Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Safer Communities Partnership Board, Councillor David Longstaff welcomed all guests and thanked Board members for their attendance.

Apologies were received from Tim Harris, Bridget O’Dwyer, Steve Leader and Adrian Usher who was substituted by Steve Wallace.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Safer Communities Partnership Board on 30 January 2015 were agreed as a correct record. The Board noted the list of actions as set out in the previous minutes.

The Assistant Director for Early Intervention and Prevention, Family Services, Duncan Tessier, introduced the report which sets out the strategic priorities for YOT and the governance arrangements for the YOT Management Board.

The Board noted the five strategic priorities of the YOT as stated in the report:

1.    Reducing Reoffending

2.    Protecting the Public

3.    Protecting the Child or Young Person

4.    Ensuring that the sentence is served

5.    Including the voice of young people as offenders and victims.

Duncan Tessier informed the Board of the proposed 12 month action plan for review in six months, which will follow after analysis of reoffending data. The Board heard about the importance of effective risk management in relation to serious youth violence and gang-related crime to ensure continued oversight and quality assurance of risk assessments.

The Board noted the need for partnership working between YOT and the Voice of the Child Coordinator, Restorative Justice Coordinator and Victim Support to encourage young victims of crime to contribute to restorative justice interventions.

It was noted that as part of strategy to develop the IOM the post of the Senior Probation Officer has been seconded to the community safety team for 12

Months.

Nicola Francis, Family Services Director (LBB), introduced the item and briefed the Board about the issue of CSE in light of the recent high profile Rotherham and Oxfordshire review cases and noted the need for strengthening sanctions for leaders and professions.

The Board further heard that the full range of powers to disrupt and prosecute perpetrators of CSE are not being utilised and where powers are used strategically by the Police and local authorities, they are effective. However, low numbers of prosecutions are achieved compared to the number of allegations.

Nicola Francis noted that for the period 1 April 2014 to 31 January 2015 Barnet MASH received 129 CSE referrals concerning CSE. For the period 1 August 2013 to 31 March 2014 there were 14 referrals and the Board noted that the likely increase in the number of referrals has been due to the increased awareness of the issue arising from the impact of the Jay report, which received wide media coverage as well as the Council-led programme to raise awareness of the risk of CSE across the local partnership.

It was further noted that referrals to safeguarding services in Barnet relating to CSE appear to be rising in line with a growing awareness of the issue nationally.

The Board heard that the Council has invested £250,000 in services to address the issues of CSE and serious youth violence, with a joined up governance structure to ensure effective strategic oversight of the various operational initiatives.

Nicola Francis provided the Board with an update on the KYPS project which was initiated in response to data around CSE and serious youth violence. Family Services have commissioned a CSE advocacy worker based in the Youth Service to work with individual young people referred from the MASE within the KYPS geographical area.

In recognition of the important role of schools and colleges in tackling the issues, the Board noted that a strategy programme is planned, beginning in PHSE education in primary schools and continuing through to secondary school, to help children towards forming healthy relationships and avoiding abusive situations.

Julie Pal, CEO of CommUnity Barnet introduced the report and noted that the Board is asked to note the Communities Together Network Annual Report and to ensure the key plans are endorsed by the Safer Communities Partnership Board. Julie Pal further noted that the Annual Report provides details of how CTN operates at a proactive and reactive level in collaboration with council and borough partners and the Resilience Forum.

The Commissioning and Equality Policy Officer, Lesley Holland informed the Board that CTN was set up in October 2013 as a key partnership and a voluntary and informal communication channel as part of the Council’s commitment to equalities. The Board noted the key aims of the Communities Together Network and its Terms of Reference as set out in the agenda report.

Lesley Holland informed the Board that the future meetings of the CTN will be confirmed in due course and noted the importance of sharing practical solutions with the Board.

The Commissioning and Equality Policy Officer briefed the Board about the arrangements to hold the Peace One Day event in Barnet on 21 September 2015 in partnership with the Barnet Multi Faith Forum.

Action: To set up a joint meeting between Kiran Vagarwal, Julie Pal and Metropolitan Police representative to consider CTN agenda and aims in further detail

RESOLVED that the Safer Communities Partnership Board note the CTN Annual Report, the CTN future work programme and endorse the future key events described in the report.

Sam Denman, Assistant Chief Officer for National Probation Service Barnet, Brent and Enfield, introduced the item and provided an update on Multi-Agency Public Protection (MAPPA) which links with the Community Safety Strategy outcome, ‘Sustained reductions in re-offending’.

The Board were briefed about some of the measures introduced around public protection by virtue of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to modernise areas of the criminal justice system.

Terry Cameron (Jobcentre Plus) noted the importance of partnership working with to discuss analysis of cohort of MAPPA.

Head of Community Safety, Kiran Vagarwal, introduced the item and provided an update to the Board about the provisions of the legislation which came into force in 2015. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act received Royal Assent on the 12 February 2015.

The Board noted that an item on this topic will be reported at the next meeting of the Safer Communities Partnership Board. Kiran Vagarwal informed that the Act sets an expectation that local authorities will establish or make use of an existing local multi-agency group to agree risk and co-ordinate prevent activity and work. The Board also heard that local authorities are expected to ensure that frontline staff have a good understanding of Prevent, are trained to recognise vulnerability to being drawn into terrorism and are aware of available programmes to deal with this issue.

Action: That an Action Plan and Prevent Strategy together with details of prevent leads for the partnership be presented to the next meeting of the Safer Communities Partnership Board

Action: For partners on the Board to nominate a link officer for the purposes of setting up Prevent Strategy and a panel

Kiran Vagarwal, Head of Community Safety, introduced the item and noted the business items on the forward plan as listed on pp53-55 of the agenda.

Ms Vagarwal further informed that Board members are able to put agenda items forward on the work programme of the Safer Community Partnership Board.

Action: The Chairman requested that where verbal updates are provided to the Board, a summary of key points is drafted for the Board’s attention in advance of meetings

Action: The Board note the items on the Forward Plan for 2015/2016

The Chairman thanked Board members for their contributions to the discussions and noted the date of the next meeting on Friday 24 July 2015.