Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report briefing members on the City’s work relating to the community safety agenda via the Safer Leicester Partnership and highlighting key areas that the Council and partners have identified as priorities to reduce crime and the fear of crime.  The Commission is recommended to note and comment on this work and identify any additional steps that the Partnership can take to address these areas of work.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report briefing Members on the City Council’s work relating to the community safety agenda through the Safer Leicester Partnership.  The report also highlighted key areas that the Council and partners had identified as priorities to reduce crime and the fear of crime.

Members of the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission had been invited to attend this meeting to participate in the scrutiny of this item.  Councillor Cole therefore was present in his capacity as Vice-Chair of that Commission.

Councillor Clair, Deputy City Mayor, introduced the report, inviting Members to consider community safety issues on which further reports could be made to this Commission.

The Head of Community Safety and the Safer Leicester Partnership explained that the Council had a statutory responsibility to address crime and the fear of crime.  This was done through a partnership with other agencies, which identified its objectives and priorities in response to issues put forward by the partners.  Each objective and priority was delivered through a multi-agency approach.  It was recognised that different objectives and priorities needed to be approached in different ways, so the make-up of the delivery group for each was different.

In addition, within each strand, the partners developed different strategies, which determined how services within that strand were commissioned and delivered.  For example, a strategy for addressing violent crime was due to be launched on 8 December 2017.  This included the establishment by the Police and ambulance service of a medical treatment centre at the Clock Tower in the centre of Leicester on Fridays and Saturdays over the Christmas period.

A Partnership Plan was produced to explain the outcomes being sought and how these would be measured.  It had been agreed that plans would include information on the level of resources available to deliver the outcomes being sought.  Members were invited to identify key areas that could be programmed in to future Plans.

The Commission expressed an interest in viewing the Strategic Needs Assessment for Leicester, but was advised that this was a Police document that contained a lot of confidential information.  Officers therefore were unable to make it available to Members.  However, information in this Assessment was used to inform the Partnership Plan.

Councillor Cole addressed the Commission at the invitation of the Chair.  He drew attention to concern regarding the increase in knife crime in the city and nationally, but noted that no reference was made to this in the priorities set out in the report, despite several young people having died in the city as a result of knife crime.

The Head of Community Safety confirmed that knife crime was subsumed within the priorities and therefore, to reassure Members, it was covered.  However, clearly discussions during the past year and the work that was taking place was rightly highlighting this issue.  She confirmed that this was a high level plan and therefore it was not intended as a detailed document.  A number of partners, including the Council, were working on different aspects of knife crime, such as considering how to help those at risk of carrying knives and how knife crime was managed elsewhere.

Councillor Cole expressed disappointment that knife crime was not a high level work theme, as it appeared that the influence of knife crime on young people was not being taken seriously enough.  He also questioned whether it was being viewed as a race issue, rather than a demographic one.  In reply, Councillor Master, Assistant City Mayor – Neighbourhood Services, advised that knife crime was being considered as a major work area, not as a sub-section of anything else. 

Councillor Clair referenced the importance of learning, where useful, from other local authorities in terms of work that they did on knife crime.

Councillor Master advised Members that a meeting had been held with the Knife Crime team at the Home Office and a lot of work was being done on it, which the Council was involved in.  He further confirmed that, as the Head of Community Safety had indicated, the current Partnership Plan was for 2017/18 and the issue of knife crime had become more prominent during the year, but all partners recognised its importance.  It was hoped that the education programmes being used and the sharing of information across all agencies would make a difference on this important issue. 

Councillor Sood, Assistant City Mayor – Communities and Equalities, stressed the need to address any violence against anyone.  Some acts of violence were more specific to certain communities, such as violence against women and children, violence due through dowry systems, gender-based abortions, female genital mutilation, honour-based violence and violence against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people.  She therefore suggested that it could be useful for the Commission to consider reports on these issues.

Work that also was being undertaken on how to tackle the use of New Psychoactive Substances (NPSs) was noted.  Furthermore, following a successful workshop a year ago, work was on-going around tackling street lifestyle issues.  This work was looking at access to support and, as appropriate, use of Public Space Protection Orders.

In reply to a question, the Head of Community Safety and the Safer Leicester Partnership advised Members that the current PSPO prohibiting street drinking expired in December 2017.  Following public consultation, this would be reintroduced in January 2018, along with a new PSPO prohibiting the use of NPSs.  Through this, the Police would have additional powers to confiscate alcohol where anti-social behaviour was involved.   A possible PSPO on street begging was likely to be considered later in 2018.

Members also raised concerns about how Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) was addressed.  The Team Manager – Domestic and Sexual Violence confirmed that there had been some improvements in this area, as it was identified as a risk by the partnership members.  For example, efforts were made to ensure that there was a regular representative of the CSE operations group at the domestic violence and abuse partnership meetings, to aid effective co-ordination between work streams.

The Commission noted that the 2018/19 Partnership Plan would be prepared shortly.  It therefore was suggested that the comments made during discussion on this item could be passed to the Safer Leicester Partnership, with a request that the comments be taken in to consideration when setting the Partnership’s objectives and priorities for 2018/19.

AGREED:

1)    That the work being done by the Safer Leicester Partnership be welcomed and noted; and

2)    That the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services be asked to:

a)     Arrange a briefing for Members on what action the Council is taking to address knife crime;

b)     Circulate the link for the “Slice of Reality” knife crime video and include this video in the briefing referred to under a) above;

c)     Draw up a potential schedule of reports for consideration by this Commission on the issues identified through the objectives and priorities of the Safer Leicestershire Partnership’s partnership plan for 2017/18;

d)     Pass the comments recorded above to the Safer Leicester Partnership, with a request that the Partnership take them in to consideration when drawing up its 2018/19 partnership plan; and

e)     Report the programme for the preparation of the Safer Leicester Partnership 2018/19 partnership plan to this Commission at an appropriate time.