Agenda item

Cabinet Member Presentation - Community Safety and Youth Engagement

Minutes:

Councillor George Kup, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Youth Engagement made a presentation about his portfolio at this meeting. The presentation focused on the key projects currently being implemented under his portfolio and in particular those projects with a focus on youth engagement. It was interesting to note the partnership working between TDC and Thanet Community Safety Partnership to deliver a number of projects that included the following:

 

  • The Community Shield - to assist victims of crime with safe spaces and medical help;
  • The Safety Webpage - this will provide a map that locates using GPS where an individual who needs help is;
  • Ladder of Risk - Initiative with schools to assist young people better assess risk about the activities they may engage in;
  • Thanet Bike Project - This is hoped will occupy young people and move them away from Antisocial Behaviour (ASB);
  • Bike Safety Campaign - To assist people better understand how to keep their bikes safe from thefts. This because bikes are some of the items that are mostly targeted for theft;
  • Loan A Cone - This enables residents living near schools to keep their driveways free of antisocial parking during school runs;
  • Online exploitation awareness - This projects targets children  to build resilience in children about internet safety;
  • Breaking the Cycle - This project engages young people to tackle ASB. To better tackle this problem agencies share information about areas of concern and hotspots;
  • Amnesty Bins - This project has proven to be successful as it has seen people dropping offensive weapons at given locations mostly at train stations;
  • Safer Streets - Home Office grant (£300k) has been used to refurbish CCTV facilities, clean up graffiti etc. in Eastcliffe and Central Harbour areas to help reduce crime;

 

The presentation also highlighted future projects that the council was working on including setting up a Youth Cabinet Advisory Group made up of young people from the local communities who would be advising Cabinet on what they would like to see the council do for young people in Thanet.

 

Members made comments and asked questions as follows:

 

·  How was the council going to advertise the various programmes and initiatives focussed on young people and reach out particularly the most difficult to reach out to?

·  Members were impressed by the number of initiatives developed and being implemented by TDC to engage young people;

·  Safe Streets: How were these project sites identified?

·  Would the bike maintenance project be introduced to other areas of Thanet outside where the current activities are?

 

Councillor Kup and Penny Button, Director of Safer Neighbourhoods responded as follows:

 

·  You Tube and other social media platforms were some of the ways that the council would try to reach out to you people;

·  The council was reaching out through youth clubs and schools;

·  Safe Streets: This project was informed by the information generated by Kent Police and was led by the Crimes Commissioner;

·  TDC was one of four other local councils to get projects funded by the home Office under Safe Streets programme;

·  The Bike Project had not yet been started, but would coming soon

·  Officers were planning to have a Members briefing on that subject

 

Members noted the presentation and thanked Councillor Kup.

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