Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED that Mrs. D. Taylor CC be elected Chairman of the Board for 2020/21.

Mrs. D. Taylor CC in the Chair

RESOLVED:

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED that Mr. T. Parton CC be elected Deputy Chairman of the Board for 2020/21.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 June 2020 were taken as read and confirmed as a correct record, subject to an amendment that Gurjit Samra-Rai be recorded as attending on behalf of The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire as well as the Violence Reduction Network.

Minute 50 (v)

Cllr. L. Phillimore reported that he had been contacted by Rita Patel-Miller, Business and Community Development Manager at Lend Lease, and a meeting with the Federation of Small Businesses had taken place which had gone well.

It was noted that there were some amber actions on the log but most of them would be covered as agenda items further on in the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the status of the Action Log be noted.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interests in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made. 

Raj Singh, Ministry of Justice, will provide a presentation.

The Board received a presentation from Raj Singh and Nick Dann from the Ministry of Justice which provided an update on the new prison development at Glen Parva. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(i)          Offenders that resided within 90 miles of Glen Parva and were suitable for a category C prison would be placed at the new Glen Parva prison. The new prison was intended to be a resettlement prison which meant that housing officers would be based at the prison with the role of finding accommodation for prisoners once released.

(ii)         Individual prisons did not monitor reoffending rates. Probation Officers employed by the National Probation Service would be located within the new Glen Parva prison and carry out ‘through the gate’ work.

(iii)       The assessment process for bids from operators to run the prison could not take into account how that operator had performed running other prisons. This was so operators that had not run a prison before were not disadvantaged in the assessment process. However, checks were made that the operator was ready to operate a prison and the contracts were detailed and contained quality assurance measures. In response to concerns from a member regarding the performance and efficiency of private prisons reassurance was given that existing privately operated prisons worked well, though it was acknowledged that they did tend to be more expensive.

(iv)       One of the aspirational targets for the Glen Parva prison project was 40% local employment with offsite manufacturing within a 40-mile radius of the site. Members were reassured that this was a realistic target and the level of manufacturing expertise was available within that radius.

(v)        Members welcomed the modelling of the benefits of the proposals but asked for the disbenefits to be modelled as well particularly any negative impact on the local community and services such as drug treatment, homelessness, and crime.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the contents of the presentation be noted;

(b)        That the Ministry of Justice be requested to attend a meeting of the Board in 2021 and provide a further update regarding the new prison development at Glen Parva.

This report will be presented by Rik Basra, Community Safety Co-ordinator, Leicestershire County Council.

The Board considered a report of Rik Basra, Community Safety Co-ordinator, Leicestershire County Council, the purpose of which was to update the Board regarding Safer Communities Performance for Quarter 1 2020/21. The Board was also in receipt of a supplementary report regarding Violence with Injury. Copies of both reports, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, are filed with these minutes.

Members asked for a more detailed breakdown of the statistics relating to the following:

·       Hate Crime and whether the offences were physical, verbal or on social media;

·       Violence with Injury, Violence without Injury, and how many of the offences were linked to Domestic Abuse and the Covid-19 lockdown or whether there was another reason for the upward trajectory in offences;

·       Anti-social Behaviour and how many of those offences were linked to the Covid-19 lockdown.

A member also asked for burglary figures to be included in future performance reports to the Board.

RESOLVED:

That the 2020/21 Quarter 1 performance information be noted.

Victoria Charlton, OPCC, will present this report.

The Board considered a report of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) which provided an update on community engagement work the Office was undertaking. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes. The report was presented by Paul Hindson, Chief Executive, OPCC.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)          The aim of the engagement work was to understand the concerns of local people and feed the information into discussions about the way policing was conducted. Since the Covid-19 pandemic had begun the engagement work carried out by the OPCC had been mainly carried out using digital forums. Discussions had been had with people from local neighbourhoods, youth groups and faith leaders. Challenging conversations had been held with the Black Lives Matters group.

(ii)         In order to engage with people in their late teens and early 20s the OPCC had previously formed a Youth Commission which had worked well. However, there was a need to engage with young people more closely connected with crime and policing issues therefore other engagement methods were being used such as the Young Adult Offender project at the YMCA. Engagement was now more fluent and varied rather than focusing on the same group of people again and again.

(iii)       The OPCC was also carrying out an outreach exercise engaging with those people on the fringes of crime and encouraging them to ‘exit’ gangs and cease their involvement with those taking part in criminal activity.

(iv)       In partnership with Community Safety Partnerships the OPCC was carrying out a survey of the public’s views of crime and Anti-social Behaviour. Board members were invited to make suggestions for how the survey could be promoted more widely.

(v)        The Home Office had given the OPCC approval to submit a bid for the Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programme which aimed to work with people who had been abusive towards their partners and encourage them to change their behaviour. The exact funding required to run the scheme in Leicestershire was not known yet and the OPCC was waiting for further information regarding costs from partners who were to help run the scheme. The deadline for the bid to be submitted was originally 1 October deadline but this had been extended. It was not known exactly when the results of the bidding process would be known but it was hoped to be within the next month.

(vi)       The OPCC had launched the Community Leadership Programme which sought 20 new community leaders across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR). Nine bids had been received under the Programme therefore it was looking viable.

(vii)      Many schools in Leicestershire were introducing peer mentoring which involved pupils providing support to other pupils regarding violence prevention. An update on the success of this project would be brought to the Board in due course.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Batchelor, Leicestershire Police, will present this report.

The Board considered a report and presentation of Kevin Wright which provided an update on the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) arrangements in Leicestershire and provided some explanation of the repeat MARAC rates. Copies of the report and presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 11’, are filed with these minutes.

The Board also welcomed to the meeting for this item Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Batchelor, Leicestershire Police.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(i)          Nationally different MARACs were set up in different ways and had different criteria for when a case should become a repeat MARAC. Not all MARACs used the SafeLives threshold and some did not send all their repeats through MARAC. Some MARACS identified repeat cases and shared the relevant information with partners but did not formally record them as a repeat MARAC. SafeLives had been made aware of the inconsistencies across MARACS nationally, had agreed to carry out further work on the matter and were intending to visit the Leicestershire MARAC and conduct a review.

(ii)         Any agency could refer into the MARAC and identify a case that required a repeat MARAC. Most referrals came from the Police, the Emergency Department at Leicester Royal Infirmary or Adult Social Care partners. An agreement was in place that charities, for example Turning Point, would refer cases into United Against Violence and Abuse (UAVA) who would then refer onto the MARAC. There was confidence that the agencies that regularly made referrals were correctly following the criteria and making appropriate decisions on when to refer, however further work needed to be carried out with other agencies that were less frequently required to make referrals to ensure they fully understood when a referral needed to be made.

(iii)       The SafeLives Dash risk assessment tool enabled agencies to assess whether a case was high risk and therefore should be referred into the MARAC. It was rare that the MARAC would reject a case on the basis that it was not of sufficiently high risk and in fact only one case had been rejected over the previous 12 months. If a case was rejected it was usually because some information was unclear or required further clarification.

(iv)       In order to tackle serial domestic abusers and break the cycle of offending, a pilot was being run where the most dangerous perpetrators were identified and referred to Integrated Offender Management.  There was also Ministry of Justice funding available for the Perpetrator Programme which aimed to change people’s behaviour and help them develop respectful, non-abusive relationships. The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was leading on submitting a bid for the Perpetrator Programme.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report and presentation be noted.

This report will be presented by Simon Holden, LFRS.

The Board considered a report of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) which provided an overview of the work of the service. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 12’, is filed with these minutes. The report was presented by Simon Holden, Group Manager, LFRS.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted;

(i)              LFRS were asking partners to look out for residents that may benefit from home safety checks and share the details of these people with LFRS so they could be provided with advice. The link to the page on the LFRS website where the referrals could be made would be circulated to Board attendees after the meeting.

(ii)             LFRS also conducted Safe and Well checks and they used an evaluation tool called Snap Survey to gain feedback from residents and measure the effectiveness of these checks. The evaluation tool would also be shared with the Board after the meeting. It was noted that the Lightbulb programme also conducted safe and well work and reassurance was given that collaboration took place between LFRS and Lightbulb to ensure there was no duplication.

(iii)            Concerns were raised by a member that recently there had been no representative from LFRS at CSP meetings and it was suggested that were a representative to attend they could provide a presentation to CSPs on their work.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

A presentation will be provided by Detective Inspector Jen Heggs, Leicestershire Police.

The Board received a presentation from Detective Inspector Jenni Heggs, Leicestershire Police on work the Force was carrying out to tackle Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 13’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)          The Modern Slavery Action Group needed better representation from partners so that information could be better fed back to partners and any decisions made at the group had the agreement of partners. It was hoped that eventually partners would have their own Modern Slavery groups which could feed into the Modern Slavery Action Group.

(ii)         Reassurance was given that a Task Force had been set up to co-ordinate the response to allegations of Modern Slavery within the garment industry in Leicester, though it was acknowledged that the legislation made it difficult for the Police to access premises and investigate, and liaison was taking place with the Home Office regarding this. Some garment manufacturing took place in houses and garages and Leicestershire Police were aware of this and carried out the necessary investigations.

(iii)       A member made the Board aware of a documentary which had been on the BBC iPlayer called Doing Money which related to Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking and which was worth watching. Unfortunately the programme was no longer available to watch on the iPlayer. DI Heggs agreed to try and obtain a copy of the documentary and if possible make it available to the Board to watch.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the contents of the presentation be noted;

(b)        That a presentation on Operation Laud/Tacit (garment industry in Leicester) be given at the next meeting of the Board.

Future meetings of the Board are scheduled to take place on the following dates:

Friday 11 December 2020 at 10:00am

Friday 19 March 2021 at 10:00am

Friday 18 June 2021 at 10:00am

Friday 24 September 2021 at 10:00am

Friday 10 December 2021 at 10:00am

RESOLVED:

That future meetings of the Board take place on the following dates:

Friday 11 December 2020 at 10:00am;

Friday 19 March 2021 at 10:00am;

Friday 18 June 2021 at 10:00am;

Friday 24 September 2021 at 10:00am;

Friday 10 December 2021 at 10:00am.

RESOLVED:

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and that, in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information:-

County Lines – Operational Learning.

A presentation will be provided by Supt Shane O’Neil, Leicestershire Police.

It is likely this agenda item will be exempt from the public under Paragraph 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Board received a presentation from Superintendent Shane O’Neill, Leicestershire Police, which provided an update on lessons learnt from recent County Lines operations intended to tackle Serious and Organised Crime in Leicestershire. The presentation was not for publication by virtue of paragraph 7 of Schedule 12(A) of the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the contents of the presentation be noted;

(b)        That a further presentation be brought to a future meeting of the Board regarding County Lines, to include an update on the work of Turning Point.