Agenda and minutes

The Chairman of the Safer Communities Partnership Board, Councillor David Longstaff welcomed all attendants to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Jamie Blake, Kiran Vagarwal who was substituted by Peter Clifton, Caroline Birkett, Jon Dickinson and Nicola Francis.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Board on 24 July 2015 were agreed as a correct record. The Board received a verbal update on the actions set out in the minutes.

The Board received a presentation from Cassie Newman, Assistant Chief Officer Barnet and Brent, Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) in relation to an organisational update of the CRC.

The Board noted that as part of the CRC organisational restructure, work will continue, to ensure effective partnership arrangements are implemented with the over-arching aim of reducing reoffending in order to help make Barnet a safer place.

It was further noted that as of 1^st February 2015, ownership of the CRC has transferred to MTCnovo. Furthermore, Ms Newman informed that the North Central London CRC representative for the Board for the interim will be Sam Rozengard and that at request, updates can be brought to the Safer Communities Partnership Board for discussion.

The Chairman thanked Ms Newman for the presentation and the updates.

The Board received a presentation from Bradley Few, Programme Manager at the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC), on key pan London developments. MOPAC has overarching responsibilities for crime reduction in London and has powers to commission services and provide funding for community safety and crime reduction programmes.

The Board heard that a Community Safety Fund is provided by the Home Office to each Police and Crime Commissioner including MOPAC and that together with other funding streams, this constitutes the ‘London Crime Prevention Fund’. Funding from the LCPF has been secured for Barnet covering the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2017.

It was noted that in relation to the launch of the ‘Shield’ project, the Metropolitan Police will be working closely with three London pilot boroughs to tackle gang violence in London through a range of optional penalties applied collectively to every know member of a gang when one gang members commits a crime.

Mr Few informed the Board about the pan-London Gang Exit Programme which will seek to help young people affected by gangs by providing support and guidance to exit, develop new skills and provide the opportunity for social reintegration into the community.

The Board noted the information set out in the presentation and the way the developments contribute towards achieving the aims of the Barnet Community Safety Strategy 2015-2020.

The Chairman thanked Mr Few for the presentation and requested to receive a list of all Pan-London programmes and a brief summary of the context of the programmes for Barnet. (Action: MOPAC, Mr Bradley Few)

The Chairman welcomed Peter Clifton, Community Safety Manager LBB, who delivered the Strategy Update presentation and informed that the presentation will be circulated to all members of the Board following the meeting (Action).

Mr Clifton provided an update on crime reduction performance, compared against the MOPAC baseline year 2011/12. Mr Clifton also noted the reductions achieved IN 6 out of 7, MOPAC7 priority crimes. These are crimes which have a high impact on victims, they are: burglary, criminal damage, robbery, theft from a motor vehicle, theft from a person, theft of a motor vehicle and violence with injury.

The Board received an update on actions and performance delivered so far in respect of each of the Priority Partnership Outcomes as set out in the Barnet Community Safety Strategy 2015-2020.

The Board noted the work delivered to further improve engagement with residents through initiatives such as Operation Makesafe, a partnership initiative to raise awareness of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) and the Met Trace initiative to reduce burglary rates across Barnet.

Mr Clifton informed the Board about the promotional work to raise awareness of the Clocks, Locks and Lights campaign, designed to reduce risk of burglary when nights will be longer.

The Board also noted that over 500 victims have been receiving support as part of the advocacy work delivered by Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVA) to support victims of domestic violence who are at risk of serious harm.

 
In relation to (priority outcome 4) the Board noted the performance achieved by the Barnet Youth Offending Teams and that according to latest figures, a high number of young people are in either employment, education or training. 

Dr Simon Harding, (Department of Criminology) Middlesex University welcomed the presentation and commended the performance and achievements delivered. Following a query from Dr Harding, it was noted that the Community Safety Team have implemented plans to ensure a co-ordinated approach is taken among partners towards communication, in particular aimed at vulnerable adults.

The Chairman thanked Mr Clifton for the presentation and all partners for their contribution and initiatives towards reducing crime in the borough and making Barnet a safer place to live. 

Chair of the Safer Neighbourhood Board, Mr Roger Kemp, provided an update to the Board about the work of the SNB, its composition, terms of reference and the way it contributes towards achieving the aims set out in the Community Safety Strategy 2015-2020.

The Board noted the presentation and the information as set out in the report. For 2015/16, the SNB have held four meetings, with a public SNB meeting due to be held in Spring 2016.

The Chairman welcomed the report and the verbal presentation. The Borough Commander Adrian Usher, thanked Mr Kemp for the presentation and the contribution that SNB has delivered in strengthening partnership working and public engagement work.

Following discussion, the Board resolved the following action point.

Action: That the Chair of the Safer Neighbourhood Board request data and information as and when needed through partners of the Safer Communities Partnership Board, in particular, Metropolitan Police, MOPAC and the Community Safety Team (LBB).  

Duncan Tessier, Assistant Director for Early Intervention and Prevention provided two updates on the work of the Youth Offending team.

Mr Tessier informed the Board that the re-offending rates for young offenders for Barnet are below those for London and national average. Mr Tessier also emphasised that for Barnet, a large number of young offenders are placed in Employment, Education or Training in comparison to London and national average figures.  Mr Tessier noted that a further update will be brought to the SCPB in January 2016.

The Board received an update from the Community Safety Manager on the September 2015 Performance Dashboard.

The Board noted the information set out in the performance dashboard, Mr Clifton informed that there was an increase in non-residential burglary figures for the recent 12 month period up to September 2015, noting that there was a particular spike in figures during June 2015.

Mr Clifton highlighted the importance of encouraging reporting and raising awareness in relation to domestic violence.

Action: Cassie Newman requested that signage for Clocks, Locks and Lights Campaign be sent to London CRC.

Action: Community Safety Team to circulate the Clocks, Locks and Lights campaign material through partnership communication channels

The Chairman thanked the Board for the discussion and noted the items on the forward work programme for the next meeting of the Safer Communities Partnership Board.

The next Safer Communities Partnership Board meeting will take place on 29 January 2016.