Agenda item

Councillor Yasmin Khan has been invited to attend the Commission for a general discussion on the Public Protection Portfolio and their duties.  A copy of the Cabinet Member’s responsibilities, as set out in the Council’s Constitution is attached.

The Commission noted the update given by Councillor Yasmin Khan and questioned her on a variety of issues relating to the portfolio. A general summary of the key points included:

·         A youth consultation was to be held in collaboration with the two week Junior Citizen programme (with assistance from the Youth Council). This would establish where young people feel most and least safe, and what were their biggest safety concerns when out in the town’s public spaces.

·         Operation Browning was established following a knife crime incident close to the town centre and through the intelligence gathering, work conducted by the Police, Council, and alongside intensive safeguarding work in partnership with West Sussex had resulted in a reduction in street gang activities.

·         Work had taken place with the Town Centre BID to install CCTV cameras in the Memorial Gardens and this had assisted in a positive reduction in incidents within the park.

·         The revamp on the Safer Crawley Partnership had been a successful piece of work which has been led by the Council. The partnership agreed 5 new priorities in January 2023, and they were Violence Against Women and Girls, Protecting Vulnerable Individuals, Violent and Organised Crime, Youth-related Anti-social Behaviour and cost-of-living related crime. In July 2023, an additional priority was agreed; Drug-related harm, which would see the partnership champion a drug demand survey to provide detailed analysis of drug use in Crawley and the impacts of this.  The  OSC still receives its regular annual updates (next one agreed for January OSC with Police). Full review of priorities was due 2024.

·         Community Safety Panels for women from Black and minority ethnic communities would be launched this year, which would be used at a platform to increase community understanding of areas such as hate crime, prevent, exploitation and domestic abuse.

·         Since April 2023 work, activities and inspections had regularly taken place throughout the nighttime economy and at premises, as there was a commitment to ensure those enjoying their time out felt safe.  During the summer, ‘Have fun, stay safe’ joint initiative was launched with partners.

·         It was paramount that plans for CCTV networks were accelerated to ensure that these would be retained given BT was retiring the current contract. Work was ongoing with regards to the retention of the current contract in relation to the existing cameras.

·         With regards to parking, the current contract with WSCC was until 2024/2025 to deliver on and off street parking enforcement. 

·         The ‘Immediate Justice’ scheme was due to launch in Sussex in autumn 2023, which will see offenders tasked with delivering reparative action within 48 hours of their ‘out of court disposal ‘in the communities they have harmed. Three locations in Crawley have been chosen for this activity; Town Hall & Orchard Street Car Park for litter picking and decoration and Tilgate Park for litter picking. The scheme was due to last for two years and was designed to provide a visible message that the council take anti-social behaviour seriously. For young or vulnerable people, there were alterative activities such as improving woodland areas overseen by the Youth Justice Team.

·         A Senior ASB Officer had been appointed and is assisting in the work throughout the service. The NASB service had introduced an app, whereby residents can upload photos and footage to assist in evidence gathering.  Although some evidence still requires an authorised officer to witness the event, the benefit being that the photos were date and time stamped.

·         It was noted that as the private sector housing regulation appeared until the Public Protection remit, four properties had been issued with improvement notices.  There was a quality assurance system in place, together with the council’s complaints system.  It was acknowledged that the council took a balanced approach as to when to promote its enforcement and prosecution powers.

·         Recognition that it was important to keep reporting all issues, to either the council via MyCrawley or 101 (depending on the problem) as this would ensure accurate intelligence, reporting and monitoring.

·         It was hoped that the split between the Community Engagement and new Cabinet member Public Protection role had resulted in being able to create a greater emphasis on each area whilst being able to engage with the community.

RESOLVED

That the Overview and Scrutiny Commission thanked Councillor Yasmin Khan for attending and for the informative discussion that had ensued.