Meeting documents

The Commission considered and discussed the report and draft recommendations of the Anti-Social Behaviour in the District Task and Finish Group.  The report featured 10 draft recommendations for consideration for onward referral to Cabinet.

 

The Chairman of the Task and Finish Group: Councillor Chris Whitehead guided members through the report.

 

It was reported that the ASB in the District Task and Finish Group had been set up by the Improvement and Review Commission following a motion by the Leader of the Council to Council on 18 December 2017, as follows:

 

"WDC notes the increasing concern of councillors and members of the public regarding an apparent rise in instances of anti-social behaviour across the district and within Wycombe Town Centre in particular.

 

WDC believes giving greater prioritisation to the enforcement of available anti- social behaviour measures by Thames Valley Police will improve the situation before it becomes overly detrimental to the residents, businesses and visitors to the district.

 

WDC resolves to seek swift re-prioritisation of TVP resources to tackle this issue in conjunction with improved partnership working with other stakeholders to improve neighbourhood policing."

 

The Task and Finish Group considered the whole of the district and attempted to address three questions, as follows:

 

I.              How does ASB in our area compare with crime in other similar areas?

II.            How does ASB in our area compare with ASB in the Thames Valley Police Force area?

III.           How has ASB changed over time in our area?

 

The draft recommendations were divided into four headings, Wycombe District Council, Enforcements, Support and Communications.  The draft recommendations along with the reasons for the recommendations were outlined as follows:

 

Wycombe District Council

 

1.         WDC demonstrates its commitment to tacking ASB by:

 

a)            Appointing a Cabinet Member (or Deputy Cabinet Member) with specific responsibility for ASB, and that progress is reviewed at every Cabinet meeting.

 

b)            Identifying a single officer with lead responsibility for ASB, to be responsible for monitoring and reporting progress on tackling ASB. 

 

2.         That the working of the Community Safety Partnership be reviewed and tightened up to provide a stronger focus on tackling ASB.

 

3.         WDC improve the quality of data and information in relation to ASB by:

 

a)            Creating its own database of incidents, similar to the Police Repeat ASB/Signal Crime Callers and Locations report, plotting their locations precisely on a map, indicating exactly where and when they occurred.

 

b)            Developing performance measures to enable progress in tackling ASB to be monitored.

 

4.         WDC close its public toilets on an experimental basis and that pubs and local businesses should be encouraged to allow members of the public to use their toilet facilities when needed.

 

Enforcement

 

5.         TVP should be encouraged to enforce against ASB as follows:

 

a)            WDC support TVP to achieve their full manning levels in Wycombe town - to match the proposed investment in Street Wardens (see items 6 & 7 below).

 

b)            WDC support TVP to improve responsiveness to the 101 emergency number.

 

c)            WDC explore options for supporting TVP to carry out successful recruitment to vacant posts including free parking.

 

d)            The feasibility of the Council having access to a TVP computer should be explored.

 

6.         WDC should employ Street Wardens to enforce PSPOs, who would be directed by WDC officers, but would work closely with the Police. The numbers suggested were four in Wycombe and two in each of Marlow and Princes Risborough.

 

7.         The appointment of Street Wardens be accompanied by a stricter enforcement of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) to demonstrate that the Council will not tolerate ASB.

 

8.         FPNs continue to be issued even if only PCs and the Council’s own ASB officer are authorised to issue them.

 

Support

 

9.         WDC put more resources into the understanding of these links (between begging, mental health and substance misuse), and actively support those agencies working to alleviate the problems.

 

Communications

 

10.       The Council have a co-ordinated campaign in relation to street begging involving posters, banners, press, social media and radio to cover the whole of the District, the purpose of which would be not only to educate the public as to what the Council is doing, but also to try to remove the source of funding in the hope that it may persuade beggars to seek help from agencies and deter begging.

 

The Commission considered and discussed the recommendations and a number of points were made as follows:

 

·         The recommendation regarding the closure of public toilets should be amended to request that thorough investigation be undertaken and implications be considered.

 

·         In response to a query it was reported that data was already available for WDC to have its own database.  The issue was that there was currently no central source of data to access to help direct resources.

 

·         Once in post street wardens could be used to monitor and manage any issues around public toilets.  This information could then be used as evidence base for any investigations.

 

·         It was suggested that the working of the Community Safety Partnership be reviewed and monitored by the Cabinet Member appointed with responsibility for ASB.

 

The Chairman and the Commission thanked Councillor Whitehead and the members of the Task and Finish Group for their report.  It was noted that the comments would be taken into consideration and recommendations amended to reflect the discussion.  The final report would then be submitted to Cabinet on 17 September 2018.