Agenda item

The Head of Community Safety Partnerships Team will set out the priorities of the Crime Prevention Strategy Group.

Genny Renard (Head of Integrated Community Safety, Strategy, Partnerships and Improvement) presented this item and advised that the Crime Prevention Strategy Group (CPSG) was a statutory partnership currently under review.  Councillors were to be consulted about the review in the next few weeks.  The CPSG met on a bi monthly basis and was chaired by the Chief Executive and the Borough Commander and focused on achieving strong outcomes.  Genny Renard advised that the CPSG had already received spending cuts in the region of £110,000 and it was anticipated that there would be further reductions as a result of the Comprehensive Spending Review announcement.  With regard to crime trends, Genny Renard explained that there had been a sharp rise in the number of reported burglaries across London towards the end of the year and nationally there was a big drive to tackle robberies, including street robberies, and burglaries as it was perceived that home owners were becoming less vigilant.  Members heard that locally, the rise in robberies could be attributed to the recent release from prison of four known prolific burglars.  There was a need to look at the various trends across the borough and take a holistic approach.  It was noted that 80% of crime was committed by re-offenders and to address this, a Prolific Offender Programme had been set up and the police were being consulted upon as to how to make this programme run more effectively. 

Genny Renard explained that because of the economic circumstances, better use of limited resources would be needed and the review would identify priorities.  She stated that although reports of domestic violence had risen, this may be indicative that victims were now more willing to report such incidences to the police.  However, it was noted that there had been a £71,000 cut to the domestic violence service budget this year and although the service would continue it would nevertheless be impacted upon and other additional police work was also being cut.

Inspector Claire Smart (Brent Police) added that there had been extensive work on addressing anti-social behaviour and there had been a significant reduction in violent crime in the borough, especially in gun crime.  As a result of this, the borough was now borderline in maintaining its trident status, however losing the status whilst reflecting a reduction in violent crime would also mean a reduction in funding. 

During Members’ discussion, Councillor Al-Ebadi sought further clarification with regard to the reduction in gun crime in Brent.  As Chair of the Voluntary Sector, he expressed an interest in a workshop being set up for voluntary organisations with the police and Genny Renard agreed to discuss this further with him.  Councillor Clues enquired whether trident borough status was entirely determined by statistical criteria and he suggested that such a status helped maintain lower crime figures because of the focus and resources available to achieve this.  Councillor Ogunro enquired whether gun crime had specifically reduced in South Kilburn.  Councillor Hirani asked whether front line staff had been reduced in respect of the domestic violence service or whether they were now burdened with additional administrative tasks. 

The Chair enquired whether London councils were lobbying against changes made in respect of the method used to count incidences of gun crime.  He asked what the likely impact of reduced funding on CPSG and on community engagement activities would be. 

In reply, Genny Renard advised that there had been approximately a 35% reduction in reported gun crime in Brent, which represented about 14 cases in a year, however the method of counting had been revised to include where it was perceived that a gun was involved.  The council, along with other London councils, was lobbying for the revised counting method to be reconsidered.  Members noted that trident borough status was completely statistics driven, however the work of the Youth Offenders Team had been important in reducing crime of this type.  Front line staff numbers for the Domestic Violence Team remained the same, however the loss of a data officer had impacted upon the ability to analyse data and Genny Renard stated that there had been reductions in staff in her team and with the police too.  This would inevitably mean more administrative tasks would be taken on by front line staff.  It was expected that the CPSG would face spending cuts of approximately 30% over the next three years and it would mean that attention would need to be focused on the most problematic families or specific areas.  The level of community engagement would also be affected and working with voluntary sector groups was an option that would be pursued, with voluntary organisations being encouraged to bid for charitable funds such as the national lottery and the Tudor Fund.