Agenda item
North Devon and Torridge District Council Community Safety Partnership Update
Report by the Environmental Health and Community Safety Manager, Torridge District Council (attached).
Minutes:
Chairman of the Community Safety Partnership gave the Committee a summary of the North Devon and Torridge District Council Community Safety Partnership Update report (circulated previously) as follows:
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· The next annual review to set priorities for the Community Safety Partnership to focus on was to be held in January 2020 and elected Members were welcome to attend · The Devon Strategic assessment was still outstanding but this would give the top 10 priorities for Devon and be a basis to work on in January 2020 · Funding for the partnership came from the Police Crime Commissioner’s Office and as such it was hoped that priorities would be aligned with their Office · Every two to three months Partner Leads met to discuss priorities · Within the two Local Authorities regular meetings took place · The North Devon area is one of the safest areas to live nationally, it is thought that this is down to the hard working partnership · Community safety not always rated highly enough against other priorities such as road deaths, drug activity and domestic abuse · A Community Safety Partnership newsletter had been launched which would provide a twice yearly update on the work achieved by the Partnership · Members were invited to attend Bitesize sessions which were a positive training session provided on topics such as Modern Day Slavery, County Lines and Terrorism · The way crime was committed had changed over the last ten to fifteen years · Unannounced visits had taken place at businesses implicated with modern day slavery practices and the employment of migrant workers · Intensive focus had been made on County Lines building up intelligence which had helped to deter dealers moving into the area as it was unattractive for them to come to the area · There had been successful raids made on House’s in Multiple Occupation · £100, 000 funding had been secured to help schools deliver the Personal, Social, Health and Economic programme · Operation Snap had delivered road safety campaigns successfully, dash cam footage could be uploaded to the Police and used as evidence in road offences, a lorry advertising campaign promoting road safety and driving instructors received training on promoting client messages of road safety · Street marshalling had been successful in helping reduce the number of incidents that the Police had to be called to deal with · Reminders were to be sent out to Partnership members advising them to attend future meetings · Links with One Northern Devon Healthcare meant the CSP were able to look at the causes of people committing crimes, building up a trauma informed knowledge base · The priority setting meeting scheduled to take place in January 2020 would comprise of a half- day session looking at areas of concern and the second half of the day would focus on how to tackle these areas of concern |
In response to a question about the lateness of bars and clubs opening and what could the Local Authority do Toby Davies replied that there was a lot being done and with the Licensing Officer now in place with the Police who would be working with premises the Licensing Committee would have to take hard hitting action with License Holders who infringed the conditions of their licence, street marshalling helped Police resources. It would need to be looked at whether reducing opening hours on licenced premises would adversely affect businesses.
In response to a question about Officers being trained to deal with more vulnerable members of the Community and the need for local Places of Safety Toby Davies replied that a significant demand was placed on the Police resources when dealing with mental health issues. The links with One Northern Devon helped to understand why offenders kept coming back to crime.
In response to a question about the need for a Place of Safety in North Devon Toby Davies advised that there was a crises café which was helping persons at risk. Using statistics didn’t give the true picture of how often a place of safety might have been needed as other means of helping persons at risk such as Accident and Emergency were used.
In response to the lack of information in the annual report on suicide rates and the threat around terrorism Toby Davies advised that significant work was being carried out in the prevention of terrorism which could not be discussed and that elected Members had a community safety function and needed to ensure their voices were heard by lobbying the relevant organisations in connection with the risk of suicide and mental health issues.
In response to a question about whether he felt the area was out of step with licensing hours Toby Davies advised that this could be discussed at the priority setting meeting to be held in January 2020.
In response to a question about follow up help available for persons at risk Toby Davies advised that there were several organisations such as Integr8 and Clarity. As well as the Yellow Wellies, Farm Safety Foundation group specifically for Farmers.
In response to a question about the Community Psychiatric Nurse, the Community Safety Manager, North Devon, explained the post was full-time, and ran during office hours. It was attached to North Devon’s enhanced Rough Sleeper service and in addition to this role there was a full-time specialist in drug and alcohol related problems who was able to recognise client’s wider issues.
In relation to persons who do not speak English as their first language the Community Safety and Public Health Lead Officer, Torridge District Council advised that there were many mobile phone applications that could now translate spoken word and he would ensure Officers had software installed on devices.
In response to a question on Cyber bullying and education in schools Toby Davies advised that this was an area that could be looked into at the meeting to be held in January 2020. It was not currently a priority of the Community Safety Partnership. A Bitesize session had been held on the issue of cyber bullying. Any concerns regarding offensive behaviour online should be reported via email to 101@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk or telephone Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Members could reassure public that behaviour was being monitored. The Youth Offending Team were working with youngsters diverting them away from following a criminal path.
Supporting documents:
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