Agenda item

(i)        Report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships.

(ii)       Presentation by Graham McArdle, Community Safety Coordinator, Transformation and Partnerships.

The Chairman introduced the Partnership Manager, Julie Bradbrook and the Senior Partnership Officer, Graham McArdle to give a presentation on the Safe Durham Partnership Strategic Assessment 2017 and Safe Durham Partnership (SDP) Plan 2018-21 Priorities (for copy see file of minutes).

The Senior Partnership Officer noted that the headline statistic was that overall crime had increased by 28%, however, added it was important to understand why.  Members were reminded of the excellent reputation of Durham Constabulary and their accurate recording of crime, capturing a true picture of what was happening.  It was added that this should also be understood in the total number of crimes and that for County Durham this was lower than the England and Wales average, and significantly lower than the North East average.  The Committee noted that there was close work with the Police in terms of the evidence base.

The Partnership Manager noted that there were a number of draft priorities for 2017/18, with the first being to “protect vulnerable people from harm”, including from domestic abuse, sexual violence and hate crime.  It was explained that there was a need to help provide confidence in terms of reporting of those crimes and that a figure of 202 hate crimes was felt to represent a vast underreporting of these crimes.

The Senior Partnership Officer noted another priority was “reducing reoffending”, looking to prevent repeat offending and prevent intergenerational offending.  Members noted that there was work with the Police, Victims’ and Crime Commissioner (PCVC) in terms of looking at pathways out of offending and that partners would be able to understand the pathways in order to be help direct individuals to try and prevent reoffending.

The Partnership Manager explained that there was a priority in terms of Counter Terrorism and the Prevention of Violent Extremism, and while this may appear to be a more national issue, there was a need to raise awareness and to know what to look out for and what to do.  It was added that there would be work within schools, looking at vulnerable groups, training for a range of partners and briefings for AAPs and Members.  The Senior Partnership Officer noted that the Home Office had visited Durham and had been impressed in terms of Prevent and with the engagement in all mainstream schools.  He noted that the work could not stop, and there would need to be updates at schools in terms of prevent and intervention.

The Senior Partnership Officer noted “Alcohol and substance misuse harm reduction” was a priority, noting the connection to most crime and with 95% of the Integrated Offender Management cohort having a drug problem.

The Partnership Manager explained a further priority was “promote being safe and feeling safe in your environment” and this included a number areas including: safe and wellbeing visits; open water safety; road casualty reduction; and anti-social behaviour.  Members were reminded that a target approach was used in County Durham and this helped in being able to address local issues.

The Senior Partnership Officer noted “Cybercrime” was a priority, noting that it was important to raise awareness about staying safe online, to target preventative work towards reducing the risk to the most vulnerable, and to support local businesses to build resilience to cyber threats.  It was noted there were around 6 million cybercrimes each year in the context to 6 million “traditional” crimes nationally and it was emerging as a growing and significant issue.  Members noted that a recently held sessions as regards issues of cybercrime, Prevent and CSE had 260 people attend, with many professionals who were very much attuned to these issues and the vulnerable people they worked with.  The Senior Partnership Officer explained that in respect of elderly and vulnerable people, assistance could be given in terms of telephone blocking or diverting to another family member, noting that technology could help in terms of nuisance calling.

The Partnership Manager explained that next steps would include: the draft Safe Durham Partnership Plan 2018-21 being presented to the SDP to agree wider consultation in January 2018; the consultation to be held January-February 2018 with the AAPs and the Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and the final version of the Plan to be presented to the SDP for agreement in March 2018.  It was noted that the Committee were being asked: “were the strategic priorities in relation to community safety correct”; and “were there any gaps”.

The Chairman thanked the Partnership Manager and the Senior Partnership Officer and asked Members for their comments and questions.

Mr J Welch asked if it was possible to block e-mail similar to the call blocking described.  The Senior Partnership Officer noted he was not sure, however he could look into the issue.  Mr J Welch and Councillor L Kennedy asked as regards the phone system, and how it was advertised.  The Senior Partnership Officer noted the scheme was ran via Age UK and the funding had been provided by the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.

Councillor L Kennedy noted that there appeared to be a rise in “unclassified” crimes and asked if this was due to how they were recorded.  The Senior Partnership Officer noted he could come back to Members, noting that a shift had been made in terms how anti-social behaviour and harassment were recorded.  Councillor L Kennedy asked how the £300,000 fund in relation to domestic abuse was accessed.  The Senior Partnership Officer noted the contact Officer would be the Public Health Portfolio Lead, Tammy Ross within the Public Health Service.

Councillor L Kennedy noted that often when issues of anti-social behaviour were reported, there was not much in terms of feedback on actions and outcomes and asked how this could be improved.  The Chairman noted that this was important to be able to give confidence in the systems in place and to encourage people to report matters.  The Senior Partnership Officer noted that a lot of good work was done by the SDP and there was a need to be able to get into communities more to test on this.  Councillor L Kennedy noted that even a simple text message back would be a help.

Councillor A Bainbridge left the meeting at 10.32am

Mr AJ Cooke noted the good work in terms of County Durham and Darlington’s force area and asked if there was a comparison to others, or a national standard.  The Senior Partnership Officer explained that Durham had a 28% increase in crime, Greater Manchester had a 2% increase.  It was added that Durham was one of the best forces in terms of recording crime and that as other forces also improved, the picture would become clearer.  The Overview and Scrutiny Officer advised Members that the Police and Crime Panel received feedback from the PCVC following inspections from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) to which a future inspection report would include crime recording.

Mr AJ Cooke noted he had one of the call blockers as described installed and it had been beneficial. Councillor A Patterson added caution that information received at another Overview and Scrutiny Committee that blocking devices had prevented some calls from services such as Housing Benefit.

The Chief Fire Officer asked if there could be further explanation to the significant change in the accuracy of crime recording in comparison to 2015.  The Senior Partnership Officer noted that accuracy had improved and had improved year on year over the last 10 years.  The Chief Fire Officer noted that this context would be useful for the Committee to be able to see the difference in the accuracy of the figures, and the figures together, to be able to understand where issues are and how they have changed over time.

Councillor J Maitland asked what crimes would be classified under “unclassified”.  The Senior Partnership Officer noted that it was a small number 219, and would look to find this information and get back to the Overview and Scrutiny Officer.

Councillor J Turnbull noted anti-social behaviour at North Road in Durham City, with regular issues at the bus station and asked why this did not seem to be picked up.  Councillor K Thompson noted approaches to feeding back information to the Police through Police and Communities Together (PACT) meetings.  Councillor D Stoker commented that as other Members had stated it was important to get feedback for reporting of issues from Durham Constabulary but it was also important to get feedback from the Council too.

Councillor A Patterson commented that areas, such as anti-social behaviour, open water safety and road traffic safety, could be promoted more, to include “protection”. The Chairman added that arson had seen a significant increase and felt that this should have more significance at the Partnership Priorities.  The Chairman reminded Members that they could have further opportunity to feed in and to contact the Overview and Scrutiny Officer with any further comments.

Resolved:

    (i)        That the report and presentation be noted.

  (ii)        That a response to the Safe Durham Partnership containing comments from the Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the draft strategic objectives be sent to the  Safe Durham Partnership Board.

 (iii)        That the Safer and Stronger Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive a further presentation in relation to the Safe Durham Partnership Plan in February 2018.