Agenda and minutes

The notes of the meeting held on 17 July 2013 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.  Actions from this meeting were noted.

(1)       The Partnership received a presentation from Sarah Billiald (Kent Probation) on transforming rehabilitation. The presentation included details of the Government’s reforms and the rationale behind them plus the timeline for these reforms.  She highlighted one of the key changes of the legislation which would be the establishment of 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies, Kent would be in a Community Rehabilitation Company with Surrey and Sussex and would manage approximately 14,000 cases. The interim arrangements for the period between Kent Probation ceasing to exist from 1 April 2014 and the Community Rehabilitation Company contracts being awarded from October 2014 were explained. One of the key changes would be to extend the licence for short term prisoners and Sarah set out what this would mean in practice.

(2)       Sarah answered questions and noted comments from Partners which included the following:

• In relation to the element of payment by results, In relation to the element of payment by results, Sarah confirmed payment by results was to incentivise providers to reduce reoffending
• In response to a question on whether Community Rehabilitation Companies were being encouraged to engage with public services, Sarah explained that there would be a dialogue between the Community Rehabilitation Company and the public services in its area so that the Company could decide its level of involvement.  The importance of the Company working with Partners was emphasised.
• Sarah emphasised the importance of Partners ensuring that the Ministry of Justice knew what was important for Partner organisations in Kent so that this could be included in the requirements for the Community Rehabilitation Company, e.g. working closely with KDAAT, it was not possible for the Probation Service to put this forward it had to be done by the Partners.
• Sarah explained that there would be Resettlement Units within the Prisons identified in the presentation and that non Kent Prisoners would be resettled to their home areas.
• Angela Slaven (KCC) emphasised the importance of key players including the Community Rehabilitation Company, understanding the work of the different agencies in relation to substance misuse treatment in prisons.
• In response to a question on the sort of organisation which was likely to bid to be the Community Rehabilitation Company, Sarah explained that as the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company was the 6^th largest in the Country bids were likely from the private sector as a requirement would be having £13m in accessible reserves. In addition she was leading on a bid from a mutual provider to be the Kent, Surrey & Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company. As of June there had been 90 different levels of interest from 20 community groups.  The 3 or 4 who would go through to the next stage would be announced in December 2013.

(3)       The Partnership noted the presentation.

(1)       Colin Thompson (KCC – Public Health) introduced the draft Kent Alcohol Strategy 2013-2016 which had been circulated with the papers for the meetings and sought comments from the Partnership. 

(2)       Colin Thompson and Jess Mookherjee (KCC- Public Health) answered questions and noted comments which included the following:

• Reference was made to Kent Community Alcohol Partnership (KCAP) and it was suggested that if the momentum of the partnership had slowed down then it might be timely to re-launch it.
• Jess explained that the revised strategy had retained the flavour of the previous strategy but had boosted the health and awareness elements.  It was intended to work with local Community Safety Partnerships to got local input.
• Jess acknowledged that there was a need to improve pathways to treatment and informed the Partners that awareness raising work was being carried out with GP’s which was supported by the Clinical Commissioning Groups.
• Angela Slaven advised that people who present at services with an alcohol problem are seen by treatment services within the required timescale.  There was a debate about residential treatment as this is an expensive resource.  It was acknowledged that the Strategy recognises this as an important element and an appropriate part of the available pathways to recovery.
• It was suggested that the new strategy should contain a page on what had been successful in the previous alcohol strategy to show how it had informed the new strategy.  It was important to provide continuity between the old and new strategy’s.
• In response to a question on getting feedback from previous service users, Angela assured the Partners that service users contribute to the planning, development and delivery of services and work with KDAAT commissioners in the shaping of services.

(3)       (a)       The comments made by the Partners on the Kent Alcohol Strategy were noted.

(b)       It was agreed that there would be a report to a future meeting of the Partnership on Alcohol treatment referrals from both GP’s and hospitals.

Action Angela Slaven/Jess Mookherjee

(1)       David Weiss (KCC) introduced a report which outlined the continued development of the Troubled Families Programme and reviewed progress in relation to associated action plans.

(2)       The Partners asked questions and made comments which included the following:

• The importance of ensuring that the third sector was involved with this programme was emphasised.
• An assurance was sought that as the programme progressed and dedicated workers were employed the reduction in demand on services would show a reduction in workforce and confirmation was sought that this would be measured.  David confirmed that this would be measured but that it was too early in the programme to see any reduction in staff within agencies.   It would be necessary to show that there had been savings made and duplication reduced.  Next week there would be a substantial report to the Multi Agency Steering Group that Mr Kite was a part of and this would be revisited monthly. 
• The importance of ensuring that this programme had been mainstreamed by the time that the funding came to an end was emphasised.

(3)       The Partnership noted the progress made by the Troubled Families Programme.

(1)       Chris Turner (KCJB) tabled a report on the funding of the IDVA service provision for Kent and Medway 2014.  This report also included a summary of value added work including one stop shops, a new helpline and support in magistrate and crown courts.  Chris also referred to a project for a IDVA to work with a local GP practise in each District Council area to raise  awareness of referral pathways. Confirmation of 2 year funding had been received from Medway and Kent County Councils and Kent Fire and Rescue.  The service had delivered outcomes within the first six months of operation and was an example of partnership work at its best. 

(2)       The Partners asked questions and made comments which included the following:

• Partners welcomed this excellent report.
• It was confirmed that there was an increase in reporting with more first time reporting leading to the opportunity for early intervention.  Alison Gilmour (Kent and Medway Domestic Violence Co-ordinator stated that one key issues was under reporting from the health economy. It was important to engage with GP’s and staff in Accident and Emergency which might lead to a rise in first time reporting.
• Alison confirmed that publicity for the service was placed in Children’s Centres, Libraries and Community Centres and every opportunity was taken to reach out to those who might need to access the service.
• Rob Price (Kent Police) undertook to bring data to the next meeting on first time reporting of domestic abuse which had increased by approximately 10% with repeat offending remaining stable.

Action Rob Price

(3)       The Partners noted the report.

(1)       Stuart Beaumont (KCC) introduced a report which provided the Kent Community Safety Partnership with an outline concept for joining up media campaigns over key periods. 

(2)       Sean Bone-Knell (Kent Fire and Rescue) explained that it had been too late to run a joined up winter campaign as planning for this started in March but this would be done next year.  In the meantime what was proposed was a common sense approach to presenting joined up messages to the public which would also have the benefit of potential resource savings.  Mike Stepney (PCC Office) confirmed that the Police and Crime Commissioner was in line with the joined up approach across the County.

(3)       The Partnership endorsed the media/communications approach outlined in this report for winter 2013/14 and supported the efforts of the officers in working towards a fully joint campaign for the winter of 2014/15.

The Vice-Chairman took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

(1)       Jim Parris introduced a report which reviewed progress in relation to the current Community Safety Agreement for 2011-14 and the development of the next Kent Community Safety Agreement for 2014-17.

(2)       The Partners asked questions and made comments which included the following:

• The point was made that the factor which was of the largest interest to the general public was burglary.  It was confirmed that this was mainly a matter for the Police and Community Safety Teams. In order to reduce the number of burglaries a number of strategies were applied at District and Parish level.  It was pointed out that information sharing between the partners was important in order to see whether crimes such as burglary were driven by drug addiction.  A joined up approach between the partners was important to success in reducing this type of crime.
• In relation to reducing re-offending the successful utilisation of  restorative justice was emphasised 
• The focus of the Police and Crime Commissioner on reducing burglary and other victim based crime was mentioned and her support for the Police forces approach.  She was also a support of neighbourhood watch.

(3)       The Partnership noted the progress with regard the current Community Safety Agreement.

(1)       Mr Parris introduced a report which reviewed the changes occurring within the information governance environment and their implications on Community Safety.  He drew the Partners attention to the significant fines that had been awarded by the Information Commissioner for breaches of information governance.

(2)       The Partnership noted the report and its implications for the  community safety partners. .

(1)       The Partnership received a report which briefly described the applications for funding made to the Kent Community Safety Partnership which had been reviewed and supported by the Kent Community Safety Team.  These had subsequently been approved by the Chairman of the Kent Community Safety Partnership under delegated powers and this report was provided for information purposes only.

(2)       The Partnership noted the report

Would you please note that the meetings for the Partnership will be held on the following dates in 2014. 

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Thursday 16 October 2014

All meetings will start at 10.00am and be held in the Darent Room, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone.

The Partnership noted the following dates for meetings in 2014:

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Tuesday 8 July 2014

Thursday 16 October 2014

All meetings would start at 10.00am and be held in the Darent Room, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone.

The press and public were excluded for consideration of the following business.

(1)       Stuart Beaumont (KCC) introduced a report which provided an update on all Kent and Medway DHR cases. Also circulated was the Kent and Medway DHR Protocols which had been revised to ensure that it complied with the new Home Office guidance which came into effect from 1^st August 2013.  This final draft of the Protocols had been considered by the Sub Group of the Partnership. 

(2)       Alison Glimour (Kent & Medway Domestic Violence Co-ordinator) gave further details of these Reviews and the lessons that had been learned from carrying out the Reviews.  

(3)       The new version of the DHR Kent and Medway Protocols was approved for use in all DHR’s notified from this date forward.

(1)       Nick Wilkinson (KCC) and Laura Wright (Kent Police) gave a presentation and were available to answer questions on PREVENT which was one of the four elements of CONTEST, the government’s counter-terrorism strategy.

(2)       The Partners noted the presentation.