Agenda item

Genny Renard gave a presentation on this item to inform Members of Community Safety Partnerships (CSP) under the new Government.  Amongst the main themes were decentralising power to local areas, directly elected police and crime commissioners, promoting the ‘Big Society’ and conducting a spending review to reduce the deficit.  Members heard that CPSs would need to be more action-oriented, with bureaucracy and the number of processes involved reduced.  Multi-agency working to achieve greater value for money and improving delivery of services would also be needed.  There would also be an active role for the voluntary sector.  Genny Renard advised that the Big Society rested on three principles, these being:-

·         Capability – enabling people to participate

·         Co-production – empowerment to influence and act

·         Commissioning – empowerment to control own environment. This would involve deciding what outcome is wanted and then choose a preferred bidder.

In terms of the design of service, Genny Renard advised that the CSP was currently at the professional service but user and the community involved level, however the objective was to achieve commissioning full co-production.  There would also be a move towards place-based budgeting and the implications for policing would include effective prevention and response to crime, enhanced intelligence sharing, closer partnership working with key local outcomes and using a joined up approach with other agencies to address the cycle of re-offending. 

During Members’ discussion, Councillor Clues sought further information on the CSP structure under the devolution proposals and what impact this would have on the ward panels.  He also enquired how voluntary sector organisations would be managed and how would it be ensured that they were fit for purpose.  Councillor Clues commented that it was important to reassure the community that there were appropriate measures in place to tackle crime.  Councillor Al-Ebadi stated that although CCTV was needed in town centres, he questioned its need in other locations and felt that sometimes it was misused.  He felt that the purposes of using CCTV could be more fully explored. 

With regard to commissioning, the Chair enquired whether there were any plans to seek arrangements with other local authorities and would there be a review of what could be commissioned.  He also asked how contracts would be monitored.  The Chair enquired if there was any indication with regard to what savings would be required and when an announcement would be made on this.  He asked to what extent CCTV provided a good evidence base and was the quality of CCTV in Brent high.

In reply, Genny Renard advised that the Government was considering three models as to how the CSP would function and it was possible that Brent could be split into three sectors.  She stated that ward panels played an important role in bringing views together and Neighbourhood Working also assisted this.  It was noted that the nature of Brent meant there were distinct neighbourhoods in the Borough.  Commissioning would be the solution to ensure that voluntary sector organisations were fit for purpose and these organisations would receive assistance to develop their services and receive training, whilst a robust monitoring process would need to be in place.  Members noted that the council was meeting with Barnet and Harrow on 22 October to discuss domestic violence services and such arrangements were being considered for other areas too.  There would be an informal review of what could be commissioned and whilst the police informed the council of how many referrals were made, progress needed to be made in finding appropriate partners.  CCTV quality was comparable with other boroughs and although there was no evidence to suggest CCTV helped reduce crime, it assisted in detection. 

Claire Smart added that CCTV was useful providing that it was in an appropriate location and had the right view of the incident.  She stated that although the Police Authority was being replaced, the change would not impact upon the strategy. 

Phil Newby (Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Improvement) commented that reducing police civilian workers would require police officers to spend more time on administrative tasks.  As there was a need to make savings, a number of areas needed to be looked at, such as whether CCTV represented good value for money and he suggested that a task group could be set up to consider this.  He advised that future funding for CSG would be confirmed by the Local Authorities Settlement on 6 December.