Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the following:

Chris Hafford, (Borough Police Commander) Trevor Lawry, (Deputy Borough Police Commander) Janet Bailey, (LBB Interim Director for Children’s Social Care), and Councillor Tim Stevens. 

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 8^th December 2016 were agreed as a correct record.

CSD 17041

It was noted that most of the matters arising, would be covered in the agenda during the meeting.

The exception to this were the updates relating to the Domestic Abuse Sub Group, as there was no one present at the meeting to provide this update.

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising report be noted.     

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Strategic Group must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 10.00am on Friday 3^rd March 2017.

No questions were received.

An update will be provided by the Borough Police Commander.

The Chairman’s update was provided by acting Detective Chief Inspector Charles Clare on behalf of the police.

The Group heard that Cressida Dick had been appointed as the new MET Police Commissioner--she was the first woman to take charge of the service.

Previously she was a senior officer in the MET police and had previously worked on Operation Trident and in Counter Terrorism. Her appointment had been well received.

Confirmation had still not been received concerning the structure of the proposed new BCU (Borough Command Unit) sites. Some pilot sites had been set up and were working; some teething problems had been experienced. It was anticipated that the composition of the BCUs would be clarified in June, and rolled out between September and December. It was still possible that the new commissioner could decide to halt the BCU process, or decide that the amalgamation of forces could be limited to two instead of three.

Mr. Clare informed the Group that a Development Team had been set up to aid in driving up standards and to enable lower ranked officers to take on more responsibility. Bromley police were ten officers over strength in total, but were under strength in detectives by 14. There was a young CID in Bromley, and recruitment into the CID was a problem.

Mr Vale informed the Group that trading standards officers were able to support CID officers in fraud matters relating to rogue traders and often took the lead on these enquiries locally. Furthermore, arrangements were being made to provide a presentation to CID officers by trading standards in order that they could readily refer appropriate cases on for investigation. Mr Vale was preparing to draft an MOU in order that the current partnership working could be formalised.

Bromley was one of only four forces that was continuing to experience an overall yearly decrease in crime. It was planned that two District Ward Officers would be patrolling in each ward by the end of the year. 

On March 20^th, a new Acting Chief Inspector (Clair Haynes) would be appointed, and would have responsibility for Local Policing. She would in effect be the replacement for Chief Inspector David Tait.

Mr. Vale (Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety) enquired how low level resources would be pooled in the BCU model. Mr. Clare responded that the answer to this was not known at this time. Mr. Vale explained that a good working relationship currently existed between Trading Standards and the local police, and this was something that he hoped would not be lost under a BCU restructure.

The Chairman (Executive Director for Environmental and Community Services) referenced a recent meeting that had taken place between himself, Sophie Linden (Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime), the Council Leader, Chief Executive and the Portfolio Holder. Various issues were discussed at the meeting including MOPAC (Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) funding, priorities, and possible BCU amalgamations. It was the case that Croydon and Sutton were still being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 132.

An update will be provided from either Councillor Tim Stevens or Councillor Kate Lymer.  

Councillors Tim Stevens and Councillor Kate Lymer were not present to provide the Safer Neighbourhood Board (SNB) update.

The Chairman mentioned that a Forum was going to take place on 16^th March to discuss the dissolution of MOPAC 7 targets at City Hall.

The previous Police and Crime Plan’s ambition for neighbourhood policing had rigid, city-wide targets for reducing local crime. While this may have helped to reduce certain crimes across the city and provided a simple way for the Mayor to scrutinise police performance, it put pressure on Neighbourhood Teams to focus on ‘MOPAC 7’ crimes, even if the crimes of highest concern to the community they policed were different.

This measure focused attention on resources only at what is known as ‘volume crime’ – offences such as burglary and robbery – excluding other serious crimes that harm communities, such as domestic abuse and child sexual exploitation.

The Portfolio Holder for Public Protection was unable to attend the meeting, but provided a post meeting update as follows:

The last public meeting of the Safer Neighbourhood Board was held on 23rd February 2017 at Bromley College Campus. It was well attended with nearly 60 people present. In addition to the regular updates from the Police, attendees heard from the new Fire Borough Commander Terry Gooding, and received presentations from the CEO of 'Growing Against Violence' - which was an anti-gang education programme working in the schools in the north of the Borough that the SNB funded. A presentation was also received from the Bromley Police Counter-Terrorism Desk.

There was a Board Members only meeting on 27th February where a formal welcome was extended to new Board members. These were representatives from Keston Mosque, Churches Together, Somali Association in Penge, and the Muslim Community who had links to Darul Uloom School.

The Bromley Youth Manifesto Event which the SNB provided funds for was scheduled for 16th March, and the SEN Schools Safety Conference that the SNB also funded was scheduled for 14th March.

The next public meeting would be a joint meeting with Bromley Neighbourhood Watch's AGM in Orpington on Tuesday 13th June.

The Annual General Meeting of the SNB will be held on 22^nd May 2017.

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The MOPAC will be provided by Anne Ball-Programme Officer for MOPAC.

The MOPAC update was provided by Anne Ball (MOPAC Programme Officer).

The current London Crime Prevention Fund (LCPF) budget arrangements would end in March 2017.

The Group heard that the current bids from 32 boroughs for MOPAC funding were currently being assessed. As part of the assessment process they were considering clarity of what was being delivered and:

•  Clarity of the spend

•  Overall outcomes and how they would support the annual review process

•  How it aligned with the PCP

•  To what extent it met the minimum standards and the transition arrangements, including future commissioning decisions.

 It had been decided that the LCPF budget should continue for another 4 years from 2017 to 2021. There would be a commitment to direct borough funding for two 2 year periods, which would enable boroughs to exercise flexibility in the way that they apportioned spend. 

The LCPF budget would be apportioned between direct borough funding (70%) and funding for co-commissioned services (30%) starting in year 2 of the fund, from 2018/19 to 2020/21. Boroughs would be core partners in the development and use of the new co-commissioning funding pot which accounts for 30% of the LCPF budget from 2018/19 onwards.

The funding would be allocated in line with the new Policing and Crime Plan. A letter had been sent to the Chief Executive on 23^rd February 2017, outlining the initial period of two year funding; this had not been formally ratified, but had been agreed in principle. The grant funding should be in place by 31^st March 2017.

On the 28th February, Sophie Linden the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, met with the Council Leader, Chief Executive, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and the Executive Director for Environmental and Community Services to discuss the PCP and its implications for policing in Bromley.

RESOLVED that the MOPAC update be noted. 

A presentation will be given by Cassie Newman (Assistant Chief Officer at London Community Rehabilitation Company).

A presentation was received from Cassie Newman, Head of Strategic Partnerships at London CRC (Community Rehabilitation Company).

An outline of the aims of London CRC was given, the primary aims being to reduce re-offending and to protect the public. London was the largest of the new 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies across England and Wales, employing nearly 1,200 staff across London. London CRC had a caseload of between 25,000 to 29,000 offenders at any one time.

In 2016, the contract for London CRC was awarded to MTCnovo.

The contract for the London Community Rehabilitation Company

was awarded to MTCnovo. MTCnovo was a joint venture involving:

·  MTC (Management Training Corporation) – A private company.

·  Novo – a consortium with a number of public, private and third sector shareholders including:

·  RISE – a probation staff community interest company

·  A Band of Brothers – a Charity

·  The Manchester College (TMC) – a public sector education provider

·  Thames Valley Partnership – a charity

·  Amey – a private company. 

An 800 point action plan had been developed to change the way London CRC worked, and to make it more productive. This was a four year action plan that had commenced in 2016. A new IT system was already up and running, and a restructure was in progress. 

Ms Newman referenced IOM (Integrated Offender Management) and explained that it was a cross-agency response to the crime and reoffending threats faced by local communities. Persistent and problematic offenders were identified and managed jointly by partner agencies working together. The big problem was re-offending, and a vigorous cross-agency response was required to break the cycle. The premise was that by changing the behaviour of a small number of people, this would have a big impact on reducing crime and re-offending. She felt that IOM should be modified to reflect the needs of the local community.

Ms Newman explained the core principles of IOM and outlined the ‘carrot/stick’ approach. The benefits of participating in the IOM programme would be explained to offenders, and they would be expected to face up to their responsibilities or face the consequences. She felt that it was also important that best use was made of voluntary organisations. The long term aim was to achieve a desistance from crime.

Previously, IOM was structured according to cohorts:

·  Young Males

·  Adult Males

·  Mature Males

·  Women

The new system of case management would be based on geographical areas rather than cohorts.

The current number of CRC IOM cases was 83, and these were primarily cases dealing with a high volume of repeat offenders; two police officers were managing the caseload. The 83 cases were the number that met the criteria, not necessarily how many had been accepted into the scheme via the panels.

The Chairman asked Dan Jones (Director for Environment) if he would like to comment on IOM and give the IOM sub-group update at this point. The Director explained that he had been tasked to re-invigorate IOM in Bromley and that in the course of this work  ...  view the full minutes text for item 135.

A presentation will be provided by Philip Powell (Stakeholder Engagement Manager) from the London Ambulance Service.

The LAS (London Ambulance Service) presentation was given by the LAS Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Philip Powell.

LAS continued to lead the delivery of care to the sickest and most seriously injured, whilst developing the delivery of care for urgent patients e.g. falls, mental health, and long term conditions. The first 8 urgent APPs (Advanced Paramedic Practioners) had now commenced employment.

There had been a huge rise in call volumes, and category ‘A’ calls (the most urgent) had increased by 11%. The LAS were facing new challenges around mental health, dementia and obesity. The Group heard that annually, up to 15,000 calls were dealt with by paramedics over the phone, and that the LAS was struggling to meet demand.

As well as the emergency response ambulances, the LAS provided the following services:

·  Two emergency Operations Centres

·  Patient Transport Service

·  Operating out of 70 sites

·  Motorcycle Response Unit

·  111 Services

·  Cycle Response Unit

·  2 HART Teams

HART (hazardous area response team) was a specialist team of Service staff who had been trained to provide life-saving medical care in hostile environments such as industrial accidents and natural disasters. Mr Powell informed that the Leadership Team had been strengthened, and front line recruitment had been increased.

It was the case that the PRUH (Princess Royal University Hospital) had been struggling with a lack of beds, and this had delayed the LAS in transferring patients into the hospital. It was estimated that 1750 operational hours per month were lost because of queuing at the hospital.   

The Chairman enquired what sites the LAS were operating out from locally.  Mr Powell responded that the sites were Bromley Common, Lee, Forest Hill and St Mary Cray.

Terry Gooding (LFB Borough Commander) noted the operational mis-match in call volumes between the two services. A trial was taking place around ‘Red 1’ Calls. This was where the LFB was able to respond first to a member of the public that was having a heart attack and would benefit from defibrillator treatment before LAS paramedics arrived. Trials to date had been regarded as successful, but in some cases LFB crews found the situations difficult as the medical intervention that they could use was limited.

RESOLVED that the LAS update be noted.

The Resilience Overview will be provided by Laurie Grasty (LBB Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Manager).

The resilience overview update was provided by Laurie Grasty (LBB Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Manager).

It was noted that the Civil Contingencies Act required the establishment of a Borough Risk Forum. The Borough Risk Forum should report back to the Safer Bromley Partnership, and the minutes be reported back to the SBP. The objective of the Council’s resilience measures was to provide support to the emergency services in the wake of a disaster. LBB CEO along with all other London CEO’s are on call 365 days a year to coordinate the Local Authority Response should there be a pan London major incident. LBB will be on call for London in April for 2 weeks

A Pan London training exercise took place in February testing the Borough’s capability to deal with extreme weather On the 20th March, another London wide training exercise was being planned which would focus on a ‘mass fatality’. It was expected that eight representatives from LBB would attend. Ms Grasty highlighted the importance of engaging the help of the faith and voluntary sectors. It was planned that a joint faith group forum be set up.

Terry Gooding (Bromley Fire Commander) informed the Group that a training exercise was going to be undertaken on 22nd June 2017, based on the events that occurred at the Shoreham Air Crash in August 2015. This was going to be a large scale exercise with a multi-agency response. The Police and LAS would be attending, as would the LBB. A working group would be set up to finalise the details.

The Chairman stated that LBB had to consider how to respond if the terrorist threat changed from severe to critical, and the possible effect on business continuity.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Bromley Risk Forum be reported back to the Safer Bromley Partnership.    

Updates will be provided by the various sub-group Leads.

Updates are noted in the sub-group sections.

The Group noted the Domestic Violence and VAWG report written by Victoria Roberts.

The report provided updates on the following key areas:

·  Q3 Performance and Data pertaining to the Bromley Domestic Violence Advocacy Project

·  VAWG Service Transformation Fund

·  Update on the DV/VAWG Training and Development Programme

Similarly, the Group noted the domestic abuse sub-group report submitted by Trevor Lawry, the Deputy Borough Police Commander.

It was noted that the detection rates for domestic abuse had risen steadily, and that the Safer Bromley Van service would be decommissioned at the end of March 2017. A new round of commissioning for all services was currently in progress, and an extension until June was being sought for the old services to allow a seamless transition to take place.

The report briefed that the domestic abuse sub group had met on 21st February 2017 and had agreed a formal plan. Reference was also made to the problems caused by the fact that one of the DA &VAWG Commissioners had been on long term sick. This had impacted on the capacity of the remaining Commissioner, especially as the commissioning bids were now nearing submission; it had also meant that the DA &VAWG Forum had been disrupted.     

RESOLVED that the Domestic Abuse Sub Group report, and the DA &VAWG reports be noted.        

The Offender Management Update will be provided by Mr Dan Jones, Director of Environment.

This update had been given by the Director of Environment as part of the CRC presentation.

The Prevent update was presented by Rob Vale, Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety.

The Group heard that an Action Plan had been developed and staff briefings had been delivered across the workforce; briefings had also been delivered to ley leaders across the authority, including Members.

LBB chaired a Prevent Case Management Board that met monthly to review an active caseload. Work was also being undertaken to support schools to implement their own Prevent response.

The Group were informed that a Prevent Strategy and Channel Referral protocol had been produced, and that this had been reviewed by the Policy and Procedure sub group of the BSAB (Bromley Safeguarding Adults’ Board).

It was noted that a RAG status of the Action Plan would be provided at the next meeting.

RESOLVED that an update on the RAG status of the Action Plan be provided at the next meeting. 

The YOS and Gangs Sub Group Update will be provided by Betty McDonald (Head of Youth Support and Youth Offending Services).

The Youth Offending and Gangs Service Update was provided by Betty McDonald (Head of Youth Support and Youth Offending Services). Ms McDonald updated the Group as follows:  

The remit of the YJB was to continue monitoring the operations of the youth justice system, and to provide advice to the Secretary of State on a range of matters relating to the most effective operation of the youth justice system, including the setting of national standards.  YJB would continue to gather and publish information, identifying, and promoting good practice across the sector.  The YJB would continue to make grants to Youth Offending Services and to commission research.

The Group heard that Charlie Taylor was the new Chair of the YJB, taking over from Lord McNally in mid-March 2017.

 Ms McDonald briefed the Group concerning the Charlie Taylor Review of Youth Justice.

The Ministry of Justice had commissioned a review of the youth justice system and appointed Charlie Taylor to lead the review. This began in September 2015 and an interim report was published in February 2016.  The final review was published in November 2017 with a number of recommendations for the Government to take forward. 

The Review recounted the changes that had taken place in the Youth Justice System over the last decade, including how the Police and Youth Offending Services had sought to deal informally with minor offending by children. This led to one of the most successful outcomes of the change, in that there had been a dramatic decrease in the numbers of first time entrants to the Youth Justice System.  However, whilst the numbers had fallen, the young people who entered and remained in the system were the most difficult to rehabilitate, often with complex issues.

The Review focused on the importance of the wider youth offending partnership of health, education, social care and other services providing a multi-agency and integrated response to a child’s offending. The report identified a need for greater devolvement, freedoms and responsibility for the Youth Justice System to local authorities, who also held the statutory responsibility for education and protecting children.

The Review highlighted that the Youth Justice System and the wider partnerships that operated through it, needed to shift thinking to seeing a young person as a child first, and offender second. There needed to be a greater focus on improving life prospects through welfare, health (particularly mental health) and education rather than simply imposing punishment.

The Review made little reference to disproportionality of Black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) young people in the system, support for victims and addressing the risks of future offending, and the impact of children going missing, child sexual exploitation and sexually harmful behaviour on offending patterns.

The Government response to the review had been generally supportive of the recommendations made by Charlie Taylor, particularly the focus on education and health. However there were a number of areas where the Government acknowledged Taylor’s concerns, but indicated that there may not be such radical change as proposed. They included:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 139c

The ASB and Envirocrime Update will be provided by the Bromley Fire Commander—Mr Terry Gooding.

The ASB (Antisocial Behaviour) and Envirocrime Sub Group Update was received from Terry Gooding (Borough Fire Commander).

It was noted that the sub group membership had been defined, and a meeting schedule set in place. Mr Gooding felt that Operation Crystal had been very effective, and that it was ending on 16^th March 2017. Operation Crystal had been focused on defined geographical areas. A new project was being developed, which was ‘Community Impact Days’. These would be intelligence led and not restricted to pre-determined geographical areas. Funding for this had not been secured yet, but had been agreed in principle.

RESOLVED that the ASB update be noted.   

The Communications update will be provided by Mr Andrew Rogers, LBB Communications Officer.

Andrew Rogers (LBB Communications Officer) was not present to provide the communications update.

Mr Belcher encouraged the Group to persevere with efforts to reduce fly tipping.  

The next meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership Strategic Group is scheduled for 8^th June 2017.  

The next meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership Strategic Group is scheduled for 8^th June 2017.