Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest.

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

The minutes from the Culture and Communities Scrutiny Panel held on 21 September 2021 were submitted and approved as a true record.

The Head of Stronger Communities and additional officers will be in attendance to provide information on the community safety partnership, the teams within the partnership and how this has impacted to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour in Middlesbrough.

The Chair welcomed the Head of Stronger Communities and the Operational Community Safety Manager 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.

The panel had requested officers to attend to provide information in relation to the first terms of reference of the review:

To examine the powers set out in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and how this has shaped Middlesbrough’s partnership working to tackle crime and anti –social behaviour in the Town.

The Head of Stronger Communities provided a presentation on the following:
- Middlesbrough’s community safety team (6 aspects to the team)

•       Neighbourhood Safety Wardens- 43 wardens who deal with a whole host of things, including for example; support 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; Support victims of crime and antisocial behavior; Enforce parking contraventions Parking Fines; Issue Fixed Penalty Notices for littering /dog fouling ; Enforce PSPO in TS1;Carry Naloxone injections and use them to save lives; wardens are trained in first aid and basic life support (they can also administer CPR) and gather intelligence and information which is shared with Police and other key partners.

•       Neighbourhood Safety Wardens (Environmental)- x 7 and Environmental Operatives x 5 (Flying Squad) . The Panel heard that the flying Squad were a newly formed Team developed on 1 March 2021 who identify and search through fly tipping, collect and remove all fly tipping from the particular site.

The Neighbourhood Safety Wardens further Enforce Fly Tipping, via fines and if necessary through the courts ; deal with stray dogs, deal with abandoned vehicles and are trained to respond to wardens activities already mentioned.

The Operations Community Safety Manager further provided the panel with examples of best practice from the Team in relation to fly tipping. Since the introduction of the Team there have been positive results across the Town.

•       Neighbourhood Safety Officers – 7 officers who deal with issues that require a multi-agency approach, who work directly with elected members and try and solve problems to community issues. These can be varied depending on the issue.

The officers Utilise a range of legal and non-legal measures to resolve antisocial behaviour, reduce crime   and the fear of crime and bring respite to victims of crime and antisocial behaviour

The Team Investigate complaints of nuisance, antisocial behaviour and hate crime, working across all housing tenures, using advisory, counselling, negotiating / persuasive skills to convince others to take particular courses of action, where appropriate, this may result in for example, an anti-social behaviour contract

The Head of Stronger communities further outlined that where all other avenues fail, the officers will gather a portfolio of evidence and work with key stakeholders to produce a prosecution pack for House Closure; Civil Injunction, or Criminal Behaviour Order against persistent and unchanging offenders.

The panel were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/4

The Chair will provide a verbal update of topics discussed at the Overview and Scrutiny Board held on 20 October 2021.

The Chair provide a verbal update in respect to the topics discussed at the Overview and Scrutiny Board on 20 October 2021.

AGREED- That the update be noted.

No items.