Agenda item

To consider the annual Community Safety Partnership update report for 2022/23 (copy enclosed) which provides details of the Partnership’s achievement in delivering its 2022/23 action plan and outlines its progress to date in delivering its action plan for 2023/24. 

 

10.10 am – 10.50 am

 

The Chair welcomed the Lead Member and officers to the meeting. The Scrutiny Co-ordinator introduced each officer present at the meeting.

 

The Lead Member for Housing and Communities, Councillor Rhys Thomas introduced the annual Community Safety Partnership’s (CSP) Annual Report for 2022/23. He welcomed the North Wales Police representative, District Inspector Kevin Smith, to the meeting who was in attendance at the request of the Committee.  He reminded Members it was a statutory requirement that an annual report be presented to the Committee.

 

The Head of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital & Assets thanked the Lead Member for the introduction and expanded by saying that the report fell under Section 6 of the Crime Disorder Act for an annual report to be prepared, to demonstrate the achievements of the Local Community Safety Partnership.

 

She introduced Sian Taylor, the Community Safety Partnership Manager to the Committee. Sian worked for Denbighshire County Council and Conwy County Borough Council.

 

Three elements were included within the report. Those were:

·         To look at the previous year, to provide a performance update and crime statistics.

·         To provide information for the current year 2023/24.

·         To provide information on the finance and funding of the Conwy and Denbighshire Community Safety Partnership.

 

It was highlighted to Members the resources for the CSP were very limited. The Head of Service offered her thanks to Sian and the officers for the work done under the constraints of limited resources.

 

The Community Safety Partnership Manager thanked the Committee for inviting her to present the paper. She guided members to appendix 1 which detailed the performance report for April 2022- March 2023 for Denbighshire. Members were reminded that there were 3 priority areas that were monitored. With specific targets to achieve.  Of the three main priority areas of work for the Community Safety Partnership at the end of March 2023 two were acceptable and the third was good. The reason two had been set as acceptable had been due to an increase in the number of theft and handling, vehicle crime, sexual offences and the youth reoffending rate. It was noted a reduction in all other types of crimes had been recorded.

 

A brief summary of each priority was provided.  The first priority had been to work collectively as a partnership to reduce crime and disorder. Work on victim based crime and community based issues had taken place. Representatives from partners from those areas met to discuss concerns and agree actions.  Officers encouraged participation in the Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) that discussed the high level domestic abuse in order to put in place mitigating actions to safeguard individuals.

 

The second priority focused on working collectively to reduce the level of reoffending. Partnership working with the Police and Probation Service was vital for this priority to progress. Members were informed of a cross county organised crime group (OCG) which was a partnership group that met monthly to discuss issues such as County Lines crime and ways of combating organised crime in the area.

 

The third priority looked at the local and regional priorities. Collective working took place when there was a need to manage anti-social behaviour. Often the CSP brought teams together to discuss any joint working that would benefit partners and communities.

 

Work collectively to raise domestic abuse and sexual abuse awareness continued. Including press releases and initiatives like lighting up local landmarks in white to provide a visual to engage with individuals and raise awareness.  Third sector colleagues often attended sports clubs to encourage white ribbon day to gain support for domestic violence not being acceptable.

 

Members were provided with further detail around some of the key areas of statistics noted in the papers.  Members were guided to the data around adult reoffending in Denbighshire, the data showed a reduction in the number of reoffending recorded during the last year. Officers attended offender management partnership meetings. This enabled officers to gain information at those meetings on any emerging issues which would help shape the CSP’s approach going forward. 15 less adult repeat offences were recorded during the period. Conwy County Borough Council had seen a greater reduction, Members heard further information had been sought on the type of offence that had been recorded to gain a better understanding of the reduction in Conwy.

 

A large increase in youth reoffending had been recorded. Members were aware of issues in communities around anti-social behaviour which had in turn reflected on the numbers. Officers had been in contact with the Youth Justice Service to gain further information. Officers were aware of the issues. The yellow card system was still in place, with officers now contacting parents/guardians following the issuing of the first yellow card, not the second card as in previously. Further work around further interventions were ongoing.

 

It was stressed the team were involved in a wide area of work and attended numerous conferences and partnership meetings. Members were provided with information on some of the work the team were involved in. Members heard a new officer had been employed utilising funds provided by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Crime Stoppers work called the Fearless Arm of Crime Youth Outreach Worker.  His role was aimed at young people having the confidence to report incidents of crime without fear of reprisal, with an emphasis  around knife crime. Officers had made contact with the new individual to work with them to look at concerns in the county.

 

Members were guided through the data chart of the statistics recorded for 2021/22 and 2022/23. Overall the chart was positive. It highlighted some key areas that required further work including sexual offences, vehicle crime, and theft and handling.  The two areas of greatest concern were vehicle crime and theft and handling. The current economic pressures were having an impact on the numbers. It was stressed a great deal of work was needed in these fields.  Details of the work in each area of increased crime was provided to members, including the work that was being done to reduce the levels of crime in Denbighshire.  It was stressed work to educate people and businesses on ways to reduce numbers of crime was ongoing.

 

The Chair thanked the officers for the detailed introduction and guidance through the comprehensive report.  Members were invited to raise any concerns or questions and the following points were discussed in more detail:

·         Acquisitive crime did include shop lifting. The cost of living and current economic situation could cause an increase in that sort of crime being committed. The increase in shop theft had often been found in the larger supermarket stores. Work was on going to educate the staff of those stores for best placement of attractive products. It was stressed the increase in theft was seen on a national level with an increase seen across the country. High value thefts had been more frequent with the cost of products rising. Work had been focused to reduce these occurrences. A new initiative named ‘we don’t buy crime’ had been introduced to support the community to reduce acquisitive crime.

·         The CCTV Partnership Board was very grateful for the work of the City, Town and Community Councils and support provided towards the Board’s work. Police access to the CCTV cameras had to be sought through the current contracted CCTV control room. An application form had to be completed for the footage. Work was currently taking place on a new CCTV Service contract which would be funded using various sources of funding, including, Safer Streets Funding, PCC and Levelling Up monies etc.

·         School police officers attended all schools and had a curriculum they adhered to. This was centred around acquisitive crime. Information was provided and contact information of local policing teams and neighbourhood policing teams and youth justice service to support schools and young people.

·         Members noted the increase in theft from shops including charity shops and associated the rise with the changes to the current economic climate.

·         Members were pleased to hear that the joint working was succesful. Members asked if there was any intention to hold a forum in Denbigh to engage with local Councillors and residents. It was an ambition of officers to arrange other forums, it was explained it was often time consuming to find a suitable date and time when majority of partners were available to attend.

·         The contract with Cheshire West and Chester County Council for CCTV was on the agenda for the CCTV Partnership Board group meeting. The group was due to discuss the best contract for Denbighshire CCTV. Funding had been sought for a new server in Rhyl which would be of great benefit to Denbighshire. Funding to replace some older cameras had also been pursued.

·         The Conwy and Denbighshire Community Safety Partnership received no direct grants to allocate. Funding was received from the Home Office to the Welsh Government, it was then awarded to North Wales Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner to allocate to projects across North Wales. Regional bids were submitted to receive funding. Officers felt it was right to raise funding as a possible risk going forward. Assurance were provided that the CSP bid for any available funding to support projects and initiatives across the counties. Reliance on close working relationships between partners was vital and officers were grateful for the support they received from partners especially the close working with the Police. 

·         The District Inspector offered to collate information on various grants and funding awarded by North Wales Police and Community Trust (PACT) charity to projects in Denbighshire during the past twelve months.  All external funding and partner support for crime reduction initiatives were extremely valuable tools with a view to reducing youth crime and engaging with young people. 

·         Sharing information between the partners and authorities would support the work completed by the Board. The risk would be increased if information was not shared. In Denbighshire a Community Safety and Safeguarding Strategic Group had been implemented to discuss concerns and strengthen partnerships to mitigate risks.

·         Good strong relationships between organisations supported the partnership. Community safety incorporated a diverse field of partners and organisations therefore close working between each partner was vital. 

·         The Lead Member encouraged Members to request presentations and reports at each Member Area Group from local police staff and other partners to discuss projects taking place in each area.

·         Members were supportive of data and information of the agencies, organisations and partners being pulled together to provide information quickly and easily.

·         Close communication between groups and third sector organisations to ensure clear understanding and support was provided and understood.

 

The Corporate Director: Governance and Business, offered his thanks to the officers and to Kevin Smith for his attendance. He emphasised how fortunate the authority was to have Sian working in the Community Safety Team.       

 

At the conclusion of an in-depth discussion the Chair and members thanked the Lead Member, the Community Safety Partnership Manager and North Wales Police’s representative for an overall positive report and for answering the Committee’s questions.  It was:

 

Resolved:  subject to the above suggestions and observations, along with the provision of the additional information requested, to -

 

(i)   acknowledge the Community Safety Partnership’s efforts and activity in addressing and reducing crime rates in Denbighshire; and

(ii) receive the Partnership’s Annual Performance and Statistical Update Report for 2022 to 2023, along with the details provided on its ongoing work, initiatives and funding sources for 2023/2024.