Agenda and draft minutes

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Town Hall

Contact: Jodie Kloss/Alan Garside  Email: legalanddemocratic@watford.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

6.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Councillors Dhindsa and Mills were absent without apologies.

7.

Disclosure of interests

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest.

 

8.

Minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2018 to be submitted and signed.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2018 were submitted and signed.

 

9.

Street homelessness

The task group to receive presentations from the Hertfordshire Constabulary and New Hope Trust about how the partnership responds to the issue of street homelessness.

Minutes:

The panel received a presentation by Inspector Simon Mason, Safer Neighbourhoods Team. The issue of homelessness was a priority for the community and had been exceptionally challenging this year. There had been a rise in the visibility of homelessness and street drinking, partly due to the hot weather.

 

The police had been continuing their work under ‘Operation Blanket’ and considered there were two groups who needed different approaches. The first was homeless people with complex needs who needed support and guidance. The second group was those whose life choices meant they were homeless. The second group was not able or willing to comply with the conditions required for them to be able to access services.

 

The police used antisocial behaviour legislation to address any criminality. This was monitored through the town centre policing team and the CCTV.  The tools that the police could use included Community Protection Notices and Criminal Behaviour Orders. These stipulated certain conditions that needed to be adhered to and if these were broken the individual could be prosecuted.  It was not straightforward to obtain these notices through the courts.

 

A high proportion of rough sleepers had complex mental health needs; many of them were not able to access the services they needed and some self-medicated with illegal drugs. There was a large number of underlying causes and rough sleeping itself further impacted their mental health. The fragility of many who were homeless meant that small events in their lives could cause a return to chaotic behaviour.

 

The police could deal with symptoms of homelessness but were not in a position to address the causes including addictions, alcohol dependence and mental health problems. They worked closely with New Hope on these issues.

 

The panel received a presentation by Steve Devine, Rough Sleeping Prevention Manager, New Hope. There were noticeable increased numbers in those presenting to New Hope as rough sleeping in Watford. This was not to say, however, that those persons were sleeping rough on the streets; a large proportion would be staying in accommodation with friends or coming in and out of the borough.  There was also an increased number of people who made a living from begging in the town and were not necessarily homeless; their lifestyle choices dictated that they did not access services. New Hope had an inclusive approach and would continue to offer services to those who had declined them in the past so that services would be available when they were ready. New Hope would always seek to meet humanitarian needs such as food and clothing for anyone who needed them. 

 

The recommended way for members of the public to report concerns about those who were rough sleeping was through the Streetlink app; in Watford these reports were sent to New Hope. The vast majority of the reports related to individuals who were known to the organisation.

 

The night shelter used to be a 28-day service but now service users were able to stay longer until suitable accommodation was available.  This  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Progress with the annual CSP plan

The community safety coordinator to update the task group with progress with the annual CSP plan.

Minutes:

The Community Safety Coordinator introduced the update. The CSP had a strategic plan for the year.  Given the large number of visitors to Watford, particularly for the night time economy, the managed risks were high.

 

The four priorities for the CSP were:

 

1.       Serious youth crime

There was a complex plan in place to address this and it covered areas including antisocial behaviour, the use of weapons and protecting vulnerable young people from gangs.

 

2.       Homelessness and begging

This had been dealt with in detail in the previous item.

 

3.  Acquisitive crimes including thefts from vehicles and burglaries

Levels of acquisitive crimes were down; this would no longer be one of the priorities of the CSP by the end of the year.

 

4. Child sexual exploitation

This had been a particular area of focus, following cases in areas such as Rotherham, the CSP wanted to be sure that there was not a similar problem in Watford.  Following work by specialist teams, it was not considered that the town had an issue where one group was grooming and exploiting young girls. Any concerns in this area related to peer-on-peer issues with young girls being attracted to the idea of gangs. Although there were issues, there was not an organised problem. The risk level was reduced but it was an area that would continue to be monitored.

 

Overall, antisocial behaviour in Watford was down 34% which was the best in Hertfordshire.  One factor in this had been increasing effectiveness of Registered Social Landlords in dealing with problems in their housing.

 

One priority going forward was to improve communication about the decreasing crime levels.  The Community Safety Coordinator was going to a number of forums to reassure residents about local issues.  The CSP often saw a spike in reports of antisocial behaviour around Halloween/Guy Fawkes Night but there had been very few issues this year.  Other than alcohol related incidents, Christmas also tended to be quiet.

 

RESOLVED 

 

that the update be noted.

 

11.

Work programme pdf icon PDF 41 KB

The task group to consider whether any change to the work programme is required.

Minutes:

The task group reviewed their work programme for 2018/19 and agreed that Soul Survivor Church need not be invited to the next meeting focusing on youth-related crime.

 

RESOLVED –

 

that the work programme be updated as agreed.                                                      

 

 

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