Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Godwin Room, St. Giles Square, Northampton, NN1 1DE.. View directions

Contact: Alice Morgan  01604 837795 e-mail:  alicemorgan@northampton.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Welcomes, introductions and apologies pdf icon PDF 185 KB

Minutes:

Apologies received from Ann Timson (Spring Boroughs Residents Association), Anne Villegas (Healthwatch), Anjona Roy (NREC), Tendai Ndongwe (NHFT), Neelam Aggarwal (BME SRP, IHWO, NIFF), Rutendo Nyatsine (Zimwomen Association), and Rachel Packman (Northants Police).

2.

Minutes and matters arising pdf icon PDF 200 KB

Minutes:

JC – page 3 of the minutes state that “JC suggested there is no age restriction on Stop and Search which was concerning”. JC felt that this is not accurate reflection of what was said at the meeting. However, AC confirmed that there is not an age restriction on Stop and Search - this will be picked up later in the meeting

 

Other than the query above, the minutes were agreed as a true record.

3.

Nomination of the Community co-chair and election

Minutes:

Nominations received for community co-chair

-           Neelam Aggarwal – BME SRP, IHWO and NIFF

-           Rutendo NyatsineZimwomen Association

-           Anjona Roy - NREC

 

 

 

It was agreed that as all three nominations were not in attendance and unable to speak, elections would be deferred to the next meeting.

 

ACTION: VR will ask that the nominees send an overview, explaining what they are going to bring to the forum as a chair and this information will be circulated before the meeting.  It was agreed that at the next meeting we will hold anonymous elections as people come into the room.

4.

Stop Search Update - Superintendent Andy Cox, Northamptonshire Police

Minutes:

A copy of the Stop and Search form was circulated to the forum to look at. Cllr. Malpas asked for a copy of the form to be circulated with minutes. ACTION: AC agreed this would be sent to be circulated with minutes.

Andy Cox outlined Teresa May’s (Home Secretary) statement. This statement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/stop-and-search-comprehensive-package-of-reform-for-police-stop-and-search-powers.  Stop search powers remain, and in the last 12 months (April 2013 to end of March 2014) there have been 1270 successful stop search April-end March by Northamptonshire Police.

 

There are now no targets for officers to deliver a number of Stop and Searches.  At Northamptonshire Police, every officer has received training input on conducting Stop and Search and its impact. Furthermore, there is now national training for Stop and Search from National College of Police which will be rolled out to all forces. There is a commitment to continuous professional development of officers, and if concerns are raised around the way stop search is used by an officer, their powers can be restrained.

 

Around concerns about the disproportionality of the way Stop and Search is used within ethnic minority communities, there is a system in place which measures any disproportionality. If a level of disproportionality is between 5-10% plus, this is flagged for investigation. No ethnic group have been flagged as more than 5% disproportionate in the use of Stop and Search across all ethnic groups. Another forum member raised concerns around the disproportionate use of Stop and Search on males. AC advised that guidance and support is now given to officers to stop search females. However, it is important to remember that the proportionality of Stop and Search incidents on different communities and gender is worked out in relation to the offending population, not the population as a whole. 

 

Picking up the issue that JC raised from the last minutes, it was asked why there is there no age limit on stop search. AC explained that it is very difficult to know where to draw line. Criminality begins at age 10. Stop and Search has been conducted on young people in the county who are under ten. Some under 10s may be carrying things that they shouldn’t be, such as someone hiding something in a baby’s push chair, or getting a young child to carry stolen goods. This is all based on individual circumstances.

 

Clarification was requested around what makes a Stop and Search ‘successful’. A‘successful’ outcome is where an item is found in the possession of the individual that is criminal. There has been a slight reduction in those that are not successful. AC said that it would be unrealistic to have a 100% success rate; however the success rate in Northamptonshire is significantly better than a number of other forces nationally.

 

WB asked how many of those who are stopped are repeats – AC advised that the people who are most Stop and Searched are PPO’s (Prolific and Priority Offenders). However, this is dependent on individual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Call Care - Louise Musson and Anjali Ninawe

Minutes:

Laura Musson spoke to the forum about Call Care - a monitoring service which provides an instant response service for vulnerable people, who may need peace of mind while living independently. Further details around the Call care package can be found here: http://www.northampton.gov.uk/callcare, or please phone 01604 230227 for more information. 

6.

Action Plans - update pdf icon PDF 337 KB

Minutes:

Opportunity for funding for projects within the action plans if the forum all agrees it is a good community project.  This is a working document, and responsibility for leading the project will remain with the organisation that put it forward. However, this is a great opportunity for partnership working and support. If anyone had any suggestions for projects to be on the action plan please send through to VR or AM to be included on the list for consideration.

 

The items on the action plan do not need to be just events, can also put forward ideas for project work that can be used as a solution to the issues raised at the forum. For instance, this could include the Stop and Search card to be given out to young people, as suggested earlier in the meeting.

 

ACTION: AM to circulate draft action plans to forum members to consider before the next meeting

8.

Community Information Exchange

8a

Hate Crime Unit

Minutes:

SW  gave an over view of the disbanding of hate crime unit and the decision that has been made by the Police that there is not a unit; one person will coordinate Hate Crime in county, and responsibility has been given directly to officers to deal with hate crime incidences. SW suggested that the forum should monitor the service now to ensure that responses to hate crime incidents are at a satisfactory level.

It was asked why this was not brought to this forum before the decision was made. 

AC commented that it may be helpful for someone to present detailed rationale to forum at a later date. AC is now more aware of hate crimes that are happening every day as it has been brought to daily briefing meetings.

ACTION: AC to let us know who Portfolio lead is on Hate Crime, for an invitation to be sent for a later meeting.

ACTION: VR to write letter on behalf of the forum to Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner on this issue to raise concerns about the disbanding of the Hate Crime Unit and to invite someone to come to the forum to discuss.

(This action has now been completed – a letter has been sent to the Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner as requested by the forum)

SW said she is interested in hearing from anyone who knows a victim who hasn’t had a response or has lost confidence due to loss of unit.

 

8b

Response from HMO scrutiny panel pdf icon PDF 328 KB

Minutes:

The response from Cllr. Capstick was circulated for the forum’s information.

9.

Items for Discussion at the Next Meeting

Minutes:

-       Elections

-       Development of Action Plans, including;

o   NubiWise

o   Project Diversity

10.

Date Of Next Meeting

Wednesday 30th July, 6:30-8:30pm.

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting is Wednesday 30th July from 6:30-8:30pm in the Holding Room, the Guildhall.