Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED – the minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2019 were approved as an accurate record.

Apologies were received from Cllr Danny Rich, Cllr Brian Gordon and Cllr Roberto Weeden-Sanz.

Cllr Nagus Narenthira attended as a substitute for Cllr Rich.

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The Chairman welcomed the Mayoral Services & Civic Events Manager and Armed Forces Champion to the meeting.

The Mayoral Services & Civic Events Manager and Armed Forces Champion spoke of the report on renewing the Armed Forces Covenant and action plan to ensure that Barnet meets its Armed Forces Covenant obligations.

Barnet had signed the original Armed Forces Covenant in July 2012 and this was now being reviewed. Council had agreed the renewed Covenant at its meeting on 29 October 2019. The Action Plan would increase awareness of the Covenant within the Council and its partners and amongst military units and service families and would also ensure that Barnet Council policies had been adjusted to suit the Covenant.

The Mayoral Services & Civic Events Manager and Armed Forces Champion reported that training sessions had been delivered to the Armed Forces Champion, senior staff, department leads and line managers to upskill them on the Covenant and the unique needs and issues of the Armed Forces. Further to this frontline staff of Barnet Council and Barnet Homes will receive training on signposting those in need including veterans, families of members of the armed forces, regular personnel in the armed forces, reservists, Cadet Force Adult Volunteers and bereaved families.

An elearning package would be installed into Barnet’s Learning Management System and rolled out to frontline staff and then other council staff for awareness.

The Mayoral Services & Civic Events Manager and Armed Forces Champion added that Barnet as an employer would review the next steps towards a Silver and then Gold Employer Recognition Scheme Status via the Greater London Reserve Forces and Cadet Association.

A Member asked whether Members would be sent further information pertinent to their work locally with residents. The Mayoral Services & Civic Events Manager and Armed Forces Champion responded that from the 2021 Census veterans should be identifiable. The work was also relevant for the bereaved, for children in relation to school places, and the reserves.

A Member thanked the Mayoral Services & Civic Events Manager and Armed Forces Champion for her work in this area and asked whether a report could be provided to a future meeting of CLLC as the project progressed. The Armed Forces Champion agreed.

Action: Mayoral Services & Civic Events Manager and Armed Forces Champion, Governance Officer

The Chairman moved to the vote on the officer’s recommendations:

The Committee unanimously AGREED:

1.    The Barnet Council Action Plan at Appendix 1.

2.    To instruct Officers to implement the Barnet Council Action Plan.

The Chairman stated that the Q1 Performance Report had already been circulated and was for noting.

The Chairman welcomed the Community Safety Manager to the meeting.

The Community Safety Manager spoke to the Q2 Performance Report. He noted that strong performances had been achieved in hate crime awareness, including supporting victims to report hate crime. Barnet had worked with the Barnet Mencap Disability User Forum and Gypsy Roma Travellers. Barnet had also signed up 150 members of staff as Hate Crime Reporting Champions.

Five Public Space Protection Orders had been designated in Barnet; 4 focused on reducing alcohol-related crime, and one on antisocial behaviour in relation to dog walking. There was strong evidence of the impact of the PSPOs in Barnet, including a reduction of over 50% in calls to London Ambulance Service, which showed behaviour change in those areas.

A Member asked questions on the Q2 report:

·       Were the increased costs at Colindale and Church End Libraries due to rent, and were these costs offset?

Response:

Colleagues from the libraries team were not present so a response would be provided for the next meeting.

Action: Governance Officer

·       Previously there had been a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) around sanction and detection rates for violence against women and girls (VAWG) and this was still a delivery item in the Corporate Plan but was not in the report to CLLC. The KPI did not include ‘coercive control’ so how would all forms of VAWG be monitored?

Response:

The Community Safety Manager agreed that positive action should be taken at all opportunities where domestic violence was concerned. Domestic violence was monitored every quarter at the VAWG Subgroup of the Safer Communities Partnership Board - he would feed back the Member’s recommendations.

Action: Community Safety Manager

Cllr Richman arrived at this point in the meeting.

·       A huge improvement was evident in Burnt Oak but cuts in police numbers were a major concern; there was a need for policing the PSPOs during the evenings and at weekends for enforcement to happen.

Response:

The Chairman reported that he had attended a recent meeting of the Safer Neighbourhood Board – he suggested that this be addressed at Ward level with the Borough Command Unit (BCU) which should be able to deal with specific issues. If the Member did not receive a satisfactory response she could raise the matter again with the Chairman.

The Community Safety Manager noted that the police had taken action in 149 cases in the PSPO zones with six of these resulting in Criminal Behaviour Orders and three Notices issued. The Community Safety Team met regularly with partners and the police to review how effective the zones were.

·       The status for staff training in hate crime awareness was ‘red’ in the report – why was this?

Response:

The Community Safety Manager responded that the red/amber status was due to the training schedule over the year. This should improve in Q3 and Q4 as more staff are trained across the partnership.

·       Perhaps Barnet Council or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Community Safety Manager introduced the report.

Barnet had been asked to lend its support to a vision for a whole system approach for women in contact with the criminal justice system. Barnet would be a key stakeholder, working with MOPAC in the development of an action plan for London. 

A Member asked whether the Committee could review progress in the future. The Community Safety Manager stated that he would take this as an action and would provide an update after he had attended the first of the quarterly working groups and then he would continue to share details of the action plan as it developed.

Action: Community Safety Manager

A Member enquired about the type of crimes this cohort typically committed in Barnet. The Community Safety Manager responded that in terms of repeat offenders shoplifting was the most common crime committed by women in Barnet. The Community Safety Team continued to work with the relevant agencies to build up a picture of the crimes and causal factors.

A Member noted that there was a high incidence of pickpocketing in some areas.

A Member asked about the scope for women to have their voices heard, such as including them as case studies. The Community Safety Manager stated that some pilot work had been carried out in Barnet with female offenders, including community payback, which had been successful in reducing reoffending. This was now being rolled out to other boroughs.

A Member asked whether more serious crimes were being committed by women. The Community Safety Manager would take this query away and would provide an update at a future meeting.

Action: Community Safety Manager

The Chairman moved to the vote on the officer’s recommendations:

1.    That CLLC note the report and Appendices A, B and C

2.    That CLLC approve and sign up to the London Blueprint for a Whole System Approach for Women in Contact with the Criminal Justice System 2019-22.

Resolved – the above recommendations were unanimously APPROVED.

The Chairman welcomed the Deputy Head of Strategy who spoke to the report.

The Deputy Head of Strategy reported that the Communities Together Network (CTN) continued to increase its membership. The CTN Steering Group had met three times in the past year in different locations in Barnet and meetings had been well attended. The CTN had 1200 subscribers to the bulletin and had a new closed Facebook Group and had developed its role to include emergency planning, involving groups and residents, as part of Barnet’s business continuity scheme.

·       A Member commented that the CTN Steering Group meetings were useful for communicating with the VCFS. She asked when a review of the Terms of Reference would take place and what sort of changes

were likely.

Response:

The Deputy Head of Strategy noted that the Terms of Reference could be reviewed alongside the Community Participation Action Plan during the current municipal year.

Action: Deputy Head of Strategy

The Chairman moved to the officer’s recommendations:

That the Committee note the Communities Together Network Annual Report 2018/19 and approve its publication on the council’s website.

Resolved – the Committee unanimously APPROVED the officer’s recommendation.

The Forward Plan was received. The Chairman reported that two deferred items had been added to the Forward Plan for the February 2020 meeting

A Member requested that environmental crime and fly tipping be added to the Forward Plan if possible. It continued to be a major issue in Barnet.

The Chairman noted that this could be incorporated under the BCU item. The Community Safety Manager added that a report on enforcement for environment crime was being prepared for the next meeting of the Safer Communities Partnership Board and it may be suitable to also submit this to a meeting of CLLC. He offered to take this away and consider it as part of the BCU item.

Action: Community Safety Manager

The Deputy Head of Strategy reported that the next meeting of the Chief Executive’s Strategic Partnership Board would focus on environmental crime.

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