Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Niall Bolger                            Robin Payne

Peter Lewis                           Jennifer James substituted

Mohamed Maigag               

Barbara Nicholls

Pastor Nims Obunge

The Chair will consider the admission of any items of Urgent Business. (Late items will be dealt with under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with under Item 16 below).

No items of Urgent Business were received.

Members of the Board must declare any personal/and or prejudicial interests with respect to agenda items and must not take part in any decision with respect to these items.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2009 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

To appoint a Chair for 2009/10.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Nilgun Canver be appointed as Chair for 2009/10.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for 2009/10.

RESOLVED:

That Chief Superintendent Dave Grant be appointed as Chair for 2009/10.

To appoint a representative from the Board to sit on the Haringey Strategic Partnership for 2009/10.

RESOLVED:

That Pastor Nims Obunge be appointed as the Boards representative to the HSP for 2009/10/

A verbal update will be provided on this issue.

The Board was advised that the threat of terrorism had not altered since the previous meeting and remained severe.

The Police continued to carry out a large number of targeted ‘stop and search’ exercises around transport hubs and sporting venues in the Borough. In addition to identifying people committing crime this also acted as a deterrent to terrorism.

RESOLVED:

That the verbal update be noted.  

The Board received a report setting out performance against Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets within the Boards responsibly during the fourth quarter of 2008/09. An overview was also provided of targets for 2009/10 and 2010/11.

It was noted that overall performance had been good with the overall crime rate in the Borough falling by 7% in comparison with the previous year.

The serious acquisitive crime rate had gone from Amber to Green and one of the most challenging targets in relation to the number of thefts from motor vehicles had been missed by just 0.1%, which showed that there had been a significant improvement in this area over the last year.

The Chair recognised that many of the improvements seen in performance were due to the effort of partners and she expressed her thanks to members of the Board for their contribution.

It was noted that during the next year there would be a focus on providing greater support to victims of crime and a more holistic approach to offenders and victims of drug and alcohol abuse. There would also be a new focus on seasonal marketing and informing the public via targeted publicity campaigns of successful initiatives led by the partnership.

The Board noted that initial work had been carried out by the Police to identify how the economic downturn might impact upon crime and preventative measures were being identified.

In response to a query the Board was advised that there would be monitoring and evaluation of the projects to ensure that there was a tangible impact.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That the SCEB Performance Management Group should continue to analyse performance and report back to the HSP.    

The Board received a report presenting the Safer Communities Action Plan for 2009/10.

The document set out the key actions under the Safer and Stronger Communities Service for the new financial year. Delivery Plans had been prepared for each of the areas covered by the Action Plan and the Board was advised that these were available on request from the Safer Communities Team and would shortly be published on the Council’s website.

An overview was provided of how the objectives contained within the Plan linked to the LAA priorities within the Boards responsibility.  

It was noted that there were several new areas of work being focussed on during the new year including N1 21, which related to perceptions around how the Police and Local Authority dealt with crime and anti social behaviour locally. There would also be an increased focus on domestic violence and a multi agency panel consisting of thirty people had already been established to lead on this.

Members of the Board were encouraged to contact officers if there was anything additional that they felt should be included within any of the plans.

RESOLVED:

That the measures set out in the Safer Communities Action Plan, which supported the key National Indicators within the Board’s responsibility, be noted.  

The Board received a report that provided an update in relation to the projects funded by the Area Based Grant (ABG) and Borough Command Unit fund during 2008/09.

It was noted that a new performance management system had been adopted, which meant that it was possible to identify potential problems earlier; in addition each project had been allocated a lead officer from the Community Safety Team who was able to act as a point of liaison.

In order to provide a more accessible picture of the aims and objectives of each project and what they had achieved a brief two page was being produced and this would eventually be published on the Council’s website.

In response to a query the Board was advised that quarterly press briefings would be produced to communicate what was being achieved by the partnership. It was suggested the local press should be contacted to see whether a monthly article could be produced focussing on a specific area. This would help improve confidence and support the LAA objective around improving perceptions.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

The Board received a report setting out the key priorities contained within the Adult Drug Treatment and Young People’s Substance Misuse Plans for 2009/10.

Adult Drug Treatment Plan

It was noted that the Adult Drug Treatment Plan was intended to reduce the harm caused by drug misuse to residents of the Borough. During 2009/10 there would be a specific focus on tackling Hepatitis C and B as Haringey had rates of Hepatitis C.

In order to help reduce drug related deaths ‘peer to peer’ training was being provided. Work was also being carried out with prisoners with drug related problems to improve access to treatment.

A joint initiative between Haringey, Barnet, Enfield, Hertfordshire and Islington was also being undertaken to procure a new facility for treating drug users.

It was noted that the draft Welfare Reform Act had proposed that drug users in receipt of Benefits should be required to demonstrate that they were getting treatment. Therefore the potential impact of a large increase in the number of people entering treatment would be considered and reflected in the Plan.

Young People’s Substance Misuse Plan

It was noted that work had been carried to ensure that the Plan linked into the Children and Young People’s Plan and the Joint Area Review (JAR) Action Plan. Therefore the Plan was also being brought to the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board for consideration.

There was agreement that there should be a increased focus on the impact of drug and alcohol abuse by parents had upon children. The Board was advised that work was being carried out by the Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) to determine how it could feed into the work of the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) and the JAR Action Plan.

The Chair noted that the Community and Voluntary Sector played a crucial role in tackling drug misuse and was often a the first point of contact for people. There was agreement that the Board should receive a report at its next meeting setting out implications of the new Welfare Reform Act upon treatment services.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That the Board should receive a report at its next meeting setting out implications of the new Welfare Reform Act upon treatment services.

The Board received a report that provided an overview of progress made in relation to the implementation of community safety strand of the Alcohol Strategy Action Plan.

It was noted that there were three strands to the Strategy:

• Community Safety
• Health
• Children and Young People

The relevant HSP Thematic Board were responsible for delivering these.

It was noted that funding for a post in the DAAT team, which focused on working with victims of domestic violence, may be lost and this was likely to affect the teams ability to address domestic violence.

In response to a query, the Board was advised that rather than issuing fixed penalty notices in response to street drinking, a targeted approach was taken and notices were not generally issued to street drinkers on an ad hoc basis.

As there was clear evidence that a large proportion of Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) was fuelled by alcohol and therefore enforcement was targeted at areas or groups of people where this link was clear.

The Board discussed how the projects in receipt of Partnership funding, which assisted street drinkers access treatment, were monitored in terms of effectiveness and there was agreement that there should be some analysis provided demonstrating this.

RESOLVED:

1. That the report be noted.

2. That the Board should receive a report that provided an analysis of the effectiveness of projects funded by the Partnership in addressing street drinking.

The Board received a background paper informing it’s discussion topic: ‘Likely Impact of the Recession on Community Safety in Haringey’.

The impact of the current recession upon crime was likely to be different to that of previous economic downturns. Recently collected data showed that unemployment was rising more quickly in the west of the Borough and that young people were the most seriously effected at present.

The Board discussed this issue and how the Partnership could act to minimise the impact upon community safety in the Borough. It was reported that the Fire Brigade had recorded a slight rise in the number of arsons being carried out over the last three months. However, it was not clear whether this was as a result of the economic climate.

It was noted that Voluntary and Community Sector organisations were often approached for advice in the first instance and that there may a significant increase in the number of people accessing Social Security Benefits who had no previous experience of the system.

It was suggested that the Council and Job Centre Plus should work with the Voluntary Sector to identify individuals who may be suitable candidates for initiatives aimed at people who had recently become unemployed. There was agreement that officers from the Council’s Community Safety Team and Economic Regeneration Team should liaise with Voluntary Sector organisations on this issue and that the Board should receive an update at the next meeting on progress.

The Board discussed the wider issue of volunteering and the role that this could play in helping individuals who became unemployed. There was agreement that partners should contact the Council’s Economic Regeneration Team if there were opportunities within their organisation for volunteering so that these could be included within the Partnership’s wider approach to tackling the recession.

It was noted that the ‘black market’ and fraud generally increased during an economic downturn and this was being monitored by the Police. At present it was not known whether levels of Council Tax and Benefit fraud had been effected.

The Board was advised that the Council had established a Steering Group to look at options around the establishment of a Credit Union. This would help reduce the number of people using ‘loan sharks’ and other expensive means of credit and help prevent people turning to crime to obtain cash.

The Chair requested that a quarterly report should be received by the Board setting out how the economic downturn was impacting upon crime and how the measures discussed were being taken forward.

RESOLVED:

1. That a quarterly report should be received by the Board setting out how the economic downturn was impacting upon crime and how the measures discussed were being taken forward.

2. That officers from the Council’s Community Safety Team and Economic Regeneration Team should liaise with Voluntary Sector organisations to identify opportunities for assisting people who had recently lost their jobs access schemes and initiatives available and that the Board should receive an update at the next meeting on progress.

3. That  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122.

• Reducing re-offending update and statistics
• Community payback
• Flood Plan consultation

It was agreed that the Board should receive reports on the items listed below at the next meeting:

• Flood Contingency Plan (September)
• Swine Flu Contingency Plan (September)
• Feedback on ? Pilot (September)
• Area Based Working (November)  

No new items of Urgent Business were received.

To consider any items of AOB.

Reopening of the ?? Centre

The Chair advised that the ? ? centre had been refurbished and expanded and would be reopened by Vernon Cocker MP on 1 July 2009. Members of the Board would be invited to attend the event.

Swine Flu –Impact Upon Policing

The Board was advised that the Police had contingency plans in place in relation to staffing in the event of a pandemic. Core Services would be maintained if this were to happen.

PCT Representation

It was noted that the PCT had not nominated a new representative to the Board and there was agreement that officers should contact the PCT to clarify the new representative.

To note the dates of future meetings set out below:

• 10 September 2009
• 19 November 2009
• 4 February 2010

The dates of future meetings set out below were noted:

• 10 September 2009
• 19 November 2009
• 4 February 2010