Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest received at this point in the meeting.

The minutes of the Culture and Communities Scrutiny Panel held on 7 and 21 January 2021 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

The Director of Environment and Commercial Services and the Operational Community Safety Manager will be in attendance to provide an overview of the Neighbourhood Warden Service.

As part of the Panel’s review into the Neighbourhood Warden Service, the Head of Stronger Communities provided an overview of the Neighbourhood Safety Team and made the following points:

•     There were 50 neighbourhood wardens who carried out a number of roles including supporting vulnerable people i.e. refer to and link them to specialist support services such as Homeless, Substance Misuse, Debt Management, Domestic Abuse, Routs to Employment/Work, Health services and Support victims of crime and antisocial behaviour.

•     Wardens could also act as professional witnesses as they were all equipped with Body Cameras.

•     Wardens were able to issue parking fines as well as offer advice and guidance for dog fouling.

•     They were also responsible for enforcing the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in the TS1 area which covered a range of different contraventions. One of the main drivers of the PSPO was to change people’s behaviour.

•     An example of welfare visits carried out with vulnerable members of the community whereby an elderly person with mobility problems had been checked upon by the Warden Service whereby it was found they were unwell and got them medical help.

•     The service also comprised four Environmental Neighbourhood Safety Wardens that, in addition to the aforementioned duties, dealt with fly tipping enforcement, abandoned vehicles and stray dogs.

•     The service also comprised seven Neighbourhood Safety Officers who were responsible for developing multi-agency action plans and responding to community issues. They also worked closely with elected Members and other key partners in order to investigate complaints, anti-social behaviour and to develop prosecution packs were appropriate.

•     In terms of partnership working, the Warden Service also comprised a town centre team whose expansion had been funded from the Tees Valley Combined Authority. The driver for this expansion was the need for increased support in the TS1 area.

•     The funding also helped to provide two police officers who worked in the town centre and with the Neighbourhood Wardens and Neighbourhood Safety Officers.

•     The town centre team also worked closely with local businesses.

•     The Wardens had gained Police Accreditation from the Chief Constable of Cleveland Police which makes the Wardens a greater part of the wider police family.

•     The Wardens had also taken part in COVID Marshalling in conjunction with Park Rangers and Community Hub staff.

•     The Warden Service also formed part of the Locality Working model and worked closely with Selective Landlord Licensing.

•     The Wardens also worked closely with Schools and community group to raise awareness of various crimes in the hope of reducing them.

A Member queried how the Warden Service was deployed around the town as it appeared that in some cases they were not present. It was clarified that given the funding from the Tees Valley Combined Authority it was intended for the TS1 area that this was where most of the Warden provision was focused. However, it was also confirmed that the service was patch orientated so Wardens could be deployed where they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/32

The Director of Environment and Commercial Services will be in attendance to provide an update on the Safer Community Partnership.

The Chair invited the Head of Stronger Communities to present her presentation on the Stronger Community Partnership.

During the presentation the following points were made:

•        The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) was a statutory partnership made up of key responsible authorities who had equal responsibility for reducing crime and anti-social behaviour under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. Responsible authorities in this context included the Police, Health Services, Local Authorities, Fire and Rescue Authorities, Probation and Youth Offending Services.

•        All such authorities worked collaboratively with other statutory and non-statutory organizations as well as the voluntary sector and local people to ensure the CSP’s objectives were met.

•        The CSP was required to produce the Strategic Intelligence Assessment every two years.

•        Structurally, the CSP Executive Group had links with the Local Criminal Justice Board, the Health and Well-Being Board and with the Children's Trust.

•        There were a number of themed groups such as PREVENT and domestic abuse groups and the MARAC. There were also operational groups such as the Multi Agency Case Conferencing group.

•        The CSP had made important achievements including the creation of Task and Finish groups across the town that enabled effective targeting of specific issues. These groups fed back to Ward Members and the public on their progress.

•        An example was Cottingham Drive in East Middlesbrough that had been targeted by youths taking part in Anti-Social Behaviour. The Task and Finish group helped install rapid CCTV cameras with joint patrols between Wardens, Thirteen Group and the Police.

•        The CSP also had a statutory responsibility for reducing reoffending. The Council's Community Safety Partnership Officer began a multi-agency working group 2018 involving partners in Roseberry Park’s in-patient team, Community Staff and the Police to reduce violence toward NHS staff.  After being refreshed and moved into the wider community, this project has led to improved communication between the NHS and Police via non-urgent crime reporting tools and focussed training for police officers in how they could support NHS colleagues.

•        This initiative was being progressed with the development of a training video for both the Police and NHS and included raising awareness of the Mental Health Act.

•        There had also been successes with regards to reducing repeat offending in retail related crimes. A great deal of work had been done with the Town Centre team resulting in community impact statements as well as Nitrous Oxide Statement and Malicious Communications Statements. Such statements assisted in prosecutions as they detailed the negative effects those crimes had on communities.

•        The reducing re-offending group had also reviewed its priorities which included a priority to reduce violence linked to malicious communications. Malicious communications was becoming a significant problem locally, and nationally, given the increased amount of people using online communications.

•        An overarching reducing violence plan had also been provisionally drawn up that applied across the entire town that would include a multitude of partners.

•        Other achievements included raising £8,000 to fund, install and monitor rapid deployment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20/33

The Chair provided the Panel with an update on the last meeting of OSB which included an update on the Council’s ongoing response to the Covid Pandemic from the Chief Executive and Public Health representatives; and an update from the Executive Member for Regeneration on the initiatives and activities within his portfolio.

The Democratic Services Officer advised the Panel to consider Terms of Reference for its review into the Neighbourhood Warden Service.

A Member requested that, as a new Member to the Panel that the Committee’s work plan be sent to her for her consideration.

ORDERED:

1. That Members consider potential terms of reference of the Panel’s review of the Warden Service.

2. The Panel’s work plan for 2020/21 be sent to the Panel’s newest Member.

None.