Agenda and minutes

Chris Line, LFB Borough Commander took the chair for the meeting. He proposed that in future there should be a co-chairs panel of three people of equal status, comprising the current co-chairs and Vice-Chairman – Louise Watkinson, Superintendent Luke Baldock and himself. This was supported by all present.

RESOLVED that the new co-chairs panel arrangements be approved.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Angela Page, Sharon Baldwin, Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain, Rhian Courtney Butson,

Mimi Morris-Cotterill, Sarah Newman, Finola O’Driscoll, Rob Vale, Louise Watkinson, Vicky West, Rachel Dunley and Emily Wren.

The notes of the last meeting held on 6^th December 2023 were received.

RESOLVED that the minutes be approved.

The Matters Arising report was noted. Minute 86, concerning the format of SBP meetings, would be addressed as part of item 10 on the agenda.

The Board received the February 2024 Crime Update, summarising Violence with Injury, Knife Crime, Robbery - Personal Property, Sexual Offences, Hate Crime, Domestic Abuse, Domestic Burglary, Vehicle Offences and Shoplifting.

Shoplifting was becoming a more significant issue across London, often associated with increasing levels of violence and intimidation. The Bromley Retail Crime Group had agreed a number of measures to combat this, including trying to identify prolific offenders. It was suggested that smaller retailers needed to be involved in this as well as the larger stores and chains

Car theft continued to be a problem, with more sophisticated methods of cloning keys. This was a national problem which needed a London-wide approach from the Met.

Although there had been an increase in stabbings in the past year, this was from a low base-line. Data from Hospital Emergency Departments needed to be fed into the debate. Knife crime was clearly more prevalent in the north west of the borough. Penge, Crystal Palace and the Park were under pressure regarding knife crime, and this was an area where five boroughs met so coordination was vital. The Police had met with the Crystal Palace Park Trust to discuss improved lighting in the Park, and local sergeants were working with colleagues in Croydon, Lewisham and Southwark. A new computer system had gone live the previous day which would assist in getting a clearer picture of what was happening across the area which would in turn lead to better targeting of resources. 

Paul Sibun offered to facilitate contacts with healthcare on these issues. The ICB was attempting to liaise with Redthread, to ascertain whether they could provide Youth support worker provision at the PRUH – currently only the Denmark Hill and Queen Elizabeth Hospital sites were so supported in South-East London, however data, was needed to evidence the need. There was general support for this application.

Sharon Baldwin commented on the knife crime figures. There was a complex picture, with 71 of the 311 incidents resulting in an injury, and 29 of these incidents involved domestic violence, so this was not just about strangers being attacked. There was a lot of work going on such as with retailers on preventing access to knives, supporting the community to respond where incidents occurred, and identifying young people at risk of exploitation with the help of Redthread. Working with the British Transport Police was an important component, understanding the travel networks with surrounding boroughs. Offences in Bromley were increasing, but were still much lower than the London average. Superintendent Baldock asked that data be fed through him to the Police’s performance analysts.

The Board received a report from Karen Proudfoot on the renewal of Bromley’s Public Spaces Protection Order. The Order covered the whole borough and related to anti-social behaviour resulting from drinking or psychoactive substances, and urination and defecation in public. The order did not ban all drinking in public – a breach occurred if an individual refused to stop drinking or surrender their alcohol to a Police Officer or a designated Council officer. Fixed Penalty Notices could be issued, and there was a maximum fine of £1k on conviction.

These Orders were in place for a maximum of three years; Bromley’s Order was due to expire on 31 March 2024. The Council intended to renew the Order for a further three years to prevent this anti-social behaviour from increasing again. It was challenging finding data to support the case for renewing the order, but a public consultation had produced seventeen comments in favour and only two against.

Some funding had been allocated to refresh the signage linked to the Order, which was mainly sited at key locations such as town centres. It was suggested that social media targeted at young people would be an effective way to publicise the Order.

RESOLVED that progress towards renewing the PSPO be noted and supported.

The Board received the Q3 (October-December) update on the Bromley Community Safety Partnership Strategy. Karen Proudfoot stated that there were not many updates to report, and she appealed for partners to pro-actively let her know of any updates in future.

The Board received an update on the Safer Neighbourhood Board.

The next project being delivered was the ASB Conference at Bromley Football Club on 11^th March. Invitations had been sent out and there was a link to Eventbrite in the report. Karen Proudfoot would arrange for details to be circulated to other partners.

Jamie O’Malley, Domestic Abuse Strategic Lead Officer, gave a presentation on the Partnership’s vision of “Making Domestic Abuse Everyone’s Business.” She set out the five priorities, outlined recent successes, listed the challenges and concluded with the next steps – to ensure that domestic abuse was tackled through the Safer Bromley Strategy 2024-27 and that actions outstanding from the current strategy were incorporated into the Safer Bromley Strategy Delivery plans for monitoring by the Partnership. Although Jamie was coordinating the work, there was a clear responsibility for all agencies to take responsibility for this issue – governance changes were being made to support this.

Paul Sibun expressed concern that the proposal from last year, to bring the responsibilities of the Bromley Domestic Abuse Strategic Group into this Board, was going to go ahead and stated that there was a danger that the Domestic Abuse agenda would be diluted by so doing - the Partnership Board could not go into the level of detail required, or bring in all the people who needed to be involved.

The chair indicated that the governance for this proposal would be discussed in the next item and that the Chair’s group would consider the concerns expressed prior to the next meeting.

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

Karen Proudfoot introduced a report on the development of the Safer Bromley Partnership Strategy 2024-27, including the Community Safety Strategic Assessment 2023, the draft Strategy and the draft Communications and Engagement Plan. It was intended that the Strategy would be held largely on-line rather than in paper form.

It was intended that meeting arrangements would be streamlined and clear governance arrangements put in place. The proposals included three delivery groups for Prevention, Safer People and Safer Places, with membership determined by need. Task and finish groups would be set up as necessary. The meeting was asked for any further comments on the draft Strategy.

Chris Line emphasised that it was important to look at the delivery structure and assess who in the various partnership organisations were the best placed to serve on these groups. Karen Proudfoot was keen to get meeting dates in the diary, and the co-chairs group had committed to attending all the first meetings. An initial delivery plans spreadsheet had been drawn up – any further recommendations on this should be fed through to Karen Proudfoot.

An important aspect of the delivery plans was to understand the resources required, with funding from MOPAC and other sources, and when additional resources were needed for particular projects, and also the risks and mitigating measures.  Superintendent Baldock stated that a multi-agency team was being established for problem solving, looking for innovative solutions and creative funding solutions.

Christopher Evans supported many of the proposals, but commented that data and benchmarking were critical and that it was important that outcomes were measured, rather than just activity. He also commented that activity needed to be public-facing and an annual report addressed to the wider community was needed. Karen Proudfoot confirmed that all documents relating to the Partnership and the Strategy would be brought together in one website, and an annual report would be produced which would feed through the Delivery Groups to the Partnership and then on to the PDS Committee. However, resources to do this were limited.

The issue of funding was discussed. The Strategy had no reference to funding or resources and the Board had no direct funding, so it was vital that the best partner to access funds was identified, and that plans were re-assessed if funding could not be found. As far as possible, activity should be mainstreamed within the normal activities of partners. There needed to be a clear understanding of what data should be collected so that resources were not wasted. There was some certainty about MOPAC funding to March 2025, but the GLA/Mayoral election in May 2024 meant that there was less certainty about the longer term position.  There was no funding for new responsibilities in the next legislation (the Criminal Justice Bill.)

In concluding the debate, Chris Line stated that it was necessary to articulate and promote the benefits of partnership and communicate well, both within the partnership and to the public. He particularly thanked Karen Proudfoot for her work in bringing the new strategy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 102.

Helen Andrews gave a presentation on Community Impact Days. These were held once a month across locations in Mottingham, Penge, St Mary Cray and St Paul’s Cray. They brought together various teams from across the Council and other partners and agencies to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and enhance the quality of life and visual appearance of these areas. Community Impact Days were well supported by partners and by local ward councillors, but there was a need to promote the benefits and outcomes and ensure that the days remained effective and relevant to communities. The days offered an opportunity for other teams and agencies to promote their work and engage with the public. However, this took a lot of organisation which needed to be streamlined wherever possible. Smaller events at more widespread locations were being considered.

Opportunities for linking to other events were raised. These included working with the Children and Family Centres and Youth Hubs. Elaine Beadle mentioned the Road Safety Team’s ‘Dr Bike’ events at Norman Park. Karen Proudfoot would coordinate a calendar of future events. 

The latest update of the Risk Register was noted.

The Board considered its Forward Plan for meetings in 2024/25. This needed to be populated with more items and events. The current agenda was fairly full so the item on Domestic Abuse Protection Notices and Orders had been deferred until the next meeting in May. Chris Line suggested that having a break then resuming the meeting after lunch could be considered. He also mentioned that the issue of whether Board meetings should continue to be held in public, and how to report in to the PDS Committee was still being considered.

In terms of other business, Superintendent Baldock reported that the Angiolini Report into the killing of Sarah Everard by off-duty Police Officer Wayne Couzens was due to be published that day – he would be available to discuss this outside the meeting. He also mentioned that a facial recognition event was being held in Bromley town centre on 7^th March.

David Dare reported that he would circulate details of two events to partners –

(i)  National Child Exploitation Awareness Day on 18^th March;

(ii)  World Social Work Day on 19^th March.

Amanda Mumford reported on the upcoming Combatting Drugs and Alcohol event to which all were welcome, and that the Substance and Alcohol Service would be relocating to Farwig Lane in Bromley.