Hampshire County Council Cabinet Item 9 23 July 2007 Community Safety Service Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

Contact: Andrew Smith Ext: 7826 email: [email protected]

1	Summary
1.1	Following the successful launch of the Community Safety Service, the Cabinet, at its meeting on 27 November 2006, agreed that the service be extended to cover the whole county and the number of officers expanded up to 48 with, for the first time anywhere in England, a small group of apprentice ACSOs as part of the overall team.
1.2	Having obtained Cabinet agreement to the roll out of the service county wide, this report outlines how Tactical Areas of Responsibility (TAORs) have been developed to deploy the staff in the service effectively. It also comments on the development of a protocol with the Chief Constable for the deployment of Police Community Safety Officers (PCSOs) and Accredited Community Safety Officers (ACSOs). This protocol has been largely agreed and now requires only formal endorsement by both organisations.
	Recommendations:
	That Cabinet notes the successful second phase of development of the ACSO service, and approves the adjustments to the TAORs to provide county coverage, along with the protocol with Hampshire Constabulary.
2	Community Safety
2.1	The ACSOs continue to make a direct impact on community safety within the County Council. However, as their activities expand and partnership working with other organisation develops, it is clear that one of their emerging roles is the part they are able to play in leading community regeneration activities. The service received positive feedback from inspectors as part of the recent Comprehensive Performance Assessment, and progress against outcomes and targets in the Corporate Business Plan is being carefully monitored. This augurs well for the future and marks a significant contribution to the County Council's key corporate priority of developing stronger, safer communities for all.
3	Background
3.1	The service commenced during December 2004 and was piloted in four areas of the county. During this pilot phase the officers were trained and accredited in their activities. Following a Cabinet discussion in 2006, and the agreement to enhance the service in terms of numbers, it was agreed that the establishment of 48 officers would be deployed within new TAORs. This represented the second phase of development for the service and is now complete.
3.2	An update for Members on recent achievements and developments is provided in Appendix I, with supporting performance information and data in Appendix II. Adjustments that have been made to the service to provide county wide coverage are also detailed in Appendix III.
4	Achievements, developments and feedback
4.1	Members will be aware that the service has a dual role. Whilst primarily involved in developing safer communities within the county, it is clear that creating a safer environment for young and old alike involves engaging with, in particular, young people. This means trying to establish more community based activities which encourage greater respect for local communities and their residents.
4.2	The service has not adopted any one particular model in developing this approach. The youth projects that are developing in areas such as Rowner and Leigh Park are identified in Appendix 1, and in the same appendix there is an illustration of the feedback received from partners, residents and other agencies involved with the service. The feedback remains positive, encouraging and highly complimentary of what has been achieved.
4.3	It is clear that ACSOs are not only developing an enforcement role, they are indeed ambassadors for the County Council in the areas and communities in which they serve. Developing this role is increasingly leading them into partnerships in community and regeneration projects which help develop greater ownership and influence within local communities. It is hoped that this particular trend will continue and help embed a front line County Council service in the minds of residents and young people throughout the county.
5	Performance Information
5.1	Between December 2004 and May 2007, ACSOs dealt with over 20,000 incidents. While many of these could be seen as minor in terms of their nature and outcome, these are often the issues which cause most concern to our residents. It is also the sheer volume collectively that gives an idea of the impact of the service. Previously, most of these 20,000 incidents would not have featured as serious criminal activity, and would have, in all probability, gone without any enforcement or community activity to rectify the issues.
5.2	By building on the protocol with Hampshire Constabulary, and through the use of the Crime and Disorder Data Information Exchange (CADDIE), it will be possible to further enhance the information and data on incidents and activities across the county. This information will influence how the service is deployed and refocused on particular geographic areas or types of activity. There are also obvious overlaps with the County Council's Youth Service and Regulatory Services, particularly in relation to alcohol related sales and incidents.
6	County coverage
6.1	The last report to Cabinet identified the introduction of TAORs for the service which would be developed in partnership with Hampshire Constabulary. There have been some adjustments to these areas for operational reasons, and to best deploy the staff across the whole county (see Appendix III for details). The creation of a fifth team based in Winchester, which is part of the Phase 2 development, has already received a positive response from the City Council, the local Police Inspector and the Fire & Rescue Station Commander.
7	Apprentice ACSO role
7.2	This role has now been developed and appointments made of the first four Apprentice Officers (from over 30 applications received). These posts are, to the best of our knowledge, the first of their kind in the UK. The tasks which the apprentices will undertake have been carefully assessed and will include joint patrols, youth and education projects, as well as some minor administrative duties.
7.2	There is no doubt that these officers will make a valuable contribution to the service by moving towards a position whereby young people help to `police' their own age group in their own communities. Further assessment of the impact of apprentices will be undertaken during the course of the year.
8	Protocol with Hampshire Constabulary
8.1	At the last meeting, Cabinet asked that a formal protocol be developed to facilitate the deployment of ACSOs alongside PCSOs. This document will build on the already good working relationship between the two services, as well as providing a practical guide on legal powers, tasks and procedures. A copy of the protocol is available should Members wish to see the detail.

9	Conclusion
9.1	As Phase 2 of the development comes to an end, it is clear that ACSOs continue to provide the County Council with a direct means of influencing the community's perception of Hampshire as a safe place to live and work. The service is formalising its partnership working and, as it expands its coverage across the County Council, provides an opportunity to promote two tier working and partnership working with other agencies.
9.2	The service continues to be in heavy demand, both from Elected Members, Community Groups and other agencies who wish to see it deployed into a particular activity. For the future, we need to develop its enforcement activity alongside its regeneration work, and this will be a major objective.
9.4	As the service expands to provide county wide coverage it will be important also to recognise that the coverage and visibility will be different from that established in the pilot areas. It will be particularly important to recognise that providing this coverage requires the service to be flexibly deployed, and the continued enhancement of incident and electronic data to guide and inform the activity of the service will help support its effective delivery.

LINK(S) TO CORPORATE STRATEGY
	Yes	No
Hampshire safer and more secure for all	x
Maximising well-being	x
Enhancing our quality of place

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

None.

CAB0707A

Appendix I

ACSO Service - Phase 2 Achievements and Developments (November 2006 - June 2007)

1. Youth Projects in Rowner and Leigh Park

As part of the Service's dual approach of enforcement and community regeneration, two of our teams have recently begun work on projects involving young people.

In Gosport, ACSOs have launched an after school youth club at Rowner Junior School and have worked closely with the staff and other partners, including our own Youth Service. Initially aimed at Year 6 students, the project is known as the Junior Community Team. ACSOs meet with the volunteers once a week and develop activities that they will enjoy and which will also foster a sense of responsibility for their local community.

In Havant, a similar initiative is being undertaken by ACSOs in Leigh Park. The officers for this area were actively working alongside the Youth Service `Mad For It' project when it was running and built up good relationships with the very hard to reach youths on the estate.

The budget for these projects is £2,000, and if successful, they could be used as models for other areas of the county, working in conjunction with our colleagues in the Youth Service.

2. Emergency Communications

The first batch of 14 Airwaves handsets have been purchased and the necessary statutory training has been undertaken for officers, together with our colleagues in the Emergency Planning Unit, so that we can operate the system to the high standard of security required by the PITO licensing authority.

An evaluation of the effectiveness of the system will be carried out after 3 months, and a decision will then be made about its suitability for all ACSOs.

The provision of these handsets has already improved our communications with Police colleagues, including the recently deployed Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), particularly in the case of high risk or urgent situations. They will also significantly enhance the County Council's ability to respond in a civil emergency when the mobile phone network is likely to be inoperative.

3. Feedback from Partners and Residents

The Service has a great deal of direct contact with residents, so listening to their views is crucial to future development. Over recent months, we have been working with a number of local community groups and parish councils who are working with our Elected Members and officers to address community issues.

Recent examples of deployments include:

· Continued patrols to address anti-social behaviour in some areas of Swanmore, plus early morning visits to deal with littering

· Patrols to Bishops Waltham at the request of local police and district council

· Patrols to Harts Plain School in Cowplain to address upsurge in vandalism.

· Targeted action to reduce cycling on the footpath in a shopping precinct in Waterlooville .This was undertaken as a result of requests from local businesses

· Targeted action to reduce litter outside BTEC college in Basingstoke - a number of Fixed Penalty Notices were issued.

In addition to the rolling user survey conducted throughout the year, the Service also receives some individual feedback from residents and partners. Examples of such feedback are as follows:

"I received a letter from you this morning regarding my son being caught drinking on 04/08/2006 at a certain school. Firstly I would like to Thank you for letting me know about the incident and secondly I would like to say that I am in support of the way you are trying to combat Anti-social Behaviour. I would also like to apologise for the incident and would like you to know that my son will be dealt with. I do not like to see this sort of thing on the streets or anywhere else for that matter. I am not at all happy with my son as when I see this on the streets I think its pretty disgusting. I know children make mistakes and perhaps its a part of growing up, along with pressure from mates etc, but he knows what he was doing was wrong and I am very surprised at his behaviour. I can assure you he will not be doing it again, as he wont be seeing the outside world for a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you again for letting me know, I do apologise." ( E mail from Hampshire Resident)

"Can I please bring to your attention the sterling work of the above named ACSO's. There has recently been a number of criminal damage incidents on beat 8 with windows being broken at schools in the area, Rachel Maddocks, Meadowlands to name a few.Clair and Shaun have been invaluable in carrying out extra patrols in the area and this has been noticed by the staff at the community centre and council office.

I am informed also that the community centre has had no further problems from the rowdy youths who used to hang around outside the main entrance and I am convinced that this is due to the extra presence of Clare and Shaun of late."

(E mail from Hampshire Police Officer)

Appendix II

Performance Data - Activities/Incidences across Areas

Analysis from December 2004 to May 2007
TAOR	Northern	Southern	Eastern	Western	Central (From 12 Jan 2007)	Total
Abandoned cars	114	152	195	73	3	537
Crime (other)	61	140	76	56	5	338
Fly Tipping	1023	650	1016	525	30	3244
Litter	78	69	186	165	8	506
Pavements/ Roads	54	32	142	167	16	411
Abandoned Trolleys	208	82	535	151	12	988
Dog Fouling	8	15	14	14	0	51
Graffiti	113	106	67	303	26	615
Lighting	53	18	36	139	5	251
Theft	11	45	22	10	5	93
Alcohol	119	161	344	452	53	1129
Alcohol Confiiscations	0	75	99	0	0	174
Drains	1	4	11	9	0	25
Intimidation/bullying	17	81	73	63	1	235
Fly Posting	0	0	10	0	0	10
Trespass	0	0	7	0	0	7
Noise	10	47	11	120	2	190
Vandalism	183	166	117	400	10	876
Arson	53	39	36	97	7	232
Drugs Related	39	66	15	72	6	198
Nuisance Behaviour	226	653	454	286	31	1650
Untaxed Vehicles	452	807	1442	508	93	3302
Cycling Pavement	8	1414	663	16	6	2107
Yellow Card	94	276	338	272	55	1035
FPN Issued	2	111	42	18	5	178
Other	290	454	373	599	66	1782
Totals	3217	5663	6324	4515	445	20164

Appendix III

Progress Towards County Coverage of the Service

Expansion through the Adoption of TAORs

1. Current Staffing Levels

The current staffing situation across the five teams is set out below. For the first time, these figures include our 4 apprentice ACSOs who have joined the service.

	Basingstoke	Gosport	Havant	New Forest	Central Team	Vacancies	Total
Officers in post	8	7	9	12*	6		42
Current Vacancies	0	2	0	2	2	6**
Total Vacancies						6 ·	+6
Total Establishment	8	9	9	14	8		48

* Includes 4 ACSOs sponsored by NFDC and local town councils in New Milton and Totton and Eling, and 2 ACSOs sponsored by Hythe & Dibden PC.

These arrangements contribute £160,000 to the funding of the Service.

** Recruitment is well underway with final interviews due to take place in early July

2. Creation of the Fifth ACSO Team

A fifth team of ACSOs has now been established to cover the central Hampshire TAOR area. The team is based in Mottisfont Court in Winchester, and has been operational since early January 2007.

Links have been established with a variety of new local partners and the team has received a positive response from Winchester City Council and the local police inspector, together with the Fire and Rescue Station Commander.

The team comprises a core of experienced officers together with some recent probationer ACSOs who are undergoing the training process in order to reach accreditation status.

3. Tactical Areas of Responsibility (TAORs)

The previous report to Cabinet laid out the suggested boundaries for the new central team and for each of the other 4 teams as they expanded into TAORs.

It has always been the intention that, wherever possible, these TAORs will facilitate partnership working by recognising district and Police OCU (Operational Command Unit) boundaries.

The original suggestion was to configure the areas as follows:

o TAOR 1 to incorporate Basingstoke & Deane, Hart, Andover, and surrounding area.

o TAOR 2 to incorporate Gosport, Fareham, parts of south Eastleigh Borough and Winchester Council i.e Whiteley area.

o TAOR 3 to incorporate Havant, Portchester, East Hampshire, including Petersfield, and surrounding areas.

o TAOR 4 to incorporate the New Forest and parts of South Test Valley including Romsey.

o TAOR 5 to incorporate the main towns of Winchester, Alton, Alresford, and Rushmoor.

Following consultation with partners, some adjustment has been made as follows:

TAOR	Original Area	Amended Area	Changes
Northern TAOR (formerly 1)	Basingstoke & Deane, Hart, Andover, and surrounding area.	Basingstoke & Deane, Hart and Rushmoor	Avoids splitting Test Valley area and police Western OCU
Southern TAOR (formerly 3)	Gosport, Fareham, parts of south Eastleigh Borough and Winchester Council i.e Whiteley area	Gosport, Fareham and parts of south Winchester area	Eastleigh now moved to Western TAOR
Eastern TAOR (formerly 2)	Havant, Portchester, East Hampshire, including Petersfield, and surrounding areas.	Havant, Portchester, East Hampshire, including Petersfield, and surrounding areas.	No Change
Western TAOR (formerly 4)	New Forest and parts of South Test Valley including Romsey.	New Forest, Test Valley and Eastleigh	Now responsible for all of Test Valley and Eastleigh. Closer to area of Western OCU
Central TAOR (formerly 5 )	The main towns of Winchester, Alton, Alresford, and Rushmoor.	Winchester district council area excluding southern parishes	More manageable area and closer to district council boundaries