There were no apologies for absence.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting on 6 December 2011 to be submitted for signature.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 December were submitted and signed.

The Community Safety Manager and the Anti Social Behaviour Coordinator will be in attendance to make a presentation to the Task Group on the issues raised at the last meeting and to answer Members’ questions.

The Chair invited the Antisocial Behaviour Coordinator to give an overview of antisocial behaviour in the borough. Members would then have the opportunity to ask questions.

The Antisocial Behaviour Coordinator explained that it was his role to respond to emerging issues in antisocial behaviour. It was an interesting time as the government were looking to bring in changes to antisocial behaviour legislation. The new regime had not yet come in and he offered to return to the Task Group to talk about the changes at a later date.

He explained that there were three main categories of antisocial behaviour-

1. Environmental. This covered offences including graffiti and criminal damage and anything which had a negative impact on the environment.

2. Nuisance. This involved actions which had an effect on other people and could include loud music late at night, noisy DIY and people spilling out from parties. The Antisocial Behaviour Coordinator added that the most important aspect of this category in Watford was parking offences.

3. Personal. This category was a high priority and involved protecting vulnerable individuals. Repeat offences were monitored through the logs of complaints. The reporting system was the Police non-emergency telephone number (101). From these logs officers could see the areas or the people most involved in antisocial behaviour.

The Antisocial Behaviour Coordinator referred to the ranking of Albert Road South as the fourth highest street in Britain for crime and antisocial behaviour. He noted that the largest nightclub in the county was located on the road. He also explained that Albert Road South was used as a reference point in Police logs which added to the frequency of its use. Sainsbury’s was also located on this road and any thefts, counterfeit banknotes and car offences which took place there were also on Albert Road South. Finally the taxi rank was also in the car park and this added to the location being used for reporting offences.

He referred to the problems in Rosslyn Road. Investigation had shown that antisocial behaviour levels were not as high but concentrated around a type of antisocial behaviour due to the Gade car park. Since the construction of Wilmington Crescent alongside the car park, reporting had increased as there were now residents who could see into the car park.

The Antisocial Behaviour Coordinator noted the impact of the Olympics which was likely to bring additional people into the town.

The Antisocial Behaviour Coordinator reported that antisocial behaviour had decreased by 17 percent this year and this was the fifth successive year of reductions. 

He referred to the work of the Antisocial Behaviour Action Group (ASBAG) which was a multi-agency group of up to 32 professionals who met monthly. He invited councillors to come and observe the meeting which took place on the last Monday of each month.

The Antisocial Behaviour Coordinator turned to the specific issues raised by the Task Group at their last meeting. He noted that councillors had expressed concerns about St Albans Road and explained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Members are asked to confirm any specific issues that they would like addressed at the next meeting.

The Task Group discussed the programme for the meeting in March. Key questions for the drug and alcohol treatment topic were; how can the Council feed in to the strategy? How do the different agencies work together?

The Chair suggested that all councillors be emailed to ask their views on the priorities for their neighbourhoods.

Councillor Khan suggested that the new Chief Inspector be invited to the next meeting.

Councillor Martins agreed and noted the Task Group should ask about the Olympics and his priorities.

It was agreed that the drug and alcohol treatment topic be moved to the 2012/13 work programme.

ACTION- The Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer to invite the Police to the meeting in March

The annual report of the work of the scrutiny committees and task groups will be agreed by Overview and Scrutiny in March. Members are asked to contribute any ideas that they would like to be included in the Community Safety Partnership Task Group’s section of the report.

The Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer circulated the extract from the 2010/11 report related to the work of the Community Safety Partnership Task Group.

·        6 March 2012 at 6.30 p.m.

Tuesday 6 March 2012 at 6.30 p.m.