Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Bromley Civic Centre

Contact: Steve Wood  020 8313 4316

Items
No. Item

192.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Terry Gooding, the LFB Borough Commander.

 

Apologies were also received from Lynne Abrams from MOPAC, David Dunkley from Bromley Changes, Janet Bailey (LBB Interim Director of Children’s Services) and Gillian Palmer (LBB Interim Director of Education).  

 

193.

CONFIRMATION OF CHAIRMAN

Minutes:

The Group noted that a decision had to be made going forward as to who should be appointed as the new Chairman of the Safer Bromley Partnership. The Chairman stated that there were four possible candidates that came to mind:

 

1-Nigel Davies-LBB Executive Director for Environment and Community Services

 

2-Councillor Kate Lymer-Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Safety 

 

3-Detective Superintendent Paul Warnett

 

4-Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe—the new BCU Police Commander

 

The Chairman asked if anyone else from the Group had any further comments concerning this but there were none. It was agreed that the matter would be discussed further outside of the meeting, and a decision would be reached in time for the next meeting. 

194.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING HELD ON 19th DECEMBER 2017 pdf icon PDF 270 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 19th December 2017 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

195.

QUESTIONS FROM COUNCILLORS OR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Strategic Group must be received in writing 4 working days before the meeting. Therefore please ensure that questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Tuesday 20th March.

Minutes:

No questions had been received.

196.

MATTERS ARISING pdf icon PDF 61 KB

Minutes:

The Matters Arising report was noted.

197.

CHAIRMAN'S UPDATE

Minutes:

The Executive Director, in his role as acting Chairman, suggested that Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe commence the Chairman’s update as this was a matter that historically was undertaken by the Borough Police Commander.

 

Mr Boothe confirmed that the BCU (Basic Command Unit) tri-borough model had started on 19th March. The new BCU had amalgamated the boroughs of Croydon, Sutton and Bromley under one over-arching Police command. The Police were now in a transitory stage where final preparations were being made. The BCU would go live in January 2019.

 

The Group were informed that there would be four strands to the BCU, each overseen by a Superintendent:

 

·  Neighbourhood Policing

·  Investigations

·  Response

·  Safeguarding

 

Mr Boothe gave assurances that neighbourhood policing would remain largely unchanged, and that funding for this was ring-fenced. He stated that Safeguarding was a key area, and this included Child Sexual Exploitation, Domestic Violence, and Children and Young People who were ‘Missing’. The Safeguarding strand would be overseen by Detective Superintendent Paul Warnett. The Superintendents would take up their new posts on 7th May. Each Superintendent would be supported by a Chief Inspector; two Chief Inspectors would be assigned to support Safeguarding. The primary aim was to develop the most effective policing model.

 

The Chairman referred to the current SBP Strategy and advised that it would be reviewed in the light of the new BCU model.

 

Mr Warnett expressed the view that there would be no significant changes to local policing. Crime levels were increasing in many areas, but ASB levels were decreasing; some of this reduction was due to the success of Community Impact Days. Increases had been seen in levels of non-domestic violence and in the carrying and use of weapons. Some of the increased numbers may have been due to the increased number and effectiveness of Police interventions.

 

Mr Warnett was concerned about the increased size of the weapons that were being seized. CCTV had been a big help to the Police in supporting their efforts to tackle gun and knife crime. People armed with weapons had been entering Bromley from other boroughs like Croydon and Lambeth. Mr Warnett promised to bring in examples of some of the weapons that had been seized.

 

The response to ‘I’ and ‘S’ calls was good, with both being just under 90% in terms of successful responses in the relevant time frames.

 

Mr Warnett commented on recent concerns around the number of cars in the Bromley Police fleet and gave assurances that there would be no significant loss of service and that Bromley Police still had the use of in excess of thirty vehicles. It was confirmed that the fleet would still be based at Bromley South Police Station.

 

Ms Baldwin (Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board) said that due to lack of effective communication, some people felt nervous about possible changes that could arise from the implementation of the tri-borough BCU. She hoped that communications could be improved in the future.

 

Mr Warnett appraised the Group concerning  ...  view the full minutes text for item 197.

198.

UPDATE ON PREVENT PRIORITIES pdf icon PDF 93 KB

Minutes:

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

 

Mr Vale reported that LBB was a low priority borough in terms of a perceived terrorism threat and as such received no Home Office funding for Prevent programmes. Community tensions were perceived to be low. A recent briefing concerning Prevent had been provided to the Chief Executive.

 

An update on the Prevent Action Plan was not available at the time of the meeting. The Action Plan needed to be revised and priorities had been identified. The revised Prevent Action Plan would ensure that statutory responsibilities were covered.

 

The Group heard that the Home Office was normally reluctant to release Prevent related data, but some data was due for release during the course of the next few weeks. The LBB workforce would be updated on the referral protocols.

 

Responsibility for managing the Prevent programme was being transferred from the Police to local authorities—this was known as ‘Operation Dovetail’. Extra funding would be provided to local authorities to facilitate this. No movement was expected on this until the end of the year to give time for IT and data protection issues to be managed properly.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Safety commented that the ‘Parsons Green Bomber’ had been referred to the Prevent Programme. She declared that it was imperative that such people did not slip through the net.

 

 

199.

UPDATE FROM THE LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE

Minutes:

Philip Powell (LAS Stakeholder Engagement Manager) provided the LAS update.

 

He stated that it had been a difficult year for the ambulance service nationally. There were times when the PRUH was significantly challenged in terms of capacity. There had been some delays at hospitals in handing over patients, but there had not been the massive queues outside of hospitals that had been witnessed in other areas.

 

Mr Powell pointed out that the ‘Beast from the East’ had caused extra problems and that the PRUH had had to deal with an unprecedented number of cases. The acuity of the patients arriving at the hospital had also been severe. Extra GP appointments had been helpful. Mr Powell explained that many of the patients arriving at the PRUH were the elderly frail; a significant amount of these were educated and wealthy and had tried using other services before contacting LAS as a last resort. 

200.

MOPAC UPDATE pdf icon PDF 131 KB

Minutes:

No representative from MOPAC was in attendance. A written briefing had been provided by MOPAC which had been incorporated as part of the agenda. The briefing focussed on the following areas:

 

·  LCPF Co-Commissioning Fund

·  Mayor’s Youth Funding

·  Knife Crime Strategy

·  VAWG Strategy

 

(‘LCPF’ is an abbreviation for the London Crime Prevention Fund and ‘VAWG’ is an abbreviation for Violence against Women and Girls).

 

Mr Vale explained that with respect to the co-commissioning fund, boroughs were in year 2 of a 4 year plan. Due to the process of co-commissioning top slicing, it meant that less funding was available for the next 12 months. This would impact on services for VAWG, ASB and Noise Nuisance—so decisions would have to be made concerning these services in the near future. It was highlighted that LBB still did not have a single point of contact for MOPAC.

 

Mr Vale wondered if the new tri-borough BCU would affect MOPAC funding.

 

Mr Vale informed the Group that knife crime strategy was important to the London Mayor and that LBB had been pro-active in conducting test purchasing activities with respect to knives. Part of this process was to facilitate as many retailers as possible into the ‘Responsible Retailer Scheme’. Training for retailers would be provided as required. 

 

The Chairman highlighted that LBB had to submit details of its crime priorities to MOPAC later the same day.  Mr Warnett explained that one of MOPAC’s suggestions for LBB was to focus on motor vehicle related crime. Mr Warnett expressed the view the LBB should retain its previous suggestion of focussing on burglary and non-domestic violence with injury. There was general agreement in the Group with this view.

 

The Chief Superintendent stated that the Police would be looking to deal with all crime, not just the priorities. He was hoping that preventative measures would prevent moped and vehicle crime from becoming an issue in Bromley.

 

The Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board highlighted the problem of begging in Bromley, and it was agreed that she would discuss this issue outside of the meeting with Mr Warnett.

 

Victoria Roberts (VAWG Strategic Partnership Manager) stated that the MOPAC report did not address the issue of funding for LBB’s core VAWG services, and that this was something that would need to be pursued with MOPAC.

 

RESOLVED that the issue of funding for Bromley’s VAWG services be pursued with MOPAC. 

 

201.

RESILIENCE UPDATE

Minutes:

Laurie Grasty attended to provide the Resilience update. She explained that the purpose of the Resilience function was to provide the relevant statutory support to emergency services when it was needed.

 

The Bromley Resilience Forum (BRF) was a statutory body that met three times per year. The BRF was currently chaired by Mr Nigel Davies (LBB Executive Director for Environmental and Community Services). The purpose of the BRF was to look at potential risks in the Borough, and to ensure that the required contingency plans were in place. LBB had a Borough Risk Register where potential risks had been identified. Ms Grasty was thankful that no major incident had affected Bromley. It was noted that during the previous week there had been a major gas leak in Croydon, and LBB had assisted by providing beds and blankets for the rest centres. 

 

The Group heard that a pan-London resilience exercise had recently taken place. The exercise was terrorism related and had involved all London Boroughs. The BRF was planning to undertake two table top exercises which would be concerning the provision of humanitarian assistance and a fuel shortage.

 

Ms Grasty was seeking to engage with the local community as much as possible, and support had been promised from the Rotary Club. Arrangements were also in place with ‘My Time’ and the Red Cross. 

202.

UPDATE FROM THE SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD BOARD

Minutes:

The SNB update was provided by Sharon Baldwin (Chairman of the SNB). She informed the Group that following the public meeting in Ramsden in December, another public meeting had been held in Orpington, which was well attended.

 

The Group was briefed that an award from LBB’s Mayor had been presented to Sarah Armstrong for her work in promoting the dangers of knife crime.

 

There had been a resignation from the SNB and so the current chairman of the IAG (Information, Advice and Governance Board) had been asked to consider becoming a member of the SNB.

 

A SNB Chairs meeting had been convened to discuss how best to communicate with New Scotland Yard. There would be a Chairs visit to New Scotland Yard next month.

 

At this point the Vice Chairman of the SNB (Mr Terry Belcher) stated that a conversation was required about where MOPAC was going. He said that answers were not forthcoming and that the matter needed dealing with. The Chairman agreed that engagement was required with MOPAC.

 

It was noted that the SNB had contacted central government about the lack of Police funding; this had been supported by local MPs. 

 

Public meeting dates and Board meeting dates had now been formalised. There would be an AGM in April and the Crime Summit would take place on 29th September.

203.

REPORTS FROM SUB-GROUPS

204.

DOMESTIC ABUSE SUB GROUP UPDATE pdf icon PDF 133 KB

Minutes:

The Domestic Abuse Sub Group update was provided by Victoria Roberts.

 

It was noted that the co-location model was working well and that the One Stop Shop was working to capacity. At the moment the One Stop Shop was only open for a half day per week. As extra capacity was required, Ms Roberts had contacted the provider to see what the cost would be for the provision of another half day. She promised to report back to the Group concerning this at the next meeting.

 

The Chairman enquired as to why the use of the One Stop Shop was going up. Ms Roberts felt that there were various reasons for this. These included greater awareness of the service, better partnership working and ease of access. The only funding stream for this was MOPAC, and it would be a disaster if the funding was cut. 

 

It was noted that a waiting list existed for placements on the Community Support Group.

 

The Group were informed that there was a meeting of the VAWG Strategic Group on 12th March. Twenty four people had been invited, but only half a dozen turned up. It was hoped that there would be a better turnout for the next meeting in June.

 

Ms Roberts drew attention to the government consultation concerning the new Domestic Abuse and Violence Bill. She felt that it was important that LBB get involved in the consulttaion process. It was agreed that the details be sent to the Committee Clerk for dissemination.

 

Post Meeting Note:

 

The details have been provided and disseminated. 

 

It was noted that problems had been experienced with finding someone to Chair the MARAC Steering Group. It was agreed that Ms Roberts would discuss this with Joanna Davidson outside of the meeting. 

204a

OFFENDER MANAGEMENT SUB GROUP UPDATE pdf icon PDF 96 KB

Minutes:

The Offender Management update was provided by Mr Rob Vale.

 

Mr Vale informed the Group that MOPAC funding had been provided for an IOM (Integrated Offender Management) co-ordinator post—but this was only for one day per week. The IOM co-coordinator was Helen Andrews and she was temporarily chairing the IOM Board.

 

Mr Vale expressed concerns about the level of Police and CRC (Community Rehabilitation Company) involvement in the IOM Strategic Board. There had been a downscaling of Bromley Police personnel from three officers to one part time officer. Additionally, two Probation Officers from CRC had gone on maternity leave and had not been replaced. Regular attenders were Blue Sky, Go Train, Affinity Sutton, Hestia and Oxleas.

 

RESOLVED that further conversations be undertaken with CRC and the Police to see if they can bring staff capacity back to full strength.

204b

YOUTH OFFENDING SERVICE AND GANGS UPDATE

Minutes:

Betty McDonald (LBB Head of the Youth Offending Service) provided the update relating to gangs and youth offending.

 

She briefed the Group that first time entrants to the YOS in Bromley had reduced by 21%, and that re-offending rates were down. 

 

The latest nationally published data on the numbers of children and young people in custody (under 18’s) were 878, an increase of two young people on the previous period (Dec. 17 to Jan 2018). Seven of these young people were from Bromley. Custody numbers in the Borough were low and below the London average by 18% and 8% higher than the national average.

 

Reducing the demand for custody was a key priority for the YOS; however all of the young people currently in custody had committed very serious offences and this left the Courts with very little option other than to impose custodial sentences.  All of the young people were supported by the YOS throughout their custodial phase and back into the community.

 

A psychologist (funded by the NHS) was working with YOS, and this seemed to be working well. A Liaison and Diversion Service would be operational in June for low level offenders and young people with mental health issues. The aim was to try and divert these young people away from the criminal justice system.

 

The YOS was waiting for news from the Youth Justice Board (YJB) regarding funding. The YJB were themselves in talks with the Treasury. 

205.

ASB AND ENVIROCRIME UPDATE pdf icon PDF 178 KB

Minutes:

The ASB and Envirocrime update was provided by Peter Sibley (LBB, ASB and Envirocrime Co-ordinator). He informed the Group that three more operations had been undertaken since the previous meeting, and these had yielded good results. Arrests had been made, weapons seized and garages searched.

 

Nuisance and ASB Complaints had reduced by 29%, and the annual rate of Arson had decreased by 46%. The main causes of arson were noted as fly tipping, bins and abandoned vehicles.

 

As an action point for the Partnership, Mr Sibley proposed that fly-tipped rubbish be removed as quickly as possible. LFB (London Fire Brigade) officers would patrol the Borough looking for fly-tipped rubbish. This was currently reported to LBB via ‘Fix My Street’, with the rubbish normally being cleared within one week. The LFB was proposing an immediate response in order to minimise the risk of arson.

 

Mr Sibley explained that another major source of arson was abandoned mopeds and motor vehicles. Similarly, he requested that the Partnership considered how these vehicles could also be removed as soon as possible to reduce the risk of arson. It was agreed that this matter be discussed outside of the meeting with the Director for Environment.

 

Mr Sibley asked the Partnership to consider the use of off road motorcycles and how they should be deployed in the Borough. Previous discussions had identified the need to purchase new bikes and train new personnel. Mr Warnett stated that the Police did not have the budget to purchase new motor bikes, but would be prepared to oversee the training of new personnel.

 

Ms Baldwin enquired what would happen to garages that were no longer being used. Mr Sibley responded that in most cases they would be sealed and then knocked down. Ms Baldwin asked if this would leave room for new housing to be built. Mr Sibley responded that this would be a matter for the Housing Association.

 

RESOLVED that consideration be given outside of the meeting to the requests made by Mr Sibley. 

206.

COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE

Minutes:

Mr Andrew Rogers (LBB Communications Executive) thanked the Partnership for the support that had been received in running the Community Impact Days.

207.

CONSIDERATION OF EMERGING ISSUES AND NON STANDARD ITEMS FOR THE NEXT AGENDA

The group is invited to highlight any emerging issues or non-standard items that they may wish to consider at the next meeting.

Minutes:

Members of the Partnership were invited to submit suggestions to the Committee Clerk.

208.

FUTURE PRESENTATIONS

The Group is invited to consider which organisations they may wish to invite to present to the Group in the future.

Minutes:

The following items were suggested as possible future presentations:

 

·  Presentation from Victim Support

·  Presentation from CRC/Probation Services

·  Presentation from the Organised Crime Prevention Unit

·  Presentation from MOPAC

209.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Minutes:

No other business was discussed.

210.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The date of the next meeting is Thursday, 21st June 2018

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 21st June 2018.