Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 June 2025 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 LRSCSB Action Log, a copy of which, marked ‘Agenda item 4’, is filed with these minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the status of the Actions in the 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. 

T/Chief Inspector 2991 Craig Smith-Curtis, Leicestershire Police, will present this report.

The Board considered a report from Chief Inspector Craig Smith-Curtis, Leicestershire Police, regarding the use of Community Protection Notice Warnings (CPNWs) and Community Protection Notices (CPNs) across the Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland (LLR) area, and work to address their apparent underuse and inconsistency in being applied.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda item 6’, is filed with these minutes.

In response to questions, the Police representatives explained how the CPN process operated, beginning with a PACE interview (a formal interview under caution) to ascertain if the threshold for criminal behaviour was met.  Use of CPNs needed to be reasonable and proportionate.  There had been some concerns at national level regarding the issuing of CPNs to homeless people who clearly were often unable to pay a fine.  The Police monitored the use of CPNs their effect on ASB rates. 

It was commented that the CPNWs and CPNs had proved useful tools in the Melton area. Representatives from North West Leicestershire the Oadby and Wigston said that they were unaware that they had yet been applied in their areas and were also keen to participate in the proposed trial.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report be noted;

b)    That the proposals to address the disparity/underuse of CPNWs and CPNs be approved including a trials in the Market Harborough Neighbourhood Policing Area (NPA) in partnership with Harborough DC, and in North West Leicestershire and Oadby and Wigston;

c)    That the development and delivery of a partnership-wide training and guidance package be approved;

d)    That standardised procedures and the nomination of district lead officers to support consistent use of these be supported;

e)    That a further report be submitted to the Board in 12 months’ time regarding use of CPNs in the LLR area.

Kaye Knowles, Interim Head of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Delivery Unit, will present this report.

It was agreed that this item would be deferred to the following meeting as Kay Knowles (Leicestershire and Rutland Probation Delivery Unit) had been unable to attend.

Sajan Devshi, Partnerships and Commissioning Officer, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Sajan Devshi, Performance and Assurance Officer, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, which provided an update on the work of the Office. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

The OPCC’s Community Action Fund which provided targeted funding aimed at tackling specific issues via 6 themed grant rounds (outlined in the report) was highlighted.  This would open throughout 2025/2026, with the first grant round - Rural Crime - open from 1 September to 17 October.  A wide range of groups could apply for grants of up to £10,000 and all CSP-funded partners were encouraged to consider work that could be done in this area.  Partners were advised to contact the Community Grants Officer at the OPCC, Rebecca Lee (rebecca.lee@leics.police.uk) and more details on how to apply for the funding could be found at - Community Action Fund.

It was noted that the latest submission to the Home Office on Safer Street work had been made and a query from the HO (to several forces) regarding the low number of fixed penalty notices issued would be investigated and a response made.

It was noted that a total of 110 body-worn video cameras had now been distributed as part of the work to tackle Business Crime (a key issue raised at the PCC’s Community Days).

Regarding a question from Cllr Phillimore about e-scooters (one of the three main themes arising from the PCC’s Community Days), Sajan said that the PCC would be meeting with senior leadership to highlight the issue.  It was an operational issue for the Police and there was a great deal of enforcement activity taking place.  It was suggested that the effectiveness of the PCC in holding the force to account on such matters would be best considered by the Police and Crime Panel.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report be noted;

b)    That details of enforcement activity around e-scooters currently taking place would be circulated to the Board and the matter would be referred to the Police and Crime Panel.

Holly Wells, Domestic Abuse Related Death Review Support Officer, Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Partnerships Business Office, will present this report.

The Board considered a report of Holly Wells, DArDR Support Officer, Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Partnership Business Office, regarding work being undertaken around domestic abuse-related death reviews (previously known as domestic homicide reviews).  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

The Board noted -

• The new terminology, which would be included in the revised Home Office guidance (still awaited) was now being used. 

• That there were currently 12 cases under review and since publication of the report another case had been referred. 

• The review process, which started with consideration by a multi-agency group and on completion, the submission of a report to the Home Office.

• That in order to address the significant delays in the submission of reports to the Home Office, independent report authors were now being commissioned.  Action plans were progressed in the meantime, prior to publication of the reports, so that key learning could take place at the earliest opportunity and any necessary changes made.

The Board agreed that it would be helpful for all the reviews to be reported to the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board.  It was noted that the reviews were also a standing item on agendas for the (officer) LLR Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Board.

Arising from a recent review, the Safeguarding Children Business Plan would be updated to reflect guidance around domestic abuse matters (the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 made clear that if children had seen, heard or experienced effects of the abuse then they were not just witnesses but victims in their own right),

The Board was advised the Board that the Safeguarding Partnership Office was looking to extend the DArDR Support Officer post (originally created for a year to address multi-agency issues) as the reviews were becoming increasingly complex and the definition of domestic abuse had broadened.  It was intended that the post would be funded via the safeguarding team to which the CSPs and the County Council contributed. 

In response to question about member involvement, it was explained the reviews (now a statutory duty for all domestic-abuse-related deaths) were submitted to the relevant CSP Chair.  Action plans were often assigned to the Board/Partnership for consideration. 

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report be noted;

b)    That domestic abuse-related death reviews would be reported to the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership Board;

c)    That a report would be submitted to the next meeting of the Board regarding the proposed extension to the DArDR Support Officer post.

Gurjit Samra-Rai, Strategic Lead – Safer Communities, Leicestershire County Council will give a verbal update on progress with implementation of the new Anti-social Behaviour recording system known as ECINS.

The Board received a verbal update from Gurjit Samra-Rai, Head of Community Safety, Leicestershire County Council, regarding the anti-social behaviour recording system known as ECINS (Empowering Communities Inclusion and Neighbourhood System) which would improve multi-agency case management.

It was noted that the main issue at present was around data migration; some information from the old database that had been moved to ECINS should have been deleted. Meetings with partners to resolve this continued and good progress was being made.  A form for the public to report directly (rather than via the local authority or the police) had been created.  The Home Office had said that Leicestershire and Rutland was ahead of other CSPs in its approach to ASB. 

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

Gurjit Samra-Rai, Strategic Lead – Safer Communities, Leicestershire County Council, will give a verbal update on the Pilot with regards to perpetrators of violence with no ideology which arose from the Southport attack in July 2024.

The Board received a verbal update from Gurjit Samra-Rai, Head of Community Safety, Leicestershire County Council, regarding the Home Office Sub Threshold pilot which had been referenced at the previous meeting (minute 9). 

It was noted that it had been intended to report on the pilot’s findings but it had been extended by the Home Office for another 6 months.  A detailed report would therefore be made to a future meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

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

The Board considered a report regarding Safer Communities performance for Quarter 1 of 2025/26, a copy of which, marked ‘Agenda item 12’, is filed with these minutes.

The Board was advised that officers were working with the Council’s Business Intelligence team to improve presentation of the information. 

The Board noted in particular -

• The ongoing reduction in crime, with the total number of crimes and those involving violence with injury having reduced over the previous two years, and figures for residential, business and community burglary and for vehicle offences had stabilised over the past year.

• That MARAC referrals would continue to be monitored and as explained in the report guidance would be available in the updated MARAC Operating Protocol currently being developed.

• There was some concern that the low number of hate crimes/incidents might reflect a reluctance to report rather than a decline in the number of offences.  Work to encourage reporting would continue. 

RESOLVED:

That the Quarter 1 performance be noted.

Future meetings of the Board are scheduled to take place on the following dates all at 10.00am:

Friday 21 November 2025 (virtual meeting);

Thursday 26 March 2026 (in-person meeting);

Thursday 25 June 2026 (virtual meeting);

Friday 25 September 2026 (virtual meeting);

Thursday 3 December 2026 (virtual meeting).

RESOLVED:

That meetings of the Board take place on the following dates, all starting at 10.00am -

Friday 21 November 2025 (virtual meeting)

Thursday 26 March 2026 (in-person meeting)

Thursday 25 June 2026 (virtual meeting)

Friday 25 September 2026 (virtual meeting)

Thursday 3 December 2026 (virtual meeting).