Agenda and draft minutes

The Evacuation Procedure was noted.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the previous meeting which was held Wednesday 1^st October 2025 were agreed as a true record.

Members were presented with the Recorded Crime & Disorder report, the report focused on the recorded crime in the Stockton on Tees Borough over a 12-month period starting in October 2024 to October 2025.

The key points noted from the report were as follows:

·         Publicly reported offences had decreased.

·         Police generated crime had increased.

·         Total recorded crime had reduced.

·         Stalking and Harassment showed a large reduction of -6.6%

·         Sexual Offences overall had increased by 30.2%. Officers emphasised their continued commitment to see a reduction in all Sexual Offences.

·         Officers also noted an increased number of assaults on front line workers, which had been made into a separate category in a piece of legislation in 2018.

·         Criminal Damage was down by 11.6%

Officers also noted the increase in Vehicle crime, and informed members that Police would continue to urge the public to not leave their vehicles running when they weren’t present to prevent their theft.

Members noted the update and agreed that joint working would hopefully prove to be a solution for Sex Offences. Members also lamented the increase in assaults on front line workers, agreeing that no one should be assaulted while doing their job. 

Members AGREED to note the update.

Officers gave an update on Operation Shield which Members would know was a community safety initiative of the Councils alongside Cleveland Police and other partners.

Members were reminded of Community Safety Officers role in providing supporting the Licensing teams Reduce the Strength (RTS) scheme. Which had received positive feedback from retailers and Town Centre Managers, a tenth voluntary sign up had also been achieved since the last meeting which was confirmed during the Op Shield Day of Action in October 2025.

Officers moved onto another aspect of Op Sheild which was the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), the Council had only had one order in place which came into force in 2023 and is due to expire in April 2026.

Following the Councils Community Safety Select Committee report earlier in the year on creating welcoming and safe town centres, Officers have evaluated the current PSPO which has shared conditions impacting Stockton and Norton. Based on this evaluation Officers were now consulting statutory partners and key stakeholders on a revised draft PSPO for both town centre locations, to come info effect upon the expiry of the current order. Officers would be proposing that conditions of the PSPOs be strengthened and enforcement procedures streamlined, to maximise the potential of this tool.

A public consultation was scheduled to take place on the proposed revised PSPOs following this meeting of SSP and the next meeting in January. Officers explained they had sought out a wide range of consultees over the new orders to find out what works well, what Officers need to complement the Councils ongoing work. This also explained the long public consultation so they Officers were able to consider a diverse set of views on how to tackle ASB.

Operation Sheilds Days of Action had continued to be praised by partners such as Change Grow Live. Throughout the time Op Shield had been active Officers and partners had worked to create close working relationships.

Officers noted that they were particularly proud of the close working relationships which had been developed with the previously mentioned Change Grow Live group, as it had helped bridge organisational divides in front line roles. CGL staff regularly volunteered for Op Shield duties on the monthly days of action.

Members AGREED to note the report.

Officers brought the Selective Licensing Annual Report to the meeting for Members attention. They began by highlighting the areas covered and an overview over the type of housing in each area and other general information.

Area 1 Central Stockton –

An area of older, predominantly terraced housing. Selective Licensing was proposed on the basis this area is or is likely to become an area of low housing demand, has a high concentration of private rented properties (well above the national average) and is experiencing high levels of deprivation.

Area 2 North Thornaby –

An area of older, predominantly terraced housing. Selective Licensing was proposed on the basis that this area is or is likely to become an area of low housing demand, has a high concentration of private rented properties (well above the national average) and is experiencing high levels of deprivation.  

Area 3 Newton –

An area of older, predominantly terraced housing. Selective Licensing was proposed on the basis that this area is experiencing significant and persistent problems caused by high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour, with high concentrations of private rented properties (well above the national average) and is experiencing high levels of deprivation.

The Selective Licensing Officers spoke about their year one priorities which were below.

•           Receiving and processing applications for licences.

•           Commencing inspections of Licensed properties.

•           Raising awareness of scheme with landlords, tenant and partners.

•           Developing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders.

Regarding unlicensed properties Officers spoke about their pro-active approach to identifying licensable properties which did not have a duly made application. Information on unlicensed properties could come from a number of different sources such as community intelligence from residents and door knocking visits.

Address would be referred to SL Compliance officers for investigation with contact being made with the owner to encourage an application. There were over three hundred properties had been identified as potentially unlicensed, and investigations had been opened. 205 applications had been received as a result of these investigations.

Under the Selective Licensing scheme Officers may undertake compliance inspections of properties. Inspections began in December 2024 as soon as the first licence had been issued. Officers aimed to inspect all properties at least once with 243 inspections already carried out at the time of the meeting.

130 of those properties which had been inspected had been issued with improvement plans, 62 properties had improved, and investigations were closed and 92 investigations had been closed with no works required as the homes were of a good standard.

Offices informed members of how they had started to do Visual Audits of the Licensed areas. This consisted of regular patrols of the three selective licensing areas; 160 visual audits had been recorded by the team. During the Visual Audits Officers had made note of empty homes, identified licensed properties for targeted inspections, helped submit intelligence to the Police and intervened in cases of Anti-social behaviour.

Members asked if Officers were given any training on spotting abuse and safeguarding concerns. Officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item SSP/47/25

The Health & Wellbeing Strategy update began by highlighting the theme for the strategic plan, which was to support local action on the building blocks of health. This would be achieved through renewed focus on the wider determinants which research studies show that 50% of a person's health and wellbeing is determined by their education, employment, income, physical environment.

For the new strategy Officers informed members of the four focus areas that it would have. They were as follows:

•           All children and families have the best start in life

•           Everyone has a healthy standard of living

•           Everyone lives in healthy and sustainable places and communities

•           Everyone lives long and healthy lives

Officers moved onto the highlight the links between the new strategies commitment areas related to community safety.

•          Community safety: To make Stockton a safer place where people are protected from serious harm and live in communities which are safer and welcoming.

•          Domestic abuse: We want everyone living or working in Stockton-on-Tees to feel safe, supported and protected from domestic abuse, regardless of their age, sex, gender, sexuality, disability, socio-economic status, faith or background.

•          Alcohol related harm: We will reduce alcohol related harm in Stockton-on-Tees whilst ensuring that alcohol can be enjoyed responsibly.

•          Drug related harm: We will reduce the number of people using drugs through primary prevention initiatives and tackling the drivers contributing to drug misuse. We will treat addiction as a health condition, breaking down stigma, and ensuring early help and treatment to reduce drug related harm.

•          Complex and multiple needs: For people experiencing complex and multiple needs, we will look for all opportunities to better coordinate and deliver holistic support and care, rather than siloed.

Members were informed of how the monitoring and accountability framework for the health and wellbeing strategy would work. A high-level action plan which would include overview of the Health & Wellbeing strategy commitment areas and corresponding objectives and would serve as a tool to understand work that exists across SBC/ wider partners.

There would also be deep dive review sessions throughout the year including data overview, community perspectives and would be an opportunity for the board to provide input and serves as a collective problem-solving opportunity.

Outcome Dashboard were highlighted form the report, and how they would serve to track and visualise the performance of the HWB strategy objectives

There would also be an end of year summary, which would include each commitment area completing a self-assessment that monitored progress, and date would be analysed and provided. This would also include a review of the outcomes dashboard to monitor progress. Officers would work to include community feedback.

Members AGREED to note the report. 

Members were given an update on Stockton Councils current Precent (CT) position. At the time of the meeting Stockton had five live cases currently being looked at, Officers explained that since 2018 there had been an increase in the number of referrals to the Council. The reason for the increase had been debated by all members, but no clear consensus was found. The Home Office rigorously inspect all Local Authorities responsible, and Officers were pleased to inform members that Stockton had come out of the inspection with high marks and was seen a regional lead.

Members AGREED to note the update.

Officers from Cleveland Fire Brigade gave a brief update on Bonfire night operations. But from the initial numbers Officers reported that the message of ‘Fire Changes Lives’ was being received. Officers stated that a more detailed report would follow for January’s meeting.

Members AGREED to Note the update.

Members were presented with a restricted report that provided an overview on the Youth Endowment Fund.

Due to the nature of the report relating to a consultation process the report was restricted.

Members AGREED to note 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.

This report was restricted due to the links to Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.

AGREED to note the update.

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

Agreed that the update be noted.