Agenda for Crime Scrutiny Panel on Wednesday, 2nd September, 2020, 7.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting/Remote - please use the links on the AGENDA FRONT SHEET to join the virtual meeting

Contact: Susan O'Connell - email:  susan.o'connell@enfield.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

WELCOME AND APOLOGIES

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies had been received from Councillors Boztas and Pite.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members of the Council are invited any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

INTRODUCTIONS- PURPOSE OF EVENING

The Chair to introduce the purpose of the evening.

Minutes:

The Chair explained that the purpose of this informal meeting was to receive details of priorities for the coming Municipal Year including key issues and then for the members to discuss the work programme for the crime scrutiny panel

4.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD 20 JANUARY 2020 pdf icon PDF 211 KB

To agree the minutes of the Crime Scrutiny Panel meeting held on the 20 January 2020.

Minutes:

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2020.

5.

LOCAL PRIORITIES FOR 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 176 KB

The Scrutiny Panel will hear from the following, outlining priorities and areas of challenge:

 

Cllr Nneka Keazor, Cabinet Member for Community Safety & Cohesion

Tony Theodoulou, Executive Director People

Anne Stoker, Director of Children & Family Services

Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety

Superintendent Chris Jones, Met Police

 

Cabinet Members and Officers will be asked to leave the meeting at this point.

 

Minutes:

Councillor Keazor, Cabinet Member for Community Safety introduced the local priorities for 2020/21 from the Community Safety Partnership in Enfield. A Strategic Assessment has been completed in order to inform the plan for the update the 2017-21 Safety & Stronger Community Partnership Plan.

 

The findings of this assessment were presented to the Safer & Stronger Communities Board in July. It was agreed that the existing priorities should remain and to have additional focus on some other priorities including tackling illegal drugs and developing communications around tackling vehicle crime.

 

The Panel are reminded that the priorities are decided by the level of harm caused by each offence and additionally the volume and impact on local communities. The Mayors Office for Policing and Crime have also agreed complimentary priorities with local police.

 

The Panel are reminded of the existing priorities as follows:

·         Tackling violent crime in all its forms;

·         Keeping young people safe and reducing their risks from crime;

·         Reducing burglary and keeping people safe at home;

·         Promoting cohesion and preventing hate crime;

·         Dealing with anti-social behaviour

 

Extra focus will also be placed on tackling vehicle crime due to volume of crime and tackling supply of illegal drugs which is a significant driver for violent crime. So the strategy and the actions will be delivered within the context of the current Covid and lockdown restrictions, and the additional challenges highlighted through the Black Lives Matter movement.

 

The strategy will be present in draft to the Safer & Stronger Communities Board in November. This can be shared with the scrutiny panel afterwards. Actions within this will reflect new work and commissioned services and aligned plans such as the North Area Violence Reduction Plan.

 

The following areas are proposed for consideration by the panel are;

To continue with serious youth violence as the number one priority; burglary; ASB including hate crime; all violence including domestic violence;  drugs and vehicle crime; tackling sex work; reoffending including probation changes and review of the Police and Crime Commissioner by the Home Office.

 

Tony Theodoulou, Executive Director People added that serious youth violence is an area of great concern in the borough.

 

Superintendent Chris Jones was present at the Safer & Stronger Board when these priorities were set and agrees with them. He shares the concern around youth violence and young people are his number one priority. He has looked at how policing is effective in terms of schools policing which has enabled a review officers and move officers where needed to ensure engagement with headteachers and the young people that goes to those schools is more positive dynamic and proactive. The police and the Community Safety Unit have been working closely on a school robbery plan for when schools return this week. This involves dedicated officers fixed posts with the CCTV with the local authority providing safe routes to and from school, working very closely with the transport police. The police have integrated a youth independent advisory group. The founder membership had been police cadets to get this up and running.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

PLANNING THE WORK PROGRAMME 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 281 KB

To agree and prioritise items for the new work programme. A blank work programme is attached for your reference.

Minutes:

 

Various discussions took place and the following suggestions were put forward to look at as part of the Work Programme:

·         Charities involvement and interventions with human trafficking and modern-day slavery (Cllr Brett to provide further clarification on this)

·         Prostitution, this item was carried forward from last year and should be taken on early on in the work programme and an update at the last meeting.

·         Serious Youth Violence -to be looked at in detail as a topic as a whole (to include different ethnic groups to identify pressure points, and work undertaken also to include looked after children and how we engage and communicate with families, community leaders on the fringe or involved in violence and what is the impact of this). The details of what is required for this report to be finalised after the meeting.

·         Reoffending including youth reoffending

·         Burglary, this item to be taken early

 

It was noted that there are standard items that the panel normally receive as follows:

·         SSCB Partnership Plan

·         SSCB Performance Management

 

It was mentioned that London Fire Brigade could be invited to a future meeting. They last attended in September 2019.

7.

TERMS OF REFERENCE pdf icon PDF 7 KB

For information, the terms of reference for the Crime Scrutiny Panel are attached.

Minutes:

The terms of reference were noted.

8.

DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

To note the dates of future meetings as follows:

·         Wednesday 4 November 2020

·         Tuesday 26 January 2021

·         Tuesday 16 March 2021

Minutes:

The dates of future meetings was noted.