Minutes:
Councillor Corrall
submitted the following question to the Police and Crime Commissioner:
“With demand management becoming more
important for the police, do you believe, as I do, that proven examples of
this, like the Braunstone Blues, which use the joint economic and reputational
strength of each service to make real impacts on the Braunstone Community,
should be held up as a shining example in collaboration and Data sharing excellence. Given their success I feel they should continue
to be supported and used as a blueprint for how things could work in the
future?”
The Police and
Crime Commissioner gave the following answer:
“In a word ‘Yes!’
To expand a little:
I would like to thank Cllr Coral
for his question. I have made several visits to meet the team at Braunstone
Blues and each time I have been incredibly impressed by this pioneering
project. It would be fair to say that I am a great supporter of the Braunstone
Blues.
For anyone who is not already
aware Braunstone Blues, a multi-agency partnership delivered by Police, Fire
and Ambulance services, was created to reduce the demand on blue light services
and enhance the ways in which local residents can engage with the emergency
services. It predominantly targets its skills at those people identified as
creating the highest demand for services. The team
works with partners and residents of Braunstone to deliver a healthier, safer
and more secure community by educating and directing residents to appropriate services
via a home visit service and delivering targeted campaigns to reduce the number
of emergency calls in the area.
The team offers a free half hour
home visit and advice on:
• home security
• vehicle security
• home safety
• fire safety
• child safety
• health and wellbeing
The team can also offer help
with loneliness, anxiety, depression and dealing with antisocial behaviour.
Each home visit is tailored to suit individual needs and provides information
about other organisations that may be able to offer support.
I can honestly say that seeing a
member of the community benefiting from a
Braunstone Blues home visit
really drives home the value of collaboration and how this can benefit our
communities.
The project is currently funded
by three blue light services, Fire and Rescue, the Police and Crime
Commissioner and Leicester City Council. An interim evaluation found that local
residents felt safer, healthier and happier as a result of the Blue’s work -
research shows that a resident’s service dependency increases when they are
unhealthy and unhappy.
I note Cllr Coral’s view that ‘they [Braunstone Blues] should
continue to be supported and used as a blueprint for how things could work in
the future’
I would like to reassure him
that from the outset it was clearly stated that if
Braunstone Blues was successful
it could form a blueprint for other schemes across LLR. In September this year
it was announced that the Braunstone Blues Project Board wishes to extend,
expand and mainstream this work to ensure that more of the most vulnerable
people across LLR will benefit.
The plan is to achieve this
through four additional dedicated teams. But this comes at a cost. A not
insignificant figure of £1.25 million per year (for the four additional teams
and retaining the Braunstone Blues) and it is no secret that funding is rather
limited at the moment. Interim arrangements are in place to cover the funding
of this project in the near future and I know that longer-term funding will be
discussed in greater detail at the Strategic Partnership Board in January, a
meeting which I chair.
Finally, I note Cllr Coral’s
observation that Braunstone Blues should be used as a ‘shining example’ and I
am pleased to tell him that I personally did just that when I introduced
Baroness Williams, a Minister of State at the Home Office to the team. We were
able to show her how emergency services in Leicestershire are working in
partnership to help local residents. She has told me she was impressed by what
she saw. But this is not an isolated incidence. Since inception the Braunstone
Blues project has received a huge amount of positive publicity, which in my
view is very well deserved. I strongly urge all members of the Panel to
‘Google’ Braunstone Blues I believe it will reassure him that together, as
partners, we have been doing just that.
Braunstone Blues is illustrative of the huge power of partnership working and I very much hope that between us we can find the resources to maintain it.