Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no disclosures of interest.

To submit for signature the minutes of the meeting on 10 October 2012.

All minutes are available on the Council’s website.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2012 were submitted and signed.

Report of the Community Safety Manager

The Task Group received the Strategic Assessment for Development Plans 2013/14.

The Chair explained that the document would help the Task Group to understand the strategic direction of the partnership.  The Task Group needed to ensure it was happy with the strategic plan and offer any guidance it felt relevant.

The Executive Director advised that she was also the Chair of the Community Safety Partnership.  She explained that the annual assessment was carried out by the County Council.  The assessment was then forwarded to the partnership to review.  The assessment helped in the development of the priorities and action plan.  There were no major changes proposed as a result of the assessment.  Each priority had a strategic and operational lead.  The action plan would be agreed at the partnerships meeting in March.  She advised that Chief Inspector Caveney would be able to provide the most up to date statistics.  It was important to note that the figures in the strategic review went from mid year to mid year.  The partnership had seen an improvement in all areas.  Crime continued to fall.  There was good partnership working.

Chief Inspector Caveney informed the Task Group that all priorities under ‘Reduce crime in priority areas’ had seen a reduction in crime.  Year on year, vehicle crime had seen a reduction just under 35%.  Theft from person, this did not include any violence against the person, was a challenging area but had a reduction just under 6%.  Scan-net had been introduced in the Town Centre for use by the pubs and clubs.  It was partly funded by the partnership.  Since its introduction in December it had already had a positive effect.  It was a visible device and acted as a deterrent.  He explained how the system worked.  It was able to scan 1500 different types of identification and check against set parameters for forgeries.

Chief Inspector Caveney confirmed that all the Town Centre premises had access to the system and that it was able to identify people banned in other venues.  It was linked locally and nationally.  It was intended that the Police would also obtain a machine.  It would assist with the prevention of violent crime.  The licence holders held the licences for the machines.  Data Protection was covered within the licence from the company.  It was part of the conditions of entry to venues.

Chief Inspector Caveney advised that the reduction of violent crime was also challenging.  The performance of this priority fluctuated.  Currently the trend towards March was positive.  The improvement was due to policing in the town and other initiatives, including the scanner.  He informed the Task Group that there had been just under 35% reduction in domestic burglaries.

Kate Moore, from the County Community Safety Unit, stated that a lot of positive work on alcohol had been carried out.

The Community Safety Manager informed Members that incidents of anti-social behaviour were down by 32% compared to the previous year.  Chief Inspector Caveney added that this was the second highest  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

The Task Group received a copy of a presentation given by the Police and Crime Commissioner to the Police and Crime Panel.

The Chair considered that it was too early to see if the Police and Crime Commissioner had had any impact on Community Safety. 

Chief Inspector Caveney advised that there was a clear distinction between the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Police service. 

The Executive Director advised that a representative from the Commissioner’s office attended the Community Safety Partnership.  The Mayor was a member of the Police and Crime Panel which scrutinised the work of the Commissioner.  The Community Safety Partnership had put together information for the Commissioner highlighting areas of concern and where money was needed.  A dialogue had started and she hoped that it would continue.  Following a question from Councillor McLeod, the Executive Director advised that they were waiting for a date to meet with the Commissioner.

Following a question from Councillor Aron about the back up of officers following the redeployment of others, Chief Inspector Caveney explained that his role was to ensure that resources were deployed appropriately.  There were times when officers were drawn from one area to cover another.  If a gap were left then appropriate cover would need to be put in place.

Councillor Khan noted that the last Panel was held in Borehamwood and the next would be held in Three Rivers.  He asked when it was due to visit Watford. 

The Executive Director stated that she would find out for Members.

The Chair suggested that when it did come to Watford Councillors should attend.

RESOLVED –

that the presentation be noted.

The Task Group has a rolling work programme which will continue into the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

Members are asked to consider the outstanding suggestions for the Task Group and recommend items for inclusion in the work programme going forward. This could include follow-up reports on topics the Task Group has looked at.

The work programme and outstanding suggestions are attached to the agenda.

The Task Group received the latest work programme and two scrutiny proposals from councillors.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer explained that the work programme set out the work carried out during the year and the plans for 2013/14.

The Chair commented that the task Group had focused on one major topic this year and felt that the Task Group should do the same for the following year.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer referred Members to the two scrutiny suggestions which had been outstanding for some time.  She asked the Task Group to review each one and consider whether it should be taken forward.

Involvement of residents and tenants’ association to identify community safety issues

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer briefly outlined the scrutiny proposal.  She said that she had some concerns how it might be carried out.  She advised that Councillor Meerabux, who had proposed the suggestion, would be able to explain the reasons for his proposal.

Councillor Meerabux advised that having spoken to different groups across the town, it was felt there was a lack of connectivity.  Community cohesiveness was important.  Neighbourhood Forums were poorly attended.  He felt that his suggestion would show that groups’ views were taken seriously. 

Councillor Aron said that having looked at the suggestion, this already happened within her ward.  They held Neighbourhood Forums, they circulated newsletters and residents knew how to contact their local councillors.  She also regularly met with the local residents’ associations.  She would not want the Task Group to hinder the work carried out by the councillors in their wards; it could damage relationships.

Councillor Khan suggested that an outcome might be to identify how the hard to reach communities were involved.  It might be possible to ask the Chairs of groups to attend the Task Group and give evidence. 

Councillor McLeod said that the residents’ association within her ward no longer existed.  She envisaged that it might be difficult for the PCSOs to reach residents.  One question would be whether the Police felt they had sufficient contacts within the wards. 

The Executive Director suggested that the proposal was about engagement with different parts of the community and how it might be improved.

It was suggested that a questionnaire could be drawn up and circulated.  Councillor McLeod recommended that there should be three slightly different formats, one for PCSOs and the Police, one for Councillors and a third one for residents and tenants’ associations.

It was agreed that this should be started immediately and the results would be presented to the first meeting in the new Municipal Year and a decision made on how to proceed.

The Probation Service and the support of ex-offenders

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer introduced the second scrutiny suggestion which had been proposed by Councillor McLeod.

Councillor McLeod explained that she had attended a course about ex-offenders.  It had come to her attention that Watford Borough Council did not have any policies about ex-offenders. 

The Executive Director advised that she was on the strategic board that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Each year a report is produced of the scrutiny work undertaken by councillors and the Community Safety Partnership Task Group contributes to the report.

The Task Group is asked to consider what they wish to highlight in the report.

The Committee and Scrutiny Officer reminded the Task Group that the Scrutiny Annual Report would include a section about the Community Safety Partnership Task Group.  The Chair would be asked to provide a comment.  She asked Members to consider whether there were any specific matters they wanted to include.  The draft content would be circulated to the Task Group prior to its inclusion in the final document.