Agenda item

1.    Mr Peerbux (Head of Community Safety, KCC) introduced this item; this was a new Community Safety Agreement with agreed priorities.  The Agreement had moved away from a 3 year strategy into a rolling strategy with elements that would be refreshed annually as appropriate.  An action plan would be developed and following an internal audit review the Community Safety Agreement Actions had been updated so they were more outcome focused. 

2.    Ms Brinson (Community Safety Team Leader, KCC) explained that there were key actions to be delivered by community safety partners across the county with a number of actions ongoing.  This was a living document which was still in draft, if Members had any comments or suggestions they should be submitted to the Kent Community Safety Team. 

3.    The Chairman stated that this was a comprehensive plan and invited Members to make comments. 

4.    There was a suggestion that the plan should include a reference to the joint children’s and adult’s Risk Threats and Vulnerabilities group and also links to the work of the Community Safety Partnerships. 

5.    The group were happy with the format and that it should be kept under constant review. 

6.    Tim Cook explained that there had been a rise in crime, particularly violence against the person but in 80% of the increase, there was no injury. This increase was a national trend and there had been changes to the ways in which crime was recorded, it was now victim oriented, and for example there could historically have been 1 crime with 32 victims, whereas now there would be 32 separate crimes which was largely why recorded crime had increased.  There was also more awareness of issues such as modern slavery and human trafficking leading to a rise in non-traditional crime types.  Following the HMIC inspection, much work had already been done to address the issues raised in order to reassure the public that they could be confident in the crime recording and more importantly, the quality of investigation by Kent Police, however following an internal review of the findings it was clear that appropriate safeguarding had been put in place for victims.  There had previously been a removal of targets and a focus on victims. Crime recording in Kent was one of the best in the country with victims getting the right level of support but recording was not as HMIC recommended or in line with national standards.  Since the inspection, crime recording had significantly improved and there was an ongoing work stream to get back to previous levels.

7.    The Chairman commented that it was disappointing; having made such enormous progress and it looked as if recording had stepped back.  He asked whether there was an internal team, which should have picked up on this issue, rather than it being raised as part of an HMIC inspection.  In response it was confirmed that there was an internal team however it was considered that HMIC were applying a different stance in this inspection than previously. 

8.    The Vice-Chairman asked whether there was anyone in central government looking at the information from HMIC, Ms Banks explained that the Police Council was looking at it and questioning the legitimacy of the recording.  It was important to note that whilst crime was going up commitment to victims had not changed. 

9.    RESOLVED that the Kent Community Safety members:

a.    note the changes to the draft action plan which supports delivery of the refreshed Community Safety Agreement. 

b.    provide feedback on the content and format of the draft action plan via email to Shirley Brinson.

c.    note the areas that have been highlighted, by the KCSP Working Group, with regards to performance measures and the actions being taken by partners to address them.