Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2021 were taken as read and confirmed as a correct record, subject to an amendment to the attendance list so that the apologies of Mr. N. Bannister CC were recorded.

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

The Board considered the LSCSB Action Log, a copy of which, marked ‘Agenda Item 4’, is filed with these minutes.

It was noted that most of the actions on the log were either complete or would be completed as part of the agenda for the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the status of the LSCSB 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.

Mr. N. Bannister CC declared a personal interest in all agenda items as he was employed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

This report will be presented by Gurjit Samra-Rai, Community Safety Manager, Leicestershire County Council.

The Board considered a report of Gurjit Samra-Rai which provided a summary of the work undertaken to date to meet the statutory requirements of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and set out the proposal to establish a Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)          As a result of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 a child that saw, heard or experienced Domestic Abuse would be regarded as a victim in their own right rather than a witness.

(ii)         A Strategic Needs Assessment had been carried out in relation to Domestic Abuse in Leicestershire. This was the first time such a Needs Assessment had been carried out for the area. In response to concerns raised that the Assessment was missing data for the Charnwood and Melton areas and in relation to ethnicity it was acknowledged that further work needed to be carried out to collect the data and help from partners would be needed. As further Needs Assessments were carried out in the coming years the quality of data would improve.

(iii)       Clarification was given that the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board (DALPB) would monitor how the Domestic Abuse Reduction Strategy was being delivered and whether objectives were being met, how funding was being spent, and what initiatives were being commissioned and decommissioned. As the DALPB was required to have similar membership to the Leicestershire Safer Communities Strategy Board (LSCSB) it was proposed to hold both meetings on the same day. LSCSB members indicated that their preference would be to have the DALPB meetings early in the day before the LSCSB meetings. Reassurance was given that membership of the DALPB would include representatives of children so the voices of children would be heard.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the work undertaken to date to meet the statutory requirements of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 be noted;

(b)        That the proposals concerning the establishment of a Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board be supported.

This report will be presented by Rik Basra, Community Safety Coordinator, Leicestershire County Council.

The Board considered a report of Rik Basra which presented proposed changes to the Leicestershire Safer Communities Strategy Board Terms of Reference for approval. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the updated Terms of Reference for the Leicestershire Safer Communities Strategy Board be approved.

This report will be presented by Rik Basra, Community Safety Coordinator, Leicestershire County Council.

The Board considered a report of Rik Basra which provided an update on the Community Trigger Policy review and the new appeals process. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)          Appeals would be managed by a Community Safety Partnership (CSP) chairperson that was different to the one that dealt with the original Trigger, and a rota would be drawn up so that it was clear which chair was required to manage the appeal.

In response to a question of how many Community Triggers had been lodged in the previous 12 months it was agreed that this would be checked and the information would be provided to Board members after the meeting. Every local authority was required to publish the number of Community Triggers they had received. It was known that the Charnwood area received the most Community Triggers: 23 in total and 6 in 2021. As a result of a Judicial Review application which had been lodged in relation to Community Triggers in Charnwood, the High Court had found that the Community Trigger process for the area was not well enough publicised. The Local Government Ombudsman had also been critical of Charnwood in this regard. Therefore work needed to be carried out to ensure the Community Trigger process and particularly the appeal process was better signposted to the public.

(ii)         In response to a question of how many Community Triggers had been lodged in the previous 12 months it was agreed that this would be checked and the information would be provided to Board members after the meeting. Every local authority was required to publish the number of Community Triggers they had received. It was noted that Charnwood received the most Community Triggers: 23 in total and 6 to date in the 2021/22 performance year (after the meeting the figure of 6 was corrected to 8 for 2021/22). The Local Government Ombudsman had found that the Community Trigger process for Charnwood was not well enough publicised. Therefore work needed to be carried out to ensure the Community Trigger process and particularly the appeal process was better signposted to the public.

(iii)       In some counties the Police and Crime Commissioner took responsibility for the Community Trigger appeal process but it was not proposed that this be the case in Leicestershire. The view was that CSPs had the most relevant expertise for the task.

(iv)       It was unlikely that the Government would provide more funding to enable the appeal process to be carried out.

RESOLVED:

 (a)   That the contents of the report and the Community Trigger appeals process be noted;

(b)    That CSP Chairpersons across LLR be requested to attend Anti-social Behaviour and Community Trigger training which will be offered in the new year.

This report will be presented by Rik Basra, Community Safety Coordinator, Leicestershire County Council.

The Board considered a report of Rik Basra which provided an update on Safer Communities performance for 2021/22 Quarter 2. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

It was noted that the number of hate and racially or religiously motivated crimes reported to the police remained very low. Part of the new Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Hate Strategy led by Assistant Chief Constable Julia Debenham of Leicestershire Police was to encourage the public to report hate crimes.

The Counter Terrorism Local Profile for Leicestershire had been published in a redacted form and it contained data on which Districts had made referrals into Prevent. It was suggested that this document could be considered at a future LSCSB meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the 2021/22 Quarter 2 performance information be noted.

The Board will receive a verbal update from Ted Walker, Leicestershire County Council Senior Education Effectiveness Partner.

The Board received a presentation from Ted Walker, Senior Education Effectiveness Partner, Leicestershire County Council regarding the work the Education Effectiveness Team carried out with schools. A copy of the presentations slides is filed with these minutes and it was agreed that they would be circulated to Board members after the meeting.

It was emphasised that as the Education Effectiveness Team had strong links with schools they could be used to communicate messages to schools regarding community safety.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the presentation be noted.

The Board will receive a presentation from Charlotte Keedwell, Anti-social Behaviour System Governance & Co-ordination Officer.

The Board received a presentation from Charlotte Keedwell, ASB System Governance Coordination Officer, Leicestershire County Council regarding her role. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 11’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)          In response to a request to clarify the acronyms in the presentation slides, it was explained that ISA was short for Information Sharing Agreement and RMADS stood for Risk Management Documents.

(ii)         Part of the ASB System Governance Coordination Officer role was to centrally co-ordinate work in relation to ASB, rather than having many partners carrying out the work individually. The District Councils, Leicester City Council and Leicestershire Police all contributed to the funding for the role. Learning from the Districts was being shared through the ASB Delivery Group and Strategy Group.

(iii)       There were 11 partners that used the Sentinel Incident Recording System. Information relating to Community Triggers could be stored on the database but not all ASB incidents were recorded on there.  There were concerns that there was a lack of consistency in the way that partners were using the database and as a result training was required to ensure consistency.

(iv)       Board members requested regular updates on the ASB System Governance Coordination Officer role so they could see how it was progressing and it was agreed that an update should be provided at the next LSCSB meeting.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That officers be requested to provide a further update regarding the ASB System Governance Coordination Officer role at the LSCSB meeting on 18 March 22.

This report will be presented by Joshna Mavji, Consultant in Public Health, Leicestershire County Council. 

The Board considered a report of Joshna Mavji which provided an update on progress in relation to the re-commissioning of domestic and sexual violence and abuse (DSVA) services for Leicestershire. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 12’, is filed with these minutes.

In presenting the report Joshna Mavji emphasised that the re-commissioning process had prioritised the capacity of the provider to maintain a single case management system for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. As one of the commissioning partners the Public Health Department would be monitoring the implementation of the system.

It was noted that the recommissioning of the DSVA services linked in with the work being undertaken to meet the statutory requirements of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (see minute 37 above). The Strategic Needs Assessment had identified that there was insufficient accommodation in Leicestershire for domestic abuse victims. 

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That officers be requested to provide a further update to the Board regarding the domestic and sexual violence and abuse services after the contracts of the providers have commenced in April 2022.

This report will be presented by Mike Sandys, Director of Public Health for Leicestershire.

The Board considered a report of Mike Sandys, Director of Public Health, which presented the Draft Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-23 for comments. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 13’, is filed with these minutes.

In presenting the report Mike Sandys emphasised that it was important that the Strategy spanned 10 years because the changes required took a long time to implement. A Delivery Plan for the Strategy would be approved by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

It was noted that the Public Health work covered by the Strategy had strong links with community safety, the wellbeing of the public and crime prevention.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

A verbal update will be provided by Raj Singh, Ministry of Justice.

The Board received a verbal update from Raj Singh, Ministry of Justice, regarding the construction of the new prison in Glen Parva, Blaby District.

Arising from the update the following points were noted:

(i)          The workforce on the site included 15 serving prisoners and 47 ex-offenders had become employed as part of the project.

(ii)         A ‘Topping Out’ ceremony was held on 3 November 2021, to mark the completion of one of the new houseblocks, attended by the Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Alberto Costa MP.

(iii)       The local community were being invited to submit suggestions for the name of the prison and the deadline was 21 January 2022. A panel of local representatives would consider the shortlisted names before the final name was approved by Government ministers. A letter providing further details of the naming process would be circulated to Board members after the meeting.

(iv)       The latest edition of the prison newsletter had been delayed and would be circulated to Board members as soon as it was available.

(v)        A visit to the prison site for Board members had been arranged for 22 December 2021 however this visit needed to be postponed due to the latest Covid-19 restrictions.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the verbal update be noted.

The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 18 March 2022 at 10.00am.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Board take place on 18 March 2022 at 10.00am.