Agenda and minutes

Members agreed that Councillor Campbell chairs the meeting in the absence of Councillor Curran, Chairman of the Community Safety Partnership Working Party.

Councillor Campbell in the chair.

Apologies were received from Councillor Curran, Chairman of the Community Safety Partnership Working Party.

Apologies were received from the following Members:

Councillor Dixon;

Councillor Curran, substituted by Councillor D. Saunders.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To approve the Minutes of the Community Safety Partnership Working Party meeting held on 03 October 2016, copy attached.

Councillor Falcon proposed, Councillor M. Saunders seconded and Members agreed the minutes as a correct record of the meeting that was held on 03 October 2016.

Members to receive a follow-up joint presentation on ‘Sexual Offences Victims Support in Thanet,’ from Jane Skeets (EK Rape Crisis Centre) and David Naylor (Victim Support).

Victim Support Presentation

David Naylor, Contract Account Manager, introduced the item for debate and gave an overview of the work of Victim Support at a national level as well as at Thanet level. Mr Naylor said that the organisation did not receive every crime type hence there was no detail about statistics for Thanet. They work with victims whether the case would have been classified as a crime or not.

The organisation started in Bristol and has been working in Kent for over thirty years. The work of the VS in Kent is funded by the PCC and is contracted till 2019 with the potential for a further three years in 12 month contract periods. The local Victim Support office is based in Ashford but does cover Thanet and the team is made up of permanent staff and volunteers. There are specialist volunteers who support victims of domestic abuse, child abuse and sexual crime. Mr Naylor made further comments that:

·  Victim Support provides emotional support (but it is not counselling relationship);

·  There has been a rise in domestic abuse in Kent (25% in the first quarter);

·  This likely to be largely because of the awareness created by the Police that has led to victims coming forward and to report;

·  People aged up to 44 years are at higher risk of online fraud than older people;

·  Hate crime stats have gone back to the trend before 23 June 2016;

·  Victim Support works with victims of Anti-Social Behaviour;

·  Individuals with disability have a 30-40% higher chance of being victims than those individuals without disability;

·  The organisation is partly funded by the Home Office (at the national level) as well as from their fund raising activities.

Next Steps

Mr Naylor said that Victim Support were looking at finding ways to provide more support to residents in Thanet. They would need a room to work from on given days of the week and have been working with Cllr Falcon to explore options in Ramsgate for a new Compass Point.

One Member suggested that the Victims support approach and work in partnership with an organisation called the Place To Be who are carrying out some great work with placement of children in schools and supporting these children.

East Kent Rape Crisis Centre

Jane Skeets, representing East Kent Rape Crisis Centre provided the second part of the joint presentation. Ms Skeets said that the organisation had only recently been changed from being a help line to a fully fledged organisation that provided face to face services to victims of abuse, whilst still providing the help line service. The majority of the service users were women and the organisation provides counselling services. Ms Skeets further said that:

·  The organisation provides specialist services;

·  All the volunteers were specialists;

·  There were 40 volunteers working for EK Rape Crisis Centre;

·  The organisation is funded by the Home Office,  but the funding is now precarious as the Home Office was now un the process of devolving some of their work to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.