Agenda item

(i)           Report of the Corporate Director of Resources.

(ii)          Report of the County Durham and Darlington Hate Crime Action Group – presented by the Policy Lead, Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner.

The Chair welcomed the Policy Lead, Office of the Police, Crime and Victims’ Commissioner (PCVC), Jeanne Trotter who was in attendance to provide the Committee with an update presentation in relation to Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (for copy see file of minutes).

The Policy Lead thanked the Chair and Members and explained the report contained an executive summary and gave a background noting the establishment of the Hate Crime Action Group (HCAG) in November 2013 with its responsibility in holding service providers to account and to oversee the delivery of initiatives to address hate crime.

Members were informed of the recent update to the terms of reference to the Group to mechanism for:

·                    Collecting, collating and analysing intelligence;

·                    Agreeing co-ordinated action to address identified patterns and trends;

·                    Promoting a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime;

·                    Ensuring meaningful consequences for the perpetrators of hate crime;

·                    Commissioning and delivering support for victims and witnesses of hate crime to ensure they receive seamless, co-ordinated care and support that enables them, as far as possible, to cope and recover from their experience and participate in Criminal Justices Processes where appropriate.

The Committee noted aims of the Group remained the same with a focus on:

·                    Supporting the development of a common understanding of need, action and resource requirements;

·                    Advising on and enable collaborative working to build a comprehensive continuum of action;

·                    Assisting with the development and implementation of an outcomes framework that facilitates delivery of key agreed targets;

·                    Leading the delivery of specific, delegated activities;

·             Advising on opportunities to develop and deliver consortium and collaborative      approaches.

The Policy Lead explained the existing Action Plan was launched in October 2018 and progress against the actions had included: develop a multi-agency communications strategy; a review of reporting mechanisms and pathways; a review of how organisations share intelligence; a review the use of evidence to ensure prosecutions; and a mapping exercise in terms of the support for victims and identification of gaps in support.  She explained that a recommendation to review and formalise referral pathways and eligibility criteria would be discussed at the next HCAG meeting.

The Chair thanked the Policy Lead, noted the work was something the former PCVC, Ron Hogg had supported strongly and asked the Committee for their comments and questions.

Councillor J Charlton noted recent work in assisting a victim of hate crime, who had multiple vulnerabilities and noted frustration in terms of the length of time it took for Police to attend and interview the victim, around two weeks and asked whether that was normal in terms of timescales.  The Policy Lead noted she would look into the details relating to that response, however more broadly an assessment would be undertaken in terms of the response, whether to attend or speak via telephone.  The Chair asked if there was a key performance indicator (KPI) in terms of response times to incidents of hate crime.  The Policy Lead noted she would look at KPIs and feedback to the Committee and raise the matter with the HCAG if there was an issue.

The Chair asked as regards the level of buy-in at the HCAG.  The Policy Lead noted that there was buy-in from all areas, the Crown Prosecution Service, Courts, Police and the review of the Terms of Reference had been undertaken to ensure that those attending the HCAG were at the correct level.  She added that the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners had undertaken a piece of work in terms of identifying inequalities in the justice process and that would be taken forward to the national Criminal Justice Board and therefore the issue was high on the agenda.  She added that the changes to the HCAG and having a performance framework to be able to report back on would help to focus on the issues.

Resolved:  

That the content of the report be noted.