Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and the apologies were noted.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 December 2022 were taken as read and confirmed as a correct record, subject to an amendment to the attendance list to show that Mr. N. Bannister CC was present.

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.

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.

Mr. N. Bannister CC declared that he was employed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) but was not acting as a representative of the CPS at this meeting and any opinions he gave or statements he made were separate to those of the CPS.

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

The Board received a presentation from Raj Singh, Ministry of Justice, regarding the construction and opening of HMP Fosse Way, Glen Parva.  The Board was also in receipt of the HMP Fosse Way Newsletter – December 2022, a copy of which is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(a)        Construction of the prison was nearly complete and the handover to Serco was taking place. Ministers had been contacted regarding an official opening date for the prison. The first prisoners were to arrive on 29 May 2023 and they would come in groups of 40 per week in a phased approach. The intake would be kept under review and if Serco felt they could manage more, then extra prisoners would be sent. The prisoners arriving at HMP Fosse Way would not be new to the prison system and would be coming from other prisons. They would be risk assessed and deemed appropriate for HMP Fosse Way.

(b)        There was an additional houseblock which was still being built and it would not be completed before 29 May however this would not delay the opening of the prison. The houseblock would be linked up with the rest of the prison site once it was complete.

(c)         The prison would provide education and training in partnership with Milton Keynes College and those facilities would be split between the central services hub and the workshop.

(d)        Blaby District Council was funding a housing officer post for the prison to help with resettlement of the prisoners. The Board requested Blaby District Council provide a report for a meeting in six months’ time regarding how the opening of the prison had impacted on the local community.

Board members thanked Raj Singh and the Ministry of Justice for the information and liaison they had provided during the construction of the prison.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the update regarding HMP Fosse Way be noted;

(b)        That officers from Blaby District Council be requested to provide a report for the Board meeting on 15 December 2023 regarding the impact of HMP Fosse Way on the local community.

Carly Turner, Youth and Justice Service Manager, Leicestershire County Council will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Carly Turner, Leicestershire County Council, which provided an update regarding the Youth Justice Service. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

In response to a question as to whether the Youth Justice Service was encountering children that had been involved in County Lines drug trafficking it was explained that generally the Service did not encounter those individuals and they were instead being dealt with by safeguarding hubs and at daily risk management meetings. Those children were victims as well as being perpetrators and it was important to try and ensure that they did not end up in the Criminal Justice System.

RESOLVED:

That the update regarding the Youth Justice Service be noted.

Rachel Sharman, Family Hubs Manager, Leicestershire Council Council will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Rachel Sharman, Family Hubs Manager, Leicestershire County Council, regarding the proposed implementation of Family Hubs in Leicestershire. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           Leicestershire would adopt a ‘hub and spoke’ model where each locality would have one main hub with a varying number of spokes supporting local delivery. It was likely that a number of libraries would become the first ‘spokes’ but consideration would also be given to other venues such as District Council offices, Police Stations, and Accident and Emergency Departments etc. The number of libraries used had not yet been confirmed and conversations around this were taking place the following week.

(ii)         Two engagement workers were being recruited to liaise with partners and families and find out what worked with regards accessing services.

(iii)        Leicestershire Family Hubs were required to have a brand and the branding was currently being designed.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the update regarding family hubs be noted;

(b)        That Board members be requested to consider how their individual organisations could be a part of integrated service delivery through the Family Hubs.

Elaine Stevenson, CEO Warning Zone, will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Elaine Stevenson, CEO, Warning Zone, which provided an update on the work of Warning Zone and explored ways in which Warning Zone could contribute to wider safer communities work. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           Warning Zone were looking for retired persons to act as volunteers and therefore Board members were asked to pass this information onto their HR departments. Warning Zone could also be used for staff development programmes.

(ii)         Board members were asked to let Warning Zone know of any emerging issues around community safety which Warning Zone could tackle and whether they needed to change the information they were currently giving children.

(iii)        Warning Zone received funding from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. It was unable to obtain funding from the National Lottery as it was only open during term time, not school holidays.  Staff were only contracted to work term time. It was suggested that Warning Zone should open during school holidays and Elaine Stevenson agreed to give this consideration.

(iv)       Warning Zone also received funding from the Prevent programme in connection with raising awareness of radicalisation. A decision was awaited on whether this funding would continue.

(v)         In response to a question from a member reassurance was given that the City location of Warning Zone did not prohibit children from rural schools visiting and attendance was good from all parts of Leicestershire. However, consideration was being given to opening a second warning Zone site in Leicestershire.

(vi)       It was suggested that a visit to Warning Zone should be arranged for CSP Chairs and Elaine Stevenson welcomed this.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That officers be requested to find possible dates for CSP Chairs to visit Warning Zone.

A presentation will be given by Grace Strong, Violence Reduction Network Director.

The Board received a presentation from Grace Strong, Violence Reduction Network Director, regarding the Serious Violence Duty which had been placed on specified authorities. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(a)        Although the Serious Violence Duty commenced on 31 January 2023 specified authorities had until 31 January 2024 to ensure they were compliant with the duty.

(b)        The Serious Violence Duty applied to all tiers of local authorities as well as the Police, Probation, National Health Service and Fire and Rescue.

(c)         Government had not provided a definition of what constituted Serious Violence therefore it was down to local areas to agree their own definition. The Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland definition would include violence in public places, domestic abuse related violence and sexual violence.

(d)        The Home Office, through a body called Crest Advisory, had carried out an Independent National Readiness Assessment of all areas in relation to the Duty where a score out of 10 would be given. The results of the assessment were expected the following week and they would be circulated to Board members when available.

(e)        The Government funding was to help local areas start the process of implementing the Serious Violence Duty and was therefore due to end in March 2025. After that date implementation of the Serious Violence Duty would have to come from other funding sources.

(f)          It was suggested that a further report on the local implementation of the Serious Violence Duty could be brought to the Board in six months’ time.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That officers be requested to provide a further report at the meeting on 15 December 2023 regarding the Serious Violence Duty work locally.

Ian Stubbs, Regional Prevent Advisor, will provide a verbal update regarding the Independent Review of Prevent.

The Board received a presentation from Ian Stubbs, Regional Prevent Advisor, regarding the Independent Review of Prevent carried out by William Shawcross, the main recommendations of the Shawcross report and the Government’s response to the recommendations. A copy of the Independent Review of Prevent report, marked ‘Agenda Item 11’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(i)           Whilst the Independent Review of Prevent had been commissioned by the Home Office, it had been undertaken by William Shawcross and was an independent report.

(ii)         The Shawcross report made 34 recommendations and the Government had accepted all 34.

(iii)        One of the findings of the report was that in the past the Prevent programme had placed too much emphasis on safeguarding and vulnerable people. William Shawcross was of the view that not all people at risk of radicalisation were vulnerable and there should be more focus on people susceptible to terrorism. However, this conclusion had been challenged by some people working in Prevent who felt that safeguarding was still important.

(iv)       The report also found that Prevent needed to focus on whatever the ideological threat was and currently Prevent referrals did not accurately reflect the UK terrorism threat picture as they were insufficiently focused on islamist related terrorism. It was noted however that islamist terrorism was not the main threat everywhere and whilst in the City of Leicester the terrorism threat was mainly islamist, in the County of Leicestershire far right terrorism was more prevalent.

(v)         Locally the term ‘islamist terrorism’ would not be used and instead it would be referred to as ‘Isis and Al-Qaeda inspired terrorism’. At a national level ‘islamist’ would continue to be the agreed and used term.

(vi)       Currently 42 priority areas were funded by Prevent and Leicester was one of those. Although the number of funded areas was being reduced to 20, Leicester would continue to receive funding.

(vii)      Board members raised concerns that there was a lack of public confidence in the Prevent programme and in particular confidence that if a referral was made the appropriate action would be taken. There were also concerns that some individuals that were involved in acts of terrorism had already been engaged with by Prevent and therefore this was seen as a failure of the Programme. However, an alternative view was that it was a positive that those individuals had already been engaged with by Prevent. Action needed to be taken locally to improve public confidence and it was important to emphasise to the public those cases where intervention by Prevent had prevented an individual from becoming involved in terrorism. Further work needed to be carried out to implement the findings of the Shawcross report locally and the Board requested a report for a future Board meeting regarding this. The Regional Prevent Advisor offered to attend this meeting along with colleagues that specialised in the area of communications. 

(viii)    Board members welcomed the emphasis in the report on tackling misinformation which had been spread about the Prevent programme because it had an impact on public trust. There was a need to be more agile with communications and respond more quickly with more use of social media.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the update regarding the Independent Review of Prevent be noted;

(b)        That officers be requested to provide a further report for a future meeting regarding local Prevent activity.

Rik Basra, Community Safety Coordinator, Leicestershire County Council will present this report.

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 3 2022/23. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 12’, is filed with these minutes.

It was clarified that there was a typographical error in the report and although the report referred to Quarter 2, the data and content of the report all referred to Quarter 3.

With regards to Domestic Abuse the performance report contained the United Against Violence & Abuse (UAVA) data however that contract had now ended and was being replaced with 5 separate contracts. Future performance reports would contain data relating to the new Domestic Abuse contracts.

RESOLVED:

That the 2022/23 Quarter 3 performance information be noted.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled to take place on Friday 30 June 2023 at 10.00am.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Board take place on Friday 30 June 2023 at 10.00am.