Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from the following:

·  Katie Nash-from London Probation.

·  John Owen from LFB

·  Lucien Spencer and AJ Brooks from CRC—substituting was Senior Probation Officer Denise Chapman

·  Councillor Christine Harris

·  Chloe Todd—LBB Public Health

·  Bill Kelly and Philip Powell from LAS.

·  Rob Vale—LBB Trading Standards and Community Safety

·  David Dunkley—Bromley Drug Advisory Service.

Betty McDonald pointed out an error relating to minute 57. The minute read, ‘Beverley Brown sent apologies and Yvonne Harding attended as her substitute’.

This needed to be amended to read, ‘Betty McDonald sent apologies and Yvonne Harding attended as substitute’.

The first sentence of minute 68b (YOS Update) referred to ‘Yvonne Davey’. This was incorrect and required to be changed to ‘Yvonne Harding’.

With these amendments noted, the minutes of the previous meeting held on 14^th March 2019 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

CSD19092

The Partnership noted the matters that had arisen from the previous meeting, together with the associated updates.

RESOLVED that the Matters Outstanding report be noted.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting. 

Questions specifically concerning reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the publication date of the agenda.  Please ensure that questions specifically regarding reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 14^th June 2019

No questions had been received.

The Chairman updated the Partnership that a new appointment had been made for the role of Gangs and Serious Youth Violence Officer.  One of the aims of the new role was to identify what the local provision was in terms of the relevant services, and to understand more about the journey of young people into the culture of gang violence. The role would involve much networking and the facilitating of partnership working.

The Chairman reported on a double homicide in Orpington, where an incident of suspected domestic abuse and a suicide had occurred. Permission had been given for a Domestic Homicide Review to be undertaken. The CRC (Community Rehabilitation Company) had appointed a new Director, and the Chairman, and officers were scheduled to meet with him in July.

The Chairman had attended a passing out parade of the Police Cadets at the Warren, and had also been invited to attend a passing out parade of the Fire Cadets. The Chairman had also attended the Ramadan celebrations at Keston Mosque.

The Chairman mentioned that she was also the Chairman of the Bromley Youth Mentoring initiative which was funded by MOPAC. Last year, mentoring had been undertaken in 23 schools. A Bromley Youth Mentoring event was  expected to take place at the Old Palace in the Civic Centre. It was noted that the Executive Director for Environment and Community Services was a Mentor. He encouraged men to join the Mentoring Service as there was a shortage of male volunteers.

It was noted that the Bromley Stars event would be taking place the following week. The Chairman and Vice Chairman had made a nomination for the best team working together. This was in respect of the work undertaken by the police and Neighbourhood Enforcement Team for their joint work regarding Travellers.

RESOLVED that the Chairman’s update be noted. 

The police update was provided by Chief Inspector Craig Knight and Superintendent Colin Carswell. It was noted that there had been an increase in the reporting of acts of violence and that officers had been tasked to deal with this. There had been a drive to increase stop and search activities which had resulted in an increased detection of both knives and drugs. The feedback from the public regarding these activities had been positive.

The police reported an increase in the number of residential burglaries, and that more of these offences were taking place early in the morning. The police were planning to target resources to deal with this, and three months of dedicated activity was planned. Drug warrants had been actioned in Penge—class A drugs had been found, along with a taser linked to gang activity. The wider supply of drugs had been disrupted.

The Partnership heard that Bromley was significantly impacted by ‘Auto Crime’. A team was being drafted to deal with theft from motor vehicles; it was believed that much of this activity was being carried out by organised crime gangs from Kent. 

There had been a small decrease in customer satisfaction, but Bromley Police were still in a good place and were still in the top three overall in London for customer satisfaction. The Partnership was appraised that Mr Knight was periodically using an online Facebook Forum page to engage with the public. A trial of this had been undertaken in Sutton where 2,500 members of the public had been engaging. Once this had been established in Bromley, the project would be handed over to Inspector Gary Byfield to continue. It was hoped that this would augment the work of ward panels. The next Bromley Feedback Forum was scheduled for July 2^nd.

The Chairman asked how the Partnership could help to promote the Facebook Forum. Mr Knight responded that the best way to help would be to attract the public to the Forum. He suggested that details of the Facebook Forum be circulated to councillors and ward panel chairs so that they could engage themselves and encourage others to do so.

It was noted that Inspector Gary Byfield was one of seven officers who had been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. This was for his work supporting the families of fallen police officers.

Superintendent Carswell said that since the inception of the BCU, general crime trends and figures had remained stable.  He referred to the police target of hitting a response time to emergency calls in 15 minutes. The target was that the response time should be hit in 83% of cases. In December it had dropped to 80%, but over the last two months the response time had gone back up to 88% which was significantly above the MPS average rate. This was because an effort had been made in front loading the Response Team.

The Chairman of the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board (and VSSN) highlighted that about a month  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Head of Service for Early Intervention and Family Support stated that the contract with BCWA (Bromley and Croydon Women’s Aid) had been successfully extended, and continued to provide a good service. There was some concern expressed regarding the limited take up of the DVIP service. Work had commenced on the re-procurement of the new DVA VAWG contract. The Partnership was informed that if anyone desired to feed into the specification for the new contract, they should do so by Friday, June 28^th.

The Partnership was informed that an offer of employment had been made for the DVA VAWG Coordinator Post, and the appointment was currently with HR for the appropriate recruitment checks to be undertaken. The appointment was viewed by the Head of Service as a positive one.

Clarification was provided as to why the post holder would be geographically located at the Community Vision, Children and Family Centre in Penge. This was because this would be close to the current provider (BCWA), and the appointee’s line manager would also be based in Penge.

The Bromley CCG Adults Safeguarding Manager pointed out that the post had been vacant for a year. He asked for assurances that the new post holder would be appointed at the same grade as before to ensure a quality appointment. It was confirmed that the new appointment would be at the same grade as before. He welcomed the appointment and requested that introductions to Claire Lewin (Head Nurse, Safeguarding Adults, Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group) and Lynn Sellwood (Independent Chair, Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board) be included in the induction process when the new person was appointed.

The Chairman requested that the DV Forum be re-invigorated.     

RESOLVED that

1) If anyone wished to provide feedback regarding the specifications of the new DVA VAWG Contract, this should be actioned by close on Friday 28^th June.

2) Introductions to Clare Lewin and Lynn Sellwood be arranged when the new DVA VAWG Coordinator was appointed.

3) The DV Forum be re-invigorated.   

The IOM update was provided by Amanda Mumford.

The Partnership noted that the Probation Service was going to be re-nationalised. 

She informed the Partnership that a meeting had recently taken place between herself, the LBB AD for Public Protection and Lucien Spencer and AJ from the CRC, to see how the IOM Strategic Level Board could be re-established. Discussions concerning this were ongoing. It was agreed that an update concerning the development of the Strategic Level IOM Board be brought to the next meeting.

The Partnership noted the new appointments for the Director of Probation at MTCNovo, and for the new Director of Probation Services. 

The Chairman noted the figures provided for the IOM cohort. She commented that the figures were the same as presented to the previously and asked for up to date figures to be provided at the next meeting.

RESOLVED that

1) An update concerning the development of the Strategic Level IOM Board be brought to the next meeting.

2) Up to date figures to be provided at the next meeting relating to the IOM cohort.

The Partnership heard that the number of young people in the Youth Justice System had reduced, but the cohorts that remained had more complex needs and continued to re-offend. The Head of Youth Support and Youth Offending Services stated that the aim of the department would be to look at where the biggest impact could be achieved through an in-depth analysis of the cohort.

The YOS had introduced both a Prevention Support Programme and a Liaison and Diversion Scheme (both with dedicated workers); both schemes  had undertaken very positive work. The aim of the schemes was to help to reduce the rate of re-offending, ASB, and to reduce the number of first time entrants into the Youth Justice System. 

RESOLVED that the Youth Offending Service update report be noted.

The Partnership noted that children and young people known to be gang affiliated or at risk of being so, were tracked through the MEGA panel fortnightly. (‘MEGA’ is Missing, Exploitation and Gang Affiliation). Intelligence derived from the MEGA panel was used to compile risk assessments.

Members of the Partnership were briefed that during the year 2018/2019, the number of young people assessed by Children’s Social Care for gang affiliation was 69. Seven of these were on Child Protection Plans and 21 were Children Looked After.

The Head of Service for Referral and Assessment briefed the Partnership on the main points of the demographic profile:

·  The main age range for gang affiliation was 16-17

·  The primary gender for involvement was male

·  The main ethnic group involved in gang affiliation was Black or Black British.

Partners were informed of re-occurring negative family factors that could be seen to be existing where children and young people had been discussed at the MEGA panel:

·  Parental substance misuse

·  Parental mental health issues

·  Domestic Violence

·  Neglect

·  Offending in the family

The findings of a mapping exercise to note correlations between education and gang affiliation would be presented to the next MASE meeting in July.

The Head of the BSAB noted the problematic family factors that had been mentioned. She stated that in her view there was not a need for 2 MEGA type panels for both adults and children. She expressed the view that only one panel was required to bring together young people and adults holistically. The LBB Director of Children’s Social Care disagreed with this and said that in her view, two panels were required, and that a single panel would not be suitable for Bromley’s children.     

RESOLVED that the report on Gang Affiliated Children and Young People be noted.

The Partnership was appraised that 42 visits had been made to high profile offenders, 17 warrants had been issued, 33 weapon sweeps had been undertaken, 2 weapons had been recovered, 14 arrests had been made and 132 fire safety visits had been completed.

A new operation had been undertaken in May around housing benefit and sub-letting and this had resulted in two arrests on the first operation. Although much work had been carried out to tackle arson, Bromley was still the second worst London borough for this.

A major ASB operation was planned for Penge in July.

The LFB Commander thanked the Partnership for the positive results that had been achieved from partnership working, and asked that the momentum be maintained. Action plans and MOPAC funding needed to be maintained. In Bromley, there was a strong correlation between organised crime and arson, particularly in Cray Valley East, and that was where a focus on arson was required. 

The Partnership heard that action plans were still being delivered despite pressure on resources. For the operations to be successfully continued within the designated four MOPAC areas it was essential that adequate resources and funding be provided.

RESOLVED that the ASB and Envirocrime Update report be noted. 

The Knife Crime and Serious Violence Action Plan had been disseminated to the Partnership before the meeting. It was not contained in the agenda papers as some of the information contained within the Plan had been deemed to be sensitive and confidential. A priority initially was to ensure that LBB was delivering the Knife Crime Action Plan effectively across the Council

The document would now be owned by Anne Ball who had been appointed as the new Gangs and Serious Youth Violence Officer. The role was a strategic role; Ms Ball would not be working directly with young people. However she would be ensuring that LBB was making full use of pan-London provision that was available. She would ensure LBB was bidding for resources where appropriate, and supporting the bids by identifying data and bringing partners around the table. The role was funded for 12 months initially, and it was anticipated that it would develop from a fact finding stage around the current scene, to making recommendations of how LBB could impact the current situation and complement existing work in a meaningful way.

A significant piece of work in the early stages was to understand the picture across Bromley regarding agencies and organisations working with young people involved in gangs and serious violence--to identify exactly what was missing, and what would be required to assist young people to move away from crime and gang affiliations.

LBB was supporting an application for GLA funding from the Crystal Palace Development Trust and looking to see what pan London funding may be available to fund suitable projects in Bromley.

It was likely that partners would hear from Ms Ball regarding provision that the Partnership would be able to access, (often pan London provision commissioned by MOPAC). Partners were requested to distribute this information among colleagues and to ensure referrals into anything that may be appropriate.

The Chairman requested that Anne Ball be asked to attend the next SBP meeting to update on the work that she had undertaken to date. 

Amanda Mumford (LBB Community Safety Coordinator) updated the Partnership concerning the development of the Safer Bromley Strategy. The Strategy had now been signed off and the priorities agreed. The priorities (and correspondingly, the matching sub-groups) had reduced to four:

·  Burglary

·  VAWG

·  Non-Domestic Violence with Injury

·  ASB (Including Arson and Fly-Tipping)

The plan was now to set up the associated sub-groups that would report back to the Safer Bromley Partnership, along with the development of action plans for the next three years.

The Community Safety Coordinator would be in touch with members of the partnership in due course to with a view to setting up the sub-groups.

Hate Crime was not listed as a specific priority, but it was hoped that it was a theme that would be applied within the sub groups where hate crime was apparent.

RESOLVED that the update on the Safer Bromley Strategy be noted.

The Resilience and Business Continuity update was provided by Mr David Tait (LBB Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead).

Standardisation training had been rolled out and completed across various levels, including Gold and Silver Commands and Local Authority Liaison Officers. It was felt that LBB was in a good place in terms of its Resilience preparedness.

Exercise ‘Safer City’ had recently been carried out as a table top undertaking, and LBB had been involved in this. A large number of Rotarians had also received training. Briefings had been provided to LFB crews. Plans were being reviewed with respect to the provision of humanitarian assistance and procedures/protocols in the event of the death of the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Partnership was appraised that ‘Business Continuity’ was part of corporate resilience that was part of LBB’s new Transformation Programme. Masterclass business continuity training had been provided by Zurich to Heads of Service.

The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead provided brief updates on the following incidents:

·  A warehouse fire in March

·  A fuel spill in April

·  A sink hole that appeared on 7^th June

·  Flat fire on 8^th June

·  Flooding in Petts Wood when the Ravensbourne River burst its banks

The Chairman asked about 36 care homes that had apparently failed to comply with fire regulations. The LFB Commander responded that the figures had been twisted. The care homes in question had been given action plans to resolve, and the issues were primarily minor. The only place where fire regulations had been required to be enforced was with respect to Northpoint.

RESOLVED that the Resilience and Business Continuity update be noted.     

The LAS (London Ambulance Service) provided the following written update:

Moving out of winter, pressures had eased very slightly.

LAS performance in Bromley had been good and consistent over the last few months, with a fairly steady demand. Hospital handover delays for LAS weren’t as bad as the previous year, but there had been days where LAS had seen a number of extended delays which had impacted on operational availability.

The LAS had been able to continue running the extra vehicle that had been targeted at vulnerable patients of low acuity and at times of extreme pressure would have to wait an extended time for an ambulance attendance. This vehicle had proved very successful in looking out for and caring for vulnerable patients, and also had a low conveyance rate which was great for the patient and the emergency department at the Princess Royal University Hospital.

Reference was made to the CQC report for the PRU and Kings which had been published recently. The LAS was aware of most of the issues and problems raised, and assured that the areas for improvement that had been identified were being worked on.

RESOLVED that the LAS update be noted. 

It was noted that a MOPAC update was due soon and that this would be disseminated via the Committee Clerk.

Ms Evans expressed thanks to LBB for sending its crime priorities to Sophie Lindon (Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime). A letter of response would be sent shortly.

LCPF funding had been agreed for:

·  Community Impact

·  The Mentoring Service

·  Safeguarding Adults

Ms Evans would be in contact with officers in due course to discuss and explain the online returns process.

RESOLVED that the MOPAC update be noted.

The SNB AGM had been held on 13^th May; Councillors David Cartwright and Kathy Bance had attended. More active SNB members were required for the future. On 20^th May the SNB Chairman had attended a London Councils ASB and Crime Conference. The SNB Full Panel Chairs meeting was scheduled for 15^th July and this would be taking place at Bromley South Police Station. It was the case that Bromley SNB was better resourced in terms of representatives than many other boroughs. The Partnership was informed that a significant core of the community were engaging.

The SNB Chairman (Sharon Baldwin) stated that she had attended the BCU Commander’s walkabouts. Further engagement with housing association tenants was required in Penge. Funding for some projects had been delayed. 

Ms Baldwin gave a brief overview of SNB finances:

·  Bromley SNB allocated funding from MOPAC was £29k

·  £5k of this was for administration costs

·  £3k had to be allocated to Neighbourhood Watch

·  £5k-maximum amount to be allocated to a single project

Ms Baldwin had asked to be a LCP2 representative and had recently met with the MET Police Commissioner and the Home Office.

 (LCP2 is a charity whose main aim is to “promote for the benefit of the public within Greater London, improved strategic community engagement with the police. It provides training and support to its members – London’s Safer Neighbourhood Boards and other community and police engagement, consultation and accountability groups. LCP2 works with the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, the Metropolitan Police Service and other organisations and individuals aiming to achieve effective and accountable policing in a safer London.)

When Ms Baldwin met with the MET Commissioner, various issues were discussed, including the difficulty with ‘abstractions’, ‘Extinction Rebellion’ and a new funding review which would hopefully release some funding for new recruitment into the police service.

The Crime Summit was scheduled for 14^th September and would be held at Bromley Civic Centre.

The Chairman stated that the Bromley Neighbourhood Watch Management Committee did not want to undertake a project, and wondered if the £3k prosed funding from MOPAC could be allocated to something else—possibly the Burglary Team. She expressed the view that BNW needed regenerating.

A discussion took place around the issue of ‘abstractions’ relating to ward officers.

RESOLVED that the Safer Neighbourhood Board update be noted.      

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LCP2 is an independent charitable body.  Its members2 are formally organised consultation groups which seek to provide a representative voice for local communities in London to enable effective community and police engagement, consultation and accountability

The Chairman asked that if anyone had any suggestions for something to be incorporated into the next edition of the Safer Bromley Newsletter, then then should pass this on to Andrew Rogers.  

The LBB Head of Service for Early Intervention and Family Support thanked the Borough Fire Commander for the attendance of fire officers at Children and Family Centres.

The LBB Road Safety Manager said that ‘Beep Beep Days’ were also being held at Children and Family Centres. 

The Borough Fire Commander mentioned he was starting a pilot scheme in Bromleya new scheme that was being developed whereby the Fire Brigade would be able to take onsupport young people aged 17.5 and above currently within the YOS for training/ mentoring with a view to them gaining employment with the LFB. He emphasised that this would only prepare individuals for the recruitment process and would not guarantee employment. He would discuss this further with Betty McDonald outside of the meeting.

Dele Ryder from A2 Dominion introduced himself, and said that he was glad to have been able to attend the meeting.

The next meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership is scheduled for Thursday, 12th September at 10.00am.

All meetings start at 10.00am and are held at Bromley Civic Centre unless otherwise noted.

The next meeting is scheduled for September 12^th 2019.