Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Paul Lehane and from Anne Ball from MOPAC.

Apologies were received later in the day from Cllr Kate Lymer.

Apologies were also received from Mr Terry Belcher.  

The minutes of the meeting held on the 16^th June 2015 were agreed.

Matters arising from previous meetings were noted.

The Police update was given by the Chief Inspector for the Safer Neighbourhood Teams—David Tait. He updated the Strategic Group as follows:

·  MOPAC 7  crime overall had reduced by 16.3%, which equated to 1910 less victims

·  Burglary figures had reduced by 27.8%, which was a reduction of 951 victims

·  Criminal Damage had reduced by 8.1%, which was  a reduction of 209 victims

·  Robbery had reduced by 46.8%, which was a reduction of 328 victims

·  Theft from motor vehicles had reduced by 26.6%, which was a reduction of 556 victims

·  Theft from the Person had reduced by 8.2%, which was a reduction of 25  victims

Challenges still existed concerning the theft of motor vehicles which had increased by 2.3%, this equated to 17 more victims. Violence with injury had increased by 7.5% which equated to 142 more victims.

Cllr Tim Stevens was happy with what he perceived to be a proactive and successful campaign to promote domestic abuse issues, and the achievements  of the Police in bringing about effective prosecutions; he was happy with the figures that were being presented by the Police at the meeting. The Chief Inspector confirmed that it was Police policy to promote awareness of domestic abuse issues as much as they could, along with proactive intervention and prosecution. The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety confirmed that detail would be made available in the Strategic Assessment.

The Chief Inspector spoke about the planned Government Spending Review that was due in December 2015, and expressed concern about future cuts to the MET budget, and the impact the cuts may have on local policing. He stated that as the Police had already made reductions to buildings, his concern now was a possible loss of personnel. He feared that Bromley could end up losing all of their PCSOs. Superintendent Trevor Lawry (the new Deputy Borough Police Commander) informed the Group that the Police would be anticipating revised budget figures to be available in December 2015, and that modelling would take place until then.

The Strategic Group were updated concerning the roll out of “Met Trace”  “Met Trace” was an invisible liquid that could be used to mark property; it was only visible under UV light. The MET plan was that 440,000 homes would use the product to mark items over a three year period. Previous trials of the product had resulted in a fall in burglaries by 70%. Distribution of the product in Bromley had already commenced, with a team of 1PC and 5 PCSOs. The plan for Bromley was to distribute 3500 kits to 4,300 households in roads with the highest number of recorded burglaries in different Wards.

The Chief Inspector highlighted the success of police officers using body worn video equipment, especially in domestic abuse cases; this would continue to be rolled out across the MET.

RESOLVED that:

(1) the Police update be noted

(2) the Police to update the Group in early 2016 after the Spending Review that would take place in December 2015.

The update concerning the Safer Neighbourhood Board (SNB) was given by the Chairman of the Board, Cllr Tim Stevens JP. The SNB had last meet in July 2015 at a location in Biggin Hill when Chief Inspector David Tait had presented. This was a very well attended meeting with about 40 people in attendance. The SNB was meeting at various locations around the Borough, and turnouts were generally very good. Cllr Stevens stated that:

·  Around 80 people had attended the SNB meeting at Beckenham

·  Around 70 had attended at Mottingham

·  Around 50-60 had attended at Orpington

·  Around 40-50 had attended at Biggin Hill

The Crime Summit was well attended and was a great success, with Bromley Youth Council having a significant impact with their presentation concerning Public Transport issues. Cllr Stevens stated that congratulations were in order to Danie Gordon and her team. There was also a presentation concerning gangs and knife crime. The next meeting of the SNB would be in Penge in November 2015—a suitable location was being sourced.  

Cllr Stevens asked for clarification concerning the relationship/role that existed between Community Payback and the Safer Bromley Partnership Strategic Group. This had been an issue that both the Group and the Public Protection and Safety PDS Committee required clarification on. The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety informed the Group that he had recently been informed of a new contact within Probation Services that would be able to provide clarification. This person was Nicola Walters who was a Senior Operations Manager with responsibility for Community Payback. An update would be provided to Group members as soon as this was available. Cllr Stevens reminded the Group that previous difficulties had existed around transport and supervision, but these issues had now been removed and this should help in facilitating a smooth transition back into a productive relationship with Community Payback.

Members of the Group were hopeful that this would be the case, as it would be useful for the Youth Offending Service to have access to this resource for young offenders.

RESOLVED that:

(1) the update from the Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board be noted

(2) contact be made with Nicola Walters from Probation Services to re-establish the relationship between Community Payback and LBB

(3) the Youth Offending Service to seek to utilise the Community Payback service in the future for young offenders.   

The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety informed the Group that ASB initiatives and Operation Crystal had been going well. The various initiatives were progressing in accordance with the aims and objectives that had been desired by MOPAC (Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime).  Operation Crystal was a MOPAC funded anti-social behaviour initiative that had been set up to tackle crime, with the funding running from March 2013 to December 2016. Operation Crystal had been successful in clearing long term rubbish, cleaning away graffiti, dealing with high profile offenders, and in raising the awareness in the community from public services to deal with problems in the area. Exit strategies would be discussed with MOPAC in the near future.

The Borough Fire Commander informed the Group that the Borough Fire Brigade had been working with the Police and LBB as part of Operation Crystal. Both the Police and the Fire Service had plans in place to deal with Halloween and the firework season.

RESOLVED that the ASB update be noted.  

This is a draft document that will be added to and finalised in due course.

The update concerning the SBP Strategic Assessment Document was provided by the Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety. He introduced Mr Pratheepan Jeyaprayesam to the Group; Mr Jeyaprayesam was an analyst who would be providing support to the Group in drafting the Strategic Document. It was noted that data would be available online from the MOPAC dashboard which would assist in drafting the Assessment. The Group agreed that finalising the Strategic Document should be a priority, and that the Borough Commander would need to be consulted concerning this.

The LBB Assistant Director for Public Health stated that as well as crime data, the assessment should consider all relevant issues, including health and housing. The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety agreed with this and stated that the new MOPAC data dashboard would assist with this—the updated and more comprehensive data dashboard would be available at some point in October 2015. It was noted that a couple of graduates would be working with LBB on an interim basis to assist in drafting the strategy.

The Borough Fire Commander highlighted the approaching “Impact Factor” days. These were days when speakers would be drafted in to speak to young people concerning the consequences of their actions. Schools were involved, and the funding was provided by MOPAC. As domestic violence had been an issue that had been mentioned at the meeting, the Borough Fire Commander stated that the issue of domestic violence and abuse could be incorporated in to an “Impact Factor” day.

The Chairman highlighted the importance of all members of the Strategic Group to be working and communicating effectively together so that everyone was fully sighted and aware of the overall strategic objectives and where data should be fed into. It was also the case that Portfolio funding was available to assist with projects. 

RESOLVED that the update on the Strategic Document be noted, and that the finalising of the document be progressed as a priority.

The Group were reminded that the Government was proposing new legislation that would provide for a blanket ban on selling new psychoactive substances (NPS). Members had previously noted a shop selling NPS substances in Penge, and that this premises was being monitored. No issues had been reported concerning the premises, and so no enforcement action had been taken to date. A member expressed the view that if the new legislation was passed through Parliament, this would not be an end to the problem as it would shift underground. The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety stated that he would be visiting the shop in Anerley with the Director and Assistant Director of Public Health in the next few days to see what products were being sold, and what health information was being given to customers by the business

A matter of concern to the Strategic Group at this time was the mis-use of nitrous oxide. The Group felt that this was an emerging issue that was causing problems, and had connections with organised crime, as good profits could be made from selling the substance. It was mentioned that a Public Spaces Protection Order could be issued to ban usage, but the limitation with this was that such an order would be confined to a defined geographical area.

The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety reported that he had been tasked by the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection to review the action taken by LB Lambeth in respect of PSP Orders to tackle issues arising from the mis-use of nitrous oxide. 

A member of the Group enquired as to the current status of “Khat” which was an amphetamine type of drug used as a stimulant, particularly by certain ethic communities. It was noted that this was now a class “C” drug that was illegal to possess or distribute to others. 

RESOLVED that the update on new psychoactive substances be noted.    

The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety outlined the statutory obligations imposed upon local authorities as a result of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015. It was the statutory responsibility of the Strategic Group to lead, and to develop and implement an action plan. Human Resources were leading on training all front line staff and E Learning packages were being developed. Training was already in place for Housing and for Children’s Social Services. A Channel referral process should be developed, and everyone needed to understand the expectation to respond.

RESOLVED that:

(1) the update on the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 be noted

(2) further updates be brought to the SBP in the future, especially concerning the training of front line staff.

To assist the update, the minutes of the meeting have been incorporated into the agenda.  

The update on the joint meeting was given to the Strategic Group by Cllr Tim Stevens JP, in his capacity as Chairman of the General Purposes and Licensing Committee.

He explained to members of the Group that previous meetings had been held within LBB to discuss current licensing policy, particularly as it had become clear that there were problems emerging with the night time economy in Bromley. On the 23^rd June 2015 a meeting had been held with Ward Councillors for Bromley Town and for Copers Cope. This had been followed by a “Tories On” meeting the following day that was similarly looking at licensing policy and emerging problems in the Bromley night time economy. Subsequent to these meetings, a new Draft Licensing Policy had been developed around 12 key action points.

Several key venues had been identified as problematic, and these had been visited by the local authority and the police to discuss issues, and to try and formulate solutions. At the joint meeting between the GP&L Committee and the Public Protection and Safety PDS Committee on the 14^th July 2015, the Police were represented by the Borough Commander and PC Jonathan Booth. The Police expressed the view that certain licensed premises were taking advantage of a relaxation of licensing policy, including a relaxation of the Cumulative Impact Areas policy in July 2013.

Cllr Tim Stevens referred to the recent review of the premises licence of the Vu Vu Nightclub that had taken place on 12^th August 2015. Various sanctions had been levied against Vu Vu as a result of the Hearing, including a 30 day ban. He felt it was important that LBB send the correct message to licensed premises that were not taking their responsibilities seriously. Modifications had also been made to some of the parking restrictions affecting the cab office in East Street to make it easier for them to pick up and remove Vu Vu clients from the vicinity.

Chief Inspector Tait stated that this was a good example of Partnership working between LBB and the Police. 

RESOLVED that the update on the joint meeting between the GP&L Committee and the Public Protection & Safety PDS Committee be noted. 

Individual Sub Group Updates follow.

The update concerning the Domestic Abuse Sub Group was given by the Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety as the lead for Domestic Abuse was off on maternity leave. He informed the group that he was looking to arrange cover as soon as possible and that he was hoping that this would be in place by October 2015. The Group heard that the Domestic Homicide Review Case went to the Panel the previous week, and LBB were waiting for a response. Discussions were ongoing with MOPAC to fund a replacement to cover the maternity leave of the Domestic Abuse Lead Officer.

The Assistant Director for Child Safeguarding and Children’s Social Care updated the Strategic Group concerning the Youth Offending Service Improvement Plan. It was noted that the Improvement Plan had been approved by the Youth Justice Board, any by HMI Probation. Members were notified that the Youth Offending Service Management Board and senior operational staff across Bromley had been re-organised. There was now one senior strategic board chaired by the LBB Chief Executive. The newly created Youth Management Board had been provided with appropriate training by the Youth Justice Board. A LBB Youth Justice Plan had just been written and had been circulated for comment. A national self-assessment on pre court work had been undertaken with positive results.

The Assistant Director reported that for the first time, LBB had noticed an increase in the number of young people committing first time offences. However, the percentage of young people reoffending had decreased and the percentage of young people in custody has decreased.

A new interim Head of Service had been appointed and also the service was seconding a representative from the YJB for six months. This was felt necessary to increase the pace of change. 

The newly appointed internal Head of Service would be scrutinising performance quality issues in the Youth Offending Service and in partner agencies, and would also be implementing whatever new strategic plans required to be implemented.

The Assistant Director informed the Group that a large number of staff had left the organisation subsequent to the inspection and eight new staff members had joined the Youth Offending Service in September 2015.

The Assistant Director concluded by underlining that it was now time to move forward and to make progress. She explained that HMI Probation would normally follow up with an inspection a year subsequent to the original one, so she was expecting a new inspection to occur during May 2016. To prepare for this she would be carrying out a mock inspection during January 2016.  

RESOLVED that the Youth Offending Sub Group update be noted.

The Gangs Sub Group update was given by Chief Inspector David Tait.

The Gangs Sub Group had met previously during July 2015.

The Gangs Sub Group had met on 22^nd September 2015 with the Heads of 7 primary schools to discuss prevention funded activity, and the response was positive.

The Gangs Sub Group would be meeting next on 1^st October 2015, and the Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Children’s Social Care would be attending. 

There was mention of the problems that had been encountered previously with gangs from Lewisham and Penge. It was noted that the main protagonist in this regard was now in prison and that for the moment the problems seemed to have eased. Various actions were ongoing.

It was noted that a response from a letter concerning the inappropriate placing of gang nominals had not been responded to; this was something that the Group would chase. The letter was a joint letter from the Borough Police Commander and LBB’s Chief Executive, and was written to the Home Office. The letter was agreed by the Public Protection and Safety Portfolio Holder.

The Group heard that there were 27 gang nominals identified in Bromley, and a number of these were currently in prison. The problem of the inappropriate placement of gang nominals was London wide and not just confined to Bromley. An issue of concern was the fact that in many cases, gang nominals were being relocated in neighbouring boroughs, often in close geographical proximity to their borough of origin, which defeated the purpose of relocating these individuals. The idea was to get them away from areas of conflict, not just to relocate them across a boundary line where they were still near to the original conflict location.

The Assistant Director for Safeguarding and Children’s Social Care spoke to the Group concerning the work of the Children’s Trust Partnership. She informed the Group that their annual trust workshop was taking place soon, and that it may be a good idea to allocate a morning to discussing the problems relating to Gangs.

RESOLVED that:

(1) the Gangs Sub Group update be noted  

(2) the Strategic Group chase the response to the letter that was sent to the Home Office, highlighting the inappropriate placement of gang nominals in Bromley.

The Group were updated as follows:

·  The Offender Management Sub Group met in July 2015 and at this meeting Terms of Reference were agreed

·  There was an urgent need for Integrated Offender Management to be supported and resourced

·  It was expected that a graduate would be recruited on an interim basis to assist with administrative and analytical functions

·  LBB did not have access to the IDIOM system

·  The Offender Management Sub Group would be meeting in October 2015

RESOLVED that the Offender Management Sub Group update be noted

This update was provided by the Bromley Borough Fire Commander. The ASB Sub Group met bi-monthly, but was in touch on a weekly basis. It was noted that data and information was fed from the Fire Service to LBB and to the Police. LBB reported the data monthly.

The Fire Service were preparing for Halloween and Bonfire Night, and were in the process of providing advice and leaflets to the general public and to traders.  

There were occasions when fire safety advice was provided to LBB Trading Standards, and the Borough Fire Commander highlighted that this was a good example of effective partnership working.

RESOLVED that the ASB update be noted.

This update was provided by Susie Clark, LBB Communications Officer.

It was noted that work had been undertaken with the Nat West Bank in Locksbottom concerning bank protocols. It had previously come to the attention of the Police and to LBB Trading Standards, of incidences where individuals (usually the elderly and vulnerable) had entered the Bank, and withdrawn cash sums which in some cases were quite large and out of character with their normal pattern of behaviour. In some of these cases it had come to light that they were victims of various scams and rouge traders. The work that had been undertaken with Trading Standards and Banks, was to make bank staff aware of this practice, and what things to look out for.

At the meeting of the Public Protection and Safety PDS Committee on the 15^th September 2015, the Chairman praised the work of the ASB initiative—Operation Crystal, which had been a great success. The Chairman had requested that a press release be drafted to publicise this, and this was being worked on by the Communications Department.

“Check a Trade” was being launched soon, and press release was also being drafted to publicise this. Articles were also being prepared concerning food hygiene and food substitution. Press releases were also being prepared concerning the recent Crime Summit. Safety advice would be published on the Bromley website concerning Halloween and Bonfire Night.

RESOLVED that the Communications update be noted.             

For information purposes, the Borough Commander’s Newsletters for June/July 2015 and August 2015 are attached.

The Borough Commander’s Newsletters were noted.

It was noted that Beckenham would be fully assessed for the Purple Flag award in November and an update be provided to the next meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for December 3^rd 2015 at 10.00am.