Agenda item

To review the annual report of the Community Safety Partnership.

• South and Vale Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Scrutiny Report
• Appendix A - South and Vale CSP Plan 2020/21
• Appendix B - Oxfordshire Strategic Intelligence Assessment 2019/20
• Appendix C - South and Vale CSP financial summary 2019/20

The Community Safety Partnership annual report was introduced by Cabinet member Councillor David Rouane.

Also present were officers Liz Hayden, Head of Service for Housing and Environment, Diane Foster, Community Safety and Licensing Service Manager, Karen Brown, Team Leader for Community Safety, and Chief Inspector Matthew Bullivant was present to answer any police-related questions.

The committee were asked to;

 (a) To note the progress that the South and Vale Community Safety Partnership (CSP) made in 2019/20 in delivering its priorities and statutory functions 

(b) To support the CSP’s view that the 2020/21 plan will continue to deliver core priorities and statutory functions and focus on these three key priorities:

• tackling domestic violence and abuse, including early intervention to reduce harm and improving services for victims;
• working with vulnerable people and children to reduce the likelihood of being exploited;
• reducing knife crime and harm and vulnerability caused by drugs and alcohol.

A typo was noted on paragraph 10 – paragraph 33 in the table should read 38.

Councillors noted that the work of the CSP is an unsung area of council work and this report notes the progress in 2019-20.

It was confirmed that there are 3 separate ways for the public to report crime:

1. Crimestoppers, which is anonymous
2. The Police
3. Community Safety Partnership – anonymous – officers noted this is not a 24/7 service and therefore if a member of public feels they are facing danger they should call the police.

• The committee were informed that the three priorities were signed off before lockdown and data analysis supports that they are still appropriate.
• Regarding the potential increase of sanctuary scheme referrals, we have to wait to see any pattern of referrals as a result of lockdown.
• Councillors asked about having modern slavery awareness training for Councillors.
• Safe places - raising awareness – is newsletters best? Potentially through social media. There will be a map of ‘safe places’
• It was confirmed that Guard Cams are in place longer now due to lockdown.
• SCR paragraph 24 – target hardening is security for a home, situational harm reduction – lighting, fire-proof letter box etc.
• Safe spaces data on usage is held by the organisations running the space. Want to spread spaces out into rural areas to reach more communities. Training is given to organisations on how to support. Officers confirmed they are always looking for new spaces.
• We are first responders in modern slavery cases. Three were identified last year.
• Discussion was had regarding public space protection orders (PSPO’s) – Thame has been successful in using these to deter drinking alcohol in public spaces that can lead to anti-social behaviour.
• Councillors asked if awareness raising was an effective measure to reduce domestic abuse. Officers explained behaviour change is hard to measure, however raising awareness improves reporting and understanding of issues.  The desired outcome is a drop in crime rates due to priorities being in place.
• How do we reach more people – example, plays being held, small workshops at Abingdon college – how do we reach a wider audience? More is happening and there is work going on with other organisations- e.g. Didcot Girls School.
• There is an action plan for each of the 3 priorities progress will be reviewed at the quarterly CSP meetings.

Cabinet member, officers and Chief Inspector Bullivant were thanked for their work, and the committee supported the two recommendations.