Crime Safety Partnership Officer to report.

The Committee received an update on the work of the Community Safety Partnership.

The Community Safety Officer gave updates in the areas of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, counter terrorism, and the night bus as follows:

·         Modern slavery and human trafficking was defined as the recruitment and/or movement of human beings exploited by threats to carry out activities.

·         An incident locally relating to a modern day slavery issue had highlighted that locally we might not be in a position to know how to respond to an incident.  Measures were now in place so we could react and deal with reports of modern slavery and or human trafficking.

·         Internationally and nationally this issue was becoming more common so more likely it would affect the North Devon area again.

·         There was a strong potential for people to be exploited in North Devon due to tourism and seasonal type work available.

·         The increasing number of displaced people this could cause more issues in the future.

·         The issue was tackled by a multi-agency approach and the Community Safety Partnership was used to this type of working.

·         Mid-October a meeting was held with Salvation Army, Sunrise Diversity North Devon, Torridge District Council to fact find on the issue of modern slavery locally.

·         There was a national referral mechanism designed to help those found to be the victim of modern slavery.

·         As a District Council, if we came across victims of modern slavery we had to refer them to the national mechanism.

·         Referral to the national mechanism did not give an instant response so we would need to monitor the situation to help.

·         Consent had to be given by the victim so if not given no referral could be made.

·         We need to be more proactive in finding cases and as a result, officer training would be required.

In response to questions, the Community Safety Officer gave the following responses:

·         Often victims of this type of crime were too afraid to report the issue and English not being their first language often created a barrier too.

·         If there were suspicions of this type of activity taking place the first point of contact was with the Police.

·         Details of the concerns could be passed to the Community Safety Officer but ideally, the person who had suspicions should be the one to report it to the Police.

The Community Safety Officer resumed his update:

·         The counter terrorism local profile was a measure set up by the counterterrorism Police.

·         A set of recommendations came as part of this information and as ever there was training available open to members to undertake to refresh understanding of the issue.

·         The night bus service was resuming

Councillor Norman reminded members that there was a training plan for members being put together by Member Services and to let them know of any requirements for training.

The Chair asked the Community Safety Officer to bring back an update on the cut to bus services, as the Committee were keen to support the reinstatement of services by making representations to Stagecoach.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Officer gave an update as follows:

·         There had been a significant increase in numbers of drinking alcohol in public issues in Ilfracombe over the summer months.

·         The street marshals were only contracted to cover the town for two days a week but were helpful to reduce incidents.

·         Action was being taken to reduce street and beach drinking by means of Criminal Penalty Notices, the breaching of which was a criminal offence and cases were taken to court.

·         Appreciated taking alcoholics to court to fine for breach of order was not the answer but a useful tool.

·         Engagement with individuals to solve problems causing the behaviour had been very challenging and not possible in many of the cases.

·         The Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) had been extended to cover more beach areas in Ilfracombe.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Officer gave the following responses to questions:

·         The extension of the street marshals in the town was under discussion.  It had proven to be effective in Barnstaple.

·         Incidents in Ilfracombe was quite different to the issues in Barnstaple in that many of the individuals were not homeless.

·         Support services available in Ilfracombe could be found at Belle’s Place.

·         Whilst the street marshals were useful, they did not have the same powers as the Police.  After discussion with the Inspector in Ilfracombe extra resources were being deployed to the area.

·         In terms of personal safety, body-worn cameras were worn and staff never attended incidents alone.

·         The street marshals were not removing bedding left out to dry on walls by homeless people, in the winter months, but could be removed during warmer months.

·         All incidents of anti-social behaviour should be logged with the Police.