Agenda item

1.  Mr Peerbux explained that the KCSP is supported by the multi-agency KCSP Working Group whose remit was to prepare and monitor the Community Safety Agreement, including the action plan and performance reports, as well as managing any funding on behalf of the Partnership.

2.  The position of Chair for the KCSP Working Group had been vacant, following the departure of Mark Powell, Director of the Violence Reduction Unit. Mr Stephen Perez, Community Intelligence and Partnerships Lead at Kent Fire and Rescue Service was elected as Chair of the KCSP Working Group at their last meeting on 15^th July.

3.  Mr Peerbux said that the Crime Reduction Grant funding allocation to the KCSP for 2025/26 by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) had remained the same as in previous years, which is £39,661. As usual, a third of the funding (£13,221) had been allocated to a Tactical Pot for in-year spending, with the remaining two-thirds (£26,440) was available for upfront project spend. The tactical pot would be accessible once all the upfront business case projects had been approved.

4.  Six project proposals were submitted, and their project leads invited to the working group to present and answer any questions in relation to the projects. The project proposals were then discussed and agreed by the Working Group, Vice-Chair of the Partnership (in the absence of a Chair) and submitted to the Police and Crime Commissioner for approval. These were:

·         Hateful Extremism Learning Event

·         Countering the Extreme Right-Wing Training

·         Kent Community Domestic Abuse Champions – Branding & Resources

·         Teacher in Your Pocket (TEPO) – Scams Module

·         Responsible Authority Training on the Licensing Act 2003

·         Workshop – Involving men and boys in discussion of Violence Against Women and Girls.

5.  All six projects had received approval from the PCC and Mr Peerbux advised that we are liaising with partners to explore potential projects for funding through the tactical pot and would like to encourage partners to send any suggestions of projects to the Kent Community Safety Team.

6.  Mr Peerbux said that his report included some of the activities which have been undertaken by the Kent Community Safety Team (KCST).

7.  These included the bulletins that the KCST produced on a monthly basis and that contained numerous updates and information relevant to community safety partners. The KCST also organised lunchtime Community Safety Information Sessions, with eight sessions delivered to about 35 to 40 community safety practitioners at each session last year. This year, three sessions had already been delivered and included themes such as the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum, stalking in the workplace and anti-social behaviour. The KCST undertake a huge amount of work in relation to domestic homicide reviews / domestic abuse related death reviews ranging from case management, publication of cases and sharing the learning from the reviews.

8.  Mr Peerbux highlighted that he attended the Police's Strategic Prevention Command Awards the previous month and heard about the outstanding work that had been done by Kent’s police officers, police staff and partner agencies. The KCST received an award for their strategic leadership and work over the last two years to address violence against women and girls and anti-social behaviour.

9.  Mr Stephen Perez (Community Intelligence and Partnerships Lead at Kent Fire and Rescue Service) introduced himself and confirmed that he would be chairing the Working Group. He looked forward to continuing supporting the delivery of the KCSP’s strategic priorities, securing best value when managing the Crime Reduction Grant and being transparent about these activities and their performance.

RESOLVED that the Kent Community Safety Partnership (KCSP):

·         Note the progress and actions undertaken by the Working Group and the work of the KCST.

·         Contact the KCSTkentcommunitysafetyteam@kent.gov.ukwith any:

o    Project proposals for the Crime Reduction Grant funding.

o    Suggestions for future speakers / topics that might be of interest for the Community Safety Information Sessions (CSIS).

o    Key updates that might be appropriate to include in future editions of the KCST e-bulletin.