Agenda item

The Community Safety Manager provided a detailed presentation updating Members on the work of the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership (NWCSP) in Bromsgrove District. It was highlighted that Bromsgrove Council’s representation on the NWCSP consisted of the Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety, the Council’s Chief Executive as Chair of NWCSP, and the Head of Community and Housing Services who acts as the Responsible Authority representative on the Partnership. The Community Safety Manager provided co-ordination support to NWCSP and manages the Council’s Community Safety Service

It was explained that local authorities had a statutory duty to scrutinise the work of its local Community Safety Partnership, under Section 19 of the Police and Justice Act 2006. There was also a direct role for the Council in holding the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to account through the West Mercia Police and Crime Panel (PCP).

The following information were highlighted for Members’ consideration in the presentation:

• The NWCSP had a duty to produce a three-year rolling plan outlining how the Partnership intends to address key crime and community safety priorities, as identified through an annual strategic assessment based on research, evidence and intelligence from national, regional and local sources.
• The current priorities of the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership Plan 2021-24 were: Reducing Violence and Abuse, Reducing Theft and Acquisitive Crime, Reducing Anti-Social Behaviour, Damage and Nuisance, Protecting Vulnerable Communities. In addition, there were two cross cutting themes that the Partnership focused on across the four priorities, and these were Reducing the Harm caused by Drug and Alcohol Misuse and Reducing Re-Offending.
• The North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership Plan 2021-24 was currently being reviewed. A new community safety action plan for North Worcestershire CSP for 2024 to 2027 was being developed in draft and was to be agreed by NWCSP in April / May 2024.
• As part of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) CCTV Capital Fund, there had been significant funding allocated to develop and upgrade CCTV across the West Mercia force area. NWCSP first received an allocation of £195,000 for improvements to the area’s CCTV scheme. This funding was used across the three Local Authorities (Bromsgrove, Redditch, Wyre Forest) to modernise the CCTV infrastructure. As a result of this upgrade the whole CCTV scheme now had enhanced digital capability, improved image quality and a greater capacity to expand the scheme and/or link up to other digital systems across the region.
• Between 2020-22, the PCC allocated an additional £130,000 of capital funding towards CCTV that was used for continued enhancement of the capability and capacity of the CCTV scheme. The funding provided improvements to technological aspects of the Monitoring Centre. It also enabled recommendation from a Council Task and Finish Group to provide redeployable cameras to be funded and they are being used to respond to emerging areas of concern across the three areas in North Worcestershire. A further £20,000 funding was provided in 2022-23 but no further allocation for CCTV capital funding for 2023-24.
• Following a request by Overview and Scrutiny last year, an update on the use of anti-social behaviour tools and powers in the district was provided. It was reported that a total of 16 Community Protection Warnings (CPWs) were issued in the period 2023-24. The Community Safety Team issued 7 of these. The Police in conjunction with relevant Housing Associations issued 4 warnings and a Housing Association independently issued another 2 CPWs. Environmental Services issued 2 CPWs in relation to waste and unsightly property and Planning issued 1 CPW in relation to a derelict building.
• Only two formal Community Protection Notices followed the earlier issue of the CPWs and these were served by the Police during the same reporting period. This was reported as positive and mirrors the national experience that early use of CPW measures can deter escalation of ASB and prevent the need for more serious enforcement action.
• Details were provided of the various national and local campaigns which were supported by the Community Safety Team throughout 2023/24 to promote key safety messages and the work of NWCSP.
• Details of the NWCSP Core Funding spend for 2023-24, amounting to total of £139,250, were provided, in addition to Safer Bromsgrove – Tasking Fund 2023-24 which totaled £11,014.
• It was noted that the Community Safety Team within the Council had two College of Policing qualified Design Out Crime Officers (DOCO) who could review planning applications, making appropriate crime prevention and security recommendations with the aim of making future building developments less vulnerable to crime and disorder.

Following the presentation, a number of matters were discussed by Members.

Members enquired about the White Ribbon Domestic Abuse Campaign. It was explained that the Annual White Ribbon Domestic Abuse Campaign took place in the form of 16 days of action from 25^th November to 10^th December 2023. During the 16 days, the Community Safety Team interacted directly with the public, hosting a Domestic Abuse Awareness stall on Bromsgrove High Street on 5^th December and supporting various Domestic Abuse campaigns on social media sharing information and content from local and national support services and agencies. Officers were asked to explore the possibility of the Council signing up to the Women’s Night Safety Charter.

Members highlighted that most of the community safety projects and initiatives set out in the report covered areas around Bromsgrove Town Centre and there were not many projects that operated in outlying wards. Questions were raised whether more community projects could be provided in outlying wards. Officers responded that efforts were being made to support local projects in the outermost areas; however, it often proved difficult to find suitable providers to undertake the projects in those areas. An example was provided of the Youth Services Funding which is commissioned by the Community Safety Team on behalf of Worcestershire County Council and through which £87,000 was provided to youth organisations in Bromsgrove. It was reported that in many areas of the district, no providers had submitted applications for this funding. Officers further explained that elected members had a significant role in raising awareness about the lack of specific provision in their communities. For example, in Hagley, a District Councillor raised a concern directly with the Community Safety Team about lack of youth club provision and in response to the publicity given to this issue a youth club provider was subsequently found.

Some Members raised concerns about lack of community safety outreach work in outlying wards in the district. It was responded by Officers that outreach work was undertaken by voluntary and community sector (VCS). Specific comments were made on the Asset Based Community Development in Rubery and a lack of suitably qualified youth outreach worker in the Rubery wards. Members were informed that elected Members were able to submit a request for outreach workers to the Community Safety Team.

Members raised concerns about pockets of anti-social behaviour (ASB) hotspots in Bromsgrove Town Centre, particularly around empty properties. A particular issue was highlighted with an empty property at Blackmore Lane which had been subject to arson. In this context, Members asked what the Council could do to encourage empty buildings back to life. The Officers commented that the Council had a role in identifying buildings causing risk to community safety and where this was identified the Council tried to work with the landowner(s) to bring properties back into use. The Council also had powers to intervene in limited circumstances where the properties were unsafe and adversely affected the community.

It was requested that ward Members be involved and notified by the Community Safety Team of actions taken in ASB hotspots such as the Nimmings Wood National Trust Car Park.

Questions were asked about the NWCSP funded knife arch. It was explained that this was a walkthrough metal detector which was placed at Bromsgrove Train Station to tackle potential knife crime including activity related to county lines. It was further explained that the knife arch use by NWCSP throughout 2023 with various operations and knife surrender campaigns. During the Knife Crime Awareness week in May 2023, members of the public were encouraged to hand-in unwanted knives to prevent them from getting into the wrong hands and being used in crime.

Members enquired about a Community Protection Notice (CPN) case study with respect of long-standing nuisance from off-road motorcycles. It was explained that this was an enforcement action which resulted in the issuance of CPN. Subsequently, substantial works to secure the land by the landowner were carried out, supported by the local authority and partners, which saw a dramatic reduction in the nuisance. However, there remained a few determined offenders who continued to gain access to the land creating nuisance to the residents living opposite. Due to the prior CPN process being largely successful in reducing the nuisance that residents experienced, they felt more confident to provide intelligence about the remaining offenders. As a result, the Council was able to issue seven Community Protection Warnings (CPW) to the registered keepers of vehicles transporting the off-road motorcycles to the site.

Some Members questioned what evidence there was of crime reduction that was a direct result of investment in CCTV through the CCTV Capital Fund. Some Members expressed the view that while CCTV was of sufficient quality to identify perpetrators, which was deemed to be of sufficient quality to identify perpetrators, there were issues with the agencies, including the Police, to use CCTV footage as evidence when prosecuting the perpetrators. Officers explained that there were strict Codes of Practice that public bodies needed to follow when utilising surveillance CCTV footage, including as evidence of crime. Members were invited to visit the CCTV Monitoring Centre located at Redditch Town Hall to observe the capability of the system. It was reiterated by a Member reiterated that not enough was done to ensure that CCTV was used to its full capability to prosecute offenders and felt disappointed that the Police was not invited to the meeting.

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety was invited to speak. The Portfolio Holder thanked the Community Safety Manager for the detailed presentation on the NWCSP and thanked the Community Safety Team for their work. The Portfolio Holder highlighted the great range of initiatives that the NWCSP was involved in and the difference this was making to community safety in Bromsgrove.

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny of the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership be noted.