Agenda and draft 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 xxxx were submitted and approved as a correct record.

Chief Inspector Wendy Tinkler and Chief Inspector Jon Hagen, Cleveland Police will be in attendance to provide further information to the panel regarding off- road bikes.

The Chair welcomed Chief Inspector Wendy Tinkler and Chief Inspector Jon Hagen, Cleveland Police to the meeting to provide further information in relation to off road bikes and Operation Endurance.

Following on from the last meeting, the Chief Inspector made reference to the incident on Sunday 7th August, when it was estimated over 100 persons gathered across various locations in Middlesbrough on off and on road bikes, cars and quads. The Chief inspector advised that there has been criticism towards the police, but wanted to reassure work is ongoing to identify and arrest those involved.

Of those identified, 20 arrests had been made , 19 bikes seized, 8 suspects who were further identified from the press appeal and they are looking at undertaking a day of action.

Following on from the incident on 7 August, there was intelligence that a further incident was planned in 2 weeks’ time.   Due to this intelligence significant work was completed between the Police and other partners (including Middlesbrough Council) to prepare.  This included several press releases to deter offenders and the event didn’t come to fruition. 

In terms of the status of the investigation:

-          When the incidence was made known to Cleveland Police, there had been no intelligence to suggest this would occur which hampered opportunity to prepare.  At the time of the event the incident was risk assessed, weighing up factors against current demand, potential harm and risk to members of the public, Cleveland Police and Staff and the offenders themselves.  

-          The sheer number of people in attendance hampered any opportunity to consider pursuit tactics, as this would have increased the risk posed to members of the public. 

-          The deployment of stingers was an available tactic (spikes that can be laid across the road to burst tyres) however due to the quantity of bikes, this was neither suitable nor appropriate.

-          Cleveland police requested assistance from air support, however as there was no significant threat to life this was not appropriate.

-          Following risk assessing the situation the Silver Command decided that evidence gathering would be undertaken by officers on the ground, and management of the event to ensure safety and minimize disruption to the community. 

-          Officers were deployed with CCTV capabilities and also our town cctv was utilized.

-          The evidence gathered from the event has been reviewed.

-          The investigation is extensive involving the backtracking of CCTV footage in order to identify those riders who were wearing helmets and face coverings.  This enabled the identification of some due to cctv footage being obtained where riders had their face coverings/helmets removed. 

-          Those who have not been identified have been forward tracked, where officers have reviewed cctv and press coverage appealing for information e.g types of bikes/ quads and from 20 face recognition, there were 2 responses.

-          There were positive comments on social media, as the public felt the incident was being dealt with.

-          After the incident, and under the Preventative arm with partners, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/17

Andy Shippey, Community Safety Officer PREVENT/reducing Reoffending and Marion Walker, Head of Stronger Communities and CHANNEL Chair will be in attendance to provide the panel with an update.

The Chair welcomed Andy Shippey, Community Safety Officer PREVENT/reducing Reoffending and Marion Walker, Head of Stronger Communities and CHANNEL Chair to the meeting.

The Community Safety officer provided the following information:

·        Prevent is part of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy CONTEST and is designed to safeguard vulnerable people and communities from the threat of radicalisation and being drawn into terrorism. There are different types of terrorism and Prevent deals with all of them. The most common types of terrorism in the UK are Islamist terrorism and extreme right-wing terrorism.

·        PREVENT and the safeguarding component CHANNEL is voluntary and only works with consent of the vulnerable person at risk and takes a person centred approach in helping the individual address vulnerabilities and increase their resilience against the hateful extremist influence.

·        The Middlesbrough Operational Prevent group work together with partnership agencies to stop people becoming involved in or supporting terrorist activity. Under the Prevent Duty all public sector agencies have a responsibility to ensure their staff and volunteers have a good understanding of Prevent and their responsibilities towards individuals, groups, or families they are working with.

·        The Operational Prevent group prepares  Action plans designed to reduce the risk by increasing communities' resilience and awareness, Training and awareness raising and Promotion of the safeguarding nature of PREVENT.

·        In addition to Scrutiny,  the work and actions of PREVENT are also overseen by the CQC, Ofsted, Office of the Policing and Crime Commissioner and Community safety partnership.

The Community Safety Officer provided the Panel with information on recent action carried out within the community, these included for example:

·        Safer giving campaign

·        Working with a Local College around community cohesion conversations and work using the Lets Discuss campaign material

·        Promotion of the Act early campaign in different languages

·        Joint social media campaign to promote prevent and online resilience with Newcastle Council

·        Continued support to national campaign Real Stories

The Community Safety Officer provided further information on contributions to the Cleveland Police approach and further examples of training and support and awareness sharing.

The Head of Stronger Communities and Channel Chair provided the Panel with some information on Channel advising of the following:

·        CHANNEL across Cleveland is bespoke as our regional figures are low in comparison to other areas.

·        The CHANNEL panel is a safeguarding meeting of multi disciplinary professionals whom all work towards assisting the vulnerable young person or adult build their resilience againstthe extremist narrative whilst addressing any vulnerabilities they may have

·        CHANNEL operates on a consensual basis and consent must be sought from the individual

·        The type of support available through CHANNLE is wide-ranging, and can include help with education or careers advice, dealing with mental or emotional health issues, or digital safety training for parents; it all depends on the individual’s needs.

The panel were very complimentary of the work undertaken by Prevent/ Channel and acknowledge the modules which are on the council’s elearning. A panel member queried how employees who do not have access to a computer receive information and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22/18

The Democratic Services officer will present the work plan for the panel’s investigation on museums.

The Democratic Services officer provided an update on the work plan in relation to the panel’s upcoming topic on museums.

The work plan had been circulated to members’ details some draft terms of reference for the topic as well as key questions for officers.

The panel were made aware that the initial meeting for the topic would take place on 15 December 2022.

AGREED

That the position be noted.

The Chair will provide a verbal update from the Overview and Scrutiny meeting held on 25 October 2022.

The Chair provided a verbal update on the discussions at the Overview and Scrutiny Board on 25 October 2022.

AGREED

That the update be noted.

Northern school of Art- Tour

The Chair reminded the panel that a tour of the Northern school of Arts had been arranged for 24 November 2022 commencing 1.30pm.

Any members wishing to join the tour should meet u the reception area.