Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence from the meeting was received from Councillor David Palethorpe.

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 January 2013 were approved and signed by the Chairman.

There were none.                                     .

Councillor Brendan Glynane declared an interest as a member of the Northamptonshire Police and Crime Panel.

Councillor Christopher Malpas declared an interest in item 5(b) as he lived in an area which was to be subject to additional project work done by EMS in conjunction with The Princes Trust.

To receive evidence from Adam Simmons, the Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner.

Mr Adam Simmonds, the Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner attended the Panel, along with Superintendent Richard James of Northamptonshire Police to give the Panel an overview on how the work of the Panel could feed into his work programme.

The main points of the discussion were as follows:-

Mr Simmonds explained that since his election in November he had been putting together a work programme and associated budget. The work programme had been informed by public consultation and would be agreed by the Police and Crime Panel in March 2013.

He advised the Panel that he had set the following priorities:-

Reduction in violent crime by 40% over a five year period

Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour

Reducing drug related crime

Reducing re offending

He considered that Northampton had a vital role to play in achieving those goals. It being the largest town and geographically centrally located and the local Community Safety Partnership having a proven track record.

With regard to violent crime he felt that it was a common misconception that violent crime was only taking place within the town centre, on a Friday /Saturday night. He pointed out that a lot of violent crime took place in domestic situations and this was an area where there is a high level of reoffending.

Mr Simmonds accepted that the focus on drug prevention would be a more long term aim but he wanted to try and understand the reasons that people become addicted to drugs in the first place. He commented that drug use often leads to a wide range of offending behaviour including acquisitive crime and violent crime.

He considered that the Borough Council had an important role to play in making sure that those families that need help were targeted early and their problems addressed in a holistic way. Often a range of service providers would be involved in finding solutions for the problems, which may encompass a number of issues such as inadequate housing and exclusion from school. The Borough Council could play a vital role in bringing those agencies together.

Originally he had felt that there were too many priorities, which is why the Community Safety Partnership has focussed on three priorities for the  next 18 months and these will be aiming to deliver transformational change before moving on to any future priorities. There will be a longer term Policing Plan which will extend beyond the term of his office.

Mr Simmonds also explained that he had been involved in securing funding and the Government funding for Northamptonshire Police has been reduced by £3.2 million. He made representations regarding this and emphasised that it would be vital to ensure that partnerships deliver results whilst accepting there would be fewer resources.

Mr Simmonds stated that Northampton was facing problems which in some aspects, such as drug trafficking, were on the same scale as inner city areas such as London, Manchester and Merseyside. He believed that there would be lots of potential opportunities for improvements and new ways of working.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

To receive evidence from John Farrell, Assets Director, EMS.

 Mr John Farrell, Assets Director Enterprise Managed Services (EMS), attended the Panel to give answers to the Panel’s core questions. The main points of the discussion were as follows:-

The Panel had already received a written response to its’ questions.

Mr Farrell commented that he had not long been in post and part of his remit had been to assess the current levels of performance. He felt that he had identified some places where there were problems to be resolved.

He stated that there were approximately 12,000 Housing Association properties which were surrounded by green space which had been difficult to manage. Higher rates of serious acquisitive crime had been found in those areas. These areas were subject to problems such as fly tipping and general environmental abuse. He felt that areas which appeared to be neglected proved attractive for criminal activity.

He informed the Panel that EMS were required to respond to fly tipping incidents within 24 hours. As an example of the scale of the problem he said that there were 600 incidents in November 2012. Quick responses to problems such as this were vital in preventing further deterioration.

He considered that it was very important that the Council works with other agencies to ensure that improvements were made and that patterns could be identified. He would like to see local communities, and particularly young people, more actively involved in clearing up those problem areas and felt that those people would then have more of a stake within their community.

Members expressed concern over the level of cleanliness of certain areas and the car parks were mentioned, however these were not areas for which EMS had responsibility. It was felt that there was a public perception that all areas were EMS’s responsibility and this could lead to misunderstandings about expectations of service. It was important that there were clear lines of communication and where problems were identified action was taken quickly to rectify them whoever’s responsibility they were.

 He suggested that the most important element was to encourage an element of self-policing and proper reporting to ensure that a correct picture was available. The Neighbourhood Wardens had expressed some concern at the expectations surrounding their new role and Mr Farrell assured Members that they were being supplied with engagement forms and trained on the correct reporting routes. The Neighbourhood Wardens play a vital role and this has been reflected by including them on the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Forums so that they could feed directly into the work of the CSP. In one case this had already led to direct action and a change of prioritisation.

Members felt that a lot of Anti-Social Behaviour was connected to litter and environmental problems. It was felt that there needed to be a stronger process where the information flow was stronger and responses quicker. Any action that could break the cycle of negative behaviour was to be welcomed.

With regard to the number  of fly tipping incidents  work was underway  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5b

The Panel to receive further written evidence from the Northampton Youth Forum.

The Panel considered a written response from the Youth Forum on the additional questions they had been asked by the Panel at the last meeting.

The Young People who had responded felt that crime affecting young people could be better prevented by providing more facilities such as youth clubs, better lighting, a more visible presence and the introduction of a curfew.

They also considered they could best help themselves from falling victim of crime by education, better engagement with available facilities, greater parental involvement and greater attention to personal safety and awareness of risks.

They felt that the best route for them to request help or gain information was through schools.

AGREED: The information gathered by the Youth forum be used to inform the Panel’s evidence base.

The Panel to note the background information :

·         Northampton Population Ethnicity by country of birth

·         Serious Acquisitive Crime (SAC) problem profile.

Ethnicity Profiles

The Panel considered background data on the ethnicity profile of the population of Northampton as gathered from the 2011 census.

This showed that the European origin population was 7.5% with Poland specifically at 2.6%. Members expressed surprise at this as they felt that public perception would be that the numbers would be higher.

Members were informed that by March of this year it would be possible to have a breakdown showing ethnicity profiles for different areas of town.

Serious Acquisitive Crime Trends

The Panel considered information on Serious Acquisitive Crime Trends which showed that vehicle crime, which had been reducing over the last three years had been increasing. Both thefts from motor vehicles and thefts of motor vehicles had increased by more than 20%. This  was a figure that was reflected  in national trends.

Members asked whether the reason for this trend was known and were informed that locally there had been an increase in thefts related to improperly secured vehicles where windows or doors had been left open. There were also cycles which related to whether criminals known for this type of activity were in prison .Currently it was known that there were several individuals who were known for car crimes who were at large in the community.

AGREED: The background information be used to inform the Panel’s evidence base.

The Chair reminded the Panel that during previous discussion it had been suggested that a potential item for future scrutiny could be Review of Interpersonal violence. The Overview and Scrutiny Work Programming event is scheduled for 27^th March 2013 which is before the final report of the Panel would have been presented to  the Overview And Scrutiny Committee. In this case she suggested that this item should be put forward to the Work Programming event for consideration.

AGREED: A potential item on a Review of Interpersonal violence be submitted for consideration to the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programming event scheduled for 27^th March 2013