Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all attendees to the meeting. Apologies were received from Councillors Ekechi and Stafford and representatives of the Enfield Youth Parliament.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

It was agreed that Item 7:Update on Police Numbers would be taken first on the agenda. The minutes however would reflect the original order of the agenda.

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

Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety presented this report and highlighted the following:

·       Overall the MOPAC Seven crime categories are 15.7% down as of December and have improved slightly since then.

·       Violence with injury remains challenging, whilst increases have been seen, the reporting of domestic violence will always be encouraged.

·       Amongst local priorities going forward will be Violence against women and girls and Serious Youth Violence.

·       The policing plan has acknowledged that boroughs have changed, it is hoped that the police allocation maybe reviewed in the future.

·       Whilst Domestic Abuse has seen a decrease, services are oversubscribed and the reporting of offences is encouraged.

·       With regards to the increase in rape, some of the offences are historic and it is thought that only 10% of rapes are reported so higher figures may include increases in reporting.

·       Currently experiencing increases in theft of motor vehicles. Members were advised that as a borough we have lots of cars and car ownership is significantly higher than other boroughs.

The following questions were raised:

Q:      Why is there much higher car ownership in Enfield?

A:       The reasons for this are unknown.

Q:      Is it known if the increase in serious youth violence is due in part to new affiliations or programmes that are no longer running such as the Youth Engagement Panel (YEP)?

A:       Gang intervention continues despite the financial pressures around youth services. When there is pro-active activity this will increase the figures. The YEP had been gone for a year now and other programmes are in place to replace some of this work. Operation Crest, which is very similar to the call in previously undertaken in court, is offered to all schools, this covers the consequences of actions. This was originally offered to secondary schools and is now being aimed at primary schools. The Community Safety Unit is still offering entry for relevant young people to the Ben Kinsella Exhibition.

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

Received a report from Andrea Clemons, Head of Community Safety.

NOTED:

·       Enfield receives lots on calls on prostitution anti-social behaviour.

·       Some areas around the borough have significantly more reported incidents than others. Details provided in the report clearly show that most reports come from the Upper Edmonton and Edmonton Green wards

·       Immigration officers take part in the joint operations with the police and the community safety unit.

·       CCTV is used to log incidents and to look for car registrations for kerb crawling.

·       Historically street prostitution has involved local women feeding drug habits. This has now changed many of the women are eastern european and the motivation is now finance based. The women appear to be economically driven and business minded.

·       There is an intervention programme that funding is being sought for to work with kerb crawlers. The offender would need to pay to attend a course the aim of which is to change their behaviour and would avoid them getting a criminal record. After this scheme is set up it should be self-funding as the fees for the course should cover the costs. A similar programme has been in place in Bristol for 2 years.

·       In areas where there are problems; if those causing problems are council tenants. The community safety unit can look to possible enforcement action as an unsuitable tenant.

The following questions were taken:

Q:      Is there any pattern on kerb crawlers?

A:       No there does not appear to be.

Q:      Are the street workers being trafficked?

A:       No, this does not appear to be the case.

Q:      Has there been any significant increases in the number of street prostitutes compared to previous report?

A:       This information is not known but would expect that this figure has increased.

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

Andrea Clemons presented this report and highlighted:

·       People can find street begging upsetting and frightening if done in an aggressive manner. Whilst this can be a nuisance this does not involve large numbers.

·       Begging tends to take place in town centres and where shops and transport hubs are. The map included in the report provides a further breakdown.

·       Begging does have links to homelessness, although it should be noted that not all homeless people want accommodation.

·       The use of CCTV is very helpful, particularly where begging takes the form of car washing on roads.

Q:      If an issue occurs at a train station which police have the responsibility to deal?

A:       The Met police have responsibility everywhere; British Transport Police would deal with incidents within the confines of the station. However, they will work together to ensure the problem is not just relocated either inside or outside of the station.

Q:      Are the beggars minors?

A:       Not aware of any, should there be any this would be a safeguarding issue

Q:      Has the number of people begging gone up?

A:       The figures are not available to hand but this information can be provided

Action: Andrea Clemons

Q:      Regarding the consultation on Public Space Protection Orders, when are the results likely to be available?

A:       This consultation is not being led by the Community Safety Unit so officers were not aware of any dates.

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

Andrea Clemons presented the report and highlighted the following:

·       The Council has funded 16 officers under the Safer Estates Policing Team; 10 officers focus on Housing Estates and the remaining 6 have a wider focus.

·       The funding was agreed for 3 years beginning in September 2016.

·       The teams work more closely than before with Community Safety including CCTV.

·       57 arrests were made within a 5 week period leading up to Christmas.- this compares with 8 in a comparable period under old funded arrangements.

·       The patrols focus on five estates with each estate having a lead officer in the Community Safety Unit to coordinate. There are weekly meetings enabling the focus of the teams to change as needed.

·       These teams are out every day and appears to of had the effect of an increase in confidence in reporting. It is important that the teams are seen regularly.

·       Details of the number of patrols and arrests were provided in the report.

·       Feedback from residents and businesses as to the success of these teams is being sought.  Members suggested that Ward Forums maybe helpful in terms of feedback.

·       CCTV very helpful in directing teams where needed.

The following questions were raised:

Q:      There seem to be a large number of stop and searches being undertaken.

A:       Stop and Account have been encouraged; officers need to know who the people are hanging around areas on the estates.

Q:      Are all CCTV cameras overt?

A:       Yes they can be a deterrent.

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

An update on Police numbers in the Borough was provided by Superintendent Carl Robinson. He stated that the target for Enfield Police is 557 officers. There are currently 527.89 police officers in post which comprises both full time and part time officers.

The following questions were raised:

Q:      How many of our officers are off sick/ maternity leave or working out the borough?

A:       Currently there are 24 officers off sick, including both long term sickness and those who had been sick for 1 day. Any officers that have been sick for over one year will probably be off pay, any off sick for 183 days (6 months) will probably be on half pay. There are13 officers are on maternity leave including 2 PSCO’s; these officers are due back over the course of the next 12 months. The officers that are working off the borough are still doing work for Enfield and include 4 officers working in the Forensic Conversion Unit and 4 officers in the Domestic Violence offenders’ task force.

Q:      Have all 21 wards currently got 2 dedicated officers?

A:       There are approximately 6-7 wards that do not have two officers at present.

Q:      When are the numbers of officers in Enfield due to increase?

A:       Enfield is due to get an intake of 7 probationers in both February and March.

To note the Work Programme for 2016/17

The Work Programme for 2016/17 was noted.

To receive and agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2016.

AGREED the minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2016.

To note the date of future meetings as follows:

22 March 2017

The dates of future meetings were noted as

22 March 2017.