Agenda for Crime Scrutiny Panel on Tuesday, 12th January, 2016, 7.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Silver Street, Enfield, EN1 3XA. View directions

Contact: Stacey Gilmour - email:  stacey.gilmour@enfield.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

WELCOME & APOLOGIES

Minutes:

Attendees were welcomed to the meeting. Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Ekechi and Hasan.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

DOMESTIC ABUSE pdf icon PDF 84 KB

To receive a report on Domestic Abuse from Shan Kilby, Domestic Violence Co-ordinator.

Minutes:

RECEIVED a report on Domestic Abuse from Shan Kilby, Domestic Violence Co-ordinator.

 

NOTED:

 

(i)              The report updated the Scrutiny Panel on the partnership response to domestic abuse including recent developments nationally and locally;

(ii)             Domestic abuse can have a devastating effect on victims and their families hence why this is a priority piece of work;

(iii)            There continues to be a rise in recorded incidences by the police. Since 2011/12 an increase of 47.4% had been seen;

(iv)           The vast majority of Domestic Abuse offences fall within the Violence against the Person (VAP) category (approx.80%);

(v)            From Jan 2015-Sept 2015 there have been 2550 domestic incidents that the police have been called to. The comparison with the previous 12 months is set to increase by about 21%. There are challenges around resourcing to meet this demand;

(vi)           Shan updated Members on recent developments around Domestic Abuse. The first peer support domestic abuse group launched in December 2015. This is being co-ordinated by volunteers in Enfield and aims to provide peer support for women who have or are experiencing domestic abuse and to reduce isolation. The aim is to extend this across the borough and for a network of groups to be available to residents;

(vii)          Another recent development was the Serious Crime Bill which received Royal Assent on 8th March 2015 and became the Serious Crime Act. This contains legislation for coercive control which is now a criminal offence, having come into force on the 29th December 2015;

(viii)        Information was provided on Funding which included details on a recent successful bid to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). This is a collaboration with numerous partners which include the London boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Haringey and Islington. Enfield is the lead for this project which has secured £100,000 to help victims access support and refuge who have complex needs including mental health;

(ix)           Shan spoke about future work and advised that there are numerous plans in place to continue developments in Enfield. Training had started to be provided to all multi-agency partnerships on coercive control. Domestic abuse training is mandated for all Children’s Social Workers and also delivered through the Safeguarding Boards for Children’s and Adults;

(x)            Training will be extended to the business sector in 2016, particularly focusing on areas where victims may disclose e.g. hairdressers, nail salons, banks and dental surgeries;

(xi)           In conclusion Shan explained that the aim is to ensure that there are increased opportunities for help seeking and providing help and advice across our communities. This is to enable victims and their families to access help and support at an earlier time, reduce repeat victimisation and reduce the overall impact on the victim and services.

 

The following questions/issues were:

 

·       Discussions took place regarding the increase in the reporting of Domestic Violence. There were a number of reasons for this including increased confidence in Police colleagues, better understanding across communities of the support and help available which has been achieved through campaigns  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

SSCB PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT pdf icon PDF 408 KB

To receive a report from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety.

Minutes:

RECEIVED a report from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety,

 

NOTED:

 

(i)              Anti-Social Behaviour calls (-14.2%), Burglary (-8.6%), Theft of Motor Vehicles (-18.4%) and Serious Acquisitive Crime (-3.3%) are all currently experiencing reductions in the rolling 12-months to 14th December 2015;

(ii)             Overall, MOPAC seven recorded crime categories are experiencing a -2.9% decrease in the rolling 12 months to date;

(iii)            There has been a large increase in Police referrals to MARAC (Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference). This is partially due to improvements to the systems through which referrals are made;

(iv)           A significant increase in recorded knife injuries has been noted across the borough since mid-2014, with some short term reductions;

(v)            Five of the seven MOPAC indicators are currently experiencing in the 12-months rolling (Criminal Damage +2.4%, Robbery +18.5%, Theft from M/V +2.0%, Theft from Person +0.9% and Violence with Injury +3.3%);

(vi)           A detailed table was provided showing the performance overview for MOPAC 7 and SSCB Priorities;

(vii)          A London Borough Ranking Table was also looked at, showing MOPAC 7 and total notifiable offences percentage changes;

(viii)        Further information and figures were provided for Serious Acquisitive Crime (SAC), which includes Robbery, Vehicle Crime and Burglary;

(ix)           Information and figures were also provided on Violence Against Women & Girls (VAWG) and Serious Youth Violence. The last Domestic Abuse Strategic Sub-group (DASG) performance framework was updated in November 2015 and the summary headlines of this were discussed;

(x)            Recorded Serious Youth Violence in Enfield has experienced an increase of +5.7% over the past 12 months. During the same period London has recorded at +6.1% increase;

(xi)           Haringey are experiencing larger increases in gang violence, however Enfield has a similar number of serious youth violence victims.

 

The following questions/comments were raised:

 

·       With regards to Enfield’s burglary figures Andrea explained that the borough has a much higher housing stock than other boroughs, hence why there is a difference in figures;

·       Andrea advised that Enfield’s Serious Youth Violence figures had become more in line with London as an average. This was largely due to additional Police presence and stronger working with partnerships;

·       Some crimes had taken place right on the Enfield and Haringey border, which consequently reflected in the figures. The aim was to develop an Action Plan to address look at ways of monitoring activity on the Enfield and Haringey border;

·       Councillor Maguire asked for further explanation of the Hate Crime figures, detailed in Table 1 of the report. Andrea explained that there had been 310 recorded Hate Crimes in the last 12 months. Enfield had experienced a 10.7% increase in reports but this was half of the MPS increase. Andrea advised that Enfield have an active Hate Crime Forum and also monitor this issue through the Faith Forum and EREC;

·       The question was raised as to whether there had been an increase in reports of Islamophobia due to the recent Paris attacks and other world-wide events. Andrea advised that Enfield had not seen an increase and reports were in fact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

BURGLARY

To receive a verbal report on Burglary from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety.

Minutes:

RECEIVED a verbal report from Rod Bennett on Burglary in the borough.

 

NOTED:

 

(i)              Currently experiencing an -8.6% reduction (-265) in the rolling 12-months and a -20.3% reduction compared to 2011/12;

(ii)             Very seasonal crime with low months (April-September) and a winter seasonal peak (October-March);

(iii)            Burglary is one of our higher volume crimes, accounting for nearly 1 in 4 of all MOPAC 7 crimes;

(iv)           This work is monitored through the Enfield Joint Tasking Action Group (JTAG);

(v)            Burglary initiatives have been developed to deliver further burglary reductions, most notably the Safehouse project, which targets vulnerable victims, neighbourhood watch and the MetTrace project.

(vi)           The Met Trace (Smart Water) operation commenced earlier this year and will run for three years;

(vii)          In this year, the aim is to deliver 9,348 kits to Enfield residents.   Up until early January, 6.699 have been delivered along with additional items we have provided such as timer switches, window shock alarms and leaflets as appropriate;

(viii)        Phase 1 covers addresses in 7 wards which have been identified by the Police using their information systems.  Enfield Highway, Enfield Lock, Palmers Green, Ponders End, Southgate Green, Southgate and Turkey St;

(ix)           We have had a total of 650 kits which residents across Enfield have refused. It is planned that these kits will be re-used in other planned areas of Enfield;

(x)            Figures from the Police state that since the 'Met Trace' operation commenced in Enfield in the early summer, there has been a 39% reduction in burglary offences in areas signed up to Smartwater;

(xi)           Signs advertising that Smartwater is in use within an area are due to go up soon;

(xii)          SafeHouse works to provide support to vulnerable people who are victims of crime. It will provide advice and a lock fitting service to protect our most vulnerable residents from being re-victimised;

(xiii)        This scheme works with relatively low numbers of people (2/3 a week on average), mainly those who are victims of burglary or domestic abuse;

(xiv)        Burglary is also a focus for our integrated offender management (IOM) service, with this being one of the crimes that we focus on.  When we look at our offenders on the IOM cohort, over a quarter are associated with burglary in some way;

(xv)         This work is of benefit, with the re-offending rate for acquisitive offences in Enfield (based on CRC data) being around 35% in Enfield compared to around 42% across London (Please note there is a time lag with reoffending data);

(xvi)        We also work with other areas and partners wherever possible to prevent burglary. We have provided leaflets in conjunction with trading standards around cold callers and rogue traders to avoid people becoming victims of burglary artifice. We have also had leaflets delivered with ‘meals on wheels to get messages to elderly residents and have worked with council housing to provide stickers on UPVC doors when fitted to remind residents that they must ‘lift and lock’ to ensure their property is safe.

(xvii)      Finally,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

SSCB PARTNERSHIP PLAN & STRATEGIC PRIORITIES-6 MONTH UPDATE

To receive a verbal report from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety.

Minutes:

RECEIVED a verbal update from Andrea Clemons.

 

NOTED:

 

(i)              MOPAC 7 will run for just over another year therefore Enfield’s priorities will remain the same for this duration. Performance figures will be updated at the end of the financial year at which point it will be apparent as to what areas of work still need to be delivered;

(ii)             The focus for 2015/16 was to tackle Serious Youth Violence, in particular gangs. An agreement was made to work closely with Health Agencies and a project was currently on going at North Middlesex A& E Department whereby a youth worker was in place to obtain information from people presenting to A&E as victims of knife crime etc. This project was proving really successful in the amount of raw data that was now able to be obtained;

(iii)            Andrea provided information on the various tasking processes and the work taking place around these. She also spoke about new legislations which had been introduced, an example of which was the Criminal Behaviour Orders, and how these legislations could be of use;

(iv)           ASB (Anti-Social Behaviour) had also been another focus for Enfield. The team had now taken over responsibility for Council Housing. CCTV had expanded over a number of areas as a result of which there had been some really key successes;

(v)            Andrea spoke about the introduction of PSPOs (Public Space Protection Orders) and was hopeful that this was something that could be looked at Borough wide;

(vi)           In conclusion going forward, work would continue on the MOPAC 7 priorities in addition to focusing on any issues specific to Enfield. Close work would continue with groups such as REACT/CAPES especially in relation to issues such as ASB, street drinking and littering.

 

The Chair thanked Andrea for her informative update.

7.

UPDATE ON POLICE NUMBERS pdf icon PDF 26 KB

To receive a written update from Superintendent Carl Robinson on Police numbers in the Borough.

Minutes:

An update on Police numbers in the Borough was provided by Superintendent Carl Robinson. He stated that the target for Enfield Police is 561 officers. There are currently 541.96 police officers in post which comprises both full time and part time officers.

 

Superintendent Robinson went on to explain that Police numbers will fluctuate for a number of good reasons. Officers will retire, resign, seek lateral development to specialist teams, move to other Boroughs or move on promotion. As a Borough Enfield have invested in ensuring it knows exactly where its staff are at and have a monthly personnel planning meeting to forecast movements and ensure that each of the three main portfolios (Emergency response, Neighbourhoods and CID) all have as close to their budgeted target as possible.

 

A detailed table was produced showing the most recent comparison data across the MPS – although this was produced at the end of November with future known actuals and vacancies shown to the end of February 2016. It should be noted that Enfield will be showing 557 officers from February 2016 as opposed to 561 in the last report.

 

The following issues were raised:

 

(i)              1900 new probationers were expected through the system during the next financial year. This amounted to 60 per borough which equated to 5 new officers per month. Given these figures, plus the fact that not as many officers had been lost as previously anticipated, the future looked very promising.

(ii)             Every officer’s details on the borough is recorded on appropriate MPS HR systems. Superintendent Robinson said he was keen that internal systems are kept as up to date as possible to ensure an accurate record of the exactly how many officers on the Borough and their locations.

(iii)            Discussions took place regarding the continued problem of beggars in the Borough, particularly around the Upper Edmonton Ward. Andrea explained in detail the action being taken to deal with this type of problem as sometimes they involved very complex issues.

8.

WORK PROGRAMME 2015/16 pdf icon PDF 209 KB

To note the Workstream’s Work Programme for 2015/16.

Minutes:

The Work Programme for 2015/16 was noted.

9.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 1 OCTOBER 2015 pdf icon PDF 134 KB

To receive and agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2015.

Minutes:

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on 1 October 2015.

10.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Minutes:

The Chair asked for an update on the current position with the PCSO contracts.

 

Andrea explained that the current contracts had been extended until the end of March 2016; this was to enable a better understanding of the overall position for the MET. However it had been agreed by the Metropolitan Police that, going forward, a minimum number of PCSOs would be retained.

 

Once the position for the Met and any additional details had been fully understood, options would then be investigated to see what was available and decisions on future contracts would be made.

11.

DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

To note the dates of future meetings as being:

 

22 March 2016

Minutes:

NOTED the date of the next meeting as 22 March 2016.