Meeting documents

The Chairman welcomed Sarah McBrearty (Community Safety Manager – Wycombe District Council), who provided an update on the Wycombe Community Safety Partnership priorities and actions for 2019/20.

The Partnership Plan had been re-written and prioritised in 2017 and was to run through to 2020, each year however these priorities and actions were revised and reviewed as appropriate, by means of the Annual Strategic Assessment.

Focussing on each of the priorities of:

·         Tackling anti-social behaviour and crime;

·         Safeguarding adults;

·         Safeguarding children; and

·         Building community resilience

the actions taken and planned in respect of each of these were outlined.

In respect of Tackling Anti-social Behaviour and Crime Members could well have seen the three recently employed full time Street Wardens in High Wycombe, in operation Monday to Saturday 8am to 7pm, with the ability to be extended to later hours or Sundays if Police operations etc. required such.

The High Wycombe Town Centre Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) whereby street drinkers could be asked to hand over their drink and if not complying were subject to a fine, was workingwell. A reluctance to hand over drink meant this Order was having an impact. It had not completely removed the problem, but the problem was decreasing. This PSPO expired next February but officers were looking to renew / revise it to continue.

The British Retail Consortium estimated that at least a third of shop-lifting crimes were related to organised crime. Wycombe Community Safety Partnership was working to tackle shoplifting offences, with a focus on safeguarding young people who were being victimised into carrying out these offences.

In respect of the Safeguarding Adults strand, the considerable support available via the Partnership for victims of domestic violence, along with friends and family, was outlined.

The Desborough Road Outreach Project (DROP) was explained; a multi-agency approach to engage with sex-workers, often very vulnerable young women, and help them with health and safeguarding issues and assist them to combat drug and drink dependency which was often the key reason for their involvement.

Similar multi-agency work (importantly Registered Social Landlords being amongst these agencies) in respect of victims of ‘cuckooing’ where professional criminals were targeting vulnerable people to use their homes as bases for drug dealing or other criminal activities, was explained.

The key priority of Safeguarding Children was outlined with reference to the £800K granted to the Thames Valley Police & Crime Commissioner in November last year (2018) which had been utilised in the Early Intervention Youth Fund to prevent involvement with gangs and knife crime. A school drama scheme on such topics and a ‘Reach Every Generation’ specialist mentoring service had been initiated and expanded.

Test purchasing operations regards under age alcohol sales and hotel room booking by apparent adult and young persons had resulted in re-education / training for local businesses, re-alerting them to these key issues.

The award of £90K from central Government to spend by March 2020 in respect of knife crime was welcomed, but a concerted long term approach to tackle the issue was required.

The activities and plans in respect of the final Building Community Resilience priority were explained. The strength of Neighbourhood Watch schemes locally was commended and the work with Buckinghamshire County Council Trading Standards in respect of exploitation and scams with these watches was referenced. ‘Street Association’ schemes and their successes were outlined and the need to roll these out further where possible, was acknowledged.

The future of the Partnership in the landscape of the new Buckinghamshire Unitary Council was referenced. At present Wycombe and Aylesbury each had their own Community Safety Partnership; Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils had one Partnership for both districts, and each of these, along with other statutory partner agencies, met regularly as the ‘Safer and Stronger Coordinating Group’. As part of the unitary work a workshop was being arranged which would look at best practice and discuss the options for a potential new structure of Community Safety Partnership governance.  This would be the forum via which a new County-Wide Plan would emerge, the need to then sub-divide, focussing on specific geographic areas and issues had already been acknowledged.

Members raised a number of issues and queries and received clarification as follows:

·         It was confirmed that a Community Safety Accreditation scheme was being looked at to offer to the Street Wardens, which if successfully obtained, would enhance their powers to work alongside Police further;

·         Members expressed their worries that the PSPO had taken a considerable time to establish initially with various legal and administrative hoops to jump through, would this endanger the quick ‘renewal’ of the Order next February? In respect of this officers were confident that timescales could be met, a renewal was simpler than instigation of an Order;

·         Ms McBrearty agreed to obtain a response from the Council’s Human Resources department in respect of the need for DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) checks for elected members;

·         The recent presence of children in High Wycombe High Street at midnight was referenced, the use of the Buckinghamshire County Council Safeguarding emergency duty team ‘out of hours’ phone number (0800 999 7677) in such cases, was suggested;

·         The fact that knife crime figures were not of the epidemic proportions evident in London was noted, but it still of concern locally;

·         It was confirmed that the Desborough Road area was included in the Street Wardens patrol plan, though of course the initial focus of the Wardens had been the town centre begging issue; and

·         Some 226 recording incidents of the Wardens moving on / dealing with begging and 116 referrals of information re issues to the Police, for the period 1 July 2019 to 10 September 2019 (2 ½ months) was commended.

The Chairman on behalf of the Commission as a whole, asked that it be minuted that for such a small team the Community Safety unit at WDC did a brilliant job. This excellent work done would hopefully transfer over to the new Partnership in the Unitary Council.

The Chairman also indicated that the Commission would be grateful if the Strategic Chair of the Partnership (Superintendent Kevin Brown) and the Operational Chair (Chief Inspector Graham Hadley) along with the Cabinet Member responsible here at WDC; Community Portfolio holder Councillor Graham Peart BEM be invited to the next meeting of the Commission (Wednesday 6 November 2019).

RESOLVED: That the Commission note and support the updated Wycombe Community Safety Partnership priorities and actions for 2019/20.