Kent County Council Community Safety Unit. Presentation by Spencer Goddard
Presentation by KCC’s Community Safety Unit on their role and the scope of their work.
Minutes:
Spencer outlined the work of the Community Safety Unit at County Hall and in particular how their work links directly to the Local Area Agreement and KCC’s ‘Towards 2010 Strong & Safer Communities’ targets. He described how the unit includes Community Wardens, Handyvan, Community Safety Training, Safe Schools, Safe Travel and tackling Domestic Abuse. They also support the 11 Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP) across Kent whose statutory partners include, the Districts, Kent Police, the Kent Police Authority, the Eastern and Costal Kent Primary Care Trust, Kent Fire & Rescue and KCC (and soon the Probation Service).
Spencer then talked in more detail about the Police & Justice Act 2006 which contains six National Standards for CDRPs, and in particular the Second National Standard that relates to intelligence-led business processes (sometimes referred to as the National Intelligence Model). This states that the work of CDRPs should be focussed upon data and intelligence from the community and how important PACTs (Partners and Communities Together) are in this process. Central government see PACTs increasingly as an excellent way in which to engage communities and encourage community cohesion.
Q. Does the Community Safety Unit draw all the public agencies together?
A. This is how KCC’s CSU attains and maintains targets and standards by working with Districts and other partners.