Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on the 14^th of October 2014 are an accurate record and that they be signed by the Chairman.

Mr Hill proposed John Rivers of Kent Association of Local Councils as Vice-Chair, motion seconded by Zena Cooke.  Agreed without a vote.

RESOLVED that John Rivers be elected as Vice-Chair.

1.            Mr Adams, Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) Deputy Operations Manager, provided an update on the Community Integration Project.  The key development was the identification of a site for the planned multi-agency co-located team involving staff from KFRS, Kent Police and Kent County Council with an expected staffing number of 15 across the three agencies.  This proposed site was the KFRS Training Centre in Maidstone.  It was explained that consideration is being given to the potential need for the team to grow.

2.            Mr Adams explained that the benefits from this approach included improved Strategic access between agencies, better information sharing, the scope to plan multi-agency education and Community Safety campaigns, sharing of best practice and joint work on significant pieces of work such as Domestic Homicide Reviews.  The team was expected to be in place by May or June 2015.

3.            In response to questions from Members as to the potential for the co-location leading to savings, Mr Adams and Supt Russell explained that while it was hoped that some efficiency savings might be achieved in the long term through this plan, the main focus was on delivering an improved service through improved information and expertise sharing.

4.            Supt Russell, Kent Police, advised the Committee that the Policing staff for the joint team had been identified and consideration was being given to extending the co-location to all of Kent Police’s Community safety assets.

5.            Mr Beaumont explained that the integrated team was an excellent extension of the model developed for the Joint Emergency Planning team.  Given that the KCC Community Safety Team had been recently re-organised to achieve savings worth £135k.

6.            The Vice-Chair asked whether South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) will be involved in the integrated team.  It was explained that at the time SECAmb were invited to join, they were unable to commit given the larger scale of SECAmb’s responsibilities in comparison to single county ambulance services.  However it was hoped that they will be in a position to join once the co-located integrated team is fully established.  Members commented that they were aware that Health services had been keen on partnership working in the past and that closer links would be positive.

7.            Mr Beaumont explained that the development of the Integrated Community Safety Team had been progressed through KCC’s transformation programme and that final approval was pending the review of a supporting paper.  Mr Adams from KFRS confirmed that the model is scheduled for formal approval at in April.

RESOLVED that the committee note the report and that an update on progress would be welcomed at a future meeting.

1.            Mr Hill explained that he had fought to protect the service, praising the consultation process which provided the opportunity for the public, local councils and partner agencies to give their views on how valuable the Wardens were.  The feedback in the consultation provided the evidence needed to justify challenging the proposed redesign of the service.

2.            Mr Hill explained that the new proposal, supported by Cabinet, was to maintain the Wardens at their current staffing levels.  This left savings still to be identified but some had been offset by reviewing the Warden back office functions.  While this left further savings to be found, the value of the Wardens had prompted Cabinet to agree to find them elsewhere within KCC.

3.            Mr Beaumont provided background to the process, explaining that the original proposal was to reduce the staffing establishment by 50%, though only 72 Wardens were in post at the time of the review.  The new proposal maintained the current staffing level with a fresh review of the Warden management structure.  Practical changes were required to achieve a sustainable model which has included redistributing staff across the county to address geographic imbalances.  It was expected that this may lead to vacancies arising and recruitment was planned for once the new model had been implemented.  It was clarified that all Parish Councils that currently had access to Community Warden would continue to have access but that the Wardens may have to split their time across a larger area of the county and that their resourcing would be based on demand.

4.            Mr Beaumont also highlighted the fact that the Consultation had raised the issue that many respondents were supportive of the development of a cadre of volunteers supporting the work of the Community Wardens.  A working group had been set up to consider how best this could be implemented, considering the need for personal protection equipment and similar practical issues.  Pilots were being planned across the county to assist in the development of the Volunteer programme.  A follow up paper was planned to confirm the roll out of the programme in 2016.

5.            Mr Parris explained that the implementation of the new model is progressing.  Less balancing of staff was required in the West and it was expected that approximately ten Wardens would need to be recruited to replace those that chose to leave the service as changes were made, though he commented that the process for rebalancing was still in development.  The previous twelve managers has been reduced to six team leaders who will also have operational duties, resulting in staffing levels that provide five or six Wardens per District.

6.            Mr Parris summarised the consultation responses as follows:

·         960 individual community responses

·         101 Parish Council responses

·         123 responses from organisations

·         4000+ signature petition from the community

7.            Mr Stepney commented that the Force recognised the value of the Community Wardens and that the Police and Crime Commissioner supported them from a Localism perspective.

8.            Mr Hill commented that he  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95.

1.            Mr Beaumont gave an overview of the development process for the Community Safety Agreement (CSA), explaining that it is a three year agreement updated annually.  The involvement of the Police and Crime Commissioner is now considered in relation to a due duty for the agreement and the Commissioner’s Policing Plan to have due regard of each other.  The District level CSAs all contribute to the central one and updates relating to performance against the CSA are reported to the Kent Community Safety Partnership.

2.            Mr Beaumont explained that the CSA had recently been considered by the Crime & Disorder Committee (a specific incarnation of KCC’s Scrutiny Committee for considering community safety and crime issues).  The Committee had provided positive feedback and were generally supportive of the work undertaken by the partner agencies involved.  Performance data was provided the Committee members for their information and the Community Safety Unit was pleased with the level of interest shown by elected Members and the support shown to the cross-cutting themes identified in the CSA.

3.            Mr Parris provided and overview of recent developments, noting that the CSA represents a piece of ongoing work that is periodically refreshed.  The priorities had not substantially changed since the last CSA.  The strategic assessments conducted at county and district level are ongoing and any additional issues identified will be considered at a later date.  The main change has been the heightened focus and increased consideration of Child Sexual Exploitation as a serious concern.  This has meant that consideration of CSE must now be made throughout the core priorities.  MARACs and Domestic Abuse referrals have increased though it was hoped that this was due to improved reporting processes and increased confidence from victims.  A national increase in road ‘killed or seriously injured’ (KSI) figures has been observed in Kent.  In response to questions from the Committee regarding the increase in domestic abuse cases, it was explained that examination of earlier reporting levels indicates that the increase represents an increase in the level of reporting rather than an increase in the number of incidents.  T/Supt Russell advised the Committee that more educational activity was ongoing to encourage reporting and to improve understanding of domestic abuse amongst young people, partly in response to evidence that younger and younger victims and perpetrators are being identified.

4.            The Committee discussed whether it would be advisable to consider CSE as its own independent priority rather than as a feature of the others.  Some national guidance from the Prime Minister and relevant government departments had suggested that dedicated focus on the issue would be beneficial to efforts to tackle the issue.  Officers explained that Partnership agreement was pending on exactly how CSE would be progressed and what specific work streams would be initiated.  Members noted partner agency work that may be relevant that could be missed without CSE being made a main priority in of itself, licensing and taxi regulation given as examples.  The Members commented that all relevant actions needed to be recorded  ...  view the full minutes text for item 96.

1.            Alison Gilmour presented an update on the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) process, outlining the history and progress made.

2.            The MARAC process was set up in 2008 with Kent Police funding the structure, co-ordination and Chairing.  Previously there were approximately 800 MARAC cases a year but this has increased to more than 2000, placing a significant strain on resources.  Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) were now helping to ease some of the pressure.  Lean events were underway being supported by consultants to assist in reducing resource implications.  At present £150k funding is available but the work of the consultants indicated that the real funding requirement to meet demand was £300k.  To address this gap in funding, the service is now looking at commissioning as a way forward though many aspects of the programme are already commissioned such as the IDVAs.  Many elements that are already commissioned are soon to be due for re-commissioning which presents high cost implications in the short term but offers opportunity for renegotiating the cost of these services.

3.            Kent Police is now planning for the MARAC process to go out in the upcoming round of commissioning with a view to ensuring that the initial referral at the first point of contact will go to the appropriate service.  Procurement were modelling ways of achieving this.  Member of the Committee commented that it was hoped that joint commissioning on suitable programme would be benefit, Troubled Families being listed as an example given its expected growth in scale and the cross-cutting that affect multiple services.

RESOLVED that the Committee note the verbal update and request that an update on the commissioning process is provided at the next meeting.

1.            Martin Adams stated that the Community Safety Conference was planned for the 3^rd of November 2015 at the Ashford International Hotel.  Alzheimer’s Society will be the main guest organisation providing speakers, including Angela Rippon.

2.            Mr Adams requested KCSP’s approval to progress with the plan and agree proposed details.

RESOLVED that Committee support the plan and hope the event will be a success.

1.            Mike Stepney of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner explained the work being undertaken by the Commissioner to support multi-agency efforts to tackle child sexual exploitation.  The focus of this work was to address the risk of key information not being communicated between relevant services and the impact such failures had on the victims.

2.            The Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan, recently refreshed for 2015, recognises CSE a serious concern requiring targeted work streams within the broader named priorities.  To provide practical support to relevant agencies, the Commissioner has released £600k to be used over three years by Kent Police with the express purpose of improving partnership working.  The details of spending will be dependent on the successful bids to this fund based on the Chief Constable’s operational decisions.  KCC and Medway Council have agreed to work with Kent Police on developing suitable bids for the partnership working funds that best support all relevant agencies.

3.            Mr Stepney commented that while the most important work in this area would be operational, with improved communication between frontline officers across the various services, it was important that there was good understanding of the issues at a strategic level.

RESOLVED that the committee note the verbal update and request an update on progress at the next meeting.

1.            Martin Adams provided an overview of issues covered in the Partnership update paper;

·         Community Trigger implications and outcomes so far.

·         New Psychotropic Substances (NPS) – Trading Standards working well with partners on addressing the issue in Kent, though it was commented on that that legal issues make enforcement difficult.

·         E – Safety work was progressing well with training sessions being rolled out to schools across the county and that more were planned.

RESOLVED that the Committee note the report.

The following date was noted as the next meeting of the KCSP in 2015.

8^th October 2015 – 10:00

1.            Mr Beaumont explained that Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) are held to allow for lessons to be learned from cases of domestic homicide, with all involved agencies providing information related to the actions they took in relation to the matter.

2.            Eight reviews have been completed to date, with one currently in progress and one awaiting a response from the Home Office.

3.            Seminars have been set up to update partners on the lessons learned and to work to ensure that previous mistakes are not repeated.  The most common issue identified in the previous DHRs is agencies failing to share information with each other.

4.            Mr Beaumont highlighted the fact that all recommendations arising from DHRs are actioned and monitored to make sure the process has a beneficial outcome.

5.            Alison Gilmour provided and overview of the process followed;

·         All agencies are assigned actions relating to their involvement in the case.

·         Shared issues are considered and signed off by the Kent & Medway Domestic Homicide Review board.

·         Some actions related to agencies outside Kent such as the various Government departments.

·         Work was ongoing to improve the referral process and the involvement of GPs in the process.

RESOLVED that the Committee note the report.

1.            DS Burns and DS Roullier delivered a presentation on the current state of the Prevent agenda in light of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015.

2.            Key aspects of the Prevent programme covered were;

·         Challenging extremist ideology.

·         Identifying vulnerable locations.

·         Preventing the stereotyping of relevant groups.

·         Embedding strong processes to ensure the Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation work is not reliant on individuals or particular organisations.

·         Developing effective referral processes to ensure vulnerable individuals are supported appropriately.

·         Additional focus on working with educational establishments.

·         Encouraging partner agencies to undertake a greater share of the Prevent responsibilities.

3.            Mr Beaumont explained that the Prevent Steering Board was chaired by Nick Wilkinson, of KCC’s Early Intervention and Preventative Service team.  KCC was currently examining the new legislation and rolling out presentations to the rest of the authority and partner agencies.  Mr Beaumont recommended that the KCSP develop improved links with the Prevent Steering Board.

RESOLVED that the Committee request a report from Nick Wilkinson on Prevent Steering Board activity to be considered at the next KCSP meeting.

The Chairman advised the Committee that Jim Parris and Stuart Beaumont would be retiring shortly and wished that his and Committee’s gratitude be noted.

RESOLVED that the Committee formally record their thanks for Mr Beaumont and Mr Parris’ contribution to KCC and that the Committee wishes them well on their retirement.