Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Roxhannah Fawthrop, James Cleverly (Police and Crime Committee, Greater London Authority) and Paul King (LBB Head of Bromley Youth Support Programme).

The notes of the last meeting held on 28^th June 2012 were received.

It was AGREED that the minutes be approved.

The Chairman was pleased to announce that the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police would be hosting an event for residents of the London Boroughs of Bromley and Croydon on 30^th January 2013 in the Council Chamber at Bromley Civic Centre.  This would provide an opportunity for both residents and partners to question the Commissioner on policing issues and for the Commissioner to present his vision for the future delivery of policing across London.

The Chairman highlighted that a baseline budget review was currently being undertaken across the Council which could impact the way services were delivered in future.

Members of the Partnership joined the Chairman in offering thanks to Ruksana Mannan, Community Safety Project Officer, who was leaving to take up an opportunity as Project Officer in the Crime Reduction Team at Lambeth Council.  It was also noted that Charles Griggs, former Borough Commander for Bromley was shortly to retire from his role in the London Borough of Southwark and the Chairman led the Partnership in offering their thanks for his service to the Borough.

It was AGREED that the update be noted.

The Borough Commander was pleased to announce that the three Chief Inspectors for Bromley were now in post.

Work was currently underway to develop a more efficient, cost-effective policing model across London, delivering police services through a basic command unit model which would bring one or more boroughs under the leadership of a Chief Superintendent.  The current proposals were for Bromley to have a shared services model with the London Borough of Bexley and a consultation on the proposed model would be taking place from October 2012.  The Borough Commander encouraged all members of the Partnership to contribute to the consultation.

It was AGREED that the update be noted.

Consideration was given to the performance monitoring report for Quarter 1, 2012/13 which reported progress against 4 key indicators. 

Performance Indicator 1: Reduction in Number of Violent Crimes showed that offences related to Violent Crimes represented 20% of the Total Notifiable Offences in Q1, with a reduction of 224 offences compared to the same period in 2011/12.  This included a reduction of 52 Harassment offences and 159 Assault with Injury offences.

Performance Indicator 2: Reduction in Numbers of Property Crimes within Bromley showed that offences related to property crimes represented 67% of the Total Notifiable Offences in Q4, with a decrease of 298 offences compared to the same period last year.  This included a decrease in robberies by 33%, theft and handling by 10% and criminal damage by 22%.  There had been a 17% increase in burglaries, which was reflected at the national level, but this was being targeted and the number of burglary offences had significantly reduced in the last quarter. 

Progress against Performance Indicator 3: Reduction in Levels of Recorded Anti-Social Behaviour showed a reduction of 950 incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour reported compared to the same period in 2011/12.  It was noted that there had been an increase in graffiti offences, and this was now being targeted.

With regard to Performance Indicator 4: Increased Confidence in the Fact that Bromley is a Safe Place, it was noted that Quarter 1 data for 2012/13 had not yet been published but it was important to ensure partners continued to emphasise that Bromley was a safe place to live and work.

The Chairman highlighted concerns around the increase in burglary and domestic violence offences and it was noted that these issues would be considered in greater detail at the next meeting of the Partnership. 

It was AGREED that the Performance Management Report for Qtr 1 2012/13 be endorsed.

Consideration was given to a report summarising the findings from the Gangs Review, which had been undertaken to assess the impact of gangs and gang membership on the Borough with a view to delivering a cross agency response to identify and minimise any negative consequences of gang membership and activity within the Borough.  The review had identified a number of key issues that needed to be addressed to provide an effective response to any gang activity.  These were:

·  Partnership Working, Intelligence and Information Sharing

·  Identification of Gang Nominals and Gang Involvement

·  Safeguarding

·  Prevention

·  Early Intervention

·  Intensive Intervention

·  Parents, Community and Voluntary Sector

An action plan had been developed to address the identified issues through delivery of a number of short and long term recommendations, which included establishing a Lead Gangs Single Point of Contact and a Gangs Panel where partners could share information, and these were considered by Members of the Partnership.

An issue had been identified around the need for partners to share information on gang nominals/members being relocated to the Borough.  There was also a need to work with the South London Healthcare NHS Trust to ensure that young people at risk of becoming involved in gang-related activity were identified when they presented at Accident and Emergency Departments with potential gang-related injuries. 

Councillor Benington noted the need for early intervention and diversion for young people at risk of becoming involved in gang-related activity, including those who lived out-of-borough but attended further and higher education in Bromley.  He also highlighted the large number of projects across London which targeted gang activity and emphasised the need for a more coordinated approach.  Sarah Denton advised members of the Partnership of the excellent work undertaken in London Borough of Bexley through their U-Turn 1 scheme which encouraged young people to remain in education and turn away from becoming involved in criminal activities. 

The Chairman underlined the need for partners to continue to submit funding bids for innovative early intervention and preventative activity programmes.

It was AGREED that:

1)  The draft summary of the gangs review be noted; and,

2)  The proposed short term recommendations be agreed

Consideration was given to an update on the Tackling Troubled Families Programme.  This cross-Government programme would make £448m available over 3 years to support local authorities and partner agencies to target ‘troubled families’.  Government funding would need to be match-funded by local authorities and would follow a Payment by Results model where the Government would pay up to 40% of local authorities’ costs where families were supported successfully.

Following the submission of an expression of interest, the Assistant Director (Safeguarding and Care Services) confirmed that the Council had been successful in attracting £450k of funding for 3 years, of which 80% of the first year’s funding would be provided up front, with a further sum provided up front for Year 2.  £100k had also been awarded to fund Coordinator fees for the scheme. 

800 families from across the Borough had been identified as meeting at least one criteria of the scheme, which included having a young person who was not in employment, education or training,  involved in crime or anti-social behaviour, or at risk of being placed in the care system.  A local discretionary criterion had also been set which would focus the scheme on those families causing a high cost to the public purse.  Families would have to meet two criteria to be included as part of the scheme. 

A Strategic Steering Group had been established to deliver the scheme as had a multi-agency Operational Group.  The Council’s Executive had approved funds to be drawn from the Tackling Troubled Families Grant for the recruitment of four Family Support Practitioners and a Coordinator, and a limited pot of funding was also available for the commissioning of services to support the delivery of the scheme.

In response to a question from a member of the Partnership, the Head of Service Referral & Assessment confirmed that families from hard-to-reach groups would be included as part of the scheme if they met the criteria.  Paula Morrison highlighted the impact of mild anxiety and depression on families and suggested that access to psychological therapies be built into the scheme to support families where appropriate.

It was AGREED that the update be noted.

Consideration was given to an update on the summer programme of youth activities which had been delivered in parks across the Borough.  During the course of the summer, 6,451 young people had attended 36 park day events where a diverse range of free activities had been offered, including land zorbing, bungee trampolining and craft activities.  Following a successful advertising campaign which had utilised Facebook, QR Codes and other promotional materials, the scheme had successfully attracted a wide range of young people, including those from hard-to-reach groups, and feedback from the events had been extremely positive from those who had attended.  There had also been a 13% decrease in the number of young people being stopped by the Police in August 2012 compared to the same period last year which could have been impacted by the provision of the events as diversionary activities.

The Chairman praised the professionalism and dedication of the staff who had delivered these events.  In considering the delivery of a similar programme for Summer 2013, a member of the Partnership queried whether funding could be sought from the commercial sector.  There was potential for more involvement by schools, partners and other community organisations such as churches in any future scheme, and also to utilise parents and carers as volunteers to help deliver events.  The Chairman noted the importance of making information, advice and guidance available to young people at these events.  It was also important to ensure that the most vulnerable young people were given the opportunity and encouragement to attend future events.

It was AGREED the update be noted.

Rob Clarke, London Probation Service was pleased to announce that London Probation Trust had been awarded the contract to deliver community service across London in partnership with Serco. 

The new delivery model would begin from 31^st March 2012 and would include a more intensive programme of community service, with the expectation that offenders would work more frequently and that unemployed offenders would work up to 21 hours per week where appropriate.  Community service would also begin within 7 days of an order being imposed. 

Projects for community service had yet to be confirmed, however these projects would be broken down into two stages.  Offenders would start working in unskilled manual labour projects and could then move to more skilled placements when a level of trust was demonstrated, giving offenders the opportunity to gain work skills. 

It was AGREED that the update be noted.

(Drug Action Team, Youth Offending Team, Bromley Community Engagement Forum, Arson Sub-Group and Operational Tasking) – (Verbal reports)

Drug Action Team Report – Claire Lynn confirmed that adult drug treatment services had been re-tendered and were now being delivered as an integrated service.  There had been a change of definition for services from ‘problematic’ and ‘non-problematic’ drug users to ‘opiate’ and ‘non-opiate’ drug users, and work was being undertaken with the Police, health services and schools to support more people into treatment.  Drug testing of those in Police custody would be rolled out across London which might increase the number of drug users referred for treatment.

Youth Offending Service Report – Elayne Stewart confirmed that a number of inspections of Youth Offending Services had been announced for 2012/13, including an inspection of victim contact work to take place in the London Region in November 2012.  The level of compensation young offenders were expected to pay to victims of crime had increased from 10% to 40%.  Young offenders had been encouraged to become involved in the Youth Activity Summer Programme.

Bromley Community Engagement Forum Report – Ian Smith confirmed that the next public meeting of the Bromley Community Engagement Forum would be at 7.00pm on 29^th November 2012 at Bromley Town Football Club.  A Special Schools Conference would take place on 12^th February 2013 at the Education Development Centre, and the Youth Conference had been arranged for 27^th March 2013 and would look at a number of issues including gangs, mutual respect, cyber-bullying and alcohol and drug abuse. 

Arson Sub-Group Report – Andy Holcombe reported that there had been 140 incidents of arson in the past two months, which was a significant reduction on the same period two years ago.  Preventative work was continuing with the second LIFE course now underway.  An Impact Factor day had recently been delivered to Years 8 and 9 at Harris Beckenham Academy School and a further eight events were planned which aimed to stop young people engaging in antisocial behaviour.  Work was also being undertaken with the Police to identify those at risk of burglary during fire home safety visits.  It was noted that consideration was currently being given to the future delivery model for fire services across London and that more information would be provided to the Partnership in due course.

Operational Tasking Report – The Borough Commander was pleased to confirm that over 1225 arrests had been made and 272 uninsured vehicles seized as part of Operation Reclaim during July and August 2012.  Incidents of a range of crimes had decreased including Serious Violence (by 32%), Robbery (by 26%) and Knife Crime (by 33%).  A number of arrests had also been made for drug related offences.  Burglary was still being targeted as a priority in the Borough and a number of arrests had been made.  There had been a slight increase in Domestic Violence and the Borough Commander underlined the need for partners to focus on this area.  Issues had also been identified around the need for partners to share information on gang nominals/members being relocated to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Consideration was given to the draft Terms of Reference of the Borough Resilience Forum which aimed to facilitate cooperation and information sharing at a Borough-level between agencies responsible for coordinating, planning and endorsing an effective emergency response and recovery for the Borough.  The draft terms of reference included the need for the Borough Resilience Forum to report work and recommendations to the Strategic Group of the Safer Bromley Partnership and this was noted by members of the Partnership.

The Emergency Planning Manager outlined the work of the Forum which brought together a wide range of agencies to develop emergency procedures and protocols for the Borough.  Twenty four plans had been developed to cover a wide range of emergency situations, and on average 2-3 emergencies a month were responded to by partners.  Recent exercises had included a live exercise at London Biggin Hill Airport around fire to an aircraft.  Emergency plans had also been developed for key locations across the Borough including The Glades Shopping Centre and Bethlem Royal Hospital, and training programmes were delivered to equip people in responding to emergency situations.

The draft Terms of Reference of the Borough Resilience Forum were AGREED.

Consideration was given to an update on Operation Maquina which would take a multi-agency approach to target a range of issues in an identified area in the Borough.  The first area to be targeted would be Penge, and a range of agencies including Enforcement and Trading Standards would be undertaking operations in the area.  In response to a question from the Chairman, the Head of Community Safety confirmed that Councillors would be contacted if their wards were to be targeted, and that a further update on Operation Maquina would be provided at the next meeting of the Partnership.

It was AGREED that the update be noted.

Susie Clark provided an update on the Safer Bromley News, the electronic newsletter showcasing the work of the Safer Bromley Partnership.  The Summer 2012 edition had recently been published, and partners were encouraged to submit their stories by early October 2012 for inclusion in the Autumn 2012 edition. 

A meeting of the Partnership’s Communications Leads would be held at 2.30pm on 10^th October 2012 and invitations would be sent out shortly.

It was AGREED the update be noted.

(a)  The London Crime Reduction Board Partnership Anti Gangs Strategy had been circulated for information.

It was noted that Diversity Day in Bromley would be held from 10.30am on Tuesday 16^th October 2012 in the Great Hall at Bromley Civic Centre and members of the Partnership were invited to attend.

10.00am, Thursday 13^th December 2012

10.00am, Thursday 21^st March 2013

All meetings start at 10.00am unless otherwise notified.

Thursday 13^th December 2012

Thursday 21^st March 2013