Agenda and minutes

1.    Mr Hook made two declarations. Firstly, that professionally he had been instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service to advise on and prosecute serious crime in Kent’s Crown Courts. Secondly, that his wife was employed by the Probation Service.

2.    Dr Sullivan declared that her husband was Gravesham Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Chair of the Gravesham Community Safety Partnership.

1.    Mr Hill, Chairman of the Kent Community Safety Partnership, introduced the 2022 Kent Community Safety Agreement. In reference to the Committee’s previous consideration of Community Safety Agreements, he noted particular interest in anti-social behaviour, serious violence crime and road safety, which formed the focus of the Partnership’s presentation to Members. He reminded Members that the Partnership involved a range of local partners, which included: KCC; Kent Police; Kent Fire and Rescue Service; local District, Borough and City Councils; Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group; the Probation Service; and district Community Safety Partnerships.

2.    Mr Peerbux gave an overview of the Kent Community Safety Partnership’s functions, as well as the role of the Community Safety Team, which acted as the county’s strategic coordinator, carrying out Domestic Homicide Reviews and managing the Community Safety Agreement. He explained the Community Safety Agreement development process, including that it had to have due regard for the Police and Crime Commissioner’s ‘Making Kent Safer 2022-25’ Crime and Safety Plan.

3.    Supt. Steenhuis outlined the Partnership’s efforts to reduce anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime. He informed Members that 40 police and local authority licensing officers had been trained to implement Best Bar None a safe socialising scheme across the county, with night-time economy operations over the festive period leading to a reduction in spiking incidents. He reminded Members of the Police Schools Team and their role in prevention through education. He confirmed that there was a county-wide PCSO problem solving task force, which targeted anti-social behaviour hotpots. He mentioned My Community Voice (www.mycommunityvoicekent.co.uk), a two-way communication service that helped Kent residents, businesses, and community groups keep in touch with their local policing teams and raise the issues that matter most to them. Members were told that over 7,500 residents had signed up. He informed Members that the Chief Constable was undertaking a review of neighbourhood policing, to bring the neighbourhood policing model in line with Government’s Beating Crime Plan, Serious Violence Duty, changes to integrated offender management and the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy. The review was ongoing and the Chief Constable had given a clear direction that there would be no reduction in the quality service provided to residents building a new model on the success and investment in the current model.

4.    Mr Hill made a statement on the Kent Police review of neighbourhood policing. He confirmed that he had received assurance from the Chief Constable at the Commissioner’s Performance and Delivery Board that community policing would not be negatively impacted.

5.    Mr Powell explained the Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit’s responsibilities. He described the Unit’s development since its foundation in 2019 and the Home Office’s funding of the Unit for the next three years. He set out the Unit’s key aims: to focus on public place serious violence including weapons, drug supply and robbery involving those aged under 25; promote a public health or preventative approach to violence reduction; drive multi-agency collaboration to reduce serious violence; develop Partnership data  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.