Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed attendees to the Stakeholder Board meeting.

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a correct record.

The Chairman updated the Board on the positive meeting that had taken place with the Police and Crime Commissioner, after the last Stakeholder Board meeting in January 2013. The Chairman informed the Board that the Police and Crime Commissioner had been pleased with the direction the CDRP was taking.

The Chairman invited declarations of interest. No declarations were made.

a)    Crime and ASB in the District – Presentation by CI Darren Alderson

b)    Verbal update from CDRP T&CG

c)    CDRP Financial Report – Gemma Barron

Report attached

d)    Discussion and questions

a)    Crime and ASB in the District

Chief Inspector Darren Alderson provided an update on progress against last year’s priorities, around which there had been some success:

·         South Cambridgeshire’s crime rate was very low with 30.9 crimes per 1000 head of population.

·         Overall crime had reduced by 2.8% this year, with 110 fewer victims. The Board was informed that it was getting more difficult to reduce the crime figures further, as the crime rate was already very low.

·         There had been a 25% reduction in burglaries up to October 2013. Unfortunately between October and December 2013, the rate had increased. On average there was one burglary per day in South Cambridgeshire.

·         The Board was informed of a number of initiatives the Police had undertaken to deter burglary:

·         Operation Oaklands had sold shed alarms to residents. There had been good take up of this.

·         The Police had seen how many residential properties they could gain access to during the day in some villages. This had been done to assess how easy it would be for a burglar to gain access to residential properties. In a day, the Police had been able to easily access 16 houses in Linton and 12 in Great Wilbraham.

·         There had been a 19% reduction in commercial burglaries, representing 54 fewer burglaries. The focus had been on smaller businesses where burglaries could have a significant impact on the business.

·         Vehicle crime reduced by 5.4%, representing 27 fewer offences.

·         Criminal damage reduced by 16%, representing 94 fewer offences.

There had been increases in some areas:

·         There had been a 19.2% increase in domestic abuse. The Police were focussing on the repeat rate of domestic abuse.

·         All violence had increased by 10%, representing 50 more offences. The Board was informed that this was mostly low level common assault and domestic offences.

·         Sexual offences had increased by 57%, representing 27 more offences. Of these, a number were historical cases.

·         The rate of Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) had stayed the same as last year. There had been spikes in ASB going into the Summer holidays, but this rate had plateaued from September onwards. There had been 139 incidents in December, few of which were high risk incidents. The average rate was 200 per month, which was considerably low.

Discussion ensued:

·         If domestic abuse and sexual offences were taken out of the crime rates, the drop in crime would be significant.

·         Operation Yew Tree, of which there had been significant media coverage, had led to more historical sexual offences being reported. It had also led to an increase in reports of current sexual offences, with victims having seen success in the courts regarding other cases in the media.

·         Fear and perception in communities of rates of burglary being high, despite overall figures of domestic burglary being low, was discussed. In some cases, spates of burglaries could be attributed to the same offender or offenders, such as in Waterbeach where two individuals working together were charged with eight burglaries, and in Foxton where another  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

a)    Police and Crime Panel – Cllr Ben Shelton

Verbal update.

b)    Agree Community Safety Priorities 2014/15 (Strategic assessment) – Sonia Bargh

Report to follow.

a)    Police and Crime Panel

Councillor Ben Shelton updated the group on the Police and Crime Panel:

·         The Panel had been in place for over a year and its role was to scrutinise decisions made by the Police and Crime Commissioner.

·         Involvement with children and young people was key and Councillor Shelton informed the Board that he would be raising employment of a youth outreach worker for South Cambridgeshire, at the next meeting of the Police and Crime Panel.

b)    Agree Community Safety Priorities 2014/15

Mike Soper presented the proposed community safety priorities for 2014/15. Discussion ensued around priority setting:

·         The Board was informed that the priorities it agreed were CDRP priorities and would not affect the work the Police prioritised.

·         The Board was informed that mental health was a key issue for the Children’s Trust Board, and a main priority for the Local Health Partnership. It had also been recognised as an issue by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Community Safety Priorities for 2014/15 were AGREED. The priorities agreed were:

1.    Helping to keep people safe in their homes (including tackling rogue trading).

2.    Supporting victims and repeat victims, particularly of violence.

3.    Preventing and tackling anti-social behaviour and supporting ‘Together for families’.

4.    Continued support for the Integrated Offender Management scheme.

The importance of working together on mental health issues and with young people was recognised, and it was AGREED that these would both dovetail into all the priorities.

It was AGREED that the T&CG Group should report back on these priorities at the next meeting of the Board.

To set the date of the next CDRP Stakeholder Event.

The Board AGREED it would continue to meet every six months. The date of the next meeting was to be confirmed.

Rick Hylton informed the Board of his intention to step down from the role of Chairman at the next meeting, having been Chairman for four years. The Board was informed that Maurice Moore of the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service had offered to take on the role of Chairman. Any other potential candidates were asked to note their interest with Gemma Barron at South Cambridgeshire District Council, and the new Chairman would be formally selected at the next CDRP stakeholder event.