Agenda and minutes

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

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2023 were taken as read and confirmed as a correct record.

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.

With regards to Action no. 3: update at a future Board meeting regarding work to understand the impact of HMP Fosse Way on the local community, it was noted that John Richardson, who had been assigned the action, had left Blaby District Council. The replacement for John Richardson at Blaby District Council was known and would be contacted to ensure that the action was still being progressed.

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. 

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.

Sally Johnson and Gurjit Samra-Rai both from Leicestershire County Council will present this report. The new ASB System Co-ordinator Jamie Osborne will also be in attendance.

The Board considered a report of Gurjit Samra-Rai, Service Manager – Safer Communities, Leicestershire County Council, which provided an update on work taking place to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour in Leicestershire and Rutland including the production of a business case to review the suitability of the Sentinel system. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

The Board welcomed the new ASB System Co-ordinator Jamie Osborne to the meeting.

It was noted that partners had been experiencing difficulties with the Sentinel system including difficulties with accurately extracting data and the ability of Sentinel to interface with police and some Local Authority systems. This was why a review of the system had been requested and a business case had been produced. A meeting would be taking place between the local authority Chief Executives involved in the Sentinel partnership to discuss the system and the business case, and then a final decision on the business case would be made by the Strategic Partnership Board.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That a further report regarding ASB and Sentinel be brought to a meeting of the Board once there have been further developments.

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

The Board received a presentation from Ian Stubbs, Prevent Local Delivery and Communities Regional Advisor – East Midlands, regarding the new Prevent Duty guidance which had been issued by the Home Office.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(i)           The Prevent Duty guidance had been produced following on from the Independent Review of Prevent which had been carried out by William Shawcross. The guidance related to statutory requirements therefore following it was not optional. The guidance indicated that no new functions or burdens had been imposed on local authorities.

(ii)         The guidance noted that a person’s susceptibility to radicalisation

may be linked to their vulnerability, however not all people susceptible to radicalisation would be vulnerable. Prevent was not just about safeguarding vulnerable people.

(iii)        The term ‘extremism’ was no longer considered to be appropriate and therefore reference to extremism had been removed from the guidance document.

(iv)       The Prevent Duty guidance was accompanied by a toolkit for local authorities. The online link to the toolkit would be circulated to Board members after the meeting.

(v)         Partnership work locally with regards to Prevent was co-ordinated through the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Prevent Steering Group (LLR PSG), of which the County Council was a member.

(vi)       Blaby District Council was leading on behalf of all the District Councils in LLR with regards to Prevent and Carol Parker, Community Safety Team Leader, at Blaby District Council was the main contact. 

(vii)      Leicestershire County Council had agreed a corporate Venue Hire Policy which was designed to ensure that County Council buildings were not used for the purposes of spreading radicalisation. The Policy would be disseminated to partners.

(viii)    A benchmarking exercise was being carried out to establish how Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland compared with other areas with regards to how the Prevent Duty was complied with.

(ix)       The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill or Protect Duty, also known as Martyn’s Law, aimed to improve protective security and organisational preparedness by mandating, for the first time, those responsible for certain premises and events to consider the terrorist risk and how they would respond to an attack. The bill was expected to be passed in 2024.

(x)         The current conflict in Israel and Gaza had the potential to be a significant radicalisation event.

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 regarding Safer Communities performance for 2023/24 Quarter 2.

In response to a question from the Chairman it was confirmed that there would be a communications campaign to raise awareness of the risks around burglaries of Christmas presents.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

Sajan Devshi, Performance and Assurance Officer, OPCC will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Siobhan Peters, Director of Strategy, Partnerships & Commissioning, Office of the Police & 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 Sajan Devshi, Performance and Assurance Officer, OPCC.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           There was uncertainty relating to Safer Streets funding for Year 2 as information was awaited from the Home Office. This was causing difficulties on delivery of projects and having a particular impact on the Violence Reduction Network as most of their funding bids were for Year 2.

(ii)         In response to concerns that had been raised by the Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) about the process for bidding for funding from the OPCC, in particular how onerous it was in terms of the amount of work that had to be carried out for bids, the OPCC was reviewing the framework.

(iii)        In total the CSPs had been awarded approximately £639,000 of funding for the current year. Approximately 70% of the funding allocated for CSPs had been spent and £140,00 was remaining so there was likely to be an underspend. There was still time for CSPs to submit bids before the end of the financial year. Any unspent money could be re-invested but further discussions needed to take place on exactly what it would be spent on.

(iv)       Both the Adult and Childrens/Young Peoples SARCs (Sexual Assault Referral Centres) were up for procurement in 2025. The CYP SARC was funded across the East Midlands, and was currently located in Nottingham and Northampton, due to the local authority footprint size and the specialist nature of the services provided. In response to a question from the Chairman as to whether there was likely to be a SARC set up in Leicester or Leicestershire so that victims did not have to travel out of County, it was agreed that an answer would be provided to members after the meeting.

(v)         The OPCC had commenced work on the new ‘Target Hardening’ contract, which provided home assessments, advice and in cases that met the criteria, locks etc to secure the property. Referrals could be made from the police, victim support services and domestic abuse support providers. The contract was due to expire in March 2024 and consideration was being given to whether it needed revising. A member suggested that the Fire Service should also be able to make referrals and the OPCC welcomed this suggestion and agreed to give it further consideration.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

Ben Bee, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Ben Bee, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) which provided an update on the work of LFRS in relation to Community Safety. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           LFRS attended 486 Road Traffic Collisions (RTC) between April and October 2023. This was an increase of 99 on the 3-year average year-to-date figure of 387. Members queried to what extent the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted on the RTC figures particularly the 3-year average. Members requested a more detailed breakdown of the RTC data including the geographical locations, the demographics of the people involved and the cause of the incidents. It was agreed that the next LFRS report to the Board would include an appendix which would contain the requested information about RTCs.

(ii)         Communications campaigns aimed at reducing RTCs needed to be more targeted and nuanced.

(iii)        Members raised concerns about elderly drivers and it was noted that Leicestershire County Council offered driving courses for people over the age of 60.

(iv)       Biker Down was a free 3-hour course for bikers or pillion passengers. It educated them on scene safety, emergency first aid and how to avoid collisions and improve their visibility on the roads. A member questioned whether there had been sufficient social media advertising of Biker Down and Ben Bee gave reassurance that a communications campaign was taking place and he would provide the links to it. There had already been a large amount of interest in Biker Down and the courses that had taken place had been well subscribed.

(v)         Lithium-ion powered devices such as vapes posed fire risks and there was growing support for legislation and improved standards. LFRS worked closely on Trading Standards teams to tackle the problem.

(vi)       Work needed to take place to raise awareness of the fire risks caused by electric scooters and the need to store them away from where the fire could spread and cause harm to people. Messages needed to be disseminated to those officers at local authorities in charge of housing stock and Chief Housing Officer groups would be a good way of doing that. In response it was confirmed that Fire Protection Officers did carry out training sessions with Housing Officer groups.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That LFRS be requested to provide a report for a future meeting of the Board with more detailed data around Road Traffic Collisions.

Bob Bearne, Head of the Probation Delivery Unit, Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland, will provide a verbal update.

The Board had been due to receive a verbal update from Bob Bearne, Head of the Probation Delivery Unit regarding the Probation Service, however Bob Bearne had to leave the meeting before he could give his presentation.

RESOLVED:

That Bob Bearne be requested to provide an update on the Probation Service to the next meeting of the Board.

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 outlined changes that had been made to the Community Safety Agreement and provided the Board with an opportunity to review the document. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 12’, is filed with these minutes.

The Board commended the format of the document as it contained all the relevant information in a simple way.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That the continued use of the Community Safety Agreement in its current format and design be approved. 

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled to take place on Friday 22 March 2024 at 10.00am.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Board take place on Friday 22 March 2024 at 10.00am.