Agenda and minutes

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The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein.

Apologies for absence were received from Joanne McCarthy, Stephen McDonnell, Rachel Lissauer, Jessica Ralph (Victim Support) and Mukhtar Kauser (London CRC).  In addition, Ian Thompson advised the Chair that he had to leave at 3pm to attend another appointment.

There were no items of urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th February as a correct record.

The Panel requested an update on the VRU to come back to the next meeting. (Action: Eubert Malcolm).

The Partnership were advised that an update on the PRG was partially covered by the communications plan at agenda item 9, further progress will be reported to the Partnership at a future meeting. (Action: Clerk).

In response to an action around providing an update on new police officers, the Borough Commander advised that new officers were coming through each month and that she had a recent cohort of ten new recruits from Hendon. The Borough Commander advised that there would be more to come in the future.

RESOLVED

The Panel agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 27^th February as a correct record.

RESOLVED

That the membership and Terms of Reference were noted and agreed.

Verbal update

The Partnership received a verbal introduction and update on her priorities from the new Borough Commander, Treena Flemming. The Partnership were advised that she had previously held roles within counter-terrorism, sexual offences and safeguarding teams and her strengths lay in protecting children and vulnerable adults due to her previous experience. The Borough Commander advised that she was in the process of visiting all of the teams within the new policing model to understand  how the model was working on the ground. As part of ways to ensure that the model was working effectively, the Borough Commander advised that she was looking at the shift patterns for the Safer Neighbourhood teams to ensure that it was reflective of peak demand  levels. The Partnership were advised that feedback was crucial in the developing the model and the Borough Commander encouraged partners to provide that feedback.

The agreed priorities for the partnership were set out as anti-social behaviour, robbery non domestic abuse/violence with injury and wanting to reduce those numbers and also solve these crimes. The Borough Commander advised that she would look to ensure that dangerous offenders were taken off the streets, but acknowledged the role of safeguarding and the crucial role played by trauma-informed practice in understanding why an individual, particularly a child, might behave as they do. A holistic performance package was advocated, which wasn’t just about sanction detections but also about understanding what that victims of crime wanted and the intervention required to change the experience of the victims and make it better for them.

The following points were raised in discussion of this item:

a.    The Partnership sought assurances about trauma informed practice and the need to adopt the same model and language across different partners. In response, the Borough Commander advised that the Partnership had her full support in that respect and that she was keen to prevent the exploitation of vulnerable children.

b.    The Partnership welcomed the increase in police numbers and sought reassurance about how public confidence in policing could be increased. In response, the borough commander advised that part of this related to police presence and the need to ensure police resources were channelled to the right place at the right time and that shift patterns were reflective of demand. Part of the response was also identified as needing upskill of police officers in better investigation at volume crime and trying to shift the the focus away from response times toward getting the correct outcomes from the outset. Part of the solution was also set out as talking to communities to reduce the fear of crime and to be able to communicate the stats in a way that establishes the reality of crime in Haringey. It was acknowledged that this was perhaps not an easy task and would require support across the partnership.

c.    The Partnership also requested some reassurance about police support and resources around schools engagement. In response, police colleagues acknowledged that there were some vacancies in the schools team but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

The Partnership received a cover report, along with a copy of the Haringey Community Safety Strategy 2019-2023 and a copy of the Community Safety Strategy Action Plan as set out at pages 19-76 of the agenda pack. The Partnership also received a short presentation which provided an overview of some of the key aims, measurements and next steps for the Strategy. The presentation and report were introduced by Eubert Malcom, AD for Stronger Communities. The following was noted in response to the discussion of the report and presentation:

a.    The Partnership sought further information around children and young people and what could be done to improve confidence in policing. In response, the Borough Commander acknowledged the importance of this issue and noted concerns that many children would not call the police if they had a problem. The role of the schools officer was emphasised in allowing the police to build confidence with young people. Police colleagues also acknowledged the need to hear the voice of the child and for this to inform its practices. The role of trauma informed practice was reiterated and the need to teach officers that every interaction with young people was important, as an opportunity to build confidence in policing.

b.    The AD for Stronger Neighbourhoods advised that the Godwin Lawson Foundation had undertaken work in the Borough and that there was a clear issue of distrust of the authorities and agencies across the Partnership. The Council had commissioned the Godwin Lawson Foundation to go back and speak to young people about the Youth at Risk Strategy and assess the extent to which these measures had increased confidence. In addition, officers were in the process of setting up a number of ‘community conversations’ over June and July in Tottenham, Wood Green and Muswell Hill. A previous session was attended by around 120 people and focused on concerns around Stop and Search. It was also noted that Mind in Haringey were working on a youth IAG and it was envisaged that partners would be able to tap into it going forwards. 

c.    In response to a question around how a public health approach was being implemented, officers advised that the Youth at Risk Strategy was co-produced and was informed by a public health approach to adopt learning from other authorities like Glasgow. The strategy used  a whole systems approach to work with young people, schools and parents and looked across multiple streams and areas of focus to tackle youth violence.

d.    The Partnership sought assurances around what could be done to strengthen processes for securing convictions for domestic violence. In response, the Borough Commander acknowledged that this could be a difficult process and that ultimately the police approach needed to be in line with the victims wishes. It was acknowledged that some work needed to be done to look at the police response and to train new officers on how to put the case papers together to build a robust case.

e.    The Cabinet Member for Communities  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

The Partnership received a report which provided information regarding a Communications Plan on campaigns under the MOPAC Performance Reward Grant (PRG). The Partnership were advised that there were three campaigns proposed, focusing on burglary, youth crime and targeting youngsters and parents who were affected by criminal activities. Part of the aim these campaigns were to showcase the work of the CSP and to increase visibility and trust. The report was introduced by Marc Isaacs, Communications Officer.

The Cabinet Member advised the Partnership of a lottery funded project undertaken in Brent and advised that would send out the details to the Partnership. (Action: Cllr Blake).

The Partnership raised the possibility of having a shadow board for the CSP, similar to the shadow board used for the LCSB to better understand the voice of young people in the borough. The Partnership agreed to give some further consideration as to how this could be taken forward. (Action: Eubert).

The Partnership noted that the Communications Plan would be brought back to the next meeting with an update on the progress that had been made following the discussions held at the meeting. It was noted that the Communications Plan would be an ongoing process that would be taken forward by the Board. (Action: Mark Isaacs).  

The Chair advised that he would speak to David Lammy and finding out what progress had been made in terms of his about his recommendations in a report he wrote for the MoJ on ethnic inequalities within youth justice. It was noted that these recommendations related to introducing community based youth justice courts. (Action: Cllr Blake).

RESOLVED

1. Board members noted the contents of the report regarding a Communications Plan on campaigns focused on burglary and youth crime aiming at young people and parents.

2. Board members suggested how they could contribute to the Communications Plan and campaigns to deliver the biggest impact on the communications spend within the PRG.

3. Board members suggested ways the Communications Plan can engage harder to reach disengaged groups and ensure that different of generations were also engaged.

The Partnership received a written briefing note on the inspection of Youth Offending Services and the role of the Youth Justice Partnership Board, which was the statutory body responsible for overseeing Youth Offending Services in Haringey. The report was introduced by Jennifer Sergeant, Head of Targeted Response & Youth Justice as set out in the agenda pack at pages 81-85. It was noted that an inspection was overdue on a four-year cycle (with the last inspection carried out in July 2015). Officers cautioned that the last inspection was done on an entirely different framework and so this was a new undertaking.

Haringey formed an HMIP Inspection readiness sub group in January 2019, which utilised external expertise to shape:

• The logistics and communications strategy
• The evidence base
• The presentation which Haringey will give inspectors
• briefings for staff and partners

Individual Board members were being interviewed to shape developments in Board effectiveness in the coming year. It was noted that the Director of Children’s Services was the Chair of Haringey Youth Justice Partnership Board and Members of the Board included Cllr Blake, Cllr Brabazon, and strategic leads from Education, Police, Probation, Health, and representatives of the courts.

The partnership was advised that an away day was scheduled to take place 19^th June to build shared understanding of the vision and priorities for the next years and aligned with other Haringey Borough Plan priorities. Partners were encouraged to attend the workshop.

RESOLVED

That the update on the inspection of Youth Offending Services and the role of the Youth Justice Partnership Board was noted.

The Partnership received a presentation which set out changes to partnership level safeguarding arrangements. The following points were noted during the discussion of this item:

a.    Following the introduction of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and the publication of Working Together 2018, safeguarding arrangements are the joint and equal responsibility of the Police, CCGs and the local authority. There is a move away from the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board to a Haringey Safeguarding Children Partnership, to act as a strategic leadership group in supporting and engaging others. The HSCP also has a responsibility to agree on ways to coordinate safeguarding services and implement local and national learning.

b.    Under the new arrangements there was no requirement to have an Independent Chair, instead there was an Independent Person and an Independent Scrutineer.

c.    Under statutory guidance, safeguarding arrangements must be published by  29^th June 2019 and implemented by September 2019.

d.    In response to concerns about the rise of child suicide cases in Haringey, officers advised that a meeting had taken place with partners and the Coroner’s Office at which the Coroner categorised the fact that there had been 3 cases in 2 years as unprecedented. The Partnership noted that the work of the HSCP could hopefully help demonstrate improvement in this area with Ofsted.

e.    In response to a question around how the rate in Haringey compared with neighbouring boroughs, the AD for Safeguarding and Social Care agreed that she would look into this as well as report back on the national picture. (Action: Beverley Hendricks).

f.     The Partnership also sought reassurance about the role of the BEH Mental Health Trust in the partnership level arrangements, in response partners were advised that they were represented through the leadership group at NCL.

g.    The Chair requested that officers bring back a follow up item on the new safeguarding arrangements to the following meeting. (Action: Eubert Malcolm/Clerk). 

Verbal update.

The Partnership received a verbal update on work to expand the CCTV network and upgrade the CCTV cameras in the borough. It was noted that the current CCTV control room at Ashley Road was due to be demolished and part of the project was to relocate to a new consolidated CCTV control room. The control room would be a joint undertaking with Police colleagues and HfH. The Partnership noted that the network of CCTV cameras was going to be doubled and that £4.1m funding had been allocated as part of the Council’s budget setting process for this project. Officers advised that replacement of the CCTV servers was currently out to tender and that the intention was that these would be relocated to River Park House. Progress of the project as a whole would be reported up to and managed by the Place Board.

The AD for Safeguarding and Social Care requested that partners were consulted upon and were able to influence the location of CCTV cameras, particular in respect of providing additional monitoring around safeguarding cases. In response, officers acknowledged this request and set that there was a sub-group being established to look into camera locations. The Community Safety, Enforcement and Waste Manager agreed to pick this up with the AD for Safeguarding and Social Care. (Action: Ian Kershaw).

The Chair requested that a follow up update on the CCTV upgrade to the Partnership meeting on December. (Action: Ian Kershaw).

N/A

None.

To note the dates of future meetings set out below:

9^th October 2019

11^th December 2019

26^th February 2020

Future meeting dates were noted as:

9^th October 2019

11^th December 2019

26^th February 2020