Agenda and minutes

Mr J. Orson CC welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED that Mr. J. T. Orson CC JP be elected Chairman of the Board for 2015/16.

Mr J. T. Orson CC JP in the Chair

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED that Cllr. T. Pendleton be elected Vice-Chairman of the Board for 2015/16.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 March 2015 were taken as read and confirmed as a correct record.

Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy Group – Update (minute 20)

Jane Moore informed that at the meeting of the ASB Strategy Group the previous week it had been agreed to undertake a review of ASB across the region which would include Sentinel and the ICSB (inter-agency community safety bureau). Progress on this would be reported to the Board.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interests in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting. The Chairman himself declared a personal interest in all items of the Leicestershire Safer Communities Strategy Board as he was a member of Melton Borough Council

No other declarations were made. 

Paper to follow.

The Board considered a report from Jane Moore which provided an update on the Strategic Partnership Board (SPB). A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

AGREED:

That the Strategic Partnership Board update be noted.

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED that Mr. M. Graham CC be elected to the vacant position of Strategic Partnership Board representative for 2015/16 (alongside the existing representative Mr T.J. Pendleton CC).

The Board considered a report from Gurjit Samra-Rai providing an update on the work of Prevent in Leicestershire with particular regard to the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 which was due to come into force on 1 July. A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

The report highlighted that the Act placed a new Duty on local authorities to work with partners to protect the public, prevent crime and raise awareness of the impacts of radicalisation.

The Board noted that Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council had agreed to jointly fund a Prevent officer to be based at County Hall. This would be different from the role of Prevent Co-ordinator which was currently held by Will Baldet.

The Chairman made members of the Board aware that Will Baldet had offered to provide presentations on Prevent to all district councils in Leicestershire. He also highlighted the importance of district and parish councils being mindful about renting property to people or organisations involved in terrorism related activities.

AGREED:

That the Board noted the progress and development of the work to comply with the new Prevent Duty.

Presentation from Chief Inspector Paul McKinder (seconded to Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner).

The Board received a presentation from Chief Inspector Paul McKinder and Sam Watson of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire (OPCC) on the new service for victims and witnesses. A copy of the presentation slides is filed with these notes.

Victim First would be going live in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland on 1 October 2015 and the contract was for 26 months. Whilst the service would report to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) it was planned that external scrutiny would take place. The details of which Board would undertake this scrutiny had yet to be agreed and Chief Inspector McKinder agreed to take this question back to the PCC and provide further information when it was available.

In setting up the Leicestershire model the approach had been to learn from the areas which had been amongst the first to implement the new service such as Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire and borrow elements of good practice. The Board were informed that it would be difficult to compare the performance of the different victim services across the Country given the different models used. However, Bob Bearne stated the Ministry of Justice gave clear criteria of what was required and there should be a way in which outcomes could be measured.

In response to a question regarding the level of pressure on victims to agree to a Restorative Justice disposal, Chief Inspector McKinder agreed that whilst promoting the service was a good thing, care had to be taken not to make the victim feel unduly pressured into going down the Restorative Justice route. In fact this had been part of the feedback provided by the early adoptees of the victim schemes. Victim lead focus groups were taking place and Restorative Justice was on the next agenda.

The Board were informed that additional research was taking place around Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), and when this research was completed the PCC would be making a decision on whether to commission services to assist victims of CSE. At the Victim First hub at Mansfield House Police Station there were individual specialists in CSE.

With regards to Antisocial Behaviour a Pathways meeting was taking place on 23 June to discuss providing information, advice, and practical and emotional support to victims. However, it was confirmed that this was only for High Risk victims of ASB not all victims. Jane Moore informed that a discussion on this subject had taken place at the ASB Strategy Group and the issue of who would be targeted by this service would be discussed again at the Pathways meeting on 23 June.

Chief Inspector McKinder invited all members of the Board to visit the service after it went live in October.

AGREED:

That the progress with implementing the Victim First scheme be noted.

The Board considered a report from James Fox, updating the Board regarding Safer Communities’ performance for Quarter 4. A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

In response to a question James Fox stated that he did have the breakdown for disabled hate crime figures and this could be included in future reports. It was noted that disabled hate crime was underreported and awareness needed to be increased. However, it was acknowledged that raising awareness could initially increase the hate crime figures and investigation would have to take place to ascertain whether hate crime was on the increase.

With regard to theft of tools from vans Mr Pendleton CC suggested that owners of tools could stamp their names on their tools, and Superintendent Mark Newcombe agreed to consider taking this forward. Superintendent Newcombe reported that members of an organised crime group suspected of conducting tool theft were now remanded in custody and this may help reduce the figures.

It was noted that the levels of vehicle crime and theft of tools had spikes due to criminals targeting particular areas and then moving on when those areas became hot spots.

AGREED:

(a) That the Board noted the 2014/15 end of year performance information.

(b) That the Board agreed to continue to monitor performance trends.

(c) That Leicestershire Police be asked to consider further ways to take forward property marking, such as stamping of tools.

The Board received a report from James Fox, the purpose of which was to present the Safer Communities Agreement for Leicestershire 2015/16. A copy of the Agreement and the covering report are filed with these minutes.

AGREED:

The Board agreed the Safer Communities Agreement for Leicestershire 2015/16.

The Board received a report from James Fox, the purpose of which was to provide an update on progress regarding Domestic Abuse and the work of the Domestic Abuse Partnership. A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

It was noted that Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Starbuck was the new Chairman of the Domestic Abuse Partnership and he was invited to attend future meetings of the Safer Communities Strategy Board.

Members expressed the view that positive messages regarding work taking place to tackle Domestic Abuse should be disseminated to the public.

With regard to Project 360 which had been extended to run to the end of November 2015, a question was asked whether a halfway update would be provided to the Board. James Fox was unable to confirm this however he did inform that Project 360 was looking to take on a larger sample of victims of domestic abuse.

AGREED:

(a) That the Board noted the progress of commissioning regarding domestic abuse;

(b) That the Board noted the work and development of the Domestic Abuse Partnership; 

(c) That the Board noted the key risks with regard to domestic abuse.

The Board received a report from James Fox, the purpose of which was to outline progress on current Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) and proposed developments of the process for carrying out DHRs in Leicestershire. Prior to the meeting the draft Leicestershire & Rutland Domestic Homicide Reviews: Local Procedures had also been circulated. Copies of these documents are filed with these minutes.

Given the late circulation of the Local Procedures it was agreed that members could take this document away and submit comments at a later date.

With regard to DHRs the Board noted that a learning event was to take place at Hinckley & Bosworth in the autumn.

James Fox stated that it was likely that there would be no need to drawdown partnership contributions in September 2015.

AGREED:

That the Board noted the progress of DHRs and the resultant action plans.

17 September 2015

The Board noted that the next meeting was due to take place on 17 September 2015 at 10:00am.