Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 October 2015 were an accurate record and that they be signed by the Vice-Chairman

1.     Mr Thompson, Head of Partnerships and Communities, Kent Police, introduced this item and referred to the last Kent Community Safety Partnership (KCSP) meeting which received a presentation from John Pennycook (Home Office).  Following that presentation there was a feeling that partners were not sufficiently briefed around local profiles and Mr Thompson undertook to ensure that senior partners were briefed; these briefings took place in December 2015. 

2.      At the briefing meeting in December it was agreed that a workshop for practitioners would be held.  This took place on 25 February 2016 and was attended by over 30 practitioners.  The workshop focussed on awareness raising and how partners could contribute.  Issues were raised such as liaising with the schools and improving the two way flow of information.  An action plan was being developed and the Kent Community Safety Team would take this work forward.  There would be an opportunity to further brief the Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) and colleagues on the multiagency approach to tackle the issues once the Action Plan was produced and the local profiles had been refreshed in April. Members considered that local CSPs were the right groups to lead with this work as they had strong links with the County CSP. However, the decision rested with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and a meeting was being held on the 4 April to discuss this.

RESOLVED  that the Partnership note the progress since the last meeting and support the continued work to further develop the embedding of Serious and Organised Crime within partnership agendas and priorities.  The Partnership would receive a report back on the progress at the meeting on 13 October 2016.

1.    The Community Safety Team Leader introduced the annual review of the Kent Community Safety Agreement (CSA) 2014-17 and an update on the current action plan and performance monitoring.  The review  took into consideration new legislation, emerging issues, amended partnership plans and the outcomes of the district/borough strategic assessments. .  There was a requirement for the County CSA to be refreshed annually. 

2.    The priorities and cross cutting themes within the agreement were set out on page 11 of the agenda.  The agreement had been amended last year to acknowledge the emerging issue of child sexual exploitation (CSE) which had been incorporated into the existing cross-cutting theme ‘safeguarding children and young people’. 

3.    The Kent Police and Crime Plan had recently been reviewed and proposed to retain the current strategic priorities with a stronger emphasis on some of the emerging issues such as tackling radicalisation, CSE,  human trafficking/modern slavery, protecting children from harm including unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) and looked after children (LAC), tackling cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime.

4.    Partners continued to work together towards the activities identified in the CSA action plan and the KCSP Working Group, which met as a sub-group of the KCSP, was monitoring the activities set out in the Action Plan and had reviewed the latest update at their meeting in February 2016. 

5.    The CSA recommended that two of the current priorities: ‘Violent Crime’ and ‘Acquisitive Crime’ should be consolidated into a priority entitled ‘Serious & Organised Crime’ to include some of the existing issues such as violent crime, shoplifting etc. whilst incorporating emerging issues such as gangs. It also recommended that a new priority entitled ‘Safeguarding’ be added to include CSE, preventing violent extremism and online safety.

6.    Mr Adams referred to the co-located Kent Community Safety Team (KCST) based at Maidstone Fire Station and it was considered that the plan gave the opportunity to guide and focus the work of the KCST.  

RESOLVED that the Partnership agree that the priorities within the CSA should be amended based on the outcomes of the review although this was subject to the final outcomes of the district/borough strategic assessments and any additional partnership feedback.

The Partnership note the progress and actions undertaken by partners with regards to the current CSA action plan.

The Partnership request a report back at the meeting on 13 October 2016.

1.    Mr Adams introduced this report and explained that there was a 3 month pilot project working with East Kent Housing Association currently in progress to assess whether it would be possible for all Housing Associations to access the Themis system to manage Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) cases. 

2.    As a result of the 2014 Community Safety conference, there has been attendance from a variety of partner agencies at the 6 E-Safety Awareness workshops that were delivered to over 300 staff. There has also been 2 E-Safety Awareness Train the Trainer courses with 50 staff attending providing them with the knowledge and tools to be able to cascade the learning to colleagues within their own agencies.

3.    The Community Safety Team was well established and it was encouraging to see other partners using the co-located premises.  The Teams were very focussed and wanted to work together, the CSA and Action Plan gave firm direction and a focus for the future.

4.    Mr Thompson referred to E-Safety Awareness Day on 9 February 2016, a workshop had been held for primary school students and staff at the Police Training College.  These workshops had received very positive feedback.  An in addition the ‘Is it worth it’ tour covered 10,000 secondary school children with the theme of e-safety. 

5.    Kent Police and KCC Trading Standards had been working together to tackle to sale of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) (referred to in the media as Legal Highs) and explained that new legislation was being introduced to make the supply of NPS illegal but the law would not cover simple possession as an offence. 

6.    The Community Safety Team Leader referred to funding and explained that the PCC’s office had provided funding for a variety projects and workshops including: Vulnerable Cyclists, ASB / E-safety Safety School Tour, and the ‘Licence to Kill’ programme which was aimed at young drivers to reduce the number of young people killed on the road. 

7.    One partner raised the issue of road safety and whether funding could be made available and it was suggested that this be followed up. 

8.    With reference to the pilot project with East Kent Housing (para 2.2 of the report) it was suggested that the pilot project be shared with Housing Associations and it was confirmed that this would be done. 

RESOLVED that the Partnership note the progress and actions undertaken by the Working Group. 

1.    Mrs Anthony explained that there was an integrated Domestic Abuse (DA) Commissioning Project with an aim to integrate current commissioning for DA.  Current arrangement was sometimes difficult to navigate.  The aim of the project was to draw together funding from partners and to commission an integrated service removing duplication. 

2.    It was hoped that the process would be strengthened and made more flexible through the Commissioning Project and investment into victims would be evened out across high/low risk.  There had been significant consultation and it was hoped that the new service would be available on 1 April 2017. 

3.    Concerns were raised around the Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) contract and it was confirmed that this was overseen by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and options were being investigated for funding the shortfall.  Partners were working proactively to ensure a continuation of the service.

RESOLVED that Members note the Domestic Abuse Commissioning verbal update.

1.    Mrs Franks provided the Partnership with an update presentation on the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company. 

2.    This included the vision of the company which was to deliver rehabilitation services that help people who have committed crimes to help themselves: so they can aspire, achieve and make sustainable changes to their lives. 

3.    The presentation also set out the Executive Team and the Senior Operational Teams the journey and the next steps.

POST MEETING NOTE: A copy of the presentation was circulated to those present at the meeting on 22.03.16.

RESOLVED that the Partnership note the presentation on the Kent, Surrey, Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company Update.    

1.    Mr Wilkinson gave the partnership a verbal update on Prevent.  Following the review in 2011 there had been huge changes and a lot of progress with the Prevent agenda.  Back in 2011 there was no sense of the issues around females travelling to Syria for example.  Government legislation was being followed and there was a formal duty to comply with Prevent.  Mr Wilkinson provided regular updates to Board which had different roles to play in the Prevent Duty.  Kent had seen a huge increase in the number of referrals to the Channel Panel which now held standing monthly meetings.  There were significant challenges in this area and Mr Wilkinson drew attention to the ‘Prevent the Prevent’ lobby which existed.

2.    Regarding the Channel referral Mr Wilkinson explained that the first point of contact was the Police if terrorism offences were involved, terrorism issues were not managed through Channel. 

RESOLVED that the Partnership note the Prevent verbal update provided and asked for an update at the KCSP meeting on 13 October 2016. 

1.    Mr Adams introduced this report which provided information regarding the Kent Community Safety Conference 2015.  The conference had been very successful and had had a number of speakers including those living with dementia and their carers.  There had been tangible differences in ways of working, Kent Fire and Rescue Service had focussed on raising awareness amongst staff, buildings had been made more dementia friendly and search advisors had been identified for missing persons.  Mr Adams thanked the Partners for their support. 

2.    With regards to the 2016 conference, the working group had met during the previous week and had suggested ‘Drugs and New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) as the theme on the provisional date on 10/11/16 at Ashford International. 

3.    The Chairman congratulated partners on an excellent 2015 conference, the venue was central and very suitable for the event.  As the Chairman of the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC) Mr Rivers  thanked the team for allowing KALC to join the event which was a very valuable day. 

4.    Mr Bone-Knell suggested that drugs was a very wide subject, that the conference needed a focus and a question to ask.  Mr Adams confirmed that the working group considered the same questions and that using a question for the Dementia conference gave focus and a similar question would be developed.  The next working group meeting was in three weeks time. 

5.    The Partnership considered that Drugs was a very suitable subject, that to include alcohol would make the conference issues too wide. 

6.    Concerns were raised about individuals who were given a dual diagnosis of drug misuse and mental health issues and Mr Adams confirmed that this was discussed by the working group and would be included. 

RESOLVED that the Partnership agree the theme of the 2016 Kent Community Safety Conference – ‘Drugs and New Psychoactive Substances’.  The Partnership note the contents of the report on the 2015 Dementia Conference. 

1.    Mr Beaumont gave the Partnership a presentation on Crimestoppers and the Ambassadors Programme for Kent.  Crimestoppers was a charity established in 1988 with a promise of anonymity aiming to detect, reduce and prevent crime through the provision of information and to give people the information and tools to act against crime. 

2.    Mr Beaumont set out a number of strategic ambitions for 2015-20 which included:

a.    The changing nature of crime: visible crime like burglary were falling but more violent and sexual crimes were being recorded.  Fraud and online crimes were increasing but often less reported. 

b.    Austerity was not over

c.    There was an increasing number of vulnerable people who needed help.

3.    The Ambassadors Programme aimed to target communications more directly to those best placed to provide intelligence focused on the Kent Control Strategy.  To do this Crimestoppers aimed to establish a network of organisations (Ambassadors) who were in day-to-day contact with or had information on those who had committed crime, those who were abused, vulnerable or were victims of crime. 

4.    Examples of Ambassadors included:

a.    14 CSPs

b.    Youth Offending Teams

c.    Drug and Alcohol Teams

d.    Fire and Rescue Service

e.    Community Wardens

f.     Housing Associations

g.    Neighbourhood Watch

h.    Children’s Centres

5.    Mr Beaumont asked Partners to consider becoming Ambassadors for Crime Stoppers and offered to come and present to additional groups. 

POST MEETING NOTE: The Crimestoppers presentation was circulated to the Partnership 22.03.16.

RESOLVED that the Partnership thank Mr Beaumont for his presentation and note the contents.

The next meeting of the Kent Community Safety Partnership will be held on 13 October 2016, 10am, Darent Room, Sessions House, Maidstone.

RESOLVED that the date of the next meeting of the Kent Community Safety Partnership, 13 October 2016, be noted.

RESOLVED that the Partnership note the update on Domestic Homicide Reviews.