Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of Housing and Health on the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) and the opportunity to review the activities of the partnership during 2024/25, and look ahead to the properties and pressures for 2025/26 and beyond.

The Committee had before it and NOTED a *report from the Head of Housing and Health.

The Committee were introduced to Paul Wilson, Specialist Lead for Community Safety and Safeguarding.

The following was highlighted in the report:

• The Annual Report ensured that the Scrutiny Committee had an oversight of the East and Mid Devon Community Safety Partnership (CSP) and had an opportunity to review the activities of the Partnership during 2024/2025 and to look ahead at the priorities and pressures this year and beyond.
• Following a review by the statutory partnership with the CSP the priorities had been updated for this year onwards and the CSP continued to be a specified authority under the Statutory Serious Violence Duty which was introduced in 2023.
• There had been ongoing pressures around CSP’s responsibilities in terms of the statutory Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR).
• There were a number of national developments in the pipeline as set out within the report.
• There was a strong emphasis on the work towards anti-social behaviour.
• It had been recognised within the Devon Serious Violence Strategy that anti-social behaviour (ASB) was tackled early and that it had been a priority during 2024/2025.  This had been reflected through the increased use of ASB powers, the introduction of New Youth, antisocial behaviour intervention panels and the recent work in Tiverton with marshals in the town centre.
• The CSP also worked with the Community Alcohol Partnership and the Devon wide Let’s Talk Programme, which offered a myriad of sessions supporting children and parents around issues such as online exploitation, serious violence and knife crime.
• The crime levels within mid Devon remained low and well below the national average.  However ASB was an issue that would continue to be addressed.
• New priorities for the CSP would focus on youth, ASB including drinking, drugs and nuisance behaviour and how that related to ASB in the town centres, domestic abuse, sexual violence, harmful sexual behaviour and child exploitation.
• Despite the lack of funding for the CSP from the Government, the Police and the Crime Commissioner there was still an ongoing duty to provide complex DHRs that were managed at a county level.
• Across Devon there was a rising pressure to deliver more and more DHRs which would create funding pressures.  This was being reviewed.

Discussion took place with regard to:

• How the CSP were proactively dealing with ASB.  It was explained that there had been a very strong emphasis on ASB with increased use of Community Protection Notices and Community Protection Warning powers along with training for Housing and Public Health Council staff.
• Would drug rehabilitation be considered as this was on an ongoing problem? It was explained that yes, there were commission services that were commissioned at a County level.
• Does the Council have sufficient budget for street marshals and was this utilised. It was explained that the level of patrols had been conducted was defined by the Home Office.
• Clarification around the increase in domestic violence.
• Shoplifting in and around the Tiverton area.
• The information that was in the public domain about ASB and the reporting arrangements. More detailed information was requested about the different types of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and the reporting arrangements so that trends and progress could be better monitored.
• Future focus of priority three in the new list of priorities, domestic abuse, sexual violence and harmful sexual behaviour. What was the year of this increase?

Note: *report previously circulated.