Agenda and minutes

The Evacuation Procedure was noted by members.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 19th March 2025 were agreed as a true record.

AGREED.

Members were given a brief update on the three Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (DARDRs) which were being reviewed by Stockton Council. One would be completed within the coming weeks, another had begun after terms of the review had been agreed, and the final review would be scheduled shortly.

A presentation on Safeguarding Adults Reviews was then given to partners from Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board (TSAB), Officers gave a brief introduction about TSAB and how they work to protect adult’s rights to live independent lives, free from abuse and neglect across the Tees area.  They also work closely with various bodies such as the Local Safeguarding Children Partnership, Community Safety Partnerships, Domestic Abuse Steering Groups, Health and Wellbeing Boards, Tees Exploitation Groups and partners to deliver joint priorities and objectives.

Officers went on to discuss Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SAR) with members and how they are linked with DARDRs. They are a statutory multi-agency review where an adult with care and support needs has died or experienced serious harm due to abuse/neglect, and there is a reasonable cause for concern about how agencies worked together to safeguard the adult.

SARs are not about blame and are done to find any improvements which could be made, to prevent similar instances from occurring in the future. What partners need to know about SARs are as follows:

•              Creates an open, honest and learning culture in the workforce (Including statutory and voluntary sectors across Tees area)

•              Develops professional’s knowledge, skills and awareness of good practice and how to overcome challenges.

•              Keeps people safe – can learn from what happened to prevent similar incidents in the future.

•              Can lead to positive changes for professionals and those who access services through policies, procedures, guidance and training – this can be on a local, reginal and national level too.

Officers shared various links for Partners to access more information and training. It was also agreed that the links would be shared following the meeting.

Members AGREED to note the report.

Officers gave a verbal update on the Domestic Abuse Protection Order (DAPO) Pilot which members had been informed of previously. A brief history of the pilot which started in the Greater Manchester area before being adopted in Wales. It had been launched in March for Cleveland Police and is planned to run for three years.

A number of points were highlighted to members, and they were:

•              Police are required to act within 48 hours of a DAPO Application.

•              There needs to be reasonable grounds for a report in order to make an application.

•              Victims would have to be aged 16 or over, with perpetrators would need to be 18 or over.

•              There is an option for the use of GPS tags so that restrictions can be zonal rather then limited to a home etc.

•              Any breaches of the above creates opportunities to prosecute.

It was noted that there have been some challenges for Police as they are in the early stages of the pilot, but they were confident that with continued joint working any issues would be resolved.

The Partnership expressed an interest in maintaining an overview on the progress of the pilot, with regular updates to be shared with partners. Questions on capacity issues were raised by some members. However, Officers were confident that they had the capacity with the estimated number of applications at present, but work would be done to make any improvements as needed to the system.

Members also asked what training was available to partners on the new DAPO scheme, they were informed that a series of webinars were currently available to all partners. While partners were pleased that training was available some thought that more in depth training for this partnership and the Domestic Abuse Steering Group would be appropriate. Officers agreed to note the suggestion for further training.

AGREED to note the update.

The Recorded Crime & Disorder Report was presented to partners; there were four parts of the report. The first was an Executive Summary which highlighted a decrease in the publicly reported offences and Police generated crime when compared to the same time last year.

Two increases were also noted, the first was related to publicly reported a 2.7% increase in anti-social behaviour (reported to Police) and a 9.82% increase in Anti-social behaviour – Stockton Borough Council Community Safety, this included noise and alcohol related issues reported by the public and officers.

The next part of the report focused on Violence, Sexual Offences and Robbery. Death or serious injury caused by illegal driving had showed a reduction of -70.6%. Violent crime was down by 6.8% while Sexual offences showed an 13.7% increase in the number of reports.

Theft, Criminal Damage and Arson were the focus of the next section of the report. Theft was reported to have reduced overall by 18%. Residential burglary showed a large reduction of -35.1% however Arson had shown a 9.5% increase compared to the previous 12 months.

Members enquired if the increase in Arson was related to repeat offenders? Officers were unable to provide an answer to members as the data wasn’t available at the time of the meeting.

Officers moved onto the final section of the report dealing with Public Order, Drug Offences & Weapons. It was reported that public order offences had reduced by 17.2% while drug offences had shown an increase of 37.4% when compared to the previous 12-month period.

Partners discussed the increase in reported Anti-Social Behaviour and asked Officers to bring an in-depth report on the data to the partnership. Community Confidence was also discussed, with Partners stating that members of the community would be able to have their say in the upcoming Community Survey.

Members AGREED to note the report.

A brief update on the progress and work being undertaken by Officers and partners through Project Harmony & Shield was given to members.

The partners praised the joint working they had taken part in, Officers from A Way Out shared that they had engaged with 59 women in connection with the schemes. Members involved shared that feedback from residents and partners had continued to be positive.

It was noted that Project Harmony was approaching two years of operation and the reductions which had been seen were significant. Similar projects had now been implemented in Middlesbrough and Redcar due to Harmonies national recognition of success.

Members agreed to note the report.

A brief update on the progress and work being undertaken by Officers and partners through Project Harmony & Shield was given to members.

The partners praised the joint working they had taken part in, Officers from A Way Out shared that they had engaged with 59 women in connection with the schemes. Members involved shared that feedback from residents and partners had continued to be positive.

It was noted that Project Harmony was approaching two years of operation and the reductions which had been seen were significant. Similar projects had now been implemented in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Hartlepool due to Harmonies national recognition of success.

Members agreed to note the report.

There was no other Officer business raised at the meeting.

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.

Due to the connection to an ongoing Police investigation this Agenda Item was restricted.

Agreed that the update be noted.