Minutes:
Councillor Vanier, the Cabinet Member of Communities, reported on progress and key issues arising from her portfolio.
In respect of Violence Against Women and Girls, she reported that the overriding issue was funding. This was always short term and was fragmented in nature. The Violence Against Women and Girls Commissioning Group was looking at the development of a co-ordinated approach to funding/commissioning and progress had been made in the last two years. Funding came predominantly from the MOPAC. The current tranche of funding came to an end in March 2017 and it was not currently clear what would replace it. It was possible that the MOPAC would adopt a pan London approach to funding rather than focussing on boroughs.
In answer to a question regarding gangs, it had been proposed that Haringey would be included within Operation Shield. However, concerns had been raised within the local community about the scheme which they did not feel would work effectively. The borough had therefore decided to design their own scheme, which would adopt a “carrot and stick” approach. A call-in of key suspects would be taking place as part of the local scheme. This would provide an opportunity for the community to air their views on the impact of gang activity. An ex gang member and a mother whose son had been killed in gang violence would be present. Any gang members who wished to exit would be given support. If incidents continued, a robust line would be taken by the Police. Community safety partners were pleased that the community had developed their own approach and it had been noted that boroughs in Operation Shield had been less successful than anticipated. The local scheme had been entitled “Communities Against Violence”.
Mr Sygrave reported that there had been a good level of community involvement in the initiative. It was to the credit of the borough that there had been insistence on community support for the scheme.
The Cabinet Member commented that there was patchy funding of community safety and it was an issue that the service was constantly having to deal with. A very high percentage of staff were on fixed term contracts and there was a great deal of uncertainty about how future work would be funded.
The Cabinet Member reported that the issue of how the emerging communities within the borough were engaged with was currently being considered. Officers had been asked to prepare a report on the issue. Work that already been done had shown that people from these communities were not markedly different from other groups in their aspirations. Her intention was to set up a working group of Members to progress the issue and input from them would be very welcome.
Panel Members were of the view that it was essential that offensive and extremist graffiti was removed very quickly. It was agreed that information regarding its removal would be circulated to Panel Members.
AGREED:
1. That initial outcomes from the work currently being undertaking to develop closer relationships with emerging communities be shared with the Panel; and
2. That information how to arrange for the removal of graffiti be circulated to Panel Members.