To update the Committee on current community safety issues in Herefordshire, including the new approach to managing offenders, as well as the proposed priorities for the Herefordshire Community Safety Partnership for 2014/17.

The Chairman advised that the committee acted as the council’s statutory crime and disorder committee and welcomed the following to the meeting: George Branch, Assistant Chief Officer, Warwickshire and West Mercia Community Rehabilitation Company; Superintendent Sue Thomas, West Mercia Police; and Nina Bridges, Sustainable Communities Manager, and Adrian Turton, Community Safety Manager, Herefordshire Council.

The Sustainable Communities Manager presented the Community Safety Update, supplemented by comments from the Community Safety Manager and Superintendent Thomas.  The presentation was included in the agenda and was structured under the following headings: Changing Landscape for Community Safety; Herefordshire is a Safe County; Achievements in 2013/14; Headline Statistics 2013/14; Draft Priorities for Strategic Plan 2014/17; Reduce Re-offending; Address the Harm Caused by Alcohol and Drugs; Address Domestic Violence and Abuse; Promote Community Cohesion and Reduce Anti-Social Behaviour; and Moving Forward.

The committee considered the report, the principal points included:

a.         The Chairman said that this item was timely given that Ofsted were inspecting the authority’s safeguarding arrangements currently.  It was noted that, since Ofsted had found the arrangements to protect children as ‘inadequate’ in 2012, progress had been made with the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

b.         The Chairman said that the Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) statistics were alarming; with a 9% increase in incidents in 2013/14 compared to 2012/13 and a 19% increase in DVA crimes over the same period.  The Community Safety Manager said that, although the reasons were not certain, the figures may reflect increased confidence about reporting incidents and increased awareness as a result of local and national campaigns, such as those by Women’s Aid and the White Ribbon campaign.  Superintendent Thomas said that the police were taking extra effort with certain offences, including DVA, sexual assault and hate crime.  She added that it was not necessarily about focussing on the figures but about ‘doing the right thing’.

c.         A Committee Member noted that DVA could have a serious impact on children at very early ages and it was questioned how awareness was being raised in schools.  The Community Safety Manager advised that five schools were involved in a pilot initiative and this had delivered positive outcomes; the potential to develop the project and roll it out across Herefordshire would be explored in the forthcoming year.  The Chairman commented that teachers or teaching assistants would often pick up on behavioural changes and questioned whether the reporting lines were as clear as they possibly could be.  The Cabinet Member Corporate Services said that a significant amount of training was provided on safeguarding issues.  The Sustainable Communities Manager said that a lot of work was being undertaken around the advice and support available to frontline professionals and others who might come into contact with DVA issues.  The Community Safety Manager said that the comment about teaching staff would be taken away and he provided an overview of the current referral process to MASH.  Mr. Branch commented on work to reduce reoffending, such as the Building Better Relationships programme.

d.         A Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84