Agenda and minutes

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

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 June 2024 were taken as read and confirmed as a correct record.

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

With regards to Action no. 3 - Update on Probation Service Reset to be provided, it had been intended that Bob Bearne, Head of the Probation Delivery Unit, would give an update at the meeting on 27 September 2024 but Bob Bearne had to give his apologies for the meeting so this Action remained uncompleted.

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. 

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

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 6’, is filed with these minutes.

It was noted that a round of funding for the Commissioners Safety Fund had been opened which saw over 88 applications received. The Chair noted that previous successful applications had been mainly located in the Leicester City and Loughborough areas and was therefore pleased to receive assurance that this time the applications were more widely spread across Leicestershire and Rutland.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

Gurjit Samra-Rai, Head of Community Safety, Leicestershire County Council will provide a verbal update.

The Board received a verbal update from Gurjit Samra-Rai, Head of Community Safety, Leicestershire County Council, regarding the procurement of a new anti-social behaviour (ASB) recording and management system for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) to replace Sentinel.

Arising from the update the following points were noted:

(i)           Leicestershire County Council was leading on the procurement which was going well and it was planned to have the new system in place by 1 April 2025. The funding received from the Home Office for the project had to be spent by 31 March 2025. Sarita Adams had been recruited as a consultant to lead on the new ASB system as she led the same project for Derbyshire.

(ii)         Consideration had been given to whether to have a system that was in use by many local authorities nationally, or procure a system just for LLR. It had been concluded to go down the national route. The system chosen was already in use by Melton Borough Council and an officer from Melton who was a superuser for the system would be able to assist officers from other authorities in LLR with using the system. The system could be adapted to meet Leicestershire’s requirements and a Project Group was working on this, though not all the features would be available by April 2025. 

(iii)        In response to a question as to whether all the cases currently recorded on Sentinel would be transferred onto the new ASB system it was explained that there were data retention policies, and the laws prohibited data over 6 years old from being kept. However, ongoing cases would be transferred onto the new system.

RESOLVED:

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

(b)        That officers be requested to provide a further update regarding the procurement of the ASB system at the next meeting of the Board.

Bob Bearne, Head of the Probation Delivery Unit - Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland will give a presentation.

The Board had been due to receive an update from Bob Bearne, Head of the Probation Delivery Unit, regarding the Probation Service Reset however Bob Bearne had to give his apologies for the meeting so was not able to provide the update.

RESOLVED:

That the update regarding the Probation Service Reset be postponed to the next meeting of the Board.

Cllr Christine Wise, Rutland County Council, will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Cllr. Christine Wise, Rutland County Council, regarding the work of the Safer Rutland Partnership Board. The Board also received a presentation from Angie Bishop, Head of Service, Rutland County Council. A copy of the presentation slides is filed with these minutes.

It was noted that the priorities of the partnership for this quarter were road safety, protecting the vulnerable, serious organised crime and substance abuse, serious violence, and domestic violence and abuse. There was no order to these priorities and they were all treated as important to each other. However, most residents of Rutland viewed road safety as the priority as that was the issue most visible to them.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report and presentation be noted.

Chief Inspector Michelle Zakoscielny, Leicestershire Police, will provide a verbal update.

The Board received a verbal update from Chief Inspector Michelle Zakoscielny, Leicestershire Police regarding the work of the Force.

Arising from the update the following points were noted:

(i)           A lot of recruitment was taking place due to the Police Uplift Programme. As a result of this, a large proportion of the operational frontline police officers were relatively inexperienced. Many officers were being recruited through the Leicestershire Police Training Academy.

(ii)         The crimes being dealt with by Leicestershire Police were becoming more complex, such as County Lines drug dealing, and therefore took more time to investigate.

(iii)        The Force was focusing on improving victim care.

(iv)       Leicestershire Police had seen an increase in costs relating to the seizure of dangerous dogs particularly XL Bullies. The Force could apply to the Courts to recover the costs from the dog owners but often the owners could not afford to pay.

(v)         Leicestershire Police was using the Right Care Right Person approach to assess whether the Police were the appropriate service to respond to a person or incident. For some incidents health and social care staff had the experience and training to provide the necessary support and therefore a person needed to be placed in their care as quickly as possible. In response to a question regarding the impact of the approach and whether it had led to a reduction in the number of mental health incidents being dealt with by the Police, it was explained that there had been a positive impact but the exact details and data would be provided to the Board at a later date.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the update be noted.

Jasmine Wilkinson, Specialist Children and Young People Caseworker, Victim First will give a presentation.

The Board received a presentation from Jasmine Wilkinson, Specialist Children and Young People Caseworker, Victim First regarding the work of Victim First. A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 11’, is filed with these minutes.

In response to questions it was clarified that Victim First had a remit to work with people of all ages from birth upwards, however in reality they tended to work with people from age 4 upwards because with any children younger than that the advice and support would be directed at the parents.

A member raised concerns about Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) emanating from social housing and the inability of Housing Providers to deal with it. The member stated that it was difficult for local authorities to liaise with Providers about ASB as many providers did not have officers/teams that specialised in ASB. In response it was explained that in the past a lot of work had been carried out with Housing Providers regarding ASB, and when the new ASB recording and management system was in place training would be provided to Housing Association partners on ASB and supporting victims.

Melton Borough Council had trained 8 of their staff to become mediators for issues such as ASB and consideration was being given to how this resource  could be made available to the rest of Leicestershire and Rutland.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the presentation be noted.

Siobhan White, Prevent - Local Delivery and Communities, Head of Prevent Areas (East Mids, West Mids and the South West), Homeland Security Group, Home Office will provide a verbal update (on behalf of Stephanie Robb the new Regional Prevent Coordinator)

The Board considered a report of Siobhan White, Prevent - Local Delivery and Communities, Head of Prevent Areas (East Mids, West Mids and the South West), Homeland Security Group, Home Office. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 12’, is filed with these minutes.

In presenting the report Siobhan White explained that she was in attendance on behalf of Stephanie Robb the new Regional Prevent Coordinator as Stephanie did not work on Fridays.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           With regards to the public disorder which arose from the incident in Southport in July 2024, it was still a live investigation and local authorities were being asked to report back any intelligence on community sentiment.

(ii)         The Home Office provided funding to improve security for mosques or other places of worship.

(iii)        The Home Office had commissioned a “sprint” to develop a new approach to countering extremism which involved a rapid review to inform the new counter-extremism strategy. The sprint was due to last 100 days and end in October 2024. The results would then be reported to government ministers and it was not expected that there would be any further developments until the new year.

(iv)       The Home Office had created a Prevent Duty Trainer Portal which contained resources to facilitate high quality face-to-face training sessions on Prevent. A pilot was taking place which gave early access to the portal and gathered valuable trainer and learner feedback. Three members of Leicestershire County Council staff had taken part in the pilot, and the names of District Council staff who wished to take part were being put forward.

(v)         Having a mental illness did not exclude a person from being referred to Prevent.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

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 provided an update on Safer Communities performance for 2024/25 - Quarter 1. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 13’, is filed with these minutes.

It was noted that Rik Basra was retiring from Leicestershire County Council and he was thanked for his work over the years.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report be noted.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled to take place on Friday 13 December 2024 at 10.00am.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Board take place on Friday 13 December 2024 at 10.00am.