Agenda item

Members to receive a report providing an update on the People Zones initiative.

Members will be asked to comment and note the contents of the report.

The Police and Crime Panel received a report providing an update on the People Zone’s initiative.

The Police and Crime Commissioner introduced the report advising that this was an initiative led by the project team at the OPCC and that People Zones had been in place since 2018 under the previous PCC. There were currently 3 people zones: Bell Foundry (Charnwood), New Parks (city) and Thringstone & Whitwick (North West Leicestershire).

The PCC advised that the initiative had potential to develop great benefits to more deprived areas of LLR, however it had been under resourced in the past with just one member staff on people zones and not in full time capacity. As a result, more resources were being made available and proper leadership had been introduced into the scheme.

Chief Inspector Streets provided more details of the work undertaken in recent months and drew attention to the following points:

·         The Mapping For Change project had produced a full research report for the Bell Foundry people zone which would be brought to the people zone steering group before sharing a summary with partners.

·         Similar reports were due to be available in relation to the New Parks people zone (by Christmas) and Thringstone & Whitwick people zone (by New Year).

·         The Community Leadership Programme had recruited a new cohort of 3 and an induction was taking place shortly; previous participants of the programme had done on to join the wider Community Leaders Network which worked in partnership to support communities, with People Zones being one of their focuses.

·         Appendix B provided a screen shot of a community asset map which provides links to services, information and events in the People Zone and was accessible at all times.

The Chair thanked officers for the report and was pleased to see the people zones initiative receiving more funding and being progressed.

Members expressed strong support for the people zones initiative and the projects being undertaken with those areas.

It was suggested that these were areas would benefit from more frontline policing to build resilience in the community as too would other areas across the force and it was enquired how  officers were being utilised in communities.

The PCC stated that community policing was essential, and he believed in that, he had written the police and crime plan to include it and provided funding to make it happen. Important work was also undertaken by PCSO’s across the community and especially in the 3 people zones. Chief Inspector Streets replied that the people zones and local policing teams were all linked in with the projects and there was a representative from each area on the steering groups.

The Chair suggested that Members could pursue the conversation about community policing outside this meeting with Neighbourhood Policing/Local Policing teams.

Clarity was sought on the funding given to projects in people zones and the resources in terms of staffing. It was advised that there was no funding of individuals or wages for people on projects. Any staff working on projects were funded through local authorities. The funds referred to in the report were asset based; research had been taken from that and it was intended to launch a grants process in the new year providing grants for things like community safety.

There was a brief discussion about wider community assets being incorporated and communicated about. It was suggested that local councillors and local authority staff would be good sources of information in terms of wider assets in the community and information gathering.

Chief Inspector Streets responded that the apps being used in the mapping for Change project were developing and they were trying to generate a one stop shop to include the many different groups across communities. The asset maps were not just one place, although there was boundary to focus in terms of the people zone but there were resources outside that focus and it continued to grow.

Members were impressed with the mini police project and commented that taking steps to ensure a positive image of police at an early age was good.

Members felt there were a lot people who were unaware of people zones or what they were about and asked what was being done to promote that awareness. The PCC accepted that point, noting that some projects were still quite new, and efforts would be put in to ensure awareness was increased.

Members noted that an animation video had been created to explain what they were trying to achieve. There was also a lot of discussion with community groups to spread the word and once projects started start to be more active that would increase understanding.

Members hoped that the people zones initiative would be expanded to other areas and asked whether there were any criteria being used to determine the next people zones and whether there was potential to spread to wider community using media platforms.

The PCC confirmed ambitions to create another people zone, in terms of initial criteria it would be an area where there was social deprivation as well as the presence of institutions that could be worked with, however that work was not far advanced yet and he wanted to get the model right before rolling out elsewhere. The PCC commented that longer term there was an aim to set out which parts were working well and how that could be delivered to wider areas.

The PCC advised that any proposal for another people zone was still some way off and would be brought to panel before a final decision made.

The Chair thanked officers for the update and asked that an update be brought to the panel in 6 months along with any update on re-evaluation of the People Zones initiative in due course.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the contents of the report be noted,

2.    That the People Zones animated video be shared to Members outside this meeting,

3.    That an update report on the People Zones Initiative and progress with projects be brought to a panel meeting in 6 months,

4.    That an update on any re-evaluation of the People Zones Initiative be brought to panel in due course.