Archived decisions

Contact : Jill Lovelock Ext 7591

1. Summary

1.1. This report summarises the District partnership community safety strategies for East Hampshire, Hart, Havant and Rushmoor. It also identifies the priority themes in the strategies and the role of the County Council in implementing the actions.

2. Background

2.1. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 placed new duties on local authorities to develop crime and disorder reduction/community safety strategies. In two tier areas, the County Council, District Council and the police are equal statutory partners. The partners must undertake a local crime audit, consult on the results, prepare and publish a community safety strategy. The strategies run for three years, and local partnerships are just publishing their second strategies for the period 2002-2005.

2.2. The County Council has been involved in local partnerships through senior managers acting as Link Officers and more recently through Member representation. This has ensured the County Council has taken its responsibilities as a partner seriously and made appropriate input to the new strategies.

3. Strategies

3.1. The County Council needs formally to endorse all eleven partnership strategies, and this decision is included in the Council's forward plan as a key decision. The Executive Member for Community Development, Regeneration and Internal Liaison has endorsed the strategies from East Hampshire, Hart, Havant and Rushmoor partnerships at his decision day on 17 May. Copies of the strategies are held in the Chief Executives Policy Unit.

3.2. In addition to endorsing the strategies, the Council needs to understand and analyse the key issues and priorities in each strategy and ensure that departments build these into their service and action plans as necessary. The County Council has identified six key policy aims in its own community safety strategy and the District partnership strategies need to be analysed alongside these policy aims. This report on the partnership strategies includes more detailed analysis for this PRC to identify common themes across the strategies and priority actions for County departments to support.

4. Key themes and issues

4.1. The key themes for each of the strategies are listed below. Partnerships have allocated lead agency responsibilities for these and where the County Council has the lead role this is indicated.

4.2. East Hampshire partnership:

_ fear of crime - to support and develop initiatives designed to reduce the fear of crime and perceptions of urban/rural decay

_ young people and community safety - to support and develop initiatives designed to address the needs of young people and the community (youth service lead)

_ hidden crime - to support and develop initiatives designed to reduce the incidence of domestic violence and hate crimes

_ recorded crime - to support and develop initiatives designed to reduce the incidence of drugs, violence, property and car crime.

4.3. Hart partnership:

_ to reduce town centre violence and disorder

_ to promote a sense of well being at home - includes domestic violence, disorder and anti-social behaviour, fire safety
(social services lead with Hart Community Safety team)

_ to support youth leisure activities and reduce juvenile nuisance
(YOT and youth service lead)

_ to promote social inclusion and community awareness - working with disability, mental health, race, the elderly, young, gay community and minority groups

_ to reduce priority and volume crime - focusing on national priorities of violent crime, burglary, vehicle crime and robbery

_ to reduce crime and disorder caused by drugs and alcohol - targeting supply and demand and improving awareness.

4.4. Havant partnership:

_ reduce crime and disorder and increase public reassurance
(youth service lead for some actions)

_ reduce the involvement of young people in crime and disorder, whether as offender or victim
(Education department youth service & YOT lead for some actions)

_ tackling drugs and alcohol abuse and related crime
(Trading Standards lead for one action)

_ protecting vulnerable people

_ tackling domestic burglary

4.5. Rushmoor partners:

_ to reduce local levels of violent crime by targeting domestic violence and street violence

_ to reduce the fear of crime and increase feelings of safety

_ to reduce drugs and alcohol related crime and criminality

_ to reduce the number of young people who are at risk of offending, committing offences and re-offending
(youth service lead)

_ to identify and take action in respect of areas of concern and repeat victimisation.

4.6. The common themes emerging so far are:

_ youth crime and youth nuisance behaviour

_ drugs and alcohol

_ fear of crime

_ domestic violence

5. County Council policy aims

5.1. The County Council agreed six key policy aims in 1999 alongside the preparation of the first local partnership strategies. This was to ensure a corporate framework for supporting local strategies, and to help local partnerships understand the priority actions the County Council would want to see reflected in local action plans.

5.2. The six policy aims are:

_ to minimise school exclusions, truancy and underperformance by measures including encouragement and support for learning

_ to divert young people away from crime and the risk of crime

_ to initiate and support community based projects in areas where there are special needs or which are recognised as being disadvantaged

_ to refocus economic development to enhance local employment prospects

_ to provide for community safety and crime reduction measures through land use and transportation planning and environmental management schemes

_ to deal effectively and speedily with young offenders.

5.3. Appended to this report is an analysis of the actions from each strategy against the six aims. Actions may fall under more than one policy aim, so a judgement has been made as to the most appropriate aim. There are some actions which do not fall within the six aims and these are also listed. Generally, these deal with actions for the partnership and issue such as monitoring and information sharing.

5.4. Drugs and alcohol abuse has already been identified as a common theme across the partnerships. This does not fit neatly within one of the County's policy aims - it can relate to aims 1,2,3,6 and is a cross-cutting theme. Actions relating to this theme have therefore been identified separately.

5.5. The same exercise will be undertaken for the other seven strategies as they are received and the results brought to the next meeting of this committee.

6. Action for the County Council

6.1. When the full analysis of all eleven strategies is complete, departments will be asked to review those that fall within their areas of responsibility and to see how they can incorporate them into their service and action plans. As the six overall key aims are priorities for the County Council, many of the actions will already be included in mainstream service provision.

6.2. This Committee may like to consider how best to monitor and review the detailed actions and proposals will be brought to the July meeting when the analysis of all eleven strategies should be complete.

7. Conclusion

7.1. The County Council is a statutory partner in all eleven District partnership community safety strategies and will be involved in implementing the agreed actions over the next three years. The County Council will input through the Member representatives on the partnerships, through the link officers and through specific actions being built into departmental plans.

7.2. Proposals for monitoring and reviewing the actions will be brought to the July meeting of the PRC..

Recommendations

1. That the analysis of local partnership strategies be completed as the strategies are published and received.

2. That departments be advised of appropriate actions to take into departmental plans.

3. That proposals for monitoring and reviewing the actions be brought to the July meeting.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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