Agenda item - Community Safety Partnership Scrutiny Report
Agenda item
Community Safety Partnership Scrutiny Report
- Meeting of Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday, 13th July, 2021 6.00 pm (Item 7.)
- View the background to item 7.
Report of the Director of Communities attached.
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing (Councillor Mick Titherington), Director of Communities, Community Safety and Safeguarding Manager, and Chief Inspector of Lancashire Constabulary presented an update on the work of the Community Safety Partnership and responded to members’ comments and queries.
The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) is a statutory body made up of representatives from local authorities, the police, fire and rescue authorities and health and probation services. It was highlighted that overall crime figures had decreased and the Cabinet Member emphasised that South Ribble remained a safe place to live.
Members were particularly interested in the learning for the CSP following the COVID-19 pandemic and were advised that the reliance on the Partnership and the level of collaboration between partners had been noted especially during the pandemic.
The Chief Inspector also commented that the unpredictability of demand for assistance and the need to be flexible with this fluidity had been recognised.
In response to a query regarding how the Partnership ensures good governance, it was confirmed that robust governance measures are in place and that these are well-documented and publicly available.
The report highlighted that a recent review of the governance and partnership arrangements of the Lancashire Community Safety Partnership had concluded that either a thematic or geographic model would work well in practice.
However, South Ribble and Chorley CSPs had indicated that a thematic model was their preferred approach which was queried by members given the usual practice of a geographic neighbourhood model typically adopted by South Ribble.
Reassurances were provided in response that this would only apply to the wider Lancashire Community Safety Partnership and would have no impact on the CSP in South Ribble. It was advised that a thematic model was preferred to fully utilise the specialisms of officers within the Partnership.
A query was raised regarding how the success of the Integrated Offender Management scheme is evaluated. In response, members were informed that a decline in reoffending rates was viewed as the main indicator for success of this scheme and members welcomed the Chief Inspector’s offer to provide figures on this after the meeting.
The success of Community Protection Warnings were also acknowledged, with only 10 of 51 being escalated to Community Protection Notices and 1 Fixed Penalty Notice.
Members were interested to hear the extent to which Domestic Homicide Reviews are conducted independently from the Council and how lessons are learned from such Reviews.
In response, the Director of Communities advised that Reviews are chaired independently. Reviews are then verified by the Home Office with the possibility of further assessment before publication.
Further clarification on the work of the South Ribble Integrated Team (SRIT) was also requested and the committee was informed that each local area will have their own Integrated Team, although it was acknowledged that some Teams are more advanced.
Integrated Teams like SRIT provide early assistance and intervention in communities before issues reach statutory services, such as the NHS. It was noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a significant increase in referrals made by SRIT.
A query was raised regarding the link between the CSP and elected members and the My Neighbourhood Community Hubs. Members were pleased to note that discussions were ongoing regarding engagement with the Hubs and that there had been a commitment from the police to attend Community Hub meetings, where required.
The CSP would also have an annual conference, which members would be invited to attend.
A key line of enquiry focused on catalytic converter theft, which was acknowledged as a significant issue by the Chief Inspector. It was noted that the police were in receipt of funding to provide catalytic converter theft marking kits to previous victims and owners of targeted vehicles. These kits were provided free of charge by Chorley Nissan, although beneficiaries were politely asked to provide a small donation to charity in return.
In response to a member enquiry, confirmation was provided that Speed Indicator Devices (SpIDS) had been rolled out across the borough and that these could be relocated as needed. Members should contact the Director of Communities if they know of any speeding hotspots where a SpID would be of benefit.
A query was also raised regarding the possibility of a new prison being developed just outside of South Ribble, to which the Chief Inspector and Director of Communities asserted that this had not yet been discussed by the CSP.
Members also welcomed assurances that the crime rates within the borough are comparable to those of similar demographics and that Lancashire Constabulary are well-prepared for a ‘Black Swan’ event of multiple major incidents occurring at once.
RESOLVED: (Unanimously)
That the Scrutiny Committee
The Committee:
1. thanks the Chair of the Community Safety Partnership, Cabinet Member and Director for attending and for their detailed report;
2. welcomes the offer of further information on the effectiveness of the Integrated Offender Management System;
3. asks that the Community Safety Partnership works more closely with the Council’s Community Hubs;
4. encourages the Police to engage with elected Members more as part of their feedback model; and
5. requests that the Community Safety Partnership considers what more can be done to improve road safety and reduce road casualties and deaths in the Borough.
Supporting documents: