Agenda and minutes

Councillor Campbell proposed, Councillor M Saunders seconded and Members agreed that Councillor Curran be the Chairman of the Community Safety Partnership Working Party for the 2016/17 year.

Councillor Curran in the chair.

Apologies were received from Councillor Elenor who left the meeting at this point.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To approve the Minutes of the Community Safety Partnership Working Party meeting held on 01 February 2016, copy attached.

It was proposed by Councillor Campbell, seconded by the Councillor Falcon and Members agreed that the minutes of the Community Safety Partnership Working Party meeting held on 1 February 2016 be approved and signed as a true record.

Jessica Bailey, Community Safety Team Leader, TDC offered to provide Members with an update regarding the proposal to introduce body armour for PCSO’s, after the meeting

Agree terms of reference for the working party;

Agree the work programme for the working party;

Agree tentative future meeting dates.

Nick Hughes, Committee Services Manager, TDC introduced the report which asked Members to agree terms of reference and a 2016/17 work programme for the Community Safety Partnership Working Party.

In consideration of the item it was noted that:

·  Key topics identified by the Working Party were:

o  Sexual offence support available locally – rape crisis centres in Thanet/reasons for the low proportion of rape allegations that result in conviction in the Thanet area.

o  Rough Sleeping – issues around homelessness and antisocial behaviour.

o  Neighbourhood engagement meetings.

o  Changes to antisocial behaviour legislation – public space protection orders.

o  Littering and dog fouling – enforcement and proportionality of enforcement.

·  The Working Party would look at one topic at a time, potentially over a number of meetings, with the intention to fully investigate the item and produce recommendations to the Overview and Scrutiny Panel.  It was acknowledged that this approach would not allow the Working Party to investigate all of the key topics identified, however it would allow the chosen topics to be reviewed in more detail.

·  The chairman would be invited to the safety partnership executive meetings.

·  Penny Button, Head of Safer Neighbourhoods, TDC offered to have the community safety delivery plan circulated to the Working Party.  Members may identify additional key topics after consideration of the delivery plan.

·  Members were encouraged to submit any specific questions on the topic to be considered in advance of the meeting, this would help to ensure that the content of the meeting meets the specific needs of the Working Party.

The Working Party agreed:

·  The terms of reference as shown in Annex 1.

·  The Working Party agreed that its first priority was sexual offence support and that the next meeting of the Working Party would begin to look at what support was available locally.  The meeting was to be scheduled in July if possible.

·  The Community Safety Plan would be considered at a following meeting, after which the Working Party would choose the next topic for investigation.