To consider the report of the Community Safety Partnership Co-ordinator.
Minutes:
Documents:
· Community Safety Partnership Update
Discussion:
· The CSP Co-ordinator informed the Committee of the background and legislative framework for the CSP
· An Action Plan is in place which is reviewed on an 8 weekly basis by the CSP Strategy Group
· Some time ago the Wales Audit Office (WAO) carried out a review and made 7 recommendations the majority of which were for Welsh Government to implement together with Police and Crime Commissioners and Local Authorities. A WG oversight group was established and a further review carried out and additional recommendations made. There is no direct impact on the workings of the Powys CSP but a Safer Communities long term programme of work will be devised.
· The PREVENT programme relates to the prevention of terrorism. A pilot project had been trialled by the Home Office and it has been decided to have a staged roll out. The North West will now be the first area, with Wales anticipated to be the second tranche towards the end of 2018/19. . The Committee asked how the work would change and how information would be disseminated to schools or social services. The CSP Co-ordinator advised that there would be no change visible – PREVENT policies were already in place and any referral would be progressed through existing safeguarding arrangements and on to the Police where appropriate. It is proposed that the work currently undertaken by the Police will now be undertaken by local authorities and services within the Authority will be advised by the Local Authority Co-ordinator and not the Police as had been the case under previous arrangements. The Committee was concerned that funding may be in jeopardy once it had been transferred due to the financial situation in which the Council was operating. The CSP Co-ordinator informed the Committee that Crime and Disorder was not devolved but that the Welsh Government may make a bid going forward. Both Carmarthenshire and Swansea have offered to host the Local Authority Co-ordinator. The project sits under CONTEST which is a much bigger piece of work which changes rapidly. The Home Office have confirmed that funds will be moved across for the project and there is no end date for that funding.
· A Rural Crime Partnership is now in place and is developing its terms of reference and objectives
· County Lines has had coverage in the media recently. A multi-agency awareness group has been established alongside tactical groups. Although the police have dealt with such issues in the past, the remit is to be broadened. A Member commented that it was sometimes difficult to contact the Police and the Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) seemed to be overloaded with work and asked whether services in the Council, such as Road Safety Unit, could offer assistance. The CSP Co-ordinator agreed to refer this to the Police and Crime Commissioner as it was recognised that the PCSO resource was becoming overstretched. Members were encouraged to contact the CSP regarding any quality of life issues and were referred to the Authority’s website to access the neighbourhood management toolkit. A Member referred a local incident relating to County Lines and Cuckooing and expressed concerned regarding the relationship between young people and mental health. Recent Inspection reports had highlighted the gap in provision of services for 16 to 25 year olds and that this group were falling between provision for Childrens and Adults Services. The CSP Co-ordinator reported that focus within the Police had been on higher priority areas as Powys had seemed to be managing – now the focus would move to Powys. A Partnership presentation was to be made on Friday 15 June to raise awareness – copies of the presentations would be circulated to Members for information.
· In relation to Community Cohesion it was noted that funding is awarded for teaching English as a second language but a similar provision was not made for Welsh. It was thought that equal status should be given to both languages. This would be reported back to the Community Cohesion Co-ordinator.
· Integrated Offender Management (IOM) has been successful in Powys in managing prolific and persistent offenders. Whilst this may be low level crime Powys was the first to lead in the model. WISDOM (Wales Integrated Serious and Dangerous Offender Management) has been rolled out across four police forces in Wales and deals with the management of high risk offenders. The pilot project has now been completed and WISDOM will be amalgamated under IOM.
· VAWDA – the Authority has not met its statutory obligation to train 100% of its employees to the required level by 31 March 2018 but Management Team are actively addressing this. Members asked whether their online training had been included in these statistics. The Portfolio Holder for Finance reported that all Cabinet Members and depots had had training. National Guidance was awaited and then there will be a considerable amount of work to do. It was noted that Powys was further ahead than other authorities.
Outcomes:
· The CSP Co-ordinator would refer issues regarding the workload of Police Community Support Officers to the Police and Crime Commissioner
· Copies of presentations regarding County Lines would be circulated to Members
· The Community Cohesion Co-ordinator would be advised of Members’ concerns regarding the inequality of funding being provided to teach English as a second language but not for the teaching of Welsh as a second language
Supporting documents: