Agenda and minutes

Venue: Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BQ. View directions

Contact: Tracy Scollin 020 8359 2315 Email: tracy.scollin@barnet.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcome and Introductions

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting.

 

He welcomed Mr Stuart Coleman, Barnet Homes’ representative, and Stuart Palmer and Lynne Abrams of MOPAC to their first meeting of the Board.

2.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mr Peter Clifton, Community Safety Manager, London Borough of Barnet and Jamie Keddy of MOPAC (Ms Abram was substituting).

3.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 83 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2017 be approved as a correct record, subject to one amendment: ‘John Dickinson’ - one entry of this name to be removed from the attendees’ list as it had been entered twice.

4.

Matters Arising

Minutes:

None.

5.

Focus on Offenders - NPS and CRC

Update from the NPS and CRC on:

 

·         Performance overview

·         Follow up to the North Quadrant HMIP inspection

·         Recent developments

·         Horizon scan

·         Other updates

Minutes:

Clare Ansdell, Interim Head of Service for NPS London, updated the Board.

 

·         Figures over the past year from the North Quadrant HM Inspector of Probation, showed that the number of people offending in Barnet, Brent and Enfield had reduced, but those offenders were committing a greater number of crimes. Final figures for Barnet would be available at the end of October. The Barnet, Brent and Enfield cluster continued to be in the top three performing clusters in NPS London.

 

The latest statistics for the 2014 cohort were available on the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) website. A borough-by-borough breakdown of offences and analysis of offending trends should be available shortly.

 

The rise in the number of knife-related crimes amongst young men was a cause for great concern.

 

·         The latest NPS inspection had revealed that there was room for improvement in Barnet.

 

·         A piece of work was being carried out on women offenders; half were currently in custody. Barnet’s figures were similar to Brent and Enfield’s. 

 

·         Barnet had a higher proportion of sex offenders than the two other boroughs (383); this was significantly above average. There was no identifiable reason and this was felt to be nothing more than general variation.

 

·         None of the child safeguarding alerts had been in Barnet but lessons could still be learnt to ensure more robust working. All NPS staff were completing mandatory training in child safeguarding.

 

·         The biggest challenge in relation to offenders was the provision of stable housing.

 

·         There was a focus on improving and establishing best practice in relation to recall and working with recalled offenders and the bar had been raised substantially higher for recall to be considered and approved by the PPCS.

 

·         MASH continued to be successful; a version of MASH for adults had therefore been proposed and was being considered.   

 

·         Hendon Magistrates Court would move to Willesden on 1 December. This could be challenging for the NPS with no representation in Hendon.

 

·         Resourcing for women’s services was a challenge – mainly due to a lack of accommodation.

 

·         Staffing was a challenge, with around 80% of posts filled; the cost of housing was a major factor. A Housing Advice Worker, provided by the Single Homeless project (SHP) for Barnet Probation, had been appointed though this was a very limited project.

 

·         The Personality Disorder Programme had been successful but often problems occurred when people moved on.

 

·         Many offenders were using the Through the Gate Resettlement Services.

 

Aveen Gardiner, Area Manager for North London Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC), updated the Board.

 

·         A change plan was underway following a red alert for CRC London at the inspection in 2016. Improvements had already been demonstrated;  inspections were held every 7 weeks.

 

·         Ms Gardiner agreed to provide figures on community payback as well as a breakdown of the boroughs at the next meeting.  [ACTION]

 

·         560 offenders were currently on licence in Barnet. Enforcement had been shown to be inadequate and the CRC was improving this. A new IT system was being used to closely monitor what  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Community Safety Strategic Assessment pdf icon PDF 164 KB

Update to the Board on the findings from the Barnet Community Safety Strategic Assessment:

 

·         Performance

·         Trends and patterns

·         Key findings

Minutes:

Ms Kiran Vagarwal presented the annual Community Safety Strategic Assessment to the Board. The findings of the report would help inform Barnet’s 2015-2020 Community Safety Strategy.

 

Based on figures relating to the past 12 months Barnet remained one of the safest London boroughs with a low crime rate; the rate per 1000 population was 23% lower than the London average. Barnet had the third lowest rate of violent crime of all 32 London boroughs.

 

Barnet had achieved an overall 21% reduction across the MOPAC7 crime types over the past 5 years and a 5% reduction over 2016/17 alone.

 

There had however been a 15% increase in motor vehicle theft though numbers were still low.

 

There had been an increase in the number of ASB reports in the past year after a number of years of successive reductions. The Barnet Safer Communities Partnership continued to develop working to reduce this.

 

Despite falling crime rates, crime had been the second highest concern for residents in the Spring 2017 residents perception survey. Developing a plan to engage more with communities and help to improve residents’ perception would be discussed at a future meeting. [ACTION]

 

During 2016/17 the Barnet Safer Communities Partnership had developed a new 2017-2020 Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy. A partnership focus was central to this and its objectives were to prevent VAWG, improve outcomes for victims and their children, hold perpetrators to account and enhance joint working between agencies.

 

During 2016/17 local Hate Crime reporting centres had been set up in recognition of the underreporting of Hate Crime. The Partnership had also secured funding from the MOPAC London Crime Prevention Fund for the next 2 years which would be used to raise awareness, encourage reporting and improve access to justice for victims.

 

In line with a London-wide trend since 2014 there had been a significant increase in reported violence with injury (VWI) in Barnet – it was believed that changes in reporting and recording practices had contributed significantly to this. Barnet had the third lowest rate of VWI per 1000 population out of all 32 London boroughs.

 

There had been a small significant number of issues in Barnet in relation to gangs and serious youth violence; at June 2017 92 young people were being supervised by the Youth Offending Team and of those 60% were believed to be gang-involved. There had been a reduction in Serious Youth Violence in the last 12 months including an 8% reduction in knife crime to 318 offences in Barnet. The Partnership had secured funding for two years from MOPAC to preventative school engagement work and a Family Services REACH Programme.

 

There had been a sustained reduction in re-offending over the past year. The Barnet IOM continued to demonstrate a reduction in offending of its cohort members of approximately 40%.

 

The Partnership had secured funding from the MOPAC London Crime Prevention Fund for a Barnet Reducing Reoffending Partnership Coordinator (RRPC). The RRPC would focus on developing effective working relationships with key stakeholders; developing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Update from MOPAC

·         Co-commissioning and Pan-London Commissioning

·         New MOPAC strategies and timelines

·         Joint working with SCPB in future – what does this look like

·         MOPAC’s future expectations re funding

Minutes:

Ms Lynne Abrams, Senior Programme Manager at MOPAC updated the Board. A presentation would be circulated following the meeting. [ACTION]

 

·         Recommendations would be made to the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) in December after full consideration of the proposals.  Following this the process would move to stage 3 for grant agreements.

 

·         The Mayor’s Knife Crime Strategy was launched on 27th June 2017 aimed at: protecting and educating young people, offering ways out of crime, targeting lawbreakers and supporting victims of knife crime.

 

The Knife Crime Strategy was being implemented through sub groups with partners from the police, criminal justice, education, retailing and the media. The strategy included a dashboard on knife crime - on which it was possible to drill down at borough and ward level – this was currently under development.

 

·         The VAWG Strategy would be launched at the end of November 2017.

 

·         Work was ongoing around the closure of police stations across London. The Mayor was keen that this would not affect front-line policing or officer numbers and that access to police would not be reduced. A public meeting for Barnet took place on 11 September and the consultation closed on 6th October.

 

·         An online Hate Crime Hub had been launched earlier in 2017; so far the Hub had dealt with 68 cases. Most reported offences were racially or religiously motivated with some on the basis of sexual orientation (13%) or disability (1%).

 

Ms Pall of CommUNITY Barnet enquired about the MOPAC Hate Crime app. Ms Birkett offered to forward some information to Ms Pall on the app. [ACTION]

 

 

8.

Update on the delivery of Substance Misuse Services pdf icon PDF 215 KB

·         Update on links between Substance Misuse Services outcomes and Partnership strategic priorities

·         Future delivery of Substance Misuse Services

Minutes:

A report was received by the Board.

9.

Update from Family Services pdf icon PDF 193 KB

·         Governance

·         Troubled Families

·         Safeguarding

·         Serious Youth Violence

·         Youth Offending and Gangs (young people)

Minutes:

Ms Tina McElligott, Operational Director for Family Services, provided a written and verbal update.

 

·         Since the recent ‘inadequate’ rating from Ofsted there had been a lot of activity. The Secretary of State had appointed commissioner and improvement partner from Essex County Council.

 

·         Over the last quarter the number of young people open to the Youth Offending Team had gone down from 92 to 86. This cohort was mostly male and aged 15-17 and just over half were from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds which was disproportionate to the overall Barnet population of children in this age group.

 

Over half of all young people within the Youth Justice cohort were believed to be gang involved.

 

Barnet had a slightly older youth offending population than some local authorities and work was ongoing with a transitional group in relation to this.

 

Barnet’s First Time Entrants (FTE) and re-offending rates were lower than the London and national average. Barnet’s custody rate was half that of the national average which showed the effectiveness of statutory interventions. Changes had been introduced to the reporting system to the Youth Justice Board – Ms McElligot would bring details to the next meeting. [ACTION]

 

·         Preventative activities were ongoing including work with forensic psychology and speech and language therapy for vulnerable groups.

 

·         A new risk assessment tool, Vulnerable Adults Sexual Exploitation and Missing (SEAM) had been implemented. The Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Lead, Chris Kelly would be happy to give a presentation to the Board and partner organisations and help develop a proactive plan for Barnet. Organisations should contact Ms McElligot to arrange this. [ACTION]

 

·         Barnet had agreed to work with and help resolve issues for 2220 families by 2020 as part of the Troubled Families Programme. To date 623 families had achieved ‘turnaround’.

10.

Performance Dashboard pdf icon PDF 458 KB

Minutes:

Ms Vagarwal presented the Performance Dashboard.

 

There had been an increase in burglary and robbery in the last quarter but Barnet remained the 6th lowest out of the 32 London boroughs and the 3rd lowest for violent crime.

 

 

11.

Proposed items for next SCPB: January 2018

·         Progress report on funding (Prevent, VAWG, MOPAC)

·         Presentation of VAWG Delivery Plan and Performance Management

·         Analytical work to support the Partnership – programme and progress of work

·         Responding to ‘Wicked Problems’ and Joint Tasking (police and CST)

·         New policies/strategies impacting on Community Safety

·         Future landscape – including new policing plan and other emerging strategies across the Partnership

·         Briefing on the Council’s regulatory services

Minutes:

The Board considered the future work programme as set out in the agenda and agreed the following items to be considered in 2018:

 

·         Progress report on funding (Prevent, VAWG, MOPAC)

·         Presentation of VAWG Delivery Plan and Performance Management

·         Analytical work to support the Partnership – programme and progress of work

·         Responding to ‘Wicked Problems’ and Joint Tasking (police and CST) and broader policing issues

·         New policies/strategies impacting on Community Safety

·         Future landscape – including new policing plan and other emerging strategies across the Partnership

·         Briefing on the Council’s regulatory services

·         Final draft of Community Safety Strategy

·         Youth Justice Board

·         CRC and Probation service inspection.

 

 

 

12.

Any Other Business

Minutes:

The Chairman expressed thanks and congratulations to Dr Simon Harding in his absence. Dr Harding had stepped down from the Board as he had moved to a new role as Associate Professor at the University of West London.

 

A new representative from the University of Middlesex would be invited to join the Board. [ACTION]

13.

Date of Next Meeting

Friday 26 January 2018, 10:00-12:00 hrs

Minutes:

Friday 26 January 2018, 10-12:00 hrs

 

The meeting ended at 12:02pm