Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest.

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

The minutes of the Culture and Communities Scrutiny Panel held on 18 November 2021 were submitted and approved as a correct record.

The Chair will provide a verbal update regarding the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 7 December 2021.

The Chair provided a verbal update from the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 7 December 2021.

AGREED- That the update be noted.

The following areas will be covered:

1.    Overview of crime and anti-social behaviour in Middlesbrough- The Head of Stronger Communities will provide information to the Panel.

2.    Neighbourhood Policing- Chief Inspector p0554 Daryll Tomlinson, Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Policing will provide a presentation to the Panel.

3.      Partnership working- The Head of Stronger Communities will end with a brief discussion about Partnership working.

The Chair welcomed the Head of Stronger Communities and Chief Inspector Tomlinson, Cleveland Police to the meeting to provide information in relation to the Panel’s review on Tough Enough? Enforcement in Middlesbrough and its impact on crime and anti-social behaviour.

Following on from a previous meeting, where the Panel had learnt about the Council’s approach to enforcement, they were keen to establish an understand of community policing in Middlesbrough and gage a better understanding of the levels of crime and anti-social behaviour across the town. The information provided linked to terms of reference 2 of the report- To understand the nature and levels of anti-social behaviour and crime across the town. Has there been improvement or decline over the past 2 years?

The Head of Stronger Communities advised that she would provide the Panel with an overview of the crime and anti-social statistics. The data was Cleveland Police data and showed crime and anti-social behaviour rates for:

•       Cleveland Local Authority rate comparisons

•       Middlesbrough Wards total numbers

•       Middlesbrough Wards rates

The first graph provided information for 100,000 population for Middlesbrough. The statistics showed that Crime rates for Middlesbrough in 2019 and 2020 remained close to the other Local authorities, however looking at the start of 2021 the crime rate had climbed further away from the other Local authorities as the year was progressing. It was encouraging to see a reduction of crime and anti-social behavior in October 2021/ November 2021, however the gap between local authorities was significantly wide.

The Head of Stronger Communities advised that there was a change in recording for Crime and anti-social behavior in April 2021, which was highlighted due to the significant drip in recording.

In terms of anti-social behavior, the statistics showed although Middlesbrough has higher anti-social behavior rates than other local authorities, it was encouraging that the rates in Middlesbrough were at their lowest in 3 years.

CRIME IN MIDDLESBROUGH- analysis and rates

In terms of crime across Middlesbrough, the Head Stronger Communities provided a ward analysis. The 2021-22 data was incomplete as this ran from 1 April 2021- 31 March 2022. Crime totals per ward shows that nearly all wards (excluding Brambles & Thorntree, Park end & Beckfield, and Ayresome) saw a decrease in crime from 2019-2020.

The statistics, also showed some wards such as Hemlington, Ladgate, Kader, and Central have already recorded more crimes, or were nearly higher than 2020.

The highest crime rates still remain the Central ward, however this was not uncommon to Towns due to the Town center effect, as there was quite often an increase due to shop lifting in  prime issues within this area. North Ormesby was second and Newport third.

In terms of crime rates, the 2021 figure was not fully complete so it was expected that they will be lower.

A decrease from 2019 to 2020 was evident. However looking from 2018-2020 ward such as Newport, Park End & Beckfield, Brambles & Thorntree, and Park either increase or remained at a similar rate.

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR- analysis  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/16