Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 February, 2020 were agreed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Joint briefing note of the Head of Environmental Services and Chief Inspector James Littlehales, West Midlands Police who has been invited to the meeting.

Councillor AS Khan, Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

The Committee were provided with information about the Strategic Assessment and the priorities of the Police and Crime Board. Councillor AS Khan, Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities, attended the meeting for the consideration of this item along with Commander Mike O’Hara, Simon Hensley and Charlotte Powell, West Midlands Police.

Councillor AS Khan introduced the item, informing the Committee that the Strategic Assessment was used to identify trends and anticipate future issues to address, setting priorities for the Police and Crime Board to discuss.

Commander O’Hara of West Midlands Police provided the context of COVID-19 and stated that the medium- and long-term effects of the virus, and associated lockdowns, would become clearer over time.

Members asked a number of questions and received the following responses:

•  The consequences of increased alcohol use, through lockdown and beyond, including the public health, third sector and public sector partner responses should be considered at a future meeting

•  The increase in serious crime was a complex issue which is why long term strategies, such as the 10-year violence reduction strategy, had been implemented. Increased efforts in enforcement activity could have contributed to an increase in recorded crime rates, but there were also a number of other factors to consider.

•  Officers would consider ways to get a more representative response to the Crime Survey.

•  The police did a substantial amount of partnership work to support children and young people. This included work with schools, including school-based police panels, and work with Early Help and Family Hubs. This used a trauma informed approach and recognised the importance of early intervention. School Heads, teachers and staff were able to access training on a wide variety of vulnerabilities facing children and young people including criminal exploitation as both victims and perpetrators.

•  There was a dedicated police officer for restorative justice. There was good reporting available on restorative justice which would be included in future strategic assessments.

•  Drug activity was taken very seriously as it was one of the key drivers for exploitation, violence and acquisitive crime.

•  The police have a strong and robust position towards serious crime. This included working with the regional cannabis disposal team on the issue of cannabis farms and addressing the links with organised crime, health and safety as well as vulnerable people operating the farms.

•  Police resourcing was the strongest it had been for the past three years, helped by the national policing uplift.

•  There were 97 dedicated neighbourhood constables and 55 PCSO’s across the city, as well as other city-wide teams and response officers, investigators, covert and operational officers.  There were between 170-200 officers directly under the management of the Coventry Commander.

•  Flytipping had increased during lockdown, following a decline in 2019, but was now seeing a decrease again in each quarter.

•  Conviction rates were difficult to record as sometimes a conviction could be a significant time after the offence took place. Recordings of detections were an administrative process. A conviction was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Committee considered their Work Programme for the current municipal year.

RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2020/21 be noted and the meeting on 21st April be given to an item on Climate Change. Domestic Violence and Abuse would be deferred to 2021/22.

Any other items of public business which the Chair decides to take as a matter of urgency because of the special circumstances involved.

There were no additional items of public business.