Agenda item

To receive a presentation. A Briefing Note of the Executive Director of People will follow.

The following representatives have been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item:

Councillor Townshend, Chair of the Police and Crime Board and Cabinet Member (Policing and Equalities)

Councillor Abbott, Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner

Rob Allison, Voluntary Action Council

Claire Bell, Chief Superintendent, West Midlands Police

Alethea Fuller, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner

Kobina Hall, Community Rehabilitation Service

Vicky Hancox (on behalf of Josie Spencer), Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust

Heather Kelly (on behalf of Tanya Richardson), Public Health, Coventry City Council

Angie Parks, Head of Youth Offending, Coventry City Council

Mandie Watson, Head of Community Safety, Coventry City Council

The Committee considered a Briefing Note, together with comprehensive presentations, which provided an annual update on the work of the Coventry Community Safety Partnership and the Police, Crime and Community Safety Board in addressing matters of Community Safety and an overview of year to date performance in relation to crime and nuisance levels in the City between 1 April 2014 and 28 February, 2015.

The Briefing Note also provided the Committee with an update on the priorities for the Partnership and Board for the next financial year and how the Partnership will work to address those priorities through their joint working and delivery against their annual Police, Crime and Community Safety Plan.

 Responding to issues affecting the safety of the City and its communities is a statutory requirement of a number of agencies, including the Local Authority. These agencies have responsible authority status with which they must do everything they reasonably can individually and collectively to prevent and detect crime and disorder and prevent re-offending. This requirement is achieved through the infrastructure of the Community Safety Partnership, which is governed by the Coventry Police and Crime Community Safety Board.

The Board was established just over a year ago in response to the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners and has continued to operate to the statutory requirements including the need to plan partnership activity to address any threat and risk to the City in terms of Crime, nuisance and disorder. An analytical assessment provided the evidence of which issues to prioritise in terms of severity and volume of incidents and crimes together with trends and patterns that they could then consider in predicting harm and respond to it.

Each Partnership Board across the West Midlands receives community safety funding from the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner. Coventry received £546k for the financial year 1 April, 2014 – 31 March, 2015. The Board were able to fund work that fulfils statutory responsibilities and also support the delivery of action/initiatives to address the City’s priority issues. The breakdown of this spending was attached as an appendix to the Briefing Note, which also contained details of some of the initiatives monitored and/or supported by the Board financially, together with Coventry’s recorded crime performance 2014/15.

Representatives of the various partners that make up the Board gave an overview of their contribution to the Board and the Committee questioned officers and partners, together with the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities, Councillor Townshend,  on a number of  issues, including:-

  ?Crime and nuisance levels in Coventry and comparisons and

  benchmarking with other similar sized Cities

?Reasons for the public’s perception of crime in the City, particularly in

  relation to how safe residents feel that the City is during the evening.

?Work undertaken by the partners to detect and prevent hate crimes against all groups of society.

?The significant work undertaken in relation to using a different approach to the management of offenders, which has seen a more holistic approach being taken on an individual basis.

?Budget reductions over the last 4 years and the effect this has had on delivery.

?Information on the initiatives/projects funded by the Partnership to address their priorities.

?Elected Member involvement in the work of the Partnership.

The Chair, Councillor Skipper, on behalf of the Committee, expressed his thanks to all those partners who had attended the meeting and provided the Committee with a valuable insight into the work of the Board. 

RESOLVED:-

  (1)  That the Committee note the work of the Partnership

directed through the Board, which is based on evidence of need through assessment findings and performance in relation to crime and nuisance levels to date.

(2)  That officers be requested to give further consideration to increasing opportunities for all elected Members to work with the Partnership.

(3)  That in the next Municipal year, Scrutiny consider, as a work item, the development of a Strategy which would give a positive and proactive approach to the creation of a safe and vibrant night time economy in the City Centre.