Pete Aley (Head of Neighbourhood & Community Services) presented his paper – ‘Safer Plymouth – development’ and led a discussion on the subject.  This built on the previous discussion held by Safer Plymouth Partnership Board members at their meeting in April 2016.

Members were reminded of the eight recommendations that had been agreed at the previous meeting, and highlighted the proposed ‘plan on a page’ that pulled together the vision of the Board.  It was pointed out to members that the plan looked at the issues of ‘threat’, ‘risk’ and ‘harm’ (which is similar to how the police work). 

The aim of the plan is to help the city’s most vulnerable people - in particular looking at individuals, communities and issues - and it was hoped that the Board would receive feedback from community leaders on important issues.  It is important to use appropriate language on the website. Pete Aley has been working with Rob Sowden on a strategic document for this purpose.

Issues – these are similar to what are identified at the moment – and include – emerging crimes, long standing crimes, cyber crime and domestic abuse

Communities – issues that may centre around a particular community – and include violent street crime in neighbourhoods.  Some areas are being ignored, although it was necessary to gather data and evidence for this.  It was important to note that ‘community’ could be a physical community (ie area of the city) or another type – ie learning difficulties, race etc, and it was necessary to identity any issues around communities.

Individuals – these include victims who are vulnerable and reoffenders who cause the most harm.  It is important to know where the most vulnerable people are and know how to help them.  There is a lot of data available and it needs to be joined together.

The outcomes framework includes ‘aim’, ‘outputs’, ‘outcomes’ and ‘indicators’ and it was important to ask people for information so that it can be fed back through the system.

An accountable person needed to be appointed from one of the member organisations to work on ‘outcomes’; this person would be supported and may be challenged if things do not go well.  Performance indicators will be measured. 

Pete Aley reminded members that it is important to note that the document (‘plan on a page’) is a working document, which has been discussed with Andy Boulting, who is happy with the approach taken thus far.

A discussion was held regarding organised crime profiles for the city –

Pete Aley (Head of Neighbourhood & Community Services) advised members that he was seeking reassurance that the organised crime profiles would be taken account of in the next strategic assessment, and in response Rob Sowden (Performance and Research Officer) reassured members that these profiles would be referred to in the next strategic assessment – the team at Middlemoor were very adept at obtaining data and intelligence for the reports.   He also advised that strategic assessments were produced every 3/4 months.

Bronwyn Prosser (Social Inclusion Manager) advised members –

·         a CSE sub-group of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board was in place and were in the process of reviewing and updating their action plan;

·         the crime profile for modern slavery was being reviewed and used – a partnership group had recently been set up around this issue but was not aware of how this was progressing;

·         a first draft of the cyber fraud crime profile had been produced (and circulated to members), and Plymouth had been very proactive on this issue.  Plymouth City Council could deal with the cyber issue, but not the fraud – although it was suggested that the Public Protection Service could deal with this

Under this agenda item, Gary Wallace (Public Health Specialist) advised members that the number of unexplained deaths in the city had been falling until 2014 but was now at the highest since 1994, and there had been 19 unexplained deaths so far this year.  This is a significant issue, and the quality of heroin and the cumulative affects of austerity were a contributing factor.  There had also been an increase in the death of women who had been placed on a palliative pathway (as a result of drinking in their earlier years), and a research project at Derriford Hospital was currently under way.

Jo Robison (OPCC Criminal Justice, Partnerships and Commissioning Manager) advised members that the new PCC had recently launched a new fund (£140K which had been provided by the Ministry of Justice) to help victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation in Devon and Cornwall.  There were currently long waiting lists with service providers and this issue was being looked into.

She also advised members that each area of the peninsula had a different approach to domestic homicide reviews, and she wanted to raise this issue with the Community Safety Partnership regional meeting to offer advice and support, and to review the current guidance.

Agreed that Bronwyn Prosser would meet with Craig McArdle (Assistant Director for Strategic Co-operative Commissing) to discuss the various commissioning strands in the city.

21 July 2016, 22 September 2016, 19 January 2017, 6 April 2017.