To consider the development of the next version of the Community Safety Strategy.  A briefing note and the Swale Community Safety Plan 2014/15 and Community Safety Questionnaire 2014 are attached.

The Economy and Community Services Manager, the Safer and Stronger Communities Officer and the Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Health have been invited for this item.

The Chairman welcomed the Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Health, the Economy and Community Services Manager and Safer and the Stronger Communities Officer to the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Health referred Members to the Community Safety Plan 2014/15, Appendix I of the report.  He explained that the document was refreshed annually following the completion of a community safety strategic assessment.  

The Safer and Stronger Communities Officer explained that the priorities of the Strategic Assessment would be considered by the Strategic Partnership at their annual Away Day on 19 January 2015.  She also spoke about a workshop for front line staff recently held allowing them to comment on the draft assessment.  The Safer and Stronger Communities Officer referred Members to the community safety issue questionnaire set out at Appendix II of the report, had been sent out to local residents to enable them to feed into the priority selection process.

The Economy and Community Services Manager stated the importance of Ward Councillor knowledge.  She outlined some of the key activities delivered by the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) in the last year which included: formation of a Violence Against Women and Girls Group; Swale Action To End Domestic Abuse (SATEDA) Freedom Programme; and tackling anti-social behaviour.

A Member considered that individual ward members should have been approached to comment on the document and complete the Community Safety Questionnaire 2014. He queried whether Councillors could attend the Strategic Planning Session?

The Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Health advised that the Strategic Planning Session meetings were not open meetings as some confidential information was discussed.  There was some discussion about the possibility of a Member briefing and the Economy and Community Services Manager advised that all Members would be consulted and should have been sent the questionnaire.

In response to a query from a Member about issues with the Community Payback Scheme, the Economy and Community Services Manager stated that there had recently been significant changes to this service and that ‘Seetec’ had recently secured the local contract for providing this scheme.  She agreed to provide an update on their progress for Members.

·         Economy and Community Services Manager

In response to queries from a Member about migration of people following Welfare Reform and emerging communities, the Economy and Community Services Manager explained that migration to the Borough bought with it fresh issues and it was about understanding how to engage better with those communities.  She spoke about a project that Swale would be running with both Gravesham and Medway authorities to explore how to resolve these issues within Sheerness East ward. 

A Member raised concern that the SATEDA Freedom Programme was not provided in Faversham.

The Safer and Stronger Communities Officer stated that funding had been secured for six Freedom Programmes.  These would enable two for each area ie. Sittingbourne, Sheerness and Faversham.  She was aware that one was currently already operating in Faversham.

In response to a query, the Economy and Community Services Manager confirmed that as a member of the Strategic Board AmicusHorizon were being consulted.

A Member referred to the issue of child sexual exploitation and queried how this would be monitored in Swale as it would need to be resolved as swiftly as possible.

The Economy and Community Services Manager stated that this was a national issue and was something that would be considered as a priority by the Partnership at its Away Day next week. It was also covered under the Safeguarding Policy. 

In response to queries about the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) relationship with the Swale Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), the Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Health stated that links were improving.  He advised that he attended all of the Swale CCG meetings and also the Canterbury and Coastal Commissioning Group meetings as they were responsible for the Faversham area.

Following a request from a Member, the Safer and Stronger Communities Officer agreed to forward the most up-to-date quarterly baseline targets for 2014/15 to Members for information.

·         Safer and Stronger Communities Officer

In response to a query about crime report numbers, the Safer and Stronger Communities Officer agreed to establish whether this was now referred to as an Incident number.

·         Safer and Stronger Communities Officer

A Member referred to the Summary of progress of 2013/14 Community Safety table and raised concern that Swale did not appear to perform that well compared to other Kent authorities in relation to dealing with crime.

The Safer and Stronger Communities Officer reported that following a recent Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) review, a number of changes had been made to crime recording within Kent Police.  The changes made following the review had led to inflated crime numbers making it difficult to accurately assess current performance.

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Health, Economy and Community Services Manager and Safer and Stronger Communities Officer for attending the meeting.