Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Nigel Davies, Councillor Reg Adams, James Cleverly, Rob Clarke, Colin Maclean, Steve Lewis, Sarah Denton and Derec Craig. Mr James Cook substituted for Steve Lewis from the Emergency Planning Department. Apologies were also received from Councillor Julian Benington.

There were no matters arising.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on December 2^nd 2014 were agreed.

A presentation on illegal money lending and loan sharks was given by Anna Fraser from the England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT). The organisation was set up in 2004 and was government funded. It’s main headquarters was based in Birmingham. They had 30 Investigators and 18 Liaison Officers, a Project Manager and a Press Officer. The objectives of the IMLT were:

·  To obtain justice for victims of illegal money lending activities

·  To provide witness support

·  To provide financial advice

·  To provide local based officers when required

·  To focus on Communities

·  To provide an understanding of the scale of the problem

·  To reduce incidences of illegal money lending activity

·  To address the issue of fear

·  To change the perception so that the public could understand that these activities can be stopped and punished

·  To support victims to access alternative sources of credit

It was highlighted that the difference between loan sharks and companies like “Wonga” was that loan sharks did not possess a consumer credit licence; this meant that their loans were not legal and not legally enforceable. The IMLT had their own resource, legal service, and seconded police officers with arrest powers. The IMLT was able to focus on community leaders and the “big players”. Very often, the initial investigations of the IMLT would uncover more serious associated crime such as drug dealing, violence and intimidation, blackmail, fire arms offences, rape and murder. The characteristics of illegal money lending were:

·  No credit arrangements were given

·  No receipt or payment books were provided

·  Payments were normally weekly and in cash

·  Violence and intimidation was common

·  Payments were sometimes “in kind”.

·  The loan sharks either worked alone or with a tight group of collectors

·  No activities carried out that could easily be traced

Some of the challenges that the IMLT faced were:

·  Victims often were not legally aware

·  Other agencies were often not aware of the activities and the scale of the problem

·  Victims often felt morally obligated to repay

·  Problem not just confined to those on benefits, 80% of victims were employed

·  Victims were reluctant to complain

·  Lending often hid the true extent of associated criminality

·  Loan sharks often targeted the vulnerable

·  Loan sharks would often intimidate extended family

To address the problem of illegal money lending activities, the IMLT had recourse to legislation including the Consumer Credit Act 1974; the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002; and the Theft Act 1968. The team would also initiate prosecution for serious associated crimes as mentioned previously; they also had recourse to injunctions and ASB Orders. The IMLT could offer training and support to partners if required, and they could also arrange publicity and promotions. In terms of achievements, the work of the IMLT had resulted to date in prison convictions totalling 309 years, £42.3m of debt had been written off, and 23,000 victims had been supported. It was noted that Amanda Evans (in her new role of administering the Safer Neighbourhood Board) would organise community outreach days where the IMLT could present to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

The Chairman expressed thanks and gratitude to the outgoing Borough Commander Stephanie Roberts for her hard work and for everything that she had achieved as Borough Commander. The Chairman also expressed his thanks to Steve Lewis for all of the good work that he had done in his role as LBB’s Emergency Planning Manager. The Chairman updated the Partnership with respect to the visit of the Mayor of London. The Mayor visited the Youth Offending Team, and also met with mentors and mentees. The Mayor was deeply impressed with all of this work, and the Chairman expressed his thanks to Paul King as Head of Service. Moving on from the Youth Offending Team, the Mayor met with the police in Orpington, and witnessed a police camera operation that was ongoing at the A21. After this, the Mayor went on a visit to Hillside School, and witnessed the “Junior Citizen Scheme” in action. The Mayor seemed surprised the scheme had not benefited from any MOPAC funding; LBB have applied for funding, and negotiations are ongoing. The Chairman expressed his thanks to Lulu Pearce for organising the recent multi faith event at the Civic Centre.  On the 11th March 2014 there was a Youth Manifesto Conference, BCEF  worked closely with the police to run a workgroup on travelling safely and how to report non emergency crime. The Chairman noted that this was a great success, as was the Mayor’s ceremony for raising the Commonwealth Flag. 

It was agreed that the Chairman’s update be noted.

The police update was provided by the Deputy Borough Commander Jo Oakley .Bromley police had been working towards the MOPAC 7 crime reduction targets over a three year period. The police were following the linear line for reductions and were expecting to meet targets for this year. Currently, year on year (as measured by the partnership, with the MPS using a 12 month rolling performance) - business robbery  was down by 1.6%; personal robbery down by10.2%; residential burglary  down by 2.6%. Residential burglary was still a challenge for  the police and any assistance that the partnership could give to bring residential burglary down would be appreciated. Non-residential burglary was down by 16.43%; theft of motor vehicle was down by 25.1%; theft from motor vehicles was down by 1.9%. Violent crime had increased and remained a challenge for the police. Overall crime had fallen by 4.9%. The increase in the number of violent crimes recorded was misleading, due to a change in the way these crimes were now reported. James Isted had been convicted of two stranger rapes and had received life imprisonment. An assault with a shopping trolley in Marks & Spencer on Christmas Eve 2012, had resulted in a manslaughter charge. 

There was a murder at Cambridge Road. A thirty year old man was alleged to have murdered his seventy one year old neighbour. He had been charged and remanded in custody. Some of the recent adverse reporting of the MPS in the media in respect of Stephen Lawrence had not identified any community tensions in Bromley. The Deputy Borough Commander had been in contact with some of the SBP membership to monitor and receive feedback regarding any community concerns and tensions. The murder trial for Trai Williamson following the murder of Khadur Hussein in Penge last year had started. 

Changes to the MPS control infrastructure went live in February. Bromley police resources (duties) and some intelligence functions had gone to a hub based at Lewisham. As well as the change to the BOCU Commander, the Chief Inspector for Emergency response teams Katrina Smith retired in January; Roy Smith had taken over. 

It was agreed that the Borough Commander’s update be noted.

This report had been presented to the SBP to outline the performance achieved against targets that had been set by the strategic group the previous year. The report provided the latest performance monitoring data to 31^st December 2013 (Quarter 3). Members were of the opinion that the future of this report needed to be rethought as its relevancy was in question. No questions were raised.

It was AGREED that the Performance Management Report (Q3) be endorsed.     

The Chairman provided an update on the current position in relation to the introduction of the Safer Neighbourhood Board into Bromley as requested by MOPAC. The £1M Safer Neighbourhood Board Fund had been provided to fund the project nationwide, as a way of encouraging community engagement; approximately £5200.00 per borough would be ring fenced to cover administration costs. It was noted that the BCEF would be dismantled, and incorporated into the SNB. The last meeting of the BCEF would be March 17^th 2014 in the Civic Centre. The Safer Bromley Partnership would become smaller, meet less frequently, but become more strategic. Panel members of the Board would be 20-25 in number, and would be encouraged to change every three years. It was proposed to stagger membership as this would provide greater flexibility. It was anticipated that the SNB would commence business with around seventeen members initially. There had been a meeting on the 30th January 2014 to discuss membership and composition of the Board; it was likely that Councillor Tim Stevens JP would be appointed as the Chairman of the SNB, and that the Borough Commander be appointed Chairman of the Safer Bromley Partnership. It was likely that Mr Terry Belcher would be appointed as Vice Chairman of the SNB. A primary role of the SNB would be to hold the Police and the SBP to account. Another important role would be to work closely with Ward Panels and residents, and to generally encourage community engagement.

In addition to the £5,200.00 provided by MOPAC for administration costs, there was also money that could be used from BCEF. There was also an amount of MOPAC funding in the region of £24,000.00 that could be used by the SNB as it saw fit. The Chairman stated that the main police contact as far as the SNB was concerned would be Carron Schusler-Chief Inspector for Safer Neighbourhoods.The Chairman informed that the Board had been working on a draft constitution and this was going to be presented to MOPAC on the 1^st April 2014. The Chairman advised that Affinity Sutton had been approached with a view to provide representation on the Board; Affinity Sutton had responded that they would like to attend on a floating basis when appropriate. The issue of floating representation was being considered.

The Chairman indicated that he would envisage regular input from youth services, police and housing partners. It was envisioned that the Board meetings would be held at different locations in the Borough, and this would enable the Board to concentrate on local issues and to allow for matters of equality and diversity. It was anticipated that the Board would meet at six different locations over the year. Nino Gomez from Community Payback enquired how the community payback scheme would be incorporated into the new Board structure. The Chairman answered this by stating that Community Payback had statutory membership. It was highlighted that the Chairman and the Director of Environmental Services would like to meet soon  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

Youth Offending Service – Paul King’s first update was with respect to mentoring. The Partnership was informed that the Youth Justice Board had confirmed continued funding for mentoring. With respect to key performance indicators, there was a reduction in the number of first time offenders from 361 to 77. The number of re-offenders going back into the prison system had decreased due to the introduction of a “triage system”. This system was being facilitated by the police and other prevention services. It meant that some crimes no longer went to court if they were not  serious. The “triage” system had reduced the number of young people going back into prison, and gave them a second chance. This process had an 85% success rate in reducing re-offending. It was highlighted that there was a direct correlation between re-offending and school exclusions. It was hoped that discussions would be forthcoming with local schools to discuss their exclusion policies. There had been a very small increase in the number of young people going into custody; it was noted on average around 7-10 young people went into custody annually; the numbers were small and the trend was flat. MOPAC was continuing to fund the mentoring programme; currently there were 89 mentors, and 47 of these had been referred via the Youth Offending Team. The Chairman expressed his thanks to Paul King and the Youth Offending Team for all of their hard work and accomplishments. 

Bromley Community Engagement Forum – Amanda Evans confirmed that the final public meeting of the Bromley Community Engagement Forum would be held on Monday 17^th March 2014 at Bromley Civic Centre. This was because the BCEF was being absorbed into the new Safer Neighbourhood Board. It was envisaged that the new Board would be chaired by Councillor Tim Stevens JP, with Amanda Evans as administrator, and Mr Terry Belcher as Vice Chairman. A Specialist Schools Youth Conference had been held on 7th March 2014. BCEF had been working closely with 3 schools (Marjorie McClure, Riverside, Glebe) to define the workshop topics and the day’s format. To address the students’ issues of feeling unsafe and not welcome at the Glades, Glades, (now called Intu), had launched their lanyard scheme to help vulnerable young people and adults feel safe and welcome in the Centre and also arranged tours for their CCTV centre. One school had recently stated that a few young people now feel so safe that they regularly shop at the centre almost every weekend with their friends which was unheard of previously.  This was a wonderful example of partnership working. BCEF expressed their thanks to Bromley Police and the Intu security team for their positive contribution to the Lanyard scheme. The Chairman expressed his thanks to Terry Belcher and Amanda Evans for all the excellent work that they had accomplished whilst working for BCEF.

Arson Sub Group – Daniel Cartwright (Fire Brigade Borough Commander) reported there was currently very good communication between the police, fire service, LBB and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The communications update was provided by LBB’s Communications Officer Susie Clark. A “Stamp it out Campaign” was being worked on, aided by a poster campaign in the High Street. The aim was that this campaign would work side by side with Operation Crystal in targeting three areas of anti-social behaviour, namely littering, fly tipping and dog fouling. A post card campaign was also in hand encouraging residents to be enviro friendly and to encourage residents to take responsibility for their neighbourhoods. The  Enviro-Crime Reward Scheme was still operating, with the potential for residents to earn up to £500.00 for the successful prosecution of enviro crimes. The latest edition of the “Safer Bromley News” was due for publication on the 19^th March 2014. It was being distributed in conjunction with “Environment Matters” and would therefore be distributed door to door. Articles in the SBN would include the visit of the London Mayor; news about the development of the Safer Neighbourhood Board; news about local crime and crime prevention, and also an update of the way that LBB were using social media, and tips on online safety. The update was concluded with a reminder that the Safer Bromley Awards were due to be held on the evening of March 27^th at the Warren, where there would be an address by the new Borough Commander. 

It was agreed that the communications update report be noted.

The contents of the Borough Commander’s Newsletter were noted.

Paula Morrison (LBB Assistant Director for Public Health) mentioned that the incidence of liver disease in Bromley had been rather high over the last ten years. It was noted that a report regarding this should be drafted for the attention of Mr Rob Vale-Head of Trading Standards. 

The date and time of the next meeting of the restructured Strategic Group will be set in due course.

The date of the next meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership was to be confirmed.