Agenda item

Report of Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Climate Change

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director Neighbourhoods and Climate Change which provide an update on the first meeting of the re-established ASB Strategic Group, it’s priorities and work areas (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Head of Community Protection Services gave a detailed report on the background, the aims of the re-established group, its objectives, membership, and outcomes from the first meeting.

Councillor Hovvels commented that she found it frustrating that given the amount of member intelligence around ASB that they were not part of the CASBRAC group and able to feed into and receive information from about their local areas. The Head of Community Protection Services appreciated that there was an issue of underreporting and agreed that a mechanism to gather that community-based intelligence was important and would take the comments back to the group.

Councillor Boyes commented that he was pleased to see that this area of work was being reviewed as he was aware that there had previously been a lot of duplication and noted that a single point of contact for reporting incidents of ASB was key to achieving a clear route for members of the public to take. The Head of Community Protection Services advised how data was collected and how confidence was subsequently restored was a key challenge for the group to take forward, noting that a single point of contact was important, however there needed to be a roadmap of accountability and confidential reporting lines through the police.

Superintendent N Bickford, Durham Constabulary added that he completely agreed, the current arrangements were complex, however appreciated that this group would look to streamline those forums with a view to have a single approach for reporting, including triage.

Further discussion took place regarding reporting in rural areas and Councillor Andrews noted that confidence was a major reason for underreporting. She felt that building that confidence on the community was key. The Head of Community Protection Services added that all partners needed to take accountability for this area and noted that developing this approach would look to show how the community can help themselves by reporting incidents which would bolster data.

Councillor Miller noted that he was concerned that members were not involved in the CRASBAC process and asked that this be looked into further. Superintendent N Bickford commented that he couldn’t see a reason why this input would not be permitted and agreed that he would review this area in further detail.

Further discussion took place regarding representation noting that within the remit and scope of the partnership group and the Head of Community Protection Services advised that it was key to ensure that the key people from the right organisations were represented. The Head of Community Protection Services further explained that the Community Trigger was operated under Home Office Guidance, however noted the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) pledge to review this alongside the 101 number. She agreed to seek further details on the PCC review and provide to members following the meeting.

Councillor Sutton Lloyd noted that the current arrangements were fragmented and welcomed a more co-ordinated effort, with member involvement.

Councillor McKenna made reference to the community trigger, noting that he felt the current reporting trigger was too slow of a reaction. In addition, he felt that this was important given the issues with the 101 number. Superintendent N Bickford, Durham Constabulary clarified that this was indeed a national process from the Home Office and noted the complexities surrounding it and the way in which much of the work was duplicated.

Resolved: That the content of the report be noted.