The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed all partners.

The Chairman proposed Chief Inspector Ken Loyal be appointed Vice-Chairman of the Partnership and this was agreed by partners.

Apologies for absence were received from David Dare (LBB Children’s Services), Chrissie Mason (London Ambulance Service), Jared Nehra (LBB Director of Education) and Steve Phillips (LBB Health, Safety and Licensing Manager).

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 26 May 2022 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

The Board considered progress against outstanding actions from previous meetings.

With regard to Minute 13: LFB Update, the Bromley Fire Commander announced that the consultation on the LFB Community Risk Management Plan had now closed.  Councillor David Cartwright advised partners that he had raised a number of concerns about the draft Plan, including lack of budgetary information and would share his consultation response on request.  It was important to ensure that the final plan linked in with the Local Authority’s arrangements and the Member requested that the LBB Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead be included in future discussions.

A number of other matters arising were ongoing and would be discussed in the course of the meeting. 

RESOLVED, that matters arising 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 agenda items are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 12^th August

There were no questions.

The LBB Head of Community Safety, Environmental and Domestic Regulation advised that work was ongoing to address the crimes and anti-social behaviours that concerned Bromley residents the most and had been identified as being most relevant to the Borough. 

During Quarter 1 of the 2022/23 financial year, a range of actions had been undertaken to achieve Safer Neighbourhoods’ priorities, including in the areas of non-domestic violence with injury; residential burglary; anti-social behaviour and crimes against the elderly and vulnerable (including financial abuse).  Workstreams included continued use of CCTV in targeted areas via both fixed and mobile cameras to target emerging crime and anti-social behaviour and the successful delivery of four Community Impact Days.  Work to reduce crime against the elderly and vulnerable was ongoing with Trading Standards receiving 233 enquiries for investigation during Quarter 1 2022/23 in relation to 76 cases of financial abuse, allegations of scams or doorstep crime with a total customer detriment of over £505k and future estimated savings of £146,333.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

The Senior Strategist, Public Health reported that Dame Carol Black had recently been commissioned by the Government to conduct a two-part independent review of drugs which had resulted in 32 recommendations for change to improve the effectiveness of drug prevention and treatment and to help more people recover from dependence.  As part of the Government’s response, the Local Authority was required to form a Combating Drugs Partnership which would bring together key partners and stakeholders to work holistically towards achieving impactful, long-lasting change in breaking drugs supply chains; delivering world class treatment and recovery systems; and achieving a shift in demand for recreational drugs in Bromley.  The inaugural meeting of the Combating Drugs Partnership would be held on 6 September 2022 and would focus on agreeing its Terms of Reference which was required to be in place by November 2022.  It was aimed to bring together a mix of strategic and operational partners within the Partnership and expressions of interest were invited from partners that had not received an invite. 

In considering the update, the LBB Assistant Director: Public Health advised that work was underway to understand local need in this area including Drugs and Alcohol Needs Assessments.  The representative of the National Probation Service underlined the importance of establishing robust governance arrangements for the Partnership which could be based around the protocol used by other high-level Bromley partnerships.  Another Member suggested that the membership of the Partnership include more representation from children and young people services to enable early intervention and requested the LBB Director of Children, Education and Families be approached.  The Service Manager, Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service offered bespoke training on drug and alcohol misuse issues to partners on request.

The Chairman requested that an update on the Combating Drugs Partnership be provided to the next meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership in October 2022 with a view to considering how the two Partnerships could best work together, particularly in light of the current review of the Safer Bromley Strategy.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

The LBB Head of Commercial Regulation and Trading Standards gave an update on Domestic Homicide Reviews and Prevent.

During Quarter 1 of the 2022/23 financial year, there had been a small increase in referrals into the Channel programme, but numbers remained minimal.  There were a small number of active Domestic Homicide Reviews including one review relating to a house fire which had previously been submitted to the Home Office and for which the Quality Assurance Panel response was awaited.  Another review had been paused until legal proceedings had been completed which was not expected to be until January 2023 at the earliest.  In July 2022, notification of two further prospective Domestic Homicide Reviews had been received.  Having considered the two cases, the Reviewing Panel had resolved that one be subject to a Domestic Homicide Review on the basis of evidence of coercive control and emotional abuse, whilst the other was referred to the Local Authority for a Safeguarding Adults Review.

RESOLVED, that the update be noted.

The LBB Community Safety Officer/Serious Youth Crime and Gangs Lead thanked all partners for providing quarterly updates in relation to the Violence Reduction Plan. 

RESOLVED, that the update be noted.

Inspector Stuart Baker, Metropolitan Police provide an update on criminal activity across the Borough.

In Quarter 1 of the 2022/23 financial year, Total Notifiable Offences had increased 2% on the same period in 2021/22.  Increases had also been seen in Non-Domestic Violence with Injury, which was violence outside the home, and Knife Crime Offences, which were most prevalent in Bromley Town Centre, of 18% and 38% respectively over the past year which was likely a response to the post-COVID period with the Night-Time economy now re-established. Total Burglary offenses had reduced by 18% in the past year which was unanticipated and would be subject to further investigation.  Decreases had also been seen in Anti-Social Behaviour Calls, Sexual Offences, Domestic Abuse Offences and Hate Crime of 24%, 4%, 3% and 2% in comparison with Quarter 1 2021/22 respectively. 

In response to a number of questions, Inspector Stuart Baker advised that Operation Nightingale had recently been launched to tackle the root causes of serious violence.  Two Community Impact Days would shortly be delivered in the Bromley Town Centre and Mottingham areas to target emerging crime and anti-social behaviour, and a Partner observed the importance of such activities in maintaining public confidence in the Police.  With regard to Domestic Abuse Offences, a Partner noted the small decrease on Quarter 1 2021/22 and observed that there had been over 4,000 Domestic Abuse incidents reported during the rolling 12-month period which represented a return from the COVID-19 peak to pre-COVID levels.

A Member requested that the Police be invited to an upcoming meeting of the Public Protection and Enforcement PDS Committee to provide an update on performance and priorities.

RESOLVED, that the update be noted.

Chairman Louise Watkinson – Roundtable discussion on potential methods for consulting partners to update the strategy e.g., written submission, task and finish groups, facilitated workshops, etc. Suggestions welcome.

The Chairman led a discussion by the Partnership on the development of the new Safer Bromley Strategy.

Two approaches were considered comprising the formation of Task and Finish Groups or a one-off Strategy Day.  In discussion, partners strongly supported the formation of four Task and Finish Groups and agreed that these would be based around the themes/priorities of the existing Safer Bromley Strategy. 

It was agreed that a proposal on how the Task and Finish Groups would operate, including ownership and membership be brought to the next meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership in October 2022.

RESOLVED, that a further update be brought to the next meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership.

This item provides a roundtable update from all partners on developments in relation to performance and emerging issues.

The LBB Head of Service for Early Intervention and Family Support advised that a new LBB Domestic Abuse Strategy Coordinator had been appointed and would start in post in October 2022.

The LBB Head of Commercial Regulation and Trading Standards reported that a concern had been identified around young children accessing vapes.  Work was underway to tackle this issue, including engagement in schools, and partners were requested to share any information they had with Trading Standards.

The LBB Head of Neighbourhood Management introduced himself and the LBB Environmental Investigations Manager.  As well as being responsible for the monitoring of the Veolia contract, the team monitored issues such as fly tipping and had recently set up a Joint Action Group to tackle environmental issues.  Partners were encouraged to report environmental crime and public realm and street safety issues via the Fix my Street app or Bromley Council website.

The Bromley Fire Commander thanked partners for their contributions to the LFB Community Risk Management Plan.  Summer 2022 had been a very challenging period for the London Fire Brigade with a number of major incidents declared including large scale grass fires and a high-rise fire at St Mark’s Square, Bromley.  There had been a 10% reduction in deliberate fires across the Borough in the last year which demonstrated the results of partnership working.

The Head of Probation Delivery Unit announced that a strategic meeting with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation was scheduled for 25 August 2022 in relation to the upcoming inspection.  This was a multi-agency meeting and partners were encouraged to attend.

The LBB Head of Neighbourhood Management advised that the Your Waste is Your Responsibility project was seeking to reduce localised fly tipping in Bromley by providing education and monitoring.

The next meeting will be held at 10.00am on 26^th October 2022.

The next meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership was currently scheduled for 10.00am on Wednesday 26 October 2022. 

A Member observed that this was the same day as a planned Community Impact Day, and it was agreed that an alternate date be arranged for the meeting.