Introduction from the Chair, Tim Fellows.

All attendees were welcomed to the meeting.

Apologies for absence have been received from Bradley Few (MOPAC), Askin Erozkal (PEP Memeber), Eddie Fraser (Haselbury CAPE), Patricia Jackson (Jubilee CAPE), Carol Shuttle (Southbury CAPE), Mark Rudling (EBRA), Adrian Bishop-Laggett (FERRA) and Councillor Nick Dines.

To appoint a Vice Chair for 2016/17.

The following nominations were received for the position of Vice Chair:

·         Alok Agrawal (Seconded by Tim Fellows)

·         Janet Marshall (Seconded by Tim Fellows)

Following a secret ballot, it was announced after the meeting that Janet Marshall was appointed to the role of Vice Chair.

The new Vice Chair will continue with her role as the Treasurer until the next AGM meeting.

The Executive Committee had not had the opportunity to meet since the last meeting of the SNB.

Sheila Stacey will be taking over the Communications role this will include working closely with the police to ensure that all CAPE chairs receive the relevant information quickly.

The Chair informed attendees that a survey had been sent to all CAPE chairs to gain information on what was working well and what needed improving in their CAPE meetings.

A report to show the findings will be circulated in the near future.

The chair requested that any volunteers interested in joining the CCTV Monitoring Station Scrutiny Group notify him. Volunteers will be needed to visit the Station for one hour every 3 months to check and review CCTV procedures.

To receive a report from Andrew Thomson, Head of Drug and Alcohol Services

Andrew Thompson, Head of Drug and Alcohol Services, discussed a report produced by Public Health England who has a responsibility for reducing substance misuse.

He discussed Drug and Alcohol misuse in Enfield by raising the following points:

·         9 million adults drink at levels that increase the risk of harm to their health, 50+ units of alcohol a day, of that 8,000 of those are in Enfield. 3,600 people in Enfield are described as having an alcohol dependency.

·         Around 1,000 people in Enfield are receiving drug treatment. The percentage of those people injecting drugs is low. However, of those that do inject drugs a high percentage of them have HIV.

·         In Enfield, hospitals spend 5.8 million pounds and primary care services spend approximately 1.7 million for alcohol admissions. 92 beds per day are blocked in hospitals in Enfield due to alcohol admissions

·         36% of children in Child Protection in the borough are in that position due to their parents having issues with substance abuse issues. Heroin users will have their children removed for a minimum of 2 years as the risk of relapse is too high. 

·         £11bn is spent on alcohol related crime in England each year. 52% of all domestic violence incidents are alcohol related.

·         Every year drug misuse costs the NHS in England £488m.

·         Enfield’s success rate for Drug Treatment programmes is 5^th best in London. The success rate is measured by those who go through the treatment not relapsing or reoffending.

The following questions and comments were taken:

Q) Is there any link between alcohol & drug abuse, and homelessness?

A) The housing service works with the Alcohol and Drug Team to help get homeless people housed quickly. The Council currently runs a scheme where private landlords are paid up to £1,600 rent deposits and potential damage charges.   The cost for the deposits and potential damage charges are flexible to ensure the vulnerable people get housed without any issues.

Q) Is there any statistics to show the correlation between alcohol & drug misused and factors such as race, religion and culture?

A) There is less alcohol misuse typically in Muslim and Greek cultures and less drug misuse typically in Greek communities. A problem which occurs from communities were a low number of the population are using alcohol and drugs is that they can often neglect those that do. The people using are then socially isolated and unable to get support. 

Nationally Heroin use is down by 5% and its use is continuing to decrease. The use of Heroin is linked with times of deprivation, in periods of affluence the use of Heroin declines

Q) A large number of Eastern European people are seen drinking in the streets in the borough. How is help given to those who may not speak English?

A) Everyone in the borough with a drink or alcohol problem is supported. There is a translation service available to those people that do not speak or understand English.

A large portion of Eastern European males in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Examination of crime statistics received from MOPAC to include:

(a) Recorded Crime;

(b) Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB);

(c) Public Confidence & Victim Satisfaction;

(d) Complaints against Borough Officers/Staff;

(e) Stop and Search

Chief Inspector, Sharon Harding, and Chief Inspector Neighbourhood Policing, Nicki Reynolds, explained the Crime Statistics for the borough. Generally, there had been good reductions against the last 12 months figures. Theft from Person and Violence with injury remains an issue to the police. In their update the following key points where made:

·         Business Robbery Rates are high, with an increase from 45 to 72 incidents. As it is mainly Betting Shops that are being robbed a group called Betwatch, made up of Bookmakers, regularly meet to discuss their best practise and any concerns they may have.

·         Targeted work is taking place around knife crime. A knife bin has recently been installed into Edmonton Police Station. The Knife Bin is inside the police station to ensure the box is kept safe and staff are kept safe when the box needs to be emptied.

·         Due to the evenings staying lighter for longer, there has been an increase in Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). Plans are in place for during the European Championship Competition. Days have been allocated a colour (Green, orange and red) to show the likelihood of ASB and resources have been allocated to deal with any incidents based on the colour system.

·         Since the last meeting of the Safer Neighbourhood Board, there has been no updated data on Victim Satisfaction. It is hoped that improved communications and better use of social media will improve public perception of the police.

·         The number of complaints against the police needs to be reduced. The focus is now on preventing complaints by providing police staff with interaction training and ensuring all officers follow up their actions.

·         A total of 373 Stop and Searches took place in April and 407 took place in March. 250 searches had been recorded at the time of the meeting showing the potential for further reductions in searches. 15-24 years olds are the highest age group for searching. 429 people searched defined there ethnicity as white, including 246 individuals defining themselves as Northern European and 183 defining themselves are Southern European. 302 of those searched defined their ethnicity as Black, 31 as Asian and 9 as Chinese, Arab or any other ethnicity.

Concerns were raised about people being afraid to ring the police about rape and domestic violence incidents. An increase in the number of rapes and domestic violence incidents reported could be a reflection of greater police confidence. It is important to develop a baseline for these incidents so it can be clearly seen if there are increases or decreases.

To receive an update from Acting Chief Inspector, Nicki Reynolds.

The current target strength for police officers is 544.

The current actual number is 524.6.

To fill the vacancies new officers are being taken in straight from Police Training Schools.

To receive an update on current Police Operations from Acting Chief Inspector, Nicki Reynolds.

The following update was given on current operations:

·         Operation Met Trace – the first phase of Met Trace has been completed with Smart Water kits being delivered to 9,000 residents. Phase 2 of the operation will see 12,000 kits being delivered. Signs are put up in areas where the delivery of kits has been successful.

·         Operation Shadow – this is tackling ASB and the criminal elements of prostitution, drug use and other crime.

·         Planning for Autumn/Winter nights has begun to prepare for the anticipated increase in burglary, robbery and ASB during these times of year.

The Chair provided a brief update on the SNB funding applications for the MOPAC funding. The priorities for the grants are serious youth violence and domestic violence. The committee met to look at the applications for funding received, 4 of which they approved to provide more detailed bids and one bid required additional information before it could be considered.

The MOPAC funding continues for one year into the new Mayor of London’s term and is likely to be changed next year.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on the 4 February 2016.

The Board AGREED the Minutes of the Meeting held on 4 February 2016 as a correct record.

If you wish to raise a matter of urgent business, please send full details to clare.bryant@enfield.gov.uk to arrive no later than Friday 20 May 2016.

There was no other business for this meeting.

Future meeting have been arranged for the following dates at Enfield Civic Centre starting at 7pm:

·         Thursday 21 July

·         Wednesday 2 November

·         Thursday 2 February

To note the date of the next meeting as being Thursday 21 July 2016.