Issue - meetings

[Report of the Assistant Director for Stronger Communities. To be introduced  by the Cabinet Member for Communities and Equalities.]

The Community Safety Strategy presents the Community Safety Partnership’s approach and priorities to achieving a reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour in Haringey up to 2023.

Appendix 4 Environment and Community Safety Scrutiny Panel comments   - To Follow

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Equalities introduced the report, which set out the partnership approach and priorities to achieving a reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour in Haringey up to 2023.

The Cabinet Member stressed that the corporate response was at the heart of the strategy, which considered all of the Council’s areas of powers in order to achieve the priorities. This involved considering ways of planning out crime including particular trades and licenses and working with wider partners such as health, education and police. The Cabinet Member underlined the importance of having a civic community response to tackling crime and in particular youth violence.

The Cabinet Member continued to outline the six outcome areas to be focused on, in the strategy, and provided comments on the activities to be taken forward, which were as follows:

• Targeting police resources at violent hotspots - this had received a positive reception from the new community borough commander and work was underway to ensure that there was a visible police presence in these areas at key times on the day.
• Stafford Scott would be commissioned to take forward a mediation role with young people potentially involved in gang retribution. A scoping paper was being compiled on this planned role and it was likely that the mediation work would take place at a local community centre.
• Increasing the confidence of young women to report sexual offences. This needed a greater focus on attitudes and behaviour of young men.
• There would be a seminar in the autumn on exploitation and reducing the criminalisation of children.

The Cabinet Member acknowledged the concerns from scrutiny panel on current levels of public confidence for the borough tackling crime; this needed to be addressed but there would not be overnight change. Assurance was provided that the Council and partners were focused on increasing public confidence together with acknowledging the issues behind the survey findings such as the historical negative experiences in the community with stop and search. The Cabinet Member would be taking forward a themed meeting with officers going through the data, looking at how policy changes have been implemented and communicated across the borough.

The Cabinet Member concluded by expressing the ongoing need to tackle anti -social behaviour which was a battle with the reduction of resources, and reducing re – offending by supporting initiatives that work. He highlighted that the UK had the worst record in Western Europe on re- offending which demonstrated the urgent need for better support when prisoners were leaving prison. There was some good working initiatives to replicate for offenders leaving prison. Finally, the Cabinet Member welcomed the Home Office decision to bring the Probation service back in house.

In response to questions from Cllr Bull, Brabazon, das Neves and Cawley- Harrison, the following information was noted:

• The Cabinet Member agreed that there was an issue to tackle with under age sale of alcohol in the borough and its connection to crime. The Assistant Director for Stronger Communities referred to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 153