Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 4 - Bromley Civic Centre. View directions

Contact: Steve Wood  020 8313 4316

Items
No. Item

57.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Ade Adetosoye—Interim Chief Executive.

 

Apologies were received from Katie Nash, and Lisa Ramsell attended as her substitute.

 

Apologies were received from Samantha Evans, Nigel Davies, and Rob Vale.

 

Apologies were received from Terry Gooding and John Owen attended as his substitute.

 

Penny Davies attended as substitute for Janet Bailey. 

 

Betty McDonald sent apologies and Yvonne Harding attended as substitute.

 

Michael Still attended as substitute for AJ Brooks and Lucien Spencer.

 

. 

58.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 29th NOVEMBER 2018 pdf icon PDF 158 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman stated that in her opinion the minutes of the meeting held on 29th November 2018 were very good.

 

The minutes were agreed and signed as a correct record.

59.

MATTERS ARISING pdf icon PDF 70 KB

Minutes:

CSD19055

 

The Group noted the matter that had arisen regarding Lucien Spencer being invited to future meetings of the Knife Crime and Serious Violence Action Plan Working Group. It was confirmed that no further meetings had taken place since the last SBP meeting.

 

Members noted the updates concerning the Violence Reduction Unit, along with the update dealing with disabled provision provided by Beckenham and Croydon Womens’ Aid.

 

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising report is noted.  

 

 

60.

QUESTIONS FROM COUNCILLORS OR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee 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 5pm on 8th March 2019.

Minutes:

No questions had been received.

61.

CHAIRMAN'S UPDATE

Minutes:

Councillor Kate Lymer provided the Chairman’s update.

 

The Chairman had been involved in the budget setting process for 2019-2020. It was noted that going forward there would be some difficult decisions to make.

 

The Chairman informed the Partnership that the injunction which had been obtained against the Travellers was due to expire soon and the matter was due back in the High Court on May 15th.

 

It was noted that Star Lane had been closed (initially for 18 months) due to issues around fly-tipping. 

 

In conjunction with the SNB, the Chairman was organising a conference for young people currently attending specialist schools. The conference would be taking place on April 3rd. The Conference was being funded jointly by the SNB and MOPAC. Invitees included the LAS, MENCAP, the Glades, the Police Schools Team and Ward Security Dogs.

 

The Chairman encouraged everyone to visit the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum.

 

RESOLVED that the Chairman’s update is noted. 

62.

PREVENT UPDATE

Minutes:

Mr Rob Vale was unable to attend to provide the Prevent Update.

 

The Chairman suggested that a Prevent Update was not necessary at every meeting and it should be changed to an Annual Update.

63.

POLICE UPDATE

Minutes:

The Police update was provided by Chief Superintendent Dave Stringer (South Area BCU Commander).

 

Mr Stringer stated that the new tri-borough BCU (Basic Command Unit) had gone live on 7th February, and that in many respects things had not changed. Bromley still had neighbourhood officers, a safeguarding unit and a custody suite. What was new was that the ‘Sapphire Command’ was now locally run and the advantage of this was better partnership working for linked crimes. There were fewer managers than before and this meant that there would be more officers on the front line. There were now more youth officers and school and cadet programmes.

 

The police focus would still be on serious violence and knife crime, which had recently seen a spike in Croydon. The new tri-borough system meant that resources could be moved from one borough to another flexibly as required. This had recently been seen in Penge. The police felt that knife crime was driven by the drugs market. A focus would therefore be applied to closing down the drugs market and arresting individuals who were supplying drugs. 

 

Superintendent Colin Carswell reiterated the point that it was the drugs market that was fuelling violence. There had been an increase in the visibility of police operations and a number of warrants had been issued to search premises for drugs. The police were taking the concerns of the community seriously and a man had recently been arrested for being in possession of a machete.

 

The police were still focusing on the drug and gang problems in Penge and were using Youth Engagement Officers to work with young people in the area as much as possible.

 

Ms Baldwin stated that better communication was needed and more assurance provided to Ward Panels and the public. Successful police operations should be published more frequently; it was reassuring to the public when positive results were fed back into the community. She also reminded the police that burglary was a significant local concern in Bromley.

 

The police stated that there had been an increase in the number of thefts from motor vehicles, especially vans with tools. This had been occurring in Bromley and Croydon. The police were sighted on this and had an idea of the identities of the offenders. There was a small dedicated team that were investigating the matter. The Group noted that much of the work of the police was covert and so was not visible. It was suggested that successful police covert operations be published in some way—again to provide assurance to the general public.

 

Mr Sibun highlighted the importance of a police representative on the Adult Safeguarding Board and asked if the police could provide some assurance of a greater level of co-operation on this going forward.

 

RESOLVED that the police update is noted. 

 

 

 

 

64.

UPDATE ON THE HOME OFFICE LOCALITY REVIEW REPORT ON SERIOUS VIOLENCE AND GANGS IN BROMLEY

Minutes:

The Locality Review update was provided by Amanda Mumford. The update followed on from the publication of the ‘Locality Review’ for Bromley in July 2018. This was a review document that had been published by the Violence and Vulnerability Unit of the Home Office.

 

Following the Review, a round table meeting was chaired by the Chief Executive in February 2019. It was decided that a new multi-disciplinary group for adults (similar to the current MEGA* panel in Children’s’ Services) should be set up. Terms of reference would need to be drafted and a job specification drawn up for the local authority SPOC (single point of contact). An Information Sharing Protocol would also need to be drafted. The Partnership heard that the SPOC job description was currently being looked at by HR. The remit and strategy of the new multi-disciplinary group would need to be drawn up and determined.

 

The Chair of the Bromley Adult’s Safeguarding Board stated that she totally endorsed the setting up of the new multi-disciplinary group.

 

*MEGA refers to Multi Agency, Missing, Exploitation, and Gang Affiliation Panel.

 

RESOLVED that the update is noted and a further update is provided at the next meeting.  

65.

UPDATE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAFER BROMLEY STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC CRIME ASSESSMENT pdf icon PDF 141 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Partnership was informed that Ms Ball had been working hard on the Strategic Assessment, which had been distributed across the Partnership. The crime assessment drew upon broader data sets than in previous years and made for an informative read. The crime assessment underpinned the strategic direction that the Partnership would take for the next four years, so it was significant. At the time of the meeting, no comments had been fed back from any partners. There was still time for partners to provide feedback.

 

The focus going forward would be on establishing three or four key themes for the forthcoming strategy for 2019-2022. Partners representing VAWG, Police, LFB, YOS and reducing reoffending would be invited to participate in fleshing out key themes and developing the strategy and the various action plans which would be part of it.

 

An email would be sent to all members of the Partnership to enable them to be involved should they wish. Once three or four key themes were established, a working group would be set up for each one, and members of these groups would be pivotal in driving the action plan forward over the coming years.

 

By the next Strategic Group meeting in June, working groups would have been established with their draft action plans distributed.

 

The next steps were defined as:

 

  • Reviewing what the priorities were;
  • Local priorities would be shaped by the Crime Assessment as well as MOPAC priorities, the Policing and Crime Plan, and the Home Office Serious Violence Strategy;
  • A Tasking Group would be established to help develop the Strategic Assessment to a strategy with a delivery action plan;
  • Representation would be sought from VAWG, YOS, SNB, LFB, Community Safety and others.

 

Partners were encouraged to get involved and provide feedback into the development of the Strategy.

 

The Chief Superintendent requested that ‘hate crime’ be factored into the Strategy.

 

The Partnership noted the report on Bromley’s Local Crime Priorities for 2019 to 2020. The local crime priorities for 2018 to 2019 had been decided as:

 

·  Burglary and Theft

·  Non Domestic Abuse VWI (Violence with Injury)

 

MOPAC had now requested that boroughs review and consider their local crime priorities for 2019 to 2020. It had been proposed by the Chairman, (in consultation with Colin Carswell, Nigel Davies, the PP&E PDS Committee and the Safer Neighbourhood Board) that the two priorities remained the same.

It was noted that the deadline for the submission of the new local crime priorities was 22nd March 2019.

 

 

RESOLVED that

 

1) SBP partners provide feedback into the development of the Safer Bromley Strategy.

 

2) Hate Crime be incorporated into the Strategy.

 

3) The SBP agree the two new local crime priorities for submission to MOPAC.

 

.

 

66.

RESILIENCE AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY UPDATE

Minutes:

The Resilience and Business Continuity update was provided by LBB’s Lead for Resilience, Mr David Tait.

 

Mr Tait briefed the Partnership that Business Continuity ran in a cycle, and in LBB’s case, the cycle commenced a year ago. Relevant documents were drafted, plans drawn up, and then plans were tested. Progress was previously hindered due to a loss of staff, but now Sarah Baker would be joining in about a month to help Mr Tait--which was a positive development. Mr Tait felt that LBB were better placed in this regard that many other boroughs.

 

Business Information Analysis documents would be drawn up so that a strategy could be developed. Managers and Heads of Service had been requested to provide business continuity plans for their areas, and these were now being received. The Interim Chief Executive had set a deadline of 1st May for the submission of Business Continuity Plans. A programme of testing would then be rolled out. 

 

The Partnership heard that a power outage had affected 40,000 homes, but repairs had been effected in a timely manner.

 

The Bromley Resilience Forum (BRF) which was responsible for emergency planning met three times a year, and had met the previous week. The BRF had agreed a business continuity plan for the year ahead. Risk assessments had been reviewed in January. Standardisation training was being rolled out at all levels, including for Silver and Gold Commands. An emergency planning exercise was planned for 1st and 2nd May which was called exercise ‘Safer City’. This would involve all 33 London boroughs and the exercise would provide experience in managing an emergency control room. 

 

Mr Tait said that local authorities had been provided with money to deal with any Brexit related problems. Mr Tait was the Deputy Brexit Lead, and Mr Nigel Davies was the Lead. Brexit was now showing in the Corporate Risk Register.

 

Mr Tait mentioned a serious metre wide water main burst in SE4 which could have left many families without a water supply, but fortunately the repair was undertaken promptly.

 

The Group was informed that in February, chemicals were dumped in Cotmandene Crescent. The chemicals were disposed of. Counter terrorism officers had been notified.

 

RESOLVED that the Business Continuity and Resilience update is noted.   

67.

REPORTS FROM SUB-GROUPS

68.

DOMESTIC ABUSE SUB GROUP UPDATE pdf icon PDF 102 KB

Minutes:

The VAWG (Violence against Women and Girls) update was provided by Rachel Dunley. She informed the Group that MOPAC (Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) funding had been confirmed and that the funding had not been reduced. The existing contract with BCWA (Bromley and Croydon Women’s Aid) had been extended and signed off. When the contract expired later in 2019, there would no longer be an option to extend and so the new contract would have to go through a tender process. The tender process would commence after Easter. It was anticipated that at this point the new VAWG Lead post would be advertised. The job specification needed tweaking, and was currently with HR for sign off. Ms Dunley said that a strong person was required to take the post forward.

 

Ms Dunley mentioned Anne Ball and thanked her for all of her hard work and for the support that she had provided, particularly with respect to providing MOPAC related information.

 

The Chairman referred back to the VAWG minutes of the previous meeting, where Joanna Davidson (Victim Support) had raised concerns about the way that MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference) was running in Bromley. She asked Ms Dunley if there was an update round this. Ms Dunley responded that MARAC was led by the police, and the question was redirected to the Interim Tri-Borough Commander. The Commander said that this was a matter that he could look into if there were still any issues that required resolving. It seemed that at the time of the meeting, MARAC was running without any issues, and that no further meetings had been cancelled.

 

Mr Sibun (CCG) commented that prior to her departure, the previous VAWG Commissioner (Victoria Roberts) had been developing and working with a MARAC Steering Group. He was doubtful if the recommendations of the Steering Group would have been actioned. Mr Sibun pointed out that Ms Roberts had left in June 2018, and was concerned about the delay in making the new appointment. He asked if he could help in any way to move the process forward, and agreed to discuss this with Ms Dunley subsequent to the meeting.

 

The Group heard that a DHR (Domestic Homicide Review) was currently in process. The future DHR related meetings schedule was tight, and so it was important that the VAWG Lead post be filled as soon as possible.

 

RESOLVED that the Domestic Abuse Sub-Group update is noted. 

 

68a

OFFENDER MANAGEMENT SUB GROUP UPDATE

Minutes:

The IOM (Integrated Offender Management) update was provided by Amanda Mumford—Community Safety Officer.

 

Ms Mumford informed the Group that staffing at the CRC (Community Rehabilitation Company) had improved, with the appointment of a new experienced manager responsible for the Bromley area.  A member of staff had returned from maternity leave and a replacement member of staff had joined the team.

 

Staffing with the MET IOM team had changed in line with the new BCU system; it was now configured as below:-

 

a. IOM had merged with another team which was a pro-active unit.

 

b. Between the two units there were two Sergeants– Matt Bowles and Paul Thomas – based in Croydon, but also covering Bromley and Sutton as required.

 

c.  There were six IOM police officers based in Croydon.

 

d.  One IOM police officer was based at Bromley (part time).

 

e.  One IOM police officer based at Sutton (part time).

 

f.  The officers based at Croydon helped to cover Bromley and Sutton.  

 

Engagement with the monthly IOM Panel meetings by BDAS (Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service) was now taking place.

 

The IOM Cohort  was currently comprised :-  43 nominals (Red = 18 / Amber = 4 / Green = 0 / Blue = 21 ) 

 

RED:  Those offenders who had the highest risk of causing harm or re-offending. They were either not engaging, or were engaging and apparently compliant, but there remained serious concerns about their offending. 

 

AMBER: Those offenders that were engaging and whose previous recent offending suggested that they had a high risk of causing harm or re-offending.  These offenders wanted assistance to move away from a criminal lifestyle to a more law abiding one and needed multi-agency interventions to motivate and maintain the change. 

 

GREEN:  Those offenders where there was little or no intelligence to indicate that they were committing offences. This would not only include offenders who were previously RED or AMBER and had responded positively to multi-agency interventions, but also those who did not engage where there are were no longer concerns about their offending. 

 

BLUE:  In custody

 

The actions required by the Safer Bromley Partnership were:

 

  Re-establish the IOM Board

 

  Review the current IOM picture

 

  Explore the potential expansion of the current IOM Panel to include the Gangs/Serious Youth Violence Group.

 

RESOLVED that the SBP review the current IOM situation, and re-establish the IOM Board.

 

RESOLVED that the SBP consider expanding the IOM Panel to include representatives from officers dealing with gangs and serious youth violence. 

68b

YOUTH OFFENDING SERVICE SUB GROUP UPDATE

Minutes:

Yvonne Harding (acting as the substitute for Betty Macdonald) gave the YOS update. She informed the Partnership that there had been an increase in the YOS caseload, and that most of the work was pre-court work, out of court disposals, and triage. YOS understood clearly the importance of Prevention, and was therefore working on rolling out a ‘prevention offer’. The idea behind the offer was to try and reduce the number of young people that became first time offenders.

 

Referrals into the new prevention model could come from three sources:

 

·  MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub)

·  Parents

·  From the Liaison and Diversion Officer.

 

YOS had now recruited a Liaison and Diversion worker.

 

Bromley still had low custody levels and low remand levels which was positive. Those individuals that were on remand, were on remand for committing very serious offences like murder and attempted murder. 

 

The Group was reminded that six boroughs were now sharing the court at Bromley which was concerning. For the moment, Camberwell Green Court was still operating until November 2019. It was noted that Bromley Court had assigned different court days for the various boroughs. 

 

A YOS Health Forum had been established to try and help with health related issues for young people. This involved participation from all the various YOS health partners.

 

Bromley YOS were part of a South London Consortium that met on a regular basis to discuss ways that serious youth violence could be reduced. It was also a way to network and share good practice.

 

Lisa Ramsell highlighted that the Probation Service now had a permanent officer working with the YOS to help to manage the transition from youth to adult services.

 

RESOLVED that the YOS update is noted.

 

 

68c

GANGS SUB GROUP UPDATE pdf icon PDF 62 KB

Minutes:

A short report had been received which had been allocated to the agenda. The report was very much from a Children’s Services perspective. The Chairman said that when the new SPOC had been allocated, the next Gangs update would be broader, in that it would not just be related to children. The intelligence identified on the report had been ascertained from the MEGA Panel meeting. The primary age range of the young people identified in the report were between 15 and 17.

 

Ms Ramsell reiterated the importance of the Probation Service being involved in the discussions at the MEGA panel meetings. At the moment, the NPS (National Probation Service) felt isolated in terms of how they worked with their partners regarding gangs.

 

The Group heard that the children mentioned on the report had been risk assessed as having a medium to high risk of gang affiliation. It was important to note that different definitions of ‘gang member’ may be used by differing partners. The young people identified in the report may not be recognised as being a gang member by the police, but it was the case that gang activity had been tracked.

 

Many of the young people identified in the report were ‘children looked after’. Since May/June 2018, 53 children had been discussed because of concerns around links to gang activity. An issue that was noted was the problem caused when young people with gang affiliations were moved into the borough from other boroughs without LBB being informed. 

 

The report was very much preventative and safeguarding in nature. Each case/young person identified in the report had been allocated a social worker. 

The Partnership was briefed that the areas of vulnerability were often interlinked (drugs, gang activity, missing and CSE). There was evidence of young people being groomed for ‘county lines’ as some young people had been arrested outside of the borough.

 

Once a young person’s level of need had been identified, it was sometimes difficult to know what to do with them next if they did not fit into any obvious standard criteria. Targeted intervention was required. The Chairman commented that when Ofsted last visited they were very impressed with the work of the MEGA Panel.

 

The Chairman commented that she hoped the newly proposed panel would be just as effective as the existing one. Lynn Sellwood asked why it was being proposed that another Panel be formed when it would be mostly the same people sitting around the table. (One panel was for people aged under 18, and the other panel was aimed at young people that were 18 plus). She felt that this was a bad idea and a waste of resources.

 

RESOLVED that the Gangs Sub-Group update is noted.

 

 

 

 

69.

ASB AND ENVIROCRIME SUB-GROUP UPDATE

Minutes:

The ASB and Envirocrime Update was provided by Mr Peter Sibley—LBB’s ASB Co-ordinator.

 

The Group was pleased to note that there had been a significant reduction in Arson of 42%. Cray Valley East had always been the problem area because of dumped rubbish that was later set alight. ASB in the four MOPAC areas had also decreased. Plans were in place to conduct further weapons sweeps. The Partnership was informed that recently 14 knives and 3 firearms had been recovered.

 

Plans were in place to focus on helping vulnerable people and to deal with issues surrounding ‘cuckooing’. Carwashes and nail bars had been targeted as part of a crackdown on modern slavery and illegal immigration. Help had been received from the UK Border Force. A meeting had been held to discuss criminal fraud with respect to house sub-letting.

 

Investigations had been conducted with BTP (British Transport Police)  regarding crime in targeted rail travel hubs at Penge East and St Mary Cray. The searches relating to garages in the area used for moped crime had now ended; one block of garages had been demolished.

 

Mention was made of the temporary injunction against the Travellers which was due to be heard again in the High Court on 15th May. There was a concern regarding the ripple effects if the injunction was revoked. This would mean that similar injunctions up and down the country were likely to be challenged.

 

Reference was made concerning the deployment of a knife arch at Bromley College.

 

RESOLVED that the update on ASB and Envirocrime is noted.  

70.

UPDATE FROM LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE

Minutes:

Mr Bill Kelly and Mr Philip Powell attended and updated on behalf of the London Ambulance Service.

 

The target time to respond to the most urgent 999 calls was 7 minutes. In January the response time had been 6.29 minutes and in February the response time had been 6.31 minutes—so the target times were being achieved.

 

The use of a ‘Vulnerable Persons’ Vehicle’ had been trialled and had been successful. It meant that 42% of individuals using the vehicle did not have to attend an emergency department. Mr Sibun stated that he had not heard about the Vulnerable Persons’ Vehicle. Mr Kelly said that he would disseminate details of the vehicle to Lynn Sellwood and Mr Sibun. 

 

The LAS had worked with the YOS on a Knife Crime Workshop. The workshop was designed to have a hard hitting approach. The LAS played back a 999 call and used colostomy bags to show that even in cases where the knife attack was not fatal; it could still result in life changing injuries. The LAS poured out a significant amount of a red liquid that looked like blood to show the sort of significant blood loss that could occur from a knife wound to the chest.

 

The Partnership was informed that the ED at the PRUH had been kept very busy. In February the PRUH ED treated a significant number of high acuity patients. 

 

RESOLVED that the LAS update is noted and that Mr Kelly send out details of the Vulnerable Persons’ Vehicle to Paul Sibun and Lynn Sellwood. 

71.

UPDATE FROM THE SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD BOARD

Minutes:

The SNB update was provided by the SNB Chairman—Sharon Baldwin. It was noted that the current calendar of MOPAC funded projects was ending. Most of the projects had been youth led, with a focus on prevention and education. MOPAC were keen to fund smaller locally based projects.

 

Ms Baldwin stated that the SNB were keen to partner with Neighbourhood Watch and that sometimes the SNB held joint meetings with them. Recently the SNB joined up with the Penge Forum to have a combined meeting. Combined meetings of this nature were generally well attended and saved on police time.

 

In terms of meetings, the next public meeting was going to be held on 4th April and the AGM was scheduled for 13th May. The Crime Summit was scheduled for 14th September. Additional meetings would be added to the calendar going forward. Ms Baldwin expressed the view that there should be a review of SNB Panels, and this was a matter that MOPAC was considering.

 

The public very much appreciated the Community Impact Days and wanted to see more. Mention was made of the closure of Star Lane and the immediate and significant impact that this had made on reducing fly-tipping in the area.

 

Ms Baldwin highlighted the ‘Diverted Giving Scheme’ with respect to rough sleepers. Unfortunately many of the beggars in Bromley were not in fact homeless. The idea of the scheme was to encourage donations to Shelter.

 

Ms Baldwin asked if consideration could be given to holding a business conference in the summer. Funding could be provided by the business community.

 

Finally, Ms Baldwin stated that the community felt that there was generally a lack of ‘authority’ figures in various public places (for example, on buses and in parks). 

 

RESOLVED that the SNB update is noted.

72.

MOPAC UPDATE pdf icon PDF 120 KB

Minutes:

The MOPAC update report outlined the funding history of the LBB schemes funded by MOPAC and progress to date.  

 

MOPAC had now confirmed funding for the four projects run by LBB until March 2021.

 

The SBP was grateful to the Project Leads for their hard work in defining the proposals and for their timely responses to any queries that had been raised by MOPAC.

 

RESOLVED that the SBP acknowledge the conditional offer for each proposal relating to VAWG, Mentoring, ASB and Reducing Re-Offending.

 

 

 

 

 

73.

COMMUNICATIONS BRIEFING

Minutes:

Mr Andrew Rogers was not in attendance to provide a communications briefing.

74.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Minutes:

The Knife and Serious Violence Action Plan had been disseminated to members of the SBP as a confidential item. MOPAC had advised against the publication of the Action Plan as there were details in the plan that were confidential as well as action plans that were operational and tactical.

 

Bromley’s Knife and Serious Violence Action Plan had been submitted to MOPAC in September and had been rag-rated as ‘Green’.

 

The Group heard that the NPS (National Probation Service) were required to vacate their current premises in Orpington on 5th April, and move to an office in Bexley Magistrates’ Court.

 

RESOLVED that

 

1) Ms Baldwin would contact Katie Nash from NPS to discuss alternative office accommodation for the Probation Service.

 

2) Updates on the Knife and Serious Violence Action Plan would be provided at future meetings until further notice.

   

75.

DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting is scheduled for 20th June 2019 at 10.00am.

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Thursday, June 20th at 10.00am.

 

The meeting would be held at the usual location which was Bromley Civic Centre.