Agenda and minutes

Venue: By remote video conference

Link: View meeting

Items
No. Item

96.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

There were no apologies received for this meeting.

 

Cllr Cumbers advised that Cllr Evans had resigned from the Scrutiny committee and she would advise Members when the Group Leader for the Opposition had nominated someone to fill the seat.

97.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 132 KB

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 11 February 2021

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 February 2021 were approved and authorised to be signed by the Chair.

 

Cllr Smith abstained from the vote as she was not present at the meeting.

98.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST pdf icon PDF 50 KB

Members to declare any interest as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting.

 

Minutes:

Cllr Browne declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda items 4 and 5 as his wife works for the Community Safety team.

 

There were no other declarations of interest received at this meeting.

99.

THE COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP (CSP) STRATEGIC PLAN pdf icon PDF 173 KB

The Director for Housing and Communities to provide a report setting out the proposed Community Safety Strategy 2021-23 which will lead to an annual Community Safety Action Plan to be compiled and reviewed by the Partnership to allow focused action and resource deployment for the forthcoming year. The Strategic Plan sets out how the Partnership will assess and act upon issues relating to crime and disorder across the borough for a three year timescale.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director for Housing and Communities, Mr Andrew Cotton and the Communities and Neighbourhoods Manager, Mr Albert Wilson, introduced the report the purpose of which was to set out the proposed Community Safety Strategy 2021-23. This would lead to an annual Community Safety Action Plan to be compiled and reviewed by the Partnership and would assess and act upon issues relating to crime and disorder across the borough for a three year timescale.

 

Mr Cotton highlighted the following:

 

Ø  The report would be going to Council in March 2021 for formal approval.

Ø  The Policy had a strong link to the corporate policies and excellent services and would allow the council to be connected to and led by the community.

Ø  Working with partner agencies allowed the council to get a greater understanding of a wide range of issues within the community.

Ø  Reintroducing the use of the community centres would help give focus on priority neighbourhoods and individuals within the community.

Ø  The Strategy would take a holistic approach to case management to understand why people behave as they do and try to influence change.

Ø  The Partnership meets on a quarterly basis to discuss and work around priorities.

 

During the discussion the following points were noted:

 

Ø  Members thanked Mr Cotton and Mr Wilson for the report.

Ø  The Fairmead housing estate is a known priority neighbourhood and the CSP scoped out the potential for using the community centre to deliver joined up services.

Ø  The case management teams and the new Neighbourhood Support Officer would predominantly be working from the community centre, post lockdown.

Ø  The new tenancy agreements would allow them to take more action from a council perspective on individuals who are causing issues.

Ø  The police had been targeting key areas that are known for drug related crime over the last year.

Ø  The partnership focussed on and addressed issues in regard to rural crime and the police were increasing patrols in rural areas where crimes had been committed. The partnership would look at addressing all issues in the rural areas as and when they arise.

Ø  Through the networks that had been built up through the Community Hub and the knowledge gained regarding vulnerable people within the community there had been an improvement on how to better target and support individuals.

Ø  The council had engaged with the NHS and local health leads across the county in order to better understand resident’s issues.

Ø  The council had engaged with local community groups and Facebook groups to assist with low level mental health issues.

Ø  The Partnership would look to improve engagement with the parish councils who as valid stakeholders could give targeted information and intelligence on their communities. The police already had regular discussions with the parish councils regarding such priorities.

Ø  Post lockdown, a forum would be organised for all parish councils and a representative from the CSP would attend to give a presentation on how the CSP operates, the priorities going  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99.

100.

CRIME AND DISORDER/COMMUNITY SAFETY PRESENTATION pdf icon PDF 3 MB

To follow

Minutes:

The Director for Housing and Communities, Mr Andrew Cotton, introduced the Presentation for Crime and Disorder and highlighted the following:

 

Ø  Apologies were given by Cllr Alan Pearson, the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Communities who could not be present at the meeting to introduce the Presentation.

Ø  The CSP focussed on local issues but operated within a national context.

Ø  The Partnership had entered into a Perpetrator Scheme which would be delivered in Melton at the homes of the families involved.

Ø  Funding for the Perpetrator Scheme had been made available from the office for the Police and Crime Commissioner and from the Partnership.

 

The Communities and Neighbourhoods Manager, Mr Albert Wilson and Inspector Audrey Danvers, NPA Commander for Melton and Rutland provided a presentation which had also been issued with the agenda.

 

During the discussion, the following points were noted:

 

Ø  The Partnership would allow engagement within the community, to understand concerns of the community.

Ø  UAVA and Turning Point  were engaged with the Partnership in regard to drug misuse and domestic violence.

Ø  Covid was a key focus for the CSP due to the impact that lockdown has had on the community, crime and people’s health and wellbeing.

Ø  There had been an increase in the number of domestic abuse victims presenting as homeless and in search of housing.

Ø  The council’s new tenancy agreements would allow officers far greater power to be able to take stronger action its own tenants who were found to be using drugs within the property or committing drug related crimes.

Ø  The police posted regularly on social media providing details of the visits they had been undertaking in rural areas regarding anti-social behaviour, burglary and rural crime.  This had had a cumulative impact on reducing incidents.

Ø  The Violence Reduction Network attends the CSP meetings and is undertaking work with the under 25s and those who had been found in possession of weapons or been involved in violent crime to understand the causes behind their actions.

Ø  Both the Community Officers and the Violence Reduction Network had been going into schools to gain an understanding of the issues that schools were facing and to engage with students.

Ø  The police were currently undergoing an environmental audit of the town centre focussing on the Bentley Street and Rutland Street areas to make an assessment of what work would benefit these areas with better lighting and CCTV monitoring.

Ø  The council had recently issued a closure notice on a property which had significant number of Covid-19 Regulation related breaches and drug related activity.

Ø  In response to a question regarding the increase in drug related issues, Mr Wilson advised that this was a reflection of the police being more responsive to the increased reports coming in from the community and being more proactive in relation to stop and searches.

Ø  Mr Wilson highlighted that when housing officers were going into properties where it was suspected drug activity, from a tenancy management perspective they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 100.

101.

URGENT BUSINESS

To consider any other items that the Chair considers urgent

Minutes:

There was no urgent business to be discussed at this meeting.

 

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