A verbal update will be received from the Chairman of the Partnership, Councillor Kate Lymer.
Minutes:
The Chairman referred to her attendance at the September Crime Summit and that the event had been a great success and was well attended.
The Chairman advised the Partnership that out of £14m from MOPAC’s (Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) ‘Violence Reduction Unit’, LBB would receive just £50k for this financial year and another £50k for 2020/21. The Chairman expressed the view that this was a rather small allocation from a fund of £14m.
The Chairman 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.
As part of Children’s Social Care Practice week in September, all the Portfolio Holders and PDS (Policy Development and Scrutiny) Chairmen were asked to observe Children’s Social Care Practioners in action. There were forty different opportunities to observe. The Chairman (acting in her capacity as the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement) felt it would be appropriate if she observed the activity most closely linked to the work of the Public Protection & Enforcement 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 Chairman explained that the MEGA 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 related 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 Chairman asked LBB’s Gangs and Serious Youth Violence Officer if she could check if such a visit would be open to other members of the Partnership.
The Chairman 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 private CCTV in Chislehurst High Street. The Chairman had also attended a conference at the Warren run by the BSAB (Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board) which looked at the issues of modern slavery and human trafficking.
The Chairman said that she had recently attended a meeting with the Palace Estate Residents’ Association to discuss crime in the local area. Also attending the meeting were LBB’s Community Safety Manager, Councillors and the local Safer Neighbourhood Team. Residents had expressed concern about the old Conservative Club building in Elmfield Road which had been used by squatters and had become a hotspot for crime. The police were increasing patrols in the area; other issues that were being looked at included better use of lighting and CCTV.
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 Chairman and the Deputy Leader had met up with BYC at the Old Palace Function Room. Jimmy’s parents were there, and the Chairman said that it was very humbling to meet them and chat with them
The Chairman 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 Chairman mentioned the public discussions that had been held recently with residents to discuss the Council’s budget for the next financial year and what their key concerns were. It was noted that it was a statutory duty for the Council to balance its budget.
RESOLVED that the Chairman’s update is noted, and that the Gangs and Serious Youth Violence Officer find out if other Partnership members would be allowed to attend a meeting of the children’s MEGA panel.