains would fall into the Transport Police’s jurisdiction, however once outside these premises Kent Police could take action;

-  it was recognised that engagement was required with prisoners upon their release to ensure suitable relocation.  Chief Inspector Thompson confirmed that the Police received notification of releases which enabled them to be proactive;

-  the Community Safety Partnership were looking to co-ordinate agency messages in order to engage with all age groups.  This co-ordination was assisted by the co-location of the agencies within the same building.  In addition, much of the work of the partnership was intelligence based, and co-locating had greatly assisted intelligence sharing between agencies;

Penny Button advised that a survey was conducted at a recent Community Safety Forum held in January, it asked residents for their opinion on the priorities in the 2015/16 Plan.  The survey found that 73% of the 40 residents present at the forum agreed or strongly agreed with the priorities. 

Councillor Campbell proposed, Councillor Tomlinson seconded and Members RESOLVED;

-  ‘To prepare a summary for Overview and Scrutiny on the performance of CSP agencies and progress made against the objectives set in the plan.

-  To recommend the 2015-16 Community Safety Plan to Overview and Scrutiny.’