Minutes

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 March 2021 were correctly recorded and a paper copy be signed by the Chairman subject to the addition of Mr Mochrie-Cox’s apologies.

Mr Peerbux introduced the report and advised that the Kent Community Safety Agreement (CSA) has now been published and the CSA Action Plan has been reviewed and updated.

Ms Brinson explained in detail the review and refresh of the Kent Community Safety Agreement draft action plan for 2021/22.

Ms Brinson explained to the Board that the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) Safer in Kent Plan, which helps inform the Community Safety Agreement refresh, had been extended for 12 months to take into account the unprecedented circumstances and recent PCC election.

Ms Brinson said that the CSA and Action Plan was a rolling document that was under constant review and includes some actions that have been retained from 2020/21.

Ms Brinson highlighted a couple of new activities included in the action plan particularly the InterAct Information Sharing Platform and also actions in relation to the Vision Zero Strategy.

Mr Powell made the Board aware that there was draft guidance published by the government regarding the Serious Violence Duty which requires Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) to collaborate in the strategic planning and implementation of a unified approach to prevent serious violence. However, the full guidance is yet to be received.

In response to questions from the Board, it was noted that a Kent and Medway Strategy for Serious Violence Reduction should reflect a common vision while also respecting local variations in needs which should be identified once the strategic needs assessment is undertaken.

Mr Peerbux thanked the partners for attending the Scrutiny Committee meeting held on the 9th of June 2021 where the work of the Partnership was well received. The meeting had focused on three of the seven priorities of the Partnership’s CSA: Domestic Abuse, Substance Misuse, and Preventing Extremism & Hate which were identified as key areas of concern during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Committee had expressed interest in road safety issues and had also requested that Anti-Social Behaviour be considered at a future Scrutiny Meeting.

RESOLVED to note the refreshed action plan which supports delivery of the refreshed Community Safety Agreement. KCSP members were invited to provide feedback on the content of the draft action plan via email to kentcommunitysafetyteam@kent.gov.uk by 31st July 2021.

Mr Peerbux introduced the report which provided an update on the key activities and projects being managed on behalf of the Kent Community Safety Partnership by the Working Group. He highlighted that the Council had received confirmation of the PCCs Crime Reduction Funding Allocation for 2021/22 and that suitable projects had been identified that support both the PCC and the partnerships priorities and were awaiting sign-off/approval from the Office of the PCC.

Mr Peerbux drew attention to the Business Crime Reduction Partnerships (BCRPs) whose aim is to support and reduce harm in town centres and provide conflict resolution training to shop owners and also the OSARA Problem Solving ‘Train the Trainer’ course which has already taken place back in April where 15 Community Safety colleagues attended and that the results of that course would be a monitored based on onward cascade of training to other partners.

Mr Peerbux highlighted that the Tactical Pot Funding could not be accessed until the completion of the previous year’s projects had been delivered but that the Kent Community Safety Team (KCST) was working closely with project leads to ensure that projects moved forward.

Mr Peerbux reminded the partnership that the KCST continue to share information through a variety of methods and encouraged partners to contact the KCST (via email: kentcommunitysafetyteam@kent.gov.uk) if they would like to be added to the distribution lists for these.

RESOLVED to note the progress and actions undertaken by the Working Group and the work of the KCST.

Mr Peerbux introduced the paper which detailed the annual review of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the KCSP and its subgroups. Mr Peerbux said that there had been no legislative changes that would impact the governance of the Partnership. However, the Membership section of the KCSP ToR had been updated due to the merging of the National Probation Service and Kent Surrey Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company.

Mr Peerbux highlighted the Membership section of the KCSP Working Group had also been updated to reflect the merged providers of probation services and the addition of the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). He also brought attention to the membership changes within the Domestic Homicide Review Steering Group and its additional responsibility to ‘collaborate with KMSAB and KSCMP to triangulate common themes and recommendations and to work on a system wide approach recommendations and learning’.

RESOLVED to:

A.   to agree the Terms of Reference for the Kent Community Safety Partnership, subject to any changes (i.e. membership) proposed by the Partnership and approve the Terms of Reference for the KCSPs two subgroups (KCSP Working Group and the DHR Steering Groups).

B.   To note that all KCSP member organisations shown in the Terms of Reference should ensure that they were signed up to the latest version of the Kent and Medway Information Sharing Agreement.

C.   to 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.

Mr Harper introduced the paper which provided an update on developments relating to mental health and an overview of activity that the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and his office have engaged in. He highlighted that there had been significant engagement and that there were early indications that the number of people in mental health crisis was returning to lower levels.

Mr Harper brought attention to the Reforming the Mental Health Act White Paper which had recently been consulted on and the PCC anticipates that the Government will publish a response to the consultation in the summer and that the subsequent Mental Health Bill will reflect the Advisory Panel’s recommendations.

Mr Harper advised that the PCC has stepped down from chairing the national Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) lead for Mental Health as following the recent elections, there are new PCC’s with experience in the mental health arena. However, the PCC continues to chair the Kent and Medway Mental Health Crisis Care Board.

Mr Harper advised that there has been substantial work to reduce the number of Section 136 detentions (12% in 2020 compared to 2019) which has been driven by the work of the Crisis Care Board, including the investment into the 836-advice line which was implemented in December 2019 and also the Safe Havens.

Mr Harper highlighted that Safe Havens were being internally promoted by partners. The five Safe Havens across Kent and Medway are non-clinical environments with workers that were skilled in the de-escalation of crises. In response to questions, it was noted that the limited opening times and the number of Safe Havens was under continual review and based on intelligence, the structure of the Safe Havens was the most appropriate at the current time.

RESOLVED to note the update on the Kent Police and Crime Commissioners response to Mental Health.

Mr McMullan introduced the paper which updated the Partnership on the Vision Zero - The Road Safety Strategy for Kent 2021 – 2026 which aims to reduce Road Casualties in Kent. He highlighted that the Road Safety Strategy had been approved for implementation. Mr McMullan said that the strategy also aligned with the United Nations Decade of Road Safety.

Mr McMullan explained that the internationally recognised Safe System approach was to be taken and that it had been well-received during the consultation. This system was based on the assumption of human error and aimed to reduce the risks associated with the anticipated mistakes, for example through automatic breaking.

Mr McMullan highlighted that community engagement was important for informing associated projects as local campaigns were anticipated to have the greatest impact on reducing the number of fatalities and hoped the partnership can help in this aspect of work.

Mr McMullan advised that the Safer Roads Partnership oversee this strategy and are developing a detailed delivery plan with partners.

In response to questions the following was noted:

·       There was a need to engage with a wider range of community groups and for broader data collection. This would be taken into account in the next steps of the strategy implementation.

·       Drug and alcohol related accidents were recognised as a problem and need further partnership discussions.

RESOLVED to note the Vision Zero Strategy update and to provide an update to the partnership at a later date.

Mr Powell introduced the paper which detailed the review of the existing Kent and Medway Gangs strategy and the proposed aims and objectives for 2021 - 2024. The paper provided a summary of the work conducted between October 2020 and February 2021 to review the existing strategy and the areas that required further attention in the new strategy.

Mr Powell said that the proposed aims of the new strategy remained the same as the 2018 Gangs Strategy: to protect and prevent young people from becoming involved with gangs, tackle gang-related harm and youth violence and pursue effective enforcement action to deal with those embroiled in gang activities but that there are six objectives which will be achieved through implementation of the strategy; including the need to develop and share a strengths-based approach to support and enforcement.

Mr Powell explained that, if agreed, the governance and oversight of the Gangs Strategy for 2012 - 2024 would sit within Violence Reduction Unit but update the partnership and other boards regularly. However, in response to questions from the Panel it was agreed that the governance and oversight of the strategy needed further clarification and if there were an overarching Kent and Medway Strategy, consideration for local differences needs to be considered. Mr Powell said that this would be reported back to the Partnership in due course.

RESOLVED to endorse the aims and objectives the Kent and Medway Gangs strategy, and to support the recommendation for the oversight of Gangs strategy to be provided by the VRU.

RESOLVED that the future meeting dates be noted.

Mr Peerbux provided an update on the Kent and Medway Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) cases.

RESOLVED that the update and progress on all cases be noted.

Members received a briefing on the recently published case of Martin and the overview report can be found on the Kent and the Medway websites.

https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/partnerships/kent-community-safety-partnership/domestic-homicide-reviews#tab-1

RESOLVED that the briefing on DHR case Martin/June 2018 be noted.

Members received an update on the PREVENT Duty Delivery Board.

RESOLVED that the update on the PREVENT Duty Delivery Board be noted.

Members received an update on the Kent and Medway Joint Exploitation Group.

RESOLVED that the update on the Kent and Medway Joint Exploitation Group be noted.