Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services submits a presentation on the Safer Leicester Partnership Plan 2021-2024.

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the presentation and pass any comments to the Director of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services.

The Deputy City Mayor and the Chair of the Safer Leicestershire Partnership Board introduced the current Safer Leicester Partnership Plan (SLP) item. It was noted that the consultation had been undertaken with partner organisations and the plan was bought to the Commission as the views of the Commission were valued to understand and reflect the needs of the local people. It was noted that the plan was reviewed annually.

The Head of Community Safety and Protection delivered the presentation on the Safer Leicester Partnership Plan

As part of the discussions it was noted that:

·         It was suggested that the priorities were adequate whilst some priorities may need refreshing as time goes on. It was noted that elected Members were all emailed for their contributions as consultants as part of the consultation work.

·         Members of the Commission welcomed the report and the initiative. It was suggested that Members agreed with the priorities set out in the presentation and suggested this item stayed on the work programme, for future Commission meetings to allow Members to monitor annually.

·          A theme group of partners worked on individual agenda items to present to the SLP Executive meetings on their findings and if required, senior level involvement would be involved to resolve matters that emerge.

·         It was suggested that as a collective there were actions that could be taken to resolve some of the priorities and concerns such as street drinking. It was noted that, Public Space Orders gave the police powers to confiscate alcohol from street drinkers whilst wider work with partners such as the City Wardens Team helped address concerns with litter created by street drinkers.

·         It was suggested that the key enforcement powers were the public protection orders, with the potential of introducing extra signage or a scheme to educate the offenders.

·         These priorities were monitored by the SLP where a team leader was responsible to present dashboard of information which indicated the team were meeting their priorities satisfactorily.

·         It was suggested that a new strategy was being considered to tackle the different nuances of alcohol.

·         Although the Noise Team had adapted to the new ways of working, it was suggested that there had been a slight delay in installing noise recording equipment as a result of the pandemic and analysing information collected by the noise recording equipment. Recording from outside of properties was still ongoing and appropriate action was being followed up, with seven seizures since September.

·         It was noted that information on crime and disorder hotspots was shared from the Police Crime Commissioners office for both crime and anti-social behaviour on a quarterly basis. It was suggested that information was available for the public on local crime on the police website.

·         It was noted that the fund for the SLP had decreased over the years, but partners had come together to deliver the priorities with an additional support from the Police Crime Commissioners office where all the Community Safety Partnerships receive an allocation for the full financial year.

AGREED:

1)    That Members of the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission support the three-year plan and the priorities going forward;

2)    That Members of the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission request future updates on the final plan and progress reports on a quarterly basis;

3)    And that, the members of the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission suggest a joint scrutiny meeting with the Health Scrutiny Commission around alcohol misuse and street drinking.