Agenda and minutes

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

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 December 2024 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.

It was noted that the actions on the log were either long term projects or would be covered as part of the agenda for the day’s meeting.

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. 

Bob Bearne, Head of LLR Probation Delivery Unit will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Bob Bearne, LLR Probation Delivery Unit Head, which gave an update on recent developments regarding the Probation Service. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           In 2024 initiatives had been put in place to help prison overcrowding such as the early release of prisoners, however the initiatives were not having the desired impact and prison overcrowding was becoming worse. There were concerns that this could soon become a serious crisis and there could be a repeat of the public disorder seen in summer 2024. The public perception was that those prisoners that had been released early had gone on to commit further crimes, however this was not in fact the case in the main as the process had been well managed by partner agencies. All partners had been fully engaged in the early release process which was a positive. It was hoped to repeat the good partnership working that had taken place previously and a Local Criminal Justice Gold Group had been re-established to manage the prison overcrowding problem. Consideration was being given to using Police cells to house prisoners.

(ii)         A Sentencing Review was underway which aimed to divert less serious offenders into community-based sentences such as Suspended Sentence or Community Orders, and/or Electronic Monitoring. However, this would increase the workload for the Probation Service.

(iii)        Concerns were raised about shoplifting in the Melton area linked to drug addictions. In response reassurance was given by Bob Bearne that there were services available to help with drug addiction, but the perpetrators needed to want to give up taking drugs. Part of the problem was that whilst a prisoner could receive drug addiction treatment whilst in prison sometimes this treatment did not continue after they were released. Therefore, work had been taking place to improve the continuity of care and ensure a smooth transition from in-prison treatment to community based care. However, concerns were raised that less residential facilities were available now.

(iv)       Bob Bearne had been asked to temporarily act as Head of Probation in Derby for a few months. In his absence Kay Knowles, Deputy Head, would be acting as Head of Probation for Leicestershire and would attend Leicestershire and Rutland Safer Communities Strategy Board meetings whilst Bob Bearne was away.

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 Sajan Devshi, Performance and Assurance Officer, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), which provided an update on the work of the Office. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

The Board welcomed James O’Connell, Commissioning and Partnerships Officer, OPCC to the meeting for this item. James O’Connell explained that the Police and Crime Plan made tackling Business Crime a priority and in line with this the OPCC was looking to fund initiatives to deal with retail crime such as shoplifting and assaults on shopworkers. Overall, £100,000 funding was available to be bid for. An application/expression of interest process was currently being devised. Body worn cameras for shop workers were an example of the type of initiative that the OPCC was willing to fund. It was intended to create a more joined-up approach to the initiatives that were already in place for tackling retail crime.

Partners were advised that if they wished to link in with James O’Connell on this workstream they could email him at james.oconnell@leics.police.uk

Members suggested that whatsapp groups and radios were good ways of enabling businesses to keep abreast of news about retail crime in a particular area. The Disc mobile phone app was also a useful tool for sharing information about criminal activity.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report and update be noted.

Anita Chavda, Projects and Planning Officer, Community Safety Team, Leicestershire County Council will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Anita Chavda, Projects and Planning Officer, Community Safety Team, Leicestershire County Council which provided an update on Safer Communities Performance for 2024/25 Quarter 3. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

With regards to the Safer Communities Performance Dashboard it was noted that where incidents of a crime type were increasing this was depicted on the Dashboard with a red arrow pointing down, and where incidents of a crime type were decreasing it was depicted with a green arrow pointing up. A member suggested that it should be the other way around i.e. where crime was decreasing the downwards arrow should be green as this was a positive, and where crime was increasing the upwards arrow should be red as this was a negative. Anita Chavda agreed to check this with the Performance Team and find out whether the colour of the arrows could be changed.

RESOLVED:

(a)    That the 2024/25 Quarter 3 performance data be noted;

(b)    That officers be requested to provide data regarding the outcome reduce offending and re-offending of young people in future performance reports to the Board.

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

The Board received a presentation from Gurjit Samra-Rai, Head of Community Safety, Leicestershire County Council, regarding procurement of the new Anti-social Behaviour system. A copy of the presentation slides is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(i)           The new case management system was called ECINS. It was expected that all the developmental work relating to the new Anti-social Behaviour system would be completed by 31 March 2025. All the admins (super-users) for the system had now been trained. The system would hopefully go live at some point in Spring 2025.

(ii)         The co-ordinator for the new system Joe Sair was now in post with Leicestershire County Council.

(iii)        The biggest risk related to the migration of data from the old system to the new system. There were concerns that data could be lost or that old data that should not be retained would be inadvertently moved onto the new system. The first migration was already underway and the second migration would happen on the day that Sentinel ceased to be used and the new system went live. The system would continue to be developed after the go live date.

(iv)       Some partners who were already using ECINS had indicated that they would continue to use the database in the way they were already, rather than in the way that the wider partnership would be using it. This led to concerns about the inaccuracy of data and intelligence and undermined the purpose of having one database that all partners were able to use. Discussions were taking place with those partners that did not want to change the way they used the database and the matter would be escalated to the Chief Executives of those organisations if necessary. Board members raised concerns about this situation and offered the support and backing of the Board with regards to getting this matter resolved.

(v)         Thanks were given to the officers who had worked on the project, and also Charnwood Borough Council for their work liaising with the company Vantage who provided Sentinel, and to Leicester City Council who had contributed the largest amount of underspend to the project.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the update be noted.

(Mrs. D. Taylor CC left the meeting.)

Cllr. C. Wise – in the Chair

Holly Wells, Domestic Homicide Review Support Officer, will introduce herself and provide a verbal update.

The Board received a presentation from Holly Wells, Domestic Homicide Review Support officer, Leicestershire County Council regarding her new role.

As part of the presentation the following points were made:

(i)           Holly Wells explained that she had been in post since January 2025 and was dealing with the actions arising from Domestic Homicide Reviews. Some of the actions were not clear or had been incorrectly assigned and therefore Holly Wells was ensuring the actions were achievable and dealt with properly.

(ii)         Holly Wells intended to improve the level of detail on the Domestic Homicide Review website and update the local guidance relating to Domestic Homicide Reviews. Further amendments would be made to the local guidance when the expected national guidance was published.

(iii)        Charnwood Borough Council had made a Judicial Review application against a decision of the Secretary of State to direct a Domestic Homicide Review be carried out in relation to a death in the Charnwood area. The High Court had ruled in favour of the Secretary of State. Charnwood Borough Council were considering whether to appeal that decision but were awaiting the publication of the national Domestic Homicide Review guidance before taking any further action.

(iv)       A live safeguarding event was taking place in June 2025 with the theme of domestic abuse and volunteers were needed. In response to a request for suggestions for content of the event it was proposed that somebody with life experience of domestic abuse could be a speaker. It was agreed that the details of the event would be circulated to attendees of the Leicestershire and Rutland Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board in case they were interested in taking part.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the presentation be noted.

Andrea Knowles, Turning Point, will give a presentation.

The Board received a presentation from Andrea Knowles, Turning Point, regarding the Mental Health Treatment Requirement (MHTR). A copy of the presentation slides, marked ‘Agenda Item 11’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the presentation the following points were noted:

(i)           The MHTR was a sentencing option that supported people that had committed an offence with any mental health issues they might have. The programme involved 12 sessions with an Assistant Psychologist. The sessions could take place weekly or fortnightly. A person could be referred to the service straight after arrest or once Court proceedings were underway but the Probation Service needed to be involved and agree to that sentence.

(ii)         Once the 12 sessions were completed the service would look to refer the service user onto any other relevant agencies that could help.

(iii)        The service users did not have to have stopped using substances before their MHTR sessions begun. The MHTR sessions could run parallel to a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement or take place afterwards.

(iv)       The acting Chair welcomed the programme but expressed disappointment that sometimes it had to take a criminal offence before a person could receive the help they needed.

(v)         In response to a query from a member as to whether the MHTR was suitable for people convicted of shoplifting it was confirmed that it was suitable as long as the person was willing to engage with the service.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the presentation be noted.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled to take place on Friday 20 June 2025 at 10.00am.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of the Board take place on Friday 20 June 2025 at 10.00am.