Issue - meetings

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Resident Safety and Engagement (Councillor David Longstaff), Detective Superintendent (Neighbourhoods and Crime) Mark Strugnell, the Strategic Director for Growth and Environment (Pam Wharfe) and the Head of Community Safety (Kiran Vagarwal) for the item. 

The Head of Community Safety advised the Committee that the Barnet Community Safety Engagement Group was being replaced by Safer Neighbourhoods Boards effective from April 2014. 

A Member questioned how the Council and police worked with the probation service to monitor offenders who were under a supervision order and sought clarification of the impact on local policing services.  The Head of Community Safety advised the Committee that the police and Council had links with the national probation service, adding that the issue of how Community Rehabilitation Companies and the National Probation Service were working together had been raised with the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC).  The Committee noted that a review of the Offender Management Strategy was currently being undertaken and the revised Strategy would be reviewed by the Safer Communities Partnership Board, Children’s Trust Board and Health & Well-Being Board.

A Member questioned how the system would deal with increasing number of offenders.  The Head of Community Safety reported that the ‘through the prison gate’ system provided support to ex-offenders.  She added that there were Ministry of Justice pathways aimed at reducing re-offending. 

The Committee sought assurance that local policing knowledge would be retained under the neighbourhood policing model.  Detective Superintendent Strugnell informed the Committee that ward officers (a Police Constable and Police Community Support Officer) would be retained in the new model.  He added that Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (SNT) had been increasing in size over recent years and it was confirmed that these teams would remain.  The main change to SNTs had been that they were being deployed flexibly. 

The Committee welcomed the reduction in the number of crimes and the fear of crime in Barnet.  In relation to the borough wide Dedicated Place Order for Street Drinking, commonly referred to as the Alcohol Free Zone (AFZ), the Committee queried how effective this had been in reducing instances of street drinking.  Detective Superintendent Strugnell confirmed that there had been a positive impact as a result of the introduction of the AFZ. 

A Member highlighted a risk to Home Start and Victim Support due to their reliance on volunteers to provide their services. 

Officers confirmed that the updated Safer Communities Strategy would be considered by the new Community Leadership Committee and the Safer Communities Partnership Board. 

Responding to a question Detective Superintendent Strugnell informed the Committee that Barnet had a strong neighbourhood watch.  40 new neighbourhood watches had come online in the last year and there were now over 800 in the borough with 15,000 members. 

A Member questioned whether information sharing protocols were in place between the various statutory agencies in line with Section 115 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.  Officers confirmed that the relevant protocols were in place and that information was shared  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10