Agenda and minutes

The Evacuation Procedure was noted by members.

Introductions and apologies for absence were given.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held 20th September 2023.

Agreed that the minutes be approved.

The Partnership heard from Officers about the initial outcomes following the Bonfire Season. The sustained campaign that all partners ran through out the lead up to Bonfire night and weekend was noted, the campaign was considered successful in comparison to pre covid incident levels. Officers were keen to highlight a number of areas in which partners worked well together.

•              Officers who organised and delivered Social Media campaigns alongside leaflet drops to educate the public on the issues.

•              The use of drones to identify hoarding of materials and then enabling the safe disposal of those materials.

•              Joint visits with partner organisations to business and private dwellings in the weeks prior to Bonfire night.

•              The usual high issue areas where the same as pervious years but the number of incidents that were reported were noticeably reduced.

•              No reported violence against Fire Brigade personnel.

The Partnership were pleased by the update from Officers and expressed an interest for Officers to return with a follow up report showing the data for number of incidents

Members NOTED the Update.

Officers apologised to members as the presentation hadn’t been included in the agenda due to an email issue. But officers would share the presentation with Members outside of the meeting and agreed to add the item to an agenda for a later date.

Members Noted the Update

The Partnership were presented with details of the Selective Licensing Proposal, Officers began by highlighting the requirements for introducing a Selective Licensing Scheme which are as follows:

•           Low housing demand

•           Significant problems with anti-social behaviour

•           Higher than average crime rates

•           High levels of deprivation

•           Poor housing conditions

Members of the Partnership were also informed that three areas in the borough which were outlined in the proposal would be Central Stockton, North Thornaby & Newton. Under the scheme Owner/Managers of properties would be required to be licenced for each residential property they let. Each licence would be valid for five years with a proposed fee of £653 per property with a proposed £50 discount for members of the following:

•           SBC Landlords Accreditation Scheme

•           Private Landlords Supporting Stockton (PLuSS)

•           National Landlord Associations

Before the Selective Licensing scheme would be implemented the Council would undertake consultation with those residents, businesses, landlords, managing agents and other stakeholders that would be affected by the scheme.

Members discussed the impact on renters in the proposed areas due to the scheme sign up cost possibly being passed onto them. Officers acknowledged that they would be unable to stop Landlords passing the cost onto renters but advised that when other Authorities had been consulted that it had not happened. Officers would report back to members with further details on the questioned that had been raised at the next meeting.

Best practices and lessons learned would be incorporated through studying other Authorities with Selective Licensing Schemes already in place.

Members AGREED to note the report.

The Police presented to members a report which outlined the strategic response to tackling youth crime.

Officers highlighted the points raised in the report which were, had Police and partners focused on the right areas and the right agencies. Were the measures undertaken working and if there was room for improvement. That evidence shows that early intervention with vulnerable children reduces the risk of offending, and that the total cost of children reoffending was around £1.5 Billion per year.

Following the report members discussed:

If the actions outlined in the report were local or national actions, Officers explained that the actions would be local rather than national. The report had originated with Offices present at the meeting and they expressed their commitment to maximise the impact of those actions.

Members then asked if any central Government funding had been acquired, which Officers told members that no funding had been secured at the time of the meeting. But discretionary funds could become available.

Officers warned against the possible criminalisation of children and noted that work had been undertaken by Children Services which supported that. Childrens Services would link in with Police after the meeting to coordinate on that issue.

Members AGREED to note the report.

The Chair asked members if they had any further business and updates, they wished to share at the meeting.

There were not additional updates for the partnership. 

Surveys had been issued to local residents for them to highlight the issues which they face locally. The surveys had also been available online to allow greater ease of access.  Officers had attended various Resident meetings to ensue a complete consultation would take place. The issues raised were noted by Officers.

Members AGREED to note the update.

Officers had already touched on some of the work they had undertaken in the previous item. They further updated members of work which had been undertaken at North Shore Academy to help prevent pupils being caught up on grooming and pressures to become involved in criminal activity.

Members AGREED to note the update.

Officers presented a report outlining two proposals for Domestic Homicide Review Oversight. Members then discussed the following:

That Stockton Council had historically a low volume of cases which would limit any beneficial impact the authority would have reporting to the PCC (Police & Crime Commissioner).

How the low volume of cases could be because of the criteria which needed to be met for a case to be raised. Members then discussed altering the referral process in the future.

Members also noted the need for more joint working with other boards going forward in possible cases to ensure that no work is being duplicated, and that referrals were happening correctly.

Officers would bring back to members a follow report on those areas identified in discussion.

Members AGREED to noted the report.  

Members were presented with a restricted report that provided an overview on crime comparisons against other similar CSPs utilising iQuanta. 

This report was a restricted document due to the statistical information only made available as an intelligence tool for partnerships until released by the Home Office.

AGREED that the report be noted.

Members read the report and heard from Officers who highlighted some of the most pertinent sections of the report.

From October to November 2023 some reported levels of crimes had fallen, with Robbery and Public Order Offences being highlighted. Officers did acknowledge that some offenses had increased over the same period, they were hopeful to continue the positive downward trend displayed in other offences.

Members discussed the following:

That Officers had continued to attend local surgeries engaging with the public and to help show increased levels of policing.

Reported cases of shoplifting down from previous levels, Members enquired if the cases had been displaced to other areas. But the Police were not aware of any evidence of transferred crime due to the decrease.

The number of reported sexual offences was noted as being down but Officers reflected this could be due to under reporting. Police were aware that cases of sexual assault had historically been under reported, work would continue to improve the outcomes of cases to encourage victims to come forward.

Members AGREED to note the report.

9am Wednesday 24^th January 2024, Jim Cooke Conference Room 1, Municipal Buildings.

The next meeting of the Safer Stockton Partnership would be Wednesday 24/01/2024, which would start at 9am.