Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the notes of the meeting held on 16 November 2024 were correctly recorded.

62.      Kent Community Safety Agreement Review and Refresh Update

(Item B1)

1.    Ms S Brinson (Community Safety Team Leader, KCC) presented a report which detailed the annual review of the Kent Community Safety Agreement (CSA), recommended priorities for 2024/25 and updated on the current action plan.

2.    Ms Brinson explained that the CSA is a rolling document which is reviewed and refreshed annually with the relevant Chapters and Appendices being updated as required. The review has taken into consideration the outcome of local district/borough strategic assessments, partnership plans, emerging issues and new legislation. 

3.    All statutory partners including Police, Fire and Rescue, Health, Probation, and Local Authorities provided community safety related data and information for use by the Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) across Kent to help determine their key priorities for the upcoming year. The results of the local Community Safety Partnership (CSP) strategic assessments (see Appendix A of the CSA) found that the top key priorities included: Anti-Social Behaviour (including environmental), Serious Violence (including the serious violence duty and violence reduction), Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls.

4.    Ms Brinson said that, while there have been some minor changes to some chapters within the CSA, the most significant changes were to the chapters covering the Community Safety Landscape, Key achievements and updates to the appendices.  There were also some existing or emerging issues which could  impact on the work of partners involved in community safety that were worth noting, including International conflicts, cost of living crisis, the Home Office’s statutory guidance on Serious Violence (published in December 2022) which placed a duty on CSPs to ensure preventing and reducing serious violence was a priority and the launch of the Government Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) consultation in March 2023 and ASB Action Plan which has brought an enhanced focus to the issue of ASB.

5.     The CSA outlined some of the key achievements (Chapter 5) for the previous year which included the following:

·      Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs): During 2023/24 the KCSP published three completed reviews following quality assurance from the Home Office and ensured that over 152 actions from across a number of DHRs had been implemented resulting in two further DHRs being signed off with all actions completed.

·      Project Funding: In 2023/24 the KCSP used the Crime Reduction Grant funding provided by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to fund a total of eight projects delivered by a range of partners, these included: Reducing abusive behaviour policy training; Domestic abuse bitesize training videos; Tackling victim blaming language training and; Hateful Extremism CPD event.

6.    In terms of County Priorities for the upcoming year (Section 6 of the CSA), It is clear from the latest review that the current priorities and cross-cutting themes appropriately reflect the key issues for community safety partners and as such it was recommended that they are retained within the CSA for 2024-2025.

7.    Mr S Peerbux (Head of Community Safety, KCC) added that, in relation to the Review of the CSPs and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 111.

63.      Domestic Abuse Update

(Item B2)

1.  Ms F Shiringo (Assistant Director Integrated Children Services, South Kent, KCC) introduced the report and highlighted that one in five recorded crimes in Kent and Medway was related to domestic abuse. Domestic abuse (DA) is a priority within the Kent Community Safety Agreement and includes a number of actions. The presentation provides a summary of the activity undertaken across the county in relation to domestic abuse and in support of the related actions within the CSA action plan. 

2.  Ms I Hunter-Whitehouse explained that the development of the 2024 -2029 DA strategy involved a significant informal and formal consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including partner agencies, those with lived experience and interviews with adults and with children and young people. 

3.  The DA strategy has three themes outlines below and that the main aim was reducing the prevalence of domestic abuse:

1.                Early intervention and prevention

2.                Immediate needs

3.                Recovery

4.    It was important to understand that domestic abuse affected different people in different ways, and that it could be very isolating.

5.    The DA strategy is managed by the multi-agency Kent and Medway Domestic and Sexual Abuse Executive Group.

6.    In terms of funding, the CSA Action Plan included two projects that were allocated Crime Reduction Grant Funding from the KCSPs allotted fund. The first involved the delivery of five domestic abuse bitesize learning videos which can be found using the links below:

·                     Signs of Abuse - Understanding that coercion and control are central to domestic abuse and what this might look like

·                     Safe Enquiry - How to ask about domestic abuse safely and appropriately.

·                     Safety Planning - Making sure that you are able to take some initial steps to increase the client’s safety.

·                     Understanding Risk - Covering the factors that increase risk (for instance fear, escalation, strangulation, point of leaving etc) and the implications for information sharing.

·                     Signposting & Support - Being able to signpost people to the right support with confidence.

7.    The second project was aimed at increasing the uptake of template policies set out by the Reducing Abusive Behaviour Subgroup. The group aimed to coordinate the approaches to tackling abusive behaviour and enable greater focus on changing the behaviour of the individual causing harm through a combination of disruption, support and management of offenders.

8.    In terms of raising awareness, the CSA Action Plan includes a review of the Kent and Medway Domestic Abuse Services Website which is underway. The #KnowSeeSpeakOut campaign, commissioned by the Kent Integrated Domestic Abuse Service (KIDAS) partners and managed through the Projects & Partnerships team, had created an annual calendar of social media content that was freely available for organisations across Kent & Medway to use.

9.    In terms of Commissioned services, in line with the DA Act: an assessment of need had been conducted and fresh services developed and procured to address the findings and support the council to meet its new statutory responsibilities. These include the Safe Accommodation Support Service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 112.

64. Kent Community Safety Partnership Working Group Update

(Item B3)

1.  Mr M Powell (Director, Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit) explained that he had taken up the role of Chair of the KCSP Working Group in the autumn.

2.  Mr Powell explained that the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) granted the Kent Community Safety Partnership (KCSP) just under £40k (£39,661) from the Crime Reduction Grant for 2023/2024. The grant had been used to fund projects throughout Kent, focusing on the priorities identified in the Community Safety Agreement and the Police and Crime Plan.

3.   Mr Powell advised that while 8 projects were funded, the Partnership would need to return approximately £11,000 to the PCC as an underspend, because no agreement could be reached on the implementation of a couple of project proposals; which was unfortunate. Nonetheless, the initiatives that were delivered had very positive outcomes in terms of upskilling staff - for example, the Hateful Extremism CPD event which was delivered in February and the Anti-Social Behaviour event held in March. There were also a couple of smaller projects around business crime reduction into rural locations, which were not always as well served.

4.  Mr Powell reported that the PCC had just confirmed the funding for 2024/2025 at the same value as the current year (£39,661) and stressed the importance to develop and agree proposals so that all the funding could be spent and maximised, and not returned to the PCC.

5.  Mr Peerbux informed that the Kent Fire and Rescue had notified him of their intention to withdraw from the Kent Community Safety Team and the Partnership asked to be kept informed on this.

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

65.      Serious Violence Duty Update

(Item B4)

1.  Mr M Powell (Director, Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit) introduced the report and outlined the new legal duty that has been placed on a number of authorities to collaborate and plan to reduce or prevent serious violence.

2.  The Serious Violence Prevention Partnership (SVPP) had been established, chaired by the Police and Crime Commissioner and had already agreed the definition of serious violence, including public place violence, and violence linked to domestic and sexual abuse.   In January 2024 the Strategic Needs Assessment and Serious Violence Strategy 2024-2027 were agreed by the SVPP Board.

3.  The Serious Violence Needs Assessment (SNA) was based on data from all contributing specified authorities and used a three-year data set to identify the patterns and trends relating to serious violence included within the definition agreed by the SVPP. The strategy agreed was for the period 2024 – 2027.

4.   In terms of Public Place Serious Violence, there had been a reduction in the 12 months up to the end of the SNA. This type of violence was unevenly spread across the County, with districts along the North and East coastline of the county generally experienced higher levels of serious violence than those in South and West Kent, although Maidstone had the fifth highest levels of serious violence. There were peaks in violence between 3–4pm, 6–8pm and during night time economy hours of 11pm to midnight.

5.  The peak age at which suspects of serious violence were identified was 17 and those aged 10-25 were overrepresented in the data. The numbers of adults involved in knife or weapon related violence fell but there was not a similar decrease in children. This was a concern.

6.  A decision was taken not to look at domestic abuse because the team working around domestic abuse (the Kent and Medway Domestic Abuse Executive) were already completing their own needs assessment.

7.  In terms of sexual violence, the volume of reported sexual violence fell in 2022-23 when compared with the previous year. The majority of suspects were male, and the majority of victims were female. There was insufficient data to identify the relationship between the suspect and victim. The victims were primarily girls of school age. The majority of suspects were boys under the age of 18.

8.  With regard to the Voice of Young People - their feedback included that they knew places local to them which were unsafe, and highlighted some transport hubs, high streets and parks as being of particular concern. They also reported that they felt unsafe when being around groups of men; girls in particular felt unsafe due to the language or behaviour of groups.

9.  The Serious Violence Strategy 2024 -2027 has three key strands:

· Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse

· Serious Youth Violence

· Violence linked to drugs and alcohol.

10.     The SVPP Board has identified leads for each strand who are currently developing detailed plans which will inform and shape the work to deliver against  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114.

65.      Right Care Right Person Update – Verbal Update

(Item B5)

1.  Supt P Steenhuis (Strategic Prevention, Kent Police) outlined the new National initiative to ensure that vulnerable people experiencing a health crisis will receive the most appropriate support.  

2.  From 2 April 2024, the Right Care Right Person will be adopted in Kent which is a Nationally initiative between police forces and the NHS to ensure that when there are concerns for a person’s welfare linked to mental health, medical or social care issues, the right person with the right skills, training and experience will respond. 

3.  This was a collective national commitment from the Home Office, Department of Health & Social Care, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and NHS England.

4.  Forces were required to ensure that officers and staff understand that RCRP specifically applied for calls to service about:

·         Concern for someone’s welfare

·         Walkouts from welfare settings

·         Absent without leave (AWOL) patients from mental health services

·         People who require medical treatment.

5.  The force already has strong working relationships with the NHS, Kent County Council and Medway Council, and there are a number of existing services available to help officers and those in need of health support, including a dedicated direct phone line for officers to speak to a mental health professional and safe havens across Kent which provide a 24/7 service made up of clinicians and support workers providing a safe space for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.

6.  Supt Steenhuis strongly emphasised that this is a refocus and not a withdrawal from Mental Health.

RESOLVED that the KCSP note the contents of the presentation.

Thursday, 4 July 2024 at 10am

Thursday, 21 November 2024 at 10am

Tuesday, 25 March 2025 at 10am

Thursday, 3 July 2025 at 10am

RESOLVED that the KCSP noted the dates of the next meetings.

67. Kent and Medway Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) Update

(Item D1)

1.  Mr Peerbux provided an update on the Kent and Medway Domestic Homicide Review (DHR) cases,as well as a case briefing on the most recently published case forLouise, which can be found on the Kent.gov website using the link:https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/partnerships/kent-community-safety-partnership/domestic-homicide-reviews

RESOLVED that the Domestic Homicide Review update be noted.

68.      Kent and Medway PREVENT Duty Delivery Board (PDDB) Update

(Item D2)

1.     Mr N Wilkinson (Assistant Director Contest and Serious Organised Crime, KCC) was unable to attend and will provide a comprehensive update at the next meeting.