Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and the list of apologies was noted.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2023 were taken as read and confirmed as a correct record of the meeting, however it was noted with regards to minute 11(iii) that the whole family relationship service would be provided by Family Lives not the Teen Health Service.

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.

No declarations were made. 

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

The Board considered a report of Rik Basra, Community Safety Coordinator, Leicestershire County Council which sought approval for Rutland County Council to become members of the Board. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

It was noted that should Rutland’s membership of the Board be approved the Community Safety Agreement would be updated to reflect Rutland’s priorities. Rutland would also be added to the performance dashboard.

Members welcomed the proposals and voiced their support for greater partnership working between Leicestershire and Rutland and noted that crime was not confined by county boundaries.

It was requested that the new Terms of Reference for the Board be amended so that the Rutland representative on the Board be described as “the Rutland County Council Cabinet member with responsibility for Community Safety” rather than “the Cabinet Lead Member for Community Safety”. This was because changes to the Rutland County Council Cabinet portfolios were expected at some point.

It was also requested that the Terms of Reference be amended so that the substitute for the Rutland County Council representative had to be “another Cabinet member from that Authority” rather than “another elected member from that Authority”.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That Rutland County Council’s membership of the Board be approved and the name of the Board be amended to ‘The Leicestershire and Rutland Safer Communities Strategy Board’;

(b)        That the proposed new Terms of Reference as set out in Appendix 1 be approved, subject to the amendment that the Rutland representative on the Board be referred to as “the Rutland County Council Cabinet member with responsibility for Community Safety”, and the amendment that the substitute for the Rutland representative be “another Cabinet member from that Authority”.

The Chairman sought and obtained the consent of the Board to vary the order of business from that set out on the agenda for the meeting.

Grace Strong, Strategic Director, Violence Reduction Network will give a presentation.

The Board received a presentation from Millicent Gant, Head of Delivery, Violence Reduction Network (VRN) which provided an update on the work of the VRN. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 11’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation it was noted that the VRN was running the Phoenix Programme which worked with those people that were linked to networks of criminality such as Urban Street Gangs and Organised Crime Groups. The team offered support, balanced with deterrence through disruption and enforcement activity. The Programme was largely funded through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and the funding was in place until August 2025. In response to a question from a member reassurance was given that the Programme was open to older adults. The Programme dealt with people between the ages of 12 and 65 though the cohort that caused the most harm was aged between 18 and 25. It was agreed that further information regarding the Phoenix Programme would be circulated to Board members after the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the presentation be noted.

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, which provided an update regarding Safer Communities performance for 2023/24 Quarter 1. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           Total crime was now at a level well above pre-covid-19 pandemic levels. It was speculated what could be the cause of this and noted that online crime in particular had increased.

(ii)         The Police often ran local campaigns regarding particular crime types which could lead to a temporary spike in the recording of those crimes.

(iii)        Training was to be offered to Community Safety Partnerships regarding carrying out Domestic Homicide Reviews and Rik Basra would be in touch with the details.

RESOLVED:

That Safer Communities performance for 2023/24 Quarter 1 be noted.

This report will be presented by Sajan Devshi, Performance and Assurance Officer, OPCC and Claire Trewartha will be introduced as the new CEO of the OPCC.

The Board considered a report of Sajan Devshi, Performance and Assurance Officer, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) which provided an update on the work of the OPCC. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes. The report was presented by the new OPCC Chief Executive Officer Claire Trewartha.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           The OPCC had applied for £600k Safer Streets 5 funding: £300k each for Oadby and Wigston and Melton Mowbray. Whilst no formal announcement had been made yet on whether the bids would be successful, early indications were that the funding would be approved.

(ii)         Members welcomed the 360 Virtual Reality film which the OPCC had created which was aimed at 9-11-year-old primary school children across LLR to educate them on safer online practices. The aim was to reduce harmful behaviours such as cyber bullying and violence.

(iii)        The Government would be disseminating new Anti-social Behaviour guidance and OPCCs would receive funding along with this. Decisions would be made by the ASB Strategy Group in consultation with the Delivery Group on how this funding would be spent.

(iv)       The Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) gave feedback on the new process for bidding for funding from the OPCC which had been in place for 12 months. Some CSPs felt the procedure was onerous in terms of the amount of work that had to be carried out for the bid. CSPs had also struggled to spend the full allocation due to the amount of work that was required. Concerns were also raised that bids were being rejected on the basis that duplicate funding had been awarded without CSPs having any prior knowledge of that funding. It was also felt to be inappropriate that CSPs were having to act as an intermediary between the OPCC and local delivery providers. Claire Trewartha agreed to give consideration to these points.

RESOLVED:

That the update on the work of the OPCC be noted.

Joanne White, Team and Partnership Manager – Teen Health 11-19 Service, Leicestershire County Council will give a presentation.

The Board received a presentation from Joanne White, Team and Partnership Manager, Leicestershire County Council, regarding the Teen Health 11-19 Service. There was also additional information provided by Katherine Blake-Smith, Head of Children and Young Peoples Integration, Public Health, Leicestershire County Council. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(i)           The website for the Teen Health Service had just gone live and could be accessed via the following: https://www.teenhealth.org.uk/

(ii)         The Service did cover Rutland as well as Leicestershire and approximately 100 of 2000 children in Rutland had been seen by the service. However, the delivery model in Rutland was more localised and Rutland had different priorities to Leicestershire, for example ensuring children were getting enough sleep was a concern in Rutland.

(iii)        In response to a question from a member about whether the issue of vaping was being tackled as part of the Teen Health 11-19 service it was confirmed that the majority of schools had highlighted this as a need and materials were being developed to enable the service to work with children on this. In response to a query from a member about whether the parents of the children were spoken to about the issue it was explained that clarified that there were confidentiality issues and the service mainly worked with the children directly. The child’s consent would be needed before parents could be informed, though in exceptional circumstances due to safeguarding concerns it could be deemed necessary for information about the child to be spread more widely.

(iv)       In response to a query about children that received their education in specialist units, reassurance was given that the Teen Health Service was universal and open to every child in Leicestershire regardless of where they received their education. Rather than waiting for the Service to visit a particular school specific children could be referred into the service. The referral form could be accessed via the following webpage: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools-colleges-and-academies/teen-health-11-19

RESOLVED:

That the update regarding the Teen Health 11-19 Service be noted.

Debra Cunningham, Public Health Strategic Lead (Health Related Harms), Leicestershire County Council will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Debra Cunningham, Public Health Strategic Lead (Health Related Harms), Leicestershire County Council, which provided an update on the domestic abuse and sexual violence services commissioned by Public Health. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           The data in the appendix to the report relating to the services provided by Living Without Abuse (LWA) and Women’s Aid Leicestershire Limited (WALL) appeared to indicate that some individuals required more intensive work and support and a member questioned how much of this was as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. It was agreed that this would be checked with the providers and an answer would be provided after the meeting.

(ii)         The data for each provider also referred to the numbers of ‘Unplanned exits’ and Public Health had asked the provider what they meant by this and awaited clarification.

(iii)        The Chair noted that there was a complex system of services across LLR and questioned whether service users found it difficult to navigate the system. In response it was acknowledged that from a commissioning point of view it was complex, however reassurance was given that from a service users point of view it was much more straightforward. There was one telephone number for service users to use and each service user was allocated a key worker who would guide them through the process even if they were referred onto other personnel.

(iv)       Concerns were also raised that work could be duplicated in LLR. In response it was explained that when the Domestic Abuse Act funding had been announced a Needs Assessment had been undertaken in Leicestershire which identified where the gaps in provision were and care had been taken to enhance what was already there rather than duplicate services.

RESOLVED:

That the update on the domestic abuse and sexual violence services be noted.

Ian Stubbs, Prevent Local Delivery and Communities Regional Advisor – East Midlands will give a presentation.

The Board had been due to receive a presentation from Ian Stubbs, Prevent Local Delivery and Communities Regional Advisor – East Midlands regarding the refresh of the Prevent Duty guidance, however Ian Stubbs was unable to attend the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation on the Prevent Duty guidance refresh be deferred to a future meeting of the Board.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled to take place on Friday 15 December 2023 at 10.00am.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Board take place on Friday 15 December 2023 at 10.00am.