Hampshire County Council

Cabinet Item 6

27 November 2006

Community Safety Service

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

1

Summary

1.1

Following the success of the Community Safety Service and agreement by the County Council to increase the funding of the service by £300,000 per annum, this report seeks approval to create a new central team and to expand the service into five Tactical Areas of Responsibility (TAORs). The report also confirms arrangements for the recruitment of Probationer and Apprentice ACSOs. On completion of the current recruitment exercise there will be a total of 48 ACSOs with 6 funded by other authorities.

1.2

The provision of additional Accredited Community Safety Officers and greater coverage of Hampshire will make a direct contribution to the corporate priorities making Hampshire safer and more secure for all and enhancing the quality of place for communities.

2

Background

2.1

The Community Safety Service was established in response to repeated feedback from MORI Residents' Surveys and other surveys, which indicated that residents had a fear of crime and wanted to see greater visibility in dealing with anti-social behaviour.

2.2

The Service commenced during December 2004 with officers established in four teams, covering the following `pilot' areas:

· Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council

· Gosport Borough Council

· Havant Borough Council

· New Forest District Council

2.3

This report builds on the Review of the Community Safety Service considered by the Policy and Resources Scrutiny and Select Committee in June 2006, which concluded that the Service had made a significant and visible contribution to community safety and had dealt with over 10,000 incidents during its first year. The Service is well regarded across Hampshire and demand for the Service continues to grow.

3

Service Development

3.1

During the last 12 months, and as the Service has become more visible and successful, the demand for its services has increased across the county. Following requests from Members and communities, officers have worked in a number of hot spots outside the pilot areas for short periods of time. In each case this has proved beneficial and the ACSOs presence has made a positive impact. The single non emergency number 101 has also contributed to the demands of the service.

3.2

Following approval by the County Council of an additional £300,000 per annum, arrangements are in hand to appoint additional ACSOs to create a fifth team based in Winchester. This location was chosen as it provides good transport links to the south and central parts of the county. The deployment of the central team will be based on bids from the Community Safety Partnerships, reacting to information from Members and the public, and from liaison with the Police on specific areas of concern.

4

Tactical Areas of Responsibility

4.1

Recognising the importance of covering as much of the county as possible it is proposed to expand the four pilot areas into Tactical Areas of Responsibility (TAORs) i.e. wider geographical areas. These will link with the new police Operational Command Units. The established bases with IT links, car parking arrangements etc would remain and act as a tactical headquarters for the TAORs. It is proposed to introduce five TAORs across Hampshire to cover the following areas:

· TAOR 1 will incorporate Basingstoke & Deane, Hart, Andover and

surrounding area

· TAOR 2 will incorporate Gosport, Fareham, parts of south Eastleigh

Borough and Winchester Council i.e. Whiteley area

· TAOR 3 will incorporate Havant, Portchester, East Hampshire,

including Petersfield and surrounding areas

· TAOR 4 will incorporate the New Forest and parts of South Test

Valley including Romsey

· TAOR 5 will incorporate the main towns of Winchester, Alton,

Alresford and Rushmoor.

These areas could be subject to review from time to time depending on future operational requirements.

4.2

The TAOR approach is recommended for a number of reasons:

· The service has been successful during the past 22 months in developing and maintaining effective links with local residents and partner organisations. This has maximised the effective use of limited resources, and enabled teams to target the issues of most concern to communities

· The TAOR model will build on the strengths of the teams in the pilot areas to enable a gradual provision of all aspects of community safety, education, community engagement and enforcement across wider areas.

· The TAOR model provides a sound base for any future expansion of the service in each area as funding permits.

4.3

It will be important to manage the expectations of partners during this phase of service development. Coverage will inevitably be lighter than in the pilot areas and the deployment of officers will be carefully managed to maximise their impact in local communities.

5

Recruitment of ACSOs

5.1

With the proposed establishment of a central team and a number of vacancies in the four pilot teams a recruitment drive is currently underway.

5.2

It is intended that all vacancies will be recruited as Probationer ACSOs (unless they are already accredited and qualified). They will remain Probationers for six months when, subject to completion of the necessary training and qualifications, they will become accredited officers. This will ensure ACSOs receive the appropriate salary once they are accredited, rather than the full salary at the start of their employment, and enable the best use of financial resources.

5.3

Significant progress is being made to develop an Apprentice ACSO role, which is likely to be the first of its kind in the UK. Apprentices will be appointed on a 2 year fixed term basis and will concentrate on youth and education projects. They will work with all five of the TAORS with one apprentice based at Winchester to deal with 101 call referrals. It is anticipated that Apprentice ACSOs will be in post by early Spring 2007.

6

Conclusions

6.1

Since its introduction in December 2004 the service has provided the County Council with a direct means of influencing the community perception of making Hampshire a safer place to live and work. It has worked well with other agencies involved in crime and community safety and demonstrated that it is responsive to local circumstances and issues arising across many areas of the county. It has also provided a democratically controlled resource capable of influencing the public's perception on safety in their community.

6.2

The creation of TAORs across the county will ensure the Community Safety Service is developed in an effective manner, integrates with other agencies whilst remaining focused on County Council priorities, objectives and policies. It will also be important for the service to develop new partnership links with district councils, police and other partners across the wider county area, and to manage expectations of partners during this phase of service development. The build up and recruitment of Community Support Officers funded by Hampshire Constabulary should eventually be seen as a positive but distinct complementary resource to public service provision.

6.3

A number of Members have requested a service update and it is proposed to provide briefings following this meeting.

Recommendation(s)

That:

1

Approval be given to the creation of a fifth team for the Community Safety Service and that five TAORs are created to provide coverage across Hampshire.

LINK(S) TO CORPORATE STRATEGY

Yes

No

Hampshire safer and more secure for all

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Maximising well-being

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Enhancing our quality of place

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