Contact : Jill Lovelock Ext 7591

1. Summary

1.1 The following decision is sought:

That the County Council endorses the Community Safety Strategies for:

Basingstoke & Deane partnership
Eastleigh partnership
Fareham partnership
Gosport partnership
New Forest partnership
Test Valley partnership
Winchester partnership

for the period 2002-2005.

2. Reason

2.1 The County Council is a statutory partner, together with the District Council and the police, in each of the 11 District Community Safety partnerships in Hampshire. The partnerships have a duty to prepare local strategies every three years, and County officers and Members have been involved in this process. The key themes and priorities for action are set out in the attached report and the County Council must formally agree the strategies and input to implementing the actions over the next three years.

3. Other options considered and rejected:
Not applicable.

4. Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker or a member or officer consulted - Not applicable.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standard's Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent - Not applicable.

Approved by: Date:

Councillor D Kirk

Contact : Jill Lovelock Ext 7591

1. Summary

1.1. This report recommends endorsing District partnership community safety strategies for Basingstoke & Deane, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, New Forest, Test Valley and Winchester. 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. This report deals with strategies from Basingstoke & Deane, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, New Forest, Test Valley and Winchester partnerships. 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.

3.3. The Policy and Resources PRC has asked for a report on the partnership strategies and it is suggested that a more detailed analysis is prepared for the PRC to identify common themes across the strategies and priority actions for County departments to support.

4. Key themes and issues

4.1. Basingstoke & Deane partnership:

_ reduction in crime by and against young people

_ reduction in violent crime

_ create safer communities by identifying high crime areas

_ reduce the fear of crime

4.2. Eastleigh partnership:

_ reduce domestic violence

_ reduce burglary

_ reduce vehicle crime

_ reduce the incidence of violent and disorderly behaviour in public places

_ reduce problems of drugs and alcohol abuse

_ prevent young people becoming involved in crime

_ reduce the number of racial incidents

_ address disorder issues of concern to residents in local areas

4.3. Fareham partnership:

_ target the supply and abuse of alcohol and drugs

_ reduce anti-social behaviour

_ increase reports of and improve responses to vandalism

_ reduce the fear of crime

_ increase reporting of, respond appropriately to and reduce the incidence of domestic violence, racially motivated crime and homophobic incidents

_ meet national Best Value targets for burglary, violent crime and vehicle crime

4.4. Gosport partnership:

_ youth crime

_ vulnerable victims

_ quality of life

_ traffic safety

_ vehicle crime

_ drugs

_ burglary

4.5. New Forest partnership:

_ reduce vehicle crime per 1,000 population

_ reduce domestic violence and deal effectively with hate crime

_ deal with youth diversion, offending and victimisation

_ reduce crimes of criminal damage/vandalism

_ reduce fear of crime

_ prevent drug and alcohol abuse and related crime

_ reduce the amount of anti-social behaviour suffered by the community

_ increase road safety and reduce the number of child casualties

4.6. Test Valley partnership:

_ address problems related to drugs/substance misuse

_ enhance quality of life for residents and businesses in the borough

_ reduce violent crime

_ support vulnerable victims

_ reduce vehicle crime

_ reduce burglary

_ improve communication/future planning of community safety issues

4.7. Winchester partnership:

_ tackle anti-social behaviour, specifically related to misuse of alcohol and fire setting

_ continue to address the problem of domestic violence through identifying the scale of the problem and raising awareness

_ continue to reduce domestic burglaries

_ reduce incidents of theft from and of motor vehicles and fires of abandoned vehicles

_ address concerns of residents in rural areas regarding volume and inappropriate speed of traffic

_ address the problem of drug misuse and where possible disrupt the supply of illegal substances

_ tackle violent crime

_ reduce fear of crime where perceptions exceed the true crime rate

_ continue to work with young people and reduce the number of repeat calls of incidents of perceived juvenile nuisance.

4.8. The common themes emerging from these strategies and those approved on 17 May are:

_ youth crime and youth nuisance behaviour

_ drugs and alcohol

_ fear of crime

_ domestic violence

5. Conclusion

5.1. This report, together with the one taken on 17 May concludes the formal endorsement of all eleven partnership strategies and outlines the key themes and issues. More detailed work will be undertaken for a report to PRC outlining how Council departments should be inputting to delivery of local strategies.

Recommendation

1. That the County Council endorses the Community Safety Strategies for:

Basingstoke & Deane partnership
Eastleigh partnership
Fareham partnership
Gosport partnership
New Forest partnership
Test Valley partnership
Winchester partnership

for the period 2002 - 2005.

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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