Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the notes of the meeting held on 25 March 2025were a correct record.

1.    Mr Shafick Peerbux (Head of Community Safety, KCC) nominated and Mr Mark Rolfe (Head of Community Protection, KCC) seconded, Mr John Rivers as Vice-Chair of the Kent Community Safety Partnership.

2.    There were no other nominations. 

RESOLVED that Mr John Rivers be elected Vice-Chair of the Kent Community Safety Partnership

1.    Mr Peerbux explained that the Kent Community Safety Agreement (CSA) was a statutory document that outlined the key community safety priorities for the county along with the cross-cutting themes, which supported identified priorities. It was a rolling document which was reviewed and refreshed annually.

2.    Ms Shirley Brinson (Community Safety Team Leader, KCC) said that her team had been working with partner organisations over the last few months to produce the action plan which supported the priorities in the Community Safety Agreement and included work to strengthen the actions and also accountability.  They worked closely with representatives from other multi-agency groups and strategies including the Domestic and Sexual Abuse Executive Group, the Kent and Medway Safer Roads Partnership, the Substance Misuse Alliance, the Joint Exploitation Group, the Prevent Duty Delivery Board, Safeguarding Boards/Partnerships, the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) etc.

3.    Work was ongoing to deliver against the actions set out in the action plan with work being developed for delivery throughout the year and a number of actions have already been implemented, such as the delivery of a stalking webinar and domestic homicide review learning webinars.

4.    The action plan is a live document which enables it to be developed throughout the year to include any new actions or projects funded by the PCCs Crime Reduction Grant funding once approved. The action plan is monitored by the KCSP Working Group.

5.    Mr Peerbux highlighted the substantial amount of work that had gone into the production of the action plan and thanked Ms Brinson, the KCSP Working Group and partners for their efforts.

6.    Mr Peerbux talked about the upcoming Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee; a requirement set out in the Police and Justice Act (2006) to review and scrutinise the work of the Partnership on an annual basis. Its next meeting was due to take place on the 2^nd of October 2025 and the Chair of the Partnership, alongside representatives of key agencies would attend to represent the Partnership and respond to any queries raised by the Committee. Mr Peerbux explained that a detailed report and a presentation has been developed with partners to present to the Committee.

RESOLVED that the Kent Community Safety Partnership (KCSP):

·         Note the refreshed action plan which supports delivery of the refreshed Community Safety Agreement. 

·         Provide feedback on the content of the draft action plan via email to kentcommunitysafetyteam@kent.gov.uk(KCST) by 8th August 2025, or at any time in-year if new actions emerge.

1.  Mr Peerbux explained that the KCSP is supported by the multi-agency KCSP Working Group whose remit was to prepare and monitor the Community Safety Agreement, including the action plan and performance reports, as well as managing any funding on behalf of the Partnership.

2.  The position of Chair for the KCSP Working Group had been vacant, following the departure of Mark Powell, Director of the Violence Reduction Unit. Mr Stephen Perez, Community Intelligence and Partnerships Lead at Kent Fire and Rescue Service was elected as Chair of the KCSP Working Group at their last meeting on 15^th July.

3.  Mr Peerbux said that the Crime Reduction Grant funding allocation to the KCSP for 2025/26 by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) had remained the same as in previous years, which is £39,661. As usual, a third of the funding (£13,221) had been allocated to a Tactical Pot for in-year spending, with the remaining two-thirds (£26,440) was available for upfront project spend. The tactical pot would be accessible once all the upfront business case projects had been approved.

4.  Six project proposals were submitted, and their project leads invited to the working group to present and answer any questions in relation to the projects. The project proposals were then discussed and agreed by the Working Group, Vice-Chair of the Partnership (in the absence of a Chair) and submitted to the Police and Crime Commissioner for approval. These were:

·         Hateful Extremism Learning Event

·         Countering the Extreme Right-Wing Training

·         Kent Community Domestic Abuse Champions – Branding & Resources

·         Teacher in Your Pocket (TEPO) – Scams Module

·         Responsible Authority Training on the Licensing Act 2003

·         Workshop – Involving men and boys in discussion of Violence Against Women and Girls.

5.  All six projects had received approval from the PCC and Mr Peerbux advised that we are liaising with partners to explore potential projects for funding through the tactical pot and would like to encourage partners to send any suggestions of projects to the Kent Community Safety Team.

6.  Mr Peerbux said that his report included some of the activities which have been undertaken by the Kent Community Safety Team (KCST).

7.  These included the bulletins that the KCST produced on a monthly basis and that contained numerous updates and information relevant to community safety partners. The KCST also organised lunchtime Community Safety Information Sessions, with eight sessions delivered to about 35 to 40 community safety practitioners at each session last year. This year, three sessions had already been delivered and included themes such as the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum, stalking in the workplace and anti-social behaviour. The KCST undertake a huge amount of work in relation to domestic homicide reviews / domestic abuse related death reviews ranging from case management, publication of cases and sharing the learning from the reviews.

8.  Mr Peerbux highlighted that he attended the Police's Strategic Prevention Command Awards the previous month and heard about the outstanding work that had been done by Kent’s police officers,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

1.  Mr Peerbux (Head of Community Safety, KCC) explained that one of the recommendations stemming from an audit a few years ago was to ensure that the KCSP regularly reviewed its terms of reference (ToR) to ensure that they would be fit for purpose and appropriate. The KCSP therefore reviewed its ToR annually, usually in July.

2.  In terms of the KCSP’s ToR, the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 will require the change of the name of ‘Domestic Homicide Reviews’ (DHRs) to ‘Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews’ (DARDRs) along with the change in criteria. As such, the ToR references the Act and acknowledges compliance once the legislation is fully enacted and new updated statutory guidance from the Home Office is issued. The remaining ToR for the KCSP had remained largely unchanged.

3.  The KCSP has two sub-groups which it was responsible for overseeing: the KCSP Working Group and the Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) Steering Group (now known as the DARDR Steering Group). Both sub-groups had reviewed their ToRs.

4.  The DARDR Steering Group recently reviewed its ToR In line with the KCSP ToR, the ‘Purpose’ had been updated to include compliance with the legislation and Home Office Statutory Guidance in relation to DARDRs once enacted and implemented.

5.  The KCSP Working Group members also reviewed its ToR. Significant changes included a new section entitled ‘Guiding Principles’ which outlined the core principles that governed the direction and actions of the KCSP Working Group. Also, the ‘Overarching Purpose’ had been expanded to align with the new Guiding Principles sections.

RESOLVED that Members of the Kent Community Safety Partnership (KCSP):

·           Agree the Terms of Reference for the KCSP and the two subgroups (KCSP Working Group and the DARDR Steering Groups) Terms of Reference.

·           Ensure that all KCSP member organisations shown in the Terms of Reference are signed up to the latest version of the Kent and Medway Information Sharing Agreement.

·           Note that the Terms of Reference for the KCSP and its subgroups will be reviewed annually and included as an agenda item at least once a year.

1.  DI James Ross (Kent Police) provided a verbal update. The Safer Streets Summer Initiative was a government initiative aimed at reducing crime and anti-social behaviour in town centres across England and Wales. It ran from 30 June until 30 September 2025 and involved over 500 town centres and high streets.

2.  The initiative focused on three strands: visibility, prevention, and enforcement. These aimed at reducing criminality, shop theft, street crime and ASB. It included increased police patrols, local action to tackle high street crime, and targeted enforcement powers. It was part of the government's Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which aimed to address high street crime and restore faith in police by increasing the presence of police officers in every community. The Initiative was led by Police and Crime Commissioners and was supported by the Home Office in partnership with Chief Constables and other partner organisation such as councils, schools, health services, business, transport and community groups.

3.  In terms of visibility, Beat Teams were visible and accessible in local communities. In terms of prevention. Also, the active engagement with local communities through platforms like My Community Voice, Facebook, and X ensured timely and accessible updates on local policing activity. This digital approach reinforced the visibility of community facing officers and supported the Safer Streets initiative to reduce crime and improve public confidence.

4.  In terms of prevention, Kent Police promoted multi-agency youth engagement initiatives across the county, focusing on safeguarding, diversionary activities, and proactive interventions to reduce ASB among young people. This included the promotion by the Child Centred Policing Team of early intervention to support young people. The Team would visit schools and local education establishments to support young victims and target those at risk of offending.

5.  Mr David Paul (Chief Executive, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner) explained that the Commissioner had agreed with the Home Office and with Kent Police that the public Performance and Delivery Board meeting in September 2025, would assess how effective the Safer Summer Streets initiative was in the interest of public scrutiny and will share the findings with the Home Office.

RESOLVED that the Kent Community Safety Partnership note the Safer Summer and Hotspot Policing Plan Update.

1.  Ms Iona Hunter-Whitehouse (Domestic Abuse Projects & Partnerships Team Lead, KCC) and Ms Rachel Westlake (Senior Commissioner, Adult Social Care and Health, KCC) provided a verbal update and delivered a presentation. They explained that their presentation focused on the specific topics and issues that were covered in the Partnerships, Community Safety Agreement action plan and their key updates around commissioning.

2.  Ms Hunter-Whitehouse said that in 2021 a new Domestic Abuse Act (2021) was introduced and, amongst other things, introduced the statutory duty to assess need around domestic abuse, publish a strategy and commission support services for people who were residing in safe accommodation.

3.  In Kent and Medway, there were more than 60,000 people who experienced domestic abuse every year. One in five calls to Kent Police were in relation to domestic abuse.

4.  Several agencies, including KCC, District/Borough Councils, Kent Police, the OPCC, the Kent Fire and Rescue Service and the Department for Work and Pensions were involved in the Kent and Medway Partnership Domestic Abuse Strategy. They worked together to ensure that there was a coordinated response that was effective in safeguarding victims, but also in holding perpetrators to account.

5.  The Strategy consisted of three pillars: Early Intervention and Prevention, Immediate Needs and Recovery.

6.  In terms of Early Intervention and Prevention, it was crucial to increase awareness. Partnership work could promote coordinated campaigns that simplified and amplified awareness around domestic abuse. There was a partnership campaign. that provided a monthly calendar of campaign assets that were available for any of the partners to use.

7.  In terms of Immediate Needs, Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs) brought professionals together to discuss the highest risk victims and create risk reduction plans. After a series of reviews found weaknesses in the system, a new MARAC Hub process was launched in April 2025. As a result, a new online Case Management System was developed where referrals are easily and speedily retrievable by all organisations that are members of MARAC.

8.  Ms Westlake discussed some of the services in Kent that supported the Kent and Medway Domestic Abuse Strategy 2024-29. The main commissioning support service was the Kent Integrated Domestic Abuse Service (KIDAS). This was a well-established service that was funded by KCC, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, Kent Fire and Rescue and District/Borough Councils.
This service provided support for domestic abuse refuges providing a variety of accommodations across the county. Last year, 240 adults and 197 accompanying children were supported in the refuges in Kent. The KIDAS service also provided support, delivered by Outreach Workers; to individuals who remained in their own homes.

9.  Since the Domestic Abuse Act came into force in 2021, several new services had been developed to address gaps in service provision. One such gap identified was a stronger safe accommodation offer for men. As a result, a male refuge service opened in December 2023 and offers 3 bed spaces for men and their children.

10.  Another smaller but successful  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

RESOLVED that the KCSP note the dates of future meetings.

1.  Mr Peerbux provided an update on the Kent and Medway Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (DARDRs) cases including recently published case of Rita 2022, updates from the DARDR Steering Group in relation to policy and procedures, funding, sharing of lessons identified as well as details of national DARDR meetings/forums.

2.  The published DARDR cases can be found on the Kent.gov website using the link below:

https://www.kent.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/information-for-social-care-professionals/adult-safeguarding-for-professionals/domestic-abuse-related-death-reviews

RESOLVED that the Kent Community Safety Partnership:

·         Note the updates within this report and progress on all cases.

·         Note the plans for continued online learning events.

·         Continue to ensure that their Chief Officers are sighted on the potential increase of 40% to DARDR contributions for 2026/27 should lobbying central government for funding be unsuccessful.

·         Note the risks to the current funding model.

1. Mr Jess Harman (Prevent Coordinator, Prevent, KCC)) provided a verbal update on the local and national context in relation to the Prevent Duty.

RESOLVED that the Kent Community Safety Partnership note the update on the activity in regard to the Prevent Duty.