Minutes:
The Portfolio Holder updated the Committee as follows:
Since the last meeting LBB had hosted the Crime Summit which was a great success. The Portfolio Holder thanked those who had attended.
On September 12th the Portfolio Holder chaired the meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership; the minutes of the SBP meeting had been incorporated into the PP&E PDS agenda pack. At the SBP meeting, LBB’s MOPAC (Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) specific point of contact (SPOC) advised that out of £14m from MOPAC’s ‘Violence Reduction Unit’, LBB would receive £50k for this financial year and another £50k for 2020/21. The Portfolio Holder expressed the view that this was a rather small allocation from a fund of £14m.
The Portfolio Holder stated that MOPAC had spent over a year debating who would be leading the VRU, and in working out the Unit’s terms of reference, but had only given Bromley Council two weeks notice to submit proposals for what the money should be spent on. Resultantly, the Assistant Director for Public Protection and Enforcement and others had to work right up until the last moment to finalise the proposals.
In brief, the proposals were:
· £21k to be spent on the targeted mentoring of the younger siblings of young people who had been involved in serious youth violence, or who had been referred to the MEGA Panel.
· £6k for the development of a peer mentoring offer to local schools
· £13k to be spent on focused themed and diversionary activities to engage young people who it was felt may be at risk, or who may be heading towards serious youth violence. This could include activities during the school holidays, external tutors, sports or music activities; it could also include building relationships with youth workers who may be able to help the young people to develop their employability skills
· £10k would be allocated to school work in Penge, Anerley and the Crystal Palace areas. The work would centre on building relationships and signposting young people to various local youth provisions
The Portfolio Holder stated that if the Chairman desired that the success or otherwise of these initiatives be scrutinised going forward, then she would be happy to provide future updates to the Committee.
As part of Children’s Social Care Practice week in September, all the Portfolio Holders and PDS Chairmen were asked to observe Children’s Social Care Practioners in action. There were forty different opportunities to observe. The Portfolio Holder felt it would be best if she observed the activity most closely linked to the work of the PP&E PDS Committee, and so she attended a MEGA Panel meeting.
She explained that ‘MEGA’ stood for ‘Multi Agency Exploitation and Gangs Affiliation’ and was made up of various agencies, including representatives from the Police, Social Workers, Youth Workers, Oxleas and LBB’s Gangs and Serious Youth Violence Officer. Due to the large number of attendees, the meeting had to be held in the Council Chamber.
The Portfolio Holder explained that the meetings were held monthly; the various agencies gathered together to discuss the young people who were on the list and who were being monitored. The panel would assess each case, and also assess how each individual could be supported, and if any interventions were required. There were nine young people on the list who were being monitored for potential gang activity, and six young people that were on the list as they were in danger of potential Child Sexual Exploitation. Eleven young people were at risk of going missing which meant that there could be a link to ‘County Lines’.
The Portfolio Holder was saddened by some of the cases that she was made aware of, but took heart that in Bromley there were agencies that were reaching out to help and protect vulnerable young people. The Portfolio Holder had attended a workshop at the Bromley Adult Safeguarding Board Conference at the Warren about the difference between modern day slavery and people trafficking and what the signs were to look out for that may indicate that one of these situations may be occurring.
The Portfolio Holder informed the Committee that she had recently attended a meeting with relevant parties to discuss the possibility of the Chislehurst Society funding and managing their own CCTV in Chislehurst High Street.
The Committee heard that the Portfolio Holder had recently attended a meeting with the Palace Estate Residents’ Association to discuss crime in the local area. Also attending the meeting was LBB’s Community Safety Manager, Councillors and the local Safer Neighbourhood Team.
The Portfolio Holder was present at the commencement of the Bromley Town Walkabout with BCU Commander David Stringer. It was noted that the newly reinstated Bromley Town Centre Police Team had started back to work the previous week.
BYC (Bromley Youth Council) had undertaken a sponsored walk from London City Hall to Bromley Civic Centre to raise money for the Jimmy Mizen Foundation. The Portfolio Holder and the Deputy Leader had met up with BYC at the Old Palace Function Room. Jimmy’s parents were there, and the Portfolio Holder said that it was very humbling to meet them and chat with them. Also, it was noted that the Bromley SNB (Safer Neighbourhood Board) had successfully bid for some money for the BYC to arrange some Jimmy Mizen workshops in Bromley.
The Portfolio Holder was in Devon when the tragic bus crash occurred in Orpington. The Assistant Director for Public Protection and the Emergency Planning Lead attended the resultant Gold Group meeting. Since then, LBB’s Road Traffic Officers had been out with the police to assess the road layout and condition; in the meantime the Coroner’s report and recommendations were awaited.
The Portfolio Holder missed the last Star Lane Working Group meeting because it was her mother’s 70th birthday, but essentially the trial closure had been a great success and LBB would be looking at ways to make this road closure permanent.
The Portfolio Holder mentioned the public discussions that were going to be held in the near future with residents to discuss the Council’s budget for the next financial year and what their key concerns are.
The Portfolio Holder stated that BYC had invited her to answer questions at their Knife Prevention Youth Conference which would be held at the Warren later in November.
The Chairman thanked the Portfolio Holder for her update.
RESOLVED that the update from the Portfolio Holder is noted.