Agenda item

To receive the Safer Brent Partnership (SBP) Annual Report and review delivery of the SBP priorities and objectives for 2021-22

The Chair invited Carolyn Downs, Chief Executive and Chair of the Safer Brent Partnership to introduce the Safer Brent Partnership Annual Report 2021-22 for the Committee to note the Safer Brent Partnership, Annual Report Financial Year 2021 – 2022 and the activities undertaken to support agreed priorities. Additionally, for the Committee to provide recommendations to feed into the Safer Brent – Community Safety Strategy and related delivery for 2023 – 2025. Key highlights from the report were shared as follows:

• There were positive themes throughout the report, namely reductions in anti social behaviour, knife crime and gang related crimes. Despite the successes the Safer Brent Partnership were clear that there was no room for complacency and continued to sustain momentum moving forwards.

• Although there had been a general reduction in gang and knife crime, Dollis Hill and Neasden had seen an increase in these types of crime, this had illustrated a significant shift as historically Harlesden and Wembley had always recorded the highest figures in the borough in relation to these crimes. It was established that further exploration was needed to understand why Dollis Hill and Neasden were now presenting as hot spot areas, the Committee noted that the shift in crime prevalence across the borough may impact the way that police resources are distributed across the borough.

• There had been an uptick in sexual offences against women and girls, further exploration was needed to ascertain whether the increase in reported figures was due to an actual increase in activity or if more effective reporting was in place.

• Domestic Abuse Services and MARAC were working collaboratively to manage Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) with Youth Offending becoming progressively more engaged in the multi -agency approach to tackle VAWG.

• The Partnership recognised that a renewed focus to increase opportunities to support skills, employment and education for individuals within the justice system was necessary to improve outcomes in this area.

The Committee welcomed the areas of success in the report and in noting the continued areas of development asked some follow up questions to clarify the information shared, with the following points discussed:

·         In noting that violent crime remained a strategic priority for the Safer Brent Partnership the Committee queried how partners had worked collaboratively to address violent crime, particularly in hot sport areas and what interventions would look like moving forward. In response the Committee were advised that following Harlesden and Wembley being recognised as previous hot spot areas there had been significant investment in to supporting community engagement and police visibility in Wembley and Harlesden wards through the addition of Police Town Centre Teams. It was felt the increased visibility and positive relationship building within the community had a positive impact on wider community engagement as well as acting as a deterrent for certain crimes.

• Further community police engagement included the police meeting with local multi faith forums, GymSafe – a programme to support women feeling safe in gyms, a Summer Camp at Newman Catholic College and Police Cadets.

• Councillor Farah had also been active in the community to support police engagement with the community by leading community meetings on St Raphaels estate following a serious crime incident.

• The Committee heard that in response to the increased activity near Dollis Hill Tube Station and Neasden Town Centre, there was an opportunity to apply to the Violence Reduction Unit for funding to support specific work in these areas.

• In response to a Committee query regarding clarity on section 3.4 of the draft Community Strategy 2023-25 , the Committee required further information as  to what the “public health” approach would look like in practice and if the Cost of Living Crisis was expected to impact upon crime rates. The Committee were advised that the process of embedding a public health approach in Brent’s practice had been underway, this included measures outlined in a report to the Health and Wellbeing Board suggesting ways that collaborative working could be effective in reducing crime, a VRU funded project delivered by the Young Brent Foundation – My Endz, that worked with a specific group of young people, funding had also been received to support the transition of young people moving from primary school to high school as this was recognised as particularly vulnerable time in terms of possible exploitation.

• Additionally the Westminster Drug Project had been commissioned to support young people with emotional health needs this included outreach work in schools.

• In response to the Committee query regarding the impact of the Cost of Living Crisis on crime, the Committee heard that there had been a slight uptick in crime, however it was too early to attribute this to the Cost of Living Crisis.

• Following a Committee query regarding how the new strategic priorities were developed and the evidence base used to support this, the Committee were advised that crime statistics from both the MPS and MOPAC were used to identify priorities and followed up with monitoring to assess the impact of interventions to form an evidence base to support future funding applications.
• In responding to a Committee concern that it appeared that priorities relating to the LGBTQ community in terms of addressing hate crimes were missing from the reports, the police advised that they did not have figures to hand on this particular area of hate crime, however would source feedback on this to share at a future meeting. Officers went onto advise that the Safer Brent Partnership did explore data on hate crimes, however recent trends suggested there were more issues with right wing extremism rather than homophobia, biphobia or transphobia, however it was acknowledged that there was likely to be underreporting and as such it would be a priority to explore ways in which safe reporting avenues could be established and communicated to vulnerable communities.
•  The Committee recognised the role as a ward councillor could be a powerful tool in increasing trust and confidence linking the community with local policing, particularly in light of the relationship between the community and law and order over the last few years. It was queried whether this could feature more prominently in the strategy. In response officers felt that the issue should be a major priority for the police to lead on to re-establish and build trust and confidence among the community. Tania Martin, Metropolitan Police added that as an organisation the Met understood their current position in the eyes of the public and the gravitas in ensuring a positive relationship with the community was established.
•  In response to a Committee question with regard to how officers ensured that in agreeing the draft priorities engagement with stakeholders included disproportionately affected groups, officers assured the Committee that consultation was undertaken with a broad group of disproportionately affected individuals affected by crime including those affected by their vulnerability, substance misuse, discussion with the Young People’s Forum and those involved in the Brent Youth Justice system.

·         The Committee were further assured that the priorities were still in their draft stage, therefore officers were keen to reach out to as wide a group as possible to seek further contributions to the plan to ensure it was as effective as possible in addressing the needs and safety of the local community.

·         The Committee reflected that it would be useful to re-establish links with health partners at Safer Brent Partnership meetings to support and advise with particular regard to mental health support and how a genuine effective mental health offer could be established for residents.

The Chair thanked those present for their contributions before moving the meeting on to consider suggestions for improvement which were agreed as follows:

The Committee noted the following suggestions for improvement:

i.              For the Partnership to develop new proposals on how we specifically engage with communities in the crime hotspot areas identified in the Annual Report.

ii.            For the Partnership to look further into the statistics of Homophobic, Biphobic, Transphobic, and Islamophobic Hate Crime in Brent, and should there be a strong evidence base, include these areas within the strategic priorities of the Strategy and related delivery for 2023 – 2025.

iii.           For the Partnership to reinstate a health representative on the Safer Brent Partnership Board

iv.           For the Partnership to explore how to improve prove communications in promoting safe ways of reporting domestic violence.

As the meeting was approaching the 3 hour time limit the Chair was required to ask members if they were willing to apply the guillotine procedure under Standing Order 62 in order to extend the meeting for a period of 15 minutes in order to complete the business on the agenda. This was confirmed by Committee members and the meeting resumed.