Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed attendees to the meeting.

This item was moved to the end of the agenda. This was the final meeting with Rick Hylton as Chairman of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership. Rick thanked South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Partnerships Team for their help and support to him as Chairman. Mike Hill, on behalf of all members of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, thanked Rick for his chairmanship of the group.

Maurice Moore, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, was nominated by Mike Hill as the new Chairman of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership. This nomination was seconded by Councillor Ben Shelton. Maurice Moore was elected as the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2014, were agreed as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

Chief Inspector James Sutherland presented a review of crime and anti-social behaviour in South Cambridgeshire over the past six months:

·         Recorded crime had increased in most categories however it was believed that this crime already existed and had not previously been recorded. Chief Inspector Sutherland informed the group of progress that had been made regarding the recording of crime in South Cambridgeshire.

·         Incidences of violence without injury had risen. Force wide analysis and research was being carried out to look into the reasons for this. It was not believed that South Cambridgeshire was becoming more violent.

·         Greater reporting was being seen of previously under reported crimes, such as domestic violence and sexual violence.

Chief Inspector Sutherland outlined work that was being undertaken around the Community Safety Priorities for 2014/15:

1.    Helping to keep people safe in their homes:

·         Levels of dwelling burglary had been elevated for a year. This was due to the targeting of the district by a small number of individuals. A lot of work had been undertaken in the previous six months to tackle this. Chief Inspector Sutherland explained that spikes in dwelling burglary were usually caused by a small number of individuals and once jailed the level of crime dipped. The group was informed of some recent successful results at court.

·         Two large multi-force operations to tackle burglary were being undertaken. The details of these could not be disclosed due to their ongoing nature.

·         Operation Oaklands would launch at the end of October, with a focus on preventing dwelling burglary.

2.    Supporting victims:

·         The group was informed of work that had been ongoing around supporting vulnerable victims, including victims of domestic abuse. A Victims’ Hub had been launched.

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

·         The group was informed of success around this priority and that successful work had been undertaken by the Complex Case Team. There had been a focus on anti-social behaviour over the summer

4.    Integrated Offender Management Scheme (IOM):

·         Chief Inspector Sutherland informed the group that there were a number of IOM subjects in South Cambridgeshire, some of which were in prison. Those out of prison were receiving a lot of focus from the Police.

Chief Inspector Sutherland outlined the forthcoming areas of focus for the Police. These were:

·         An enhanced focus on seasonal rural crime.

·         Protecting sub post offices from robbery.

·         Child sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

·         Keeping people safe.

Mike Hill, Health and Environmental Services Director at South Cambridgeshire District Council, presented a verbal update on the work of the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Task and Coordination Group, which was continuing to meet on a monthly basis.

Nicky Pasek, Cambridgeshire Trading Standards, provided an update on rogue trading:

·         Funding had been received to tackle rogue trading. Some of this funding had gone towards installing cameras in houses being targeted by rogue traders, in order to photograph the offenders while in victims’ homes.

·         The group was informed that rogue traders targeted older people with good finances.

·         The ‘We’re not buying it’ campaign had distributed information to homes in order to encourage people to have the confidence to say no to doorstep sellers.

·         A good neighbour campaign would run during National Consumer Week, to encourage people to keep an eye on their neighbours.

·         No cold calling zones had been set up across South Cambridgeshire, with signage to identify these zones. New no cold calling zones had been identified, as had areas where signage would be renewed.

·         The importance of residents reporting rogue traders was emphasised. Residents should call 101 with concerns regarding rogue traders.

Mike Hill informed the group that the use of ECINS was proving to be very effective. Thanks to the use of this web-based case management tool across partner agencies, success regarding information sharing and joint case management was being seen. Registered social landlords were being worked with to adopt ECINS.

ECINS would continue to be rolled out on a case by case basis. Information Sharing Agreements were being signed as agencies were coming onto ECINS.

The group was informed that three locality groups based on police command areas were continuing to meet. These were proving to be successful alongside ECINS.

Together for Families was looking at crime and anti-social behaviour. 161 families in South Cambridgeshire were part of Together for Families. The scheme had demonstrated successful partnership working.

The group was informed that joint training around civil injunctions had been undertaken and that some district councillors had undertaken intervention training. The aim of this was to involve community leaders in intervention before the Police became involved.

Mick Birchall updated the group on the county wide Integrated Offender Management scheme:

·         Seven individuals were on the IOM scheme, six of which were in custody. The individual in the community had reduced their offending levels significantly.

·         The focus of IOM was car crime and burglary, however the widening of this was being looked at.

The CDRP’s Financial Report was presented. Spending to date was £11,500 and there was confidence that spending targets would be met this year.

Gemma Barron, South Cambridgeshire District Council Partnerships Manager, presented the report which set out the Community Trigger process that would come into force in October 2014.

The group was informed that the minimum threshold for a community trigger was set at three incidents in six months and the proposal was to keep this unchanged. The community trigger process and the advertisement of this was discussed.

The group SUPPORTED the proposed approach to the Community Trigger process.

The group was informed that three volunteers were needed from the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, for the Appeals Panels:

·         Vickie Crompton volunteered for this and an email would be circulated to the group seeking further volunteers.

The findings of the scanning exercise were discussed.

The group was informed that fly grazing was included under the anti-social behaviour section. Chief Inspector James Sutherland informed the group that a piece of work had been commissioned regarding fly grazing and a proposal would be presented to the Assistant Chief Constable.

Farm crime would also be included.

Charles Kitchin presented the report outlining the outcomes from the Mental Health Roundtable, including the next steps being taken to progress the creation of a Mental Health Crisis Care Declaration for Cambridgeshire.

The report was NOTED.

Charles Kitchin presented the report updating the group on the progress made in implementing the county’s victim strategy and the implementation of the police-led Victims’ Hub in Cambridgeshire.

The group was informed that the Victims’ Hub opened on 1 October 2014. Cambridgeshire was one of seven trial constabularies for this.

The report was NOTED.

Councillor Ben Shelton provided a verbal update on the Police and Crime Panel:

·         The role of the Panel was to challenge and scrutinise decisions of the Police and Crime Commissioner. Councillor Shelton clarified that the Panel’s role was not to challenge police operations.

·         Members of the Panel had visited 101 call centres to see how these operated.

·         An outreach worker for South Cambridgeshire had been appointed by the Police and Crime Commissioner.

·         The group was informed that the Police and Crime Commissioner had a fund focussed on helping young people avoid getting into crime. No bid had been received from South Cambridgeshire and it was agreed that this should be publicised widely through the Children’s Area Partnership and the Youth Council. Mike Hill would take this to the Children’s Area Partnership.

21 January 2015, at 10.30am.