Agenda item

Statement of Expenditure.

The Chief Executive provided an update on Task and Coordination Group meeting aims and objectives.

The creation of monthly T&C Group meetings has enabled the establishment of a practical group that works on a local level. This minimises paperwork and uses a core team of representatives from Partner Agencies to tackle local issues as they arise. Specific members of the Board can be called in as required to provide more specific information. The first half of the meeting looks at intelligence received, as well as updates on the outcome of work to address Neighbourhood Panel concerns raised at the meetings. The second half of the meeting focuses on case specific issues. This process is intended to provide swift, effective action.

The Director of Health and Environmental Services at South Cambridgeshire District Council then provided an additional update on topics covered at T&C Group meetings.

Lessons learnt following the creation of new communities such as Cambourne have been built in to the Local Plan. Local Planners have been involved in order to attempt to ‘design crime out’ of communities. The meeting offers an opportunity to share intelligence and to give a joined-up response to Partners and the public.

Direct action arising from issues raised at Neighbourhood Panel meetings has included visits to Whittlesford scrapyard which have served to resolve problems in the area. All other scrapyards in the District have now been visited, and ‘Action Days’ have been held to disrupt criminality from coming in to the area.

The meeting is an opportunity to discuss successes, to make a difference on the ground, to raise awareness of key problem areas, to build relationships and to ensure a mutual understanding moving forward.

Hannah Waghorn, Lead Officer for the Probation Team, volunteered to attend T&C Group meetings as the Probation Service Representative. The Board welcomed this suggestion and agreed that having a Probation Service representative would be a good idea.

Concerns were raised about the potential loss of communication that may have occurred due to the replacement of CDRP meetings with less frequent Stakeholder events and about the potential for loss of ownership. The Board were reassured by T&C Group members that the meetings did capture concerns effectively from a range of sources and that efforts were being made to increase attendance at Neighbourhood Panel Meetings, and therefore increase the amount of intelligence acquired. Efforts included the on-going project being carried out by Inspector Chris Savage to expand Panel Meetings as a forum using social media.

Chief Inspector Alderson agreed to bring a report back to the next meeting on Inspector Savage’s work to increase engagement with the public.

Concerns were expressed about the lack of communication of outcomes and results to the public. The Board agreed that effective communication needs to be maintained in order to convey successes to Members and the public. The use of electronic engagement and perhaps a radical change to the way things are done currently were methods discussed to improve efficiency.

A request was made to add Road Safety concerns to the T&C Group agenda as concerns were being expressed about this particular issue regularly at Neighbourhood Panel Meetings. This would tie-in with the Health and Wellbeing Project as it incorporates issues relating to road safety. The Board was requested to compose a response to the consultation that would be sent out in due course.

The Community Safety Manager then outlined the Statement of Expenditure document, highlighting that points one to four referred to income, and points five to eight referred to expenditure. It was noted that there had been an underspend on the funding for the Partnership Support Officer and on funding for the Anti-Social Behaviour Caseworker compared with the original forecast.