Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 Summary of Decision Area:

This is an update report about the Accredited Community Safety Officer (ACSO) Service which also seeks views on the future direction and development of youth engagement projects, such as Junior Community Teams (JCT) which have been developed to encourage younger residents to behave responsibly.

2 Issues Covered in Report:

2.1 Current position of the service

2.2 How the ACSO Service contributes to the Local Area Agreement, National Performance Indicators and the Rural Strategy

2.3 Resources

2.4 Options for the future direction and development of youth engagement projects, such as JCT.

2 Recommendations:

3.1 That Cabinet consider options for the future direction and development of youth engagement projects, such as JCT.

MAIN REPORT

Purpose of the Report:

The purpose of this report is to

1.1. Update Cabinet on recent operational developments in the ACSO Service.

1.2. Outline how the ACSO Service contributes to the Local Area Agreement (LAA), National Performance Indicators (NPI's) and the Rural Strategy.

1.3. Seek views on the future direction and development of youth engagement projects, such as Junior Community Teams (JCT).

1 Contextual Information

1.1 The ACSO service was established in 2004 to tackle community safety issues, such as anti-social behaviour and nuisance, which were highlighted as areas of concern in the MORI residents survey.

1.2 The service has clear links to the County Council's priority of "Safer and More Secure for All ", as well as reflecting the organisation's commitment to Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act.

1.3 ACSO's are community-driven and deal with everyday concerns that can affect residents' quality of life, such as youth nuisance and under-age drinking etc.

1.4 There are currently 47 officers and one manager based in teams throughout the County in 5 tactical areas of responsibility (TAOR ).

2 Current Position

2.1 The Service continues to work to its dual aims to:-

· reduce the fear of crime and deter anti-social behaviour

· encourage community regeneration by engaging with young people.

2.2 It is by this twin track approach that the service seeks to make Hampshire a better place to live.

2.3 The Service was launched in four pilot areas (Basingstoke and Deane; Gosport; Havant and the New Forest) with a complement of 36 officers.

2.4 The establishment currently stands at 47 officers, including 4 who are co-sponsored by Totton and Eling Town Council, Hythe and Dibden Parish Council and New Forest District Council. A new team was also set up to cover central Hampshire which extended the service across the county.

2.5 Officers continue to carry out high-visibility patrols on foot and in prominently marked vehicles equipped with CCTV. They work closely with a wide variety of partners such as Hampshire Constabulary, the 11 District Councils, the voluntary sector, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and other County Council colleagues. Joint tasking procedures have been established with these partners, together with information-sharing protocols.

2.6 Surveys of residents who have contacted the Service show that as a result of using the service:

· 62% felt it was a lot better/safer place to live

· 23% a little better/safer

· 79% were fairly or very satisfied with the service

These figures have been consistent to within +/- 5% over the past 4 years.

2.7 In the first 4 years of operation the ACSO's dealt with over 27,000 incidents, the majority of which would not otherwise have been recorded. Officers have issued 170 fixed penalty notices and introduced an innovative `Yellow Card' scheme, designed to challenge the behaviour of young people and to help them recognise their responsibilities to others. Over 1,700 Yellow Cards have been issued and letters sent to parents and occasionally the need for additional specialist support is identified.

2.8 A summary of the incident statistics are attached as Appendix 1.

3 Core Activities and how the service contributes to the Local Area Agreement, National Indicators and the Rural Strategy

3.1 Local Area Agreement and National Indicators (NI's) - Outcomes

3.1.1 The ACSO Service featured as a performance indicator in the Local Public Service Agreement, and is now incorporated in the LAA for the period 2008 - 2011, which is based on national indicators. In particular NI 17 is specific to the Service and measures perceptions of anti-social behaviour and is measured by the Place Survey on a two-yearly basis.

3.1.2 Other relevant NIs are :

NI 21 Dealing with local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime by the local council and police

NI 27 Understanding of local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and police

NI 41 Perceptions of drunk or rowdy behaviour as a problem

3.1.3 The following demonstrates how the service positively contributes to meeting the aspirations associated with the national indicators:

Anti-Social Drinking - The consumption of alcohol by the under 18's is a growing national concern and since the formation of the Service, well over 1,700 incidents have been attended to by officers in Hampshire. To help tackle this problem, a considerable amount of joint working has been undertaken particularly with Hampshire Trading Standards. There are a number of initiatives in place to educate and deter retailers from selling alcohol to the under 18's. In particular, over 900 under age sales packs have been delivered and communicated to off licenses across the county. The LPSA target for test purchases from retail units has been set at 16%. For the period 2004-2005, the results averaged a 32%

failure rate, and so therefore it is encouraging that this figure now stands at 13% of tested retailers.

Anti Social Behaviour - This includes a variety of behaviour covering a whole complex of unacceptable activity that can blight the quality of community life. It includes activities, such as rowdy and nuisance behaviour, vandalism, graffiti and anti-social drinking. To help combat such activity, the Service is committed to a range of supportive interventions which can engage individuals in changing their own behaviour and help them to tackle some of the underlying problems.  The Service regularly provides evidence on breaches of ASBO' or ABC's, follows up on curfew orders and issues juvenile nuisance reports. It is fair to say that ACSO's have played a major part in combating almost nightly anti social behaviour in some areas of Hampshire.

Close Working with the Police, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and other partners - The Service has forged excellent working relationships with the Police, the Fire Service and local district councils. It is only by partnership working that real community benefits can be realised. To this end, joint tasking arrangements have been developed. These take the form of attendance at Tactical and Coordinating Groups ( TCG's ) which are chaired by the local police inspector, and at Joint Action Groups (JAGS ), which are chaired by District Councils. In these ways, the patrols and operations are targeted to meet local community needs, and residents benefit from a joined up service delivery to maximise all available resources. Partnership arrangements have also been established with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. These include the regular surveying of arson risks by the ACSO's, plus attendance at youth inclusion events such as the LIFE Project and Young Fire-fighters Associations. The positive relationship with partners is reflected in the following quotes:

"The ACSO's are a real asset to the community safety family in Havant. They are a highly motivated team, responsive to requests and supportive of both local and County wide priorities. We are really impressed with their willingness to take on challenges and their supportive presence at problem solving and tasking meetings"

Community Safety Manager, Havant Borough Council

"In Havant a huge amount of work has gone in to developing Safer Neighbourhood policing and a problem solving approach with partners to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. Over the three years covered by PSA 1 all crime was reduced by 18%. In the last 12 months crime has been cut by 8%. 

Chief Inspector, Hampshire Constabulary

ACSOs have worked closely with Safer Neighbourhood teams in targeting problem areas and individuals. Their work has been coordinated through the CTCG so that it compliments rather than duplicates what is being done by other agencies. ACSOs have built up a good rapport both with the policing teams and with the community and have been one of the key partners in our success.

In addition they have worked in a no. of community engagement activities such as CREWs, SNAP discos and local football competitions. This is a testament of how agencies can work together to add value and achieve tangible improvement in the quality of life for the community we serve."

Engaging Young People - Engaging and understanding young people is crucial for prosperous community life. Particular attention is made by the Service to those who have been identified as being engaged in crime or identified as being the most at risk of offending, truancy, or social exclusion. A number of community based initiatives are organised, such as drop in centres, youth disco's and sports training. The training of ACSO's to help deliver Duke of Edinburgh schemes and the roll out of citizenship packs to primary schools will further develop engagement with young people.

Working with District, Town and Parish Council Partners - Joint working and collaboration is central to the delivery of LAA aspirations. A number of multi-agency initiatives such as Crime Reduction Environment Weeks (CREW) are underway, focussing on reducing levels and perception of crime in localities. The Service also gets involved on other local issues, such as littering, fly tipping and cycling on pavements in town centres etc.

3.2 Links to Rural Strategy

3.2.1 The ACSOs are intelligence-led, and a majority of their time is therefore concentrated on the urban areas. However, it is recognised that sometimes anti social behaviour can have a disproportionate impact on rural communities, and the service has regularly been deployed to rural and rural fringe areas. Increasingly, anti-social behaviour reports are coming through parish councils, and as a result, good working relationships have been established with up to 50 of these groups. Examples include Swanmore, Bishops Waltham, Hook and Valley Park.

3.2.2 The established practice is to carry out an initial assessment of an area by undertaking patrols at key times, and analysing 101 reports and other intelligence. The Parish Council will then be advised accordingly with a suggested action plan. As a result of these interventions, there have been positive outcomes in many areas. The interventions can last from between 2 weeks and 12 months, depending on the severity and regularity of the problems.

3.3.3 In view of the number of parish councils in Hampshire, the current ACSO resources would not be able to cope with a significantly increased demand from rural areas. The crime statistics mean that proportionate coverage for the main urban areas has to be maintained, although it is recognised that all communities need reassurance.

3.3.4 It would however be possible to offer services to a further limited group of parishes in areas of identified need. These could be based on the crime statistics or other indicators such as multiple deprivation. This could be developed into an action plan, and then reviewed after a six month period.

4 Resources

4.1 Budget

4.1.1 The budget for 2008/9 is £1.6 million. This figure is supplemented by income from a number of partners for sponsored officers. This arrangement was originally developed with New Forest District Council (NFDC) and New Milton Town Council, and a three year contract for two such officers to operate in the town was signed in 2005.

4.1.2 A similar contract was then agreed for two more officers in 2006 with NFDC and Totton and Eling Town Council. Also in 2006, a contract was negotiated with Hythe and Dibden Parish Council for two officers dedicated to their area.

4.1.3 These arrangements have worked well. In 2008, NFDC decided not to renew the contract for New Milton, and they have indicated that a similar decision is likely for the Totton posts from April 2009. These decisions have been based on wider financial grounds, rather than the quality of service. If this is confirmed, the reduction in income of up to £60 000 pa will be managed through turnover and the overall number of officers would be reduced by 2 FTE. Totton and Eling Town Council are very keen to keep the 2 sponsored posts, and are attempting to find sufficient funds for this purpose. At present, they are indicating that the full contract cost is not within their budget for 2009/10 and 2010/11, but they could reach the amount by 2011/12 using a sliding scale.

4.1.4 A further three years has been provisionally negotiated with Hythe and Dibden to cover the period 2009/12 at £63,000 pa. It is hoped that this contract will be signed in the next 3 months.

4.2 Apprentice Officers

4.2.1 Building on the report to Cabinet in March 2007, these roles have been developed with the aim that young people help to "police" their own age group in local communities.

4.2.2 The first four apprentice officers have progressed by achievement during the two year fixed contract period, and have all been promoted to ACSO ahead of schedule.

4.2.3 This process has proved beneficial for both the Service in terms of gaining well motivated staff, and for the personal development of the individuals. It is hoped to recruit more apprentices as funded vacancies become available.

5 Options for the future direction and development of Youth Engagement Projects

5.1 The Service has now been operational for four years, and has established good links within the County Council, and with partner organisations. The Service is now deployed in all 11 district council areas, and cooperates closely with Hampshire Police and with warden schemes.

5.2 Regulatory Services have directed resources at providing frontline staff, while at the same time, developing projects to work with our young people to improve community cohesion. An example of this approach is the Junior Community Team (JCT) project.

5.3 Junior Community Team

5.3.1 In May 2007 the JCT was launched at Rowner Junior School. This initiative is aimed at young people between the ages of 11 and 12 years. Children's Services youth work caters for 13 years upwards.

5.3.2 The main aims of the scheme are to:

5.3.7 The current JCT budget and school list are attached as Appendix 2.

5.3.8 A number of members have expressed their support for the further development of JCT. Current resources are balanced between the enforcement role and work on community cohesion. External funding sources are being investigated including the Lottery Fund, but at present, coverage is limited to one school per district.

6 Outline of Options:

6.1 Option 1:

To maintain the current balance of resources within the service and keep JCT in one school per district area.

6.2 Option 2:

To seek to expand JCT to more schools in Hampshire by seeking partnership arrangements with Hampshire Constabulary and by external funding.

7 Option Analysis / Comparison:

7.1 Please refer to section 6 above and, where applicable the details set out under the previous sections of this report.

8 Conclusions:

8.1 Overall, the ACSO Service since its introduction in 2004 has met its objectives of reducing the fear of crime, deterring anti social behaviour and encouraging community regeneration by engaging with young people.

8.2 There is continued good progress in relation to partnership working with various groups and public bodies. The development of youth engagement projects, such as JCT needs to be carefully considered, whilst at the same time maintaining key areas of activity on enforcement and high visibility patrolling

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

COMPREHENSIVE RISK & IMPACT ASSESSMENT:

Race and Equality Impact assessment

Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

Crime prevention issues

The County Council has a legal obligation under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the impact of all the decisions it makes on the prevention of crime. The proposals in this report have a positive impact on the prevention of crime and public reassurance.

Climate Change:

How does what is being proposed impact on our carbon footprint / energy consumption?

No impact because the local teams are dealing with their local schools, as opposed to a central team travelling out from Hampshire County Council's HQ base in Winchester.

How does what is being proposed consider the need to adapt to climate change, and be resilient to its longer term impacts?

In the longer term, the ACSO Service plans to replace the Hampshire Transport Management vehicles with ones which run on LPG or bio fuel.