In the absence of an appointed Chair and Vice-Chair, Pete Aley, Head of Community Services, Plymouth City Council, opened the meeting by welcoming partners and thanking the University for once again acting as hosts. 

Pete Aley outlined the process for appointing a Chair and Vice-Chair and advised members that expressions of interest had been received from Councillor Penberthy for the role of Chair and Charlie Green for the role of Chair and Vice-Chair.

Having heard the submissions of the candidates, it was agreed that Councillor Penberthy is appointed Chair and Charlie Green is appointed Vice-Chair for the municipal year 2014/15.

Agreed the notes of the meeting held on 8 May 2014.

Sarah Hopkins thanked those who had provided feedback following the last meeting.  The plan had been updated to reflect all comments received and was now presented to the board for approval.

Members were happy with the plan in the main and thanked Sarah for her efforts in bringing it to fruition.  However, there was one additional comment made in regard to the impact of alcohol and how it was a common theme running through many of the identified priorities.  It was therefore suggested that an additional bullet point should be added to reflect its significance.

Agreed the Safer Plymouth Partnership Plan 2014-2017, subject to inclusion of an additional bullet point to the table on page 11 of the plan as follows –

·         recognising that alcohol is an underlying contributor to all of the identified top priorities and will work to understand this relationship more

The Board received a position statement in respect of Homesafe, an initiative which had been operating in Plymouth for a number of years and which offered a range of prevention measures focussing in particular on victims of burglary and domestic abuse.  Members were informed that under Homesafe -

·         the Police had been working in partnership with Plymouth City Council,  Plymouth Community Homes and RSLs to prevent homelessness arising from incidents of domestic violence;

·         increased levels of security had been introduced at many properties in the city over the years by RSLs, including the provision of 18 safe rooms in the last year alone;

·         targeted initiatives around burglary activity and repeat offenders had taken place.

However, times had changed since the scheme had been introduced and, due to the combination of a number of factors, Homesafe was no longer sustainable.  Work was, therefore, underway to explore how elements of the scheme could be continued, particularly around providing support to those with the greatest need/highest risk.  This included –

·         looking to ‘tweak’ to make fit for purpose and then adopt the Devon Sanctuary Policy;

·         speaking to RSLs to ensure their continued engagement in making homes secure.

Discussion took place on the provision of safe ‘panic’ rooms and Rick Selley asked if a list of modified properties could be provided to the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.

The update was noted with thanks.

The Board welcomed back John Ward from Plymouth City Council who was in attendance to facilitate a development session with a view to –

·                delivering the Safer Plymouth Partnership Plan

·                identifying the next steps in the partnership’s development

Partners were asked to consider how they could build on the new plan and help deliver it bearing in mind that each organisation worked differently but yet were fundamental to the plan’s success.  Lengthy discussion took place amongst Board members who -

·                acknowledged the relevance of the Fairness Commission’s report and the need for a new approach to leadership and partnership working;

·                voiced concerns over collective responsibility and accountability;

·                recognised there was a need to measure the plan’s performance;

·                pledged/gave a commitment to take the plan back to their respective organisations and where possible integrate/embed it within their own plans;

·                identified the role of the Board was to act as strategic leads in the plan’s delivery;

·                highlighted the need to share resources and pool funding;

·                queried the position of the sub-groups and what they had achieved over the last 12 months.

Agreed that further work would take place on this at the next meeting and that in the meantime –

            (1)        the sub-group official leads would be asked to provide a report                  on what they had done in the last year and what was planned for                     the future;

(2)        an e-mail would be circulated to establish whether there were any gaps in membership on the groups so that relevant parties could be identified to sit on them where necessary.

The partnership received an update on the process for transforming rehabilitation.  Members were advised that there were four potential bidders and a panel, comprising 10 representatives from across Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, would be meeting next week to look at local contractual requirements.  Members were also reminded that if they were approached by any of the bidders they were obliged to share any information provided to all parties in order to maintain openness, transparency and equality.

The update was noted and a further briefing would be presented to the next meeting.

The Board considered the Safer Plymouth Partnership Performance Report as at May 2014.         The report set out performance against the following priority indicators –

·           closing the gap in overall crime

·           reduce serious acquisitive crime

·           reduce violence with injury

·           reduce anti-social behaviour

·           increase reporting of domestic abuse

·           increase number of racist, disablist, homophobic and faith incidents reported

·           increase the % satisfied with outcome of reported racist, disablist, homophobic, faith and belief incidents

Whilst the report in the main reflected a positive picture for Plymouth, partners were advised that the Police and Crime Commissioner had recently brought in a new set of performance measures which conflicted with the information presented.  In addition, the police’s current data collection system was not set up in a way that enabled information to be accurately captured.  This system was very shortly to be replaced by a new one which would enable the police to better categorise incidents and link information.

Discussion took place on whether the indicators and targets were still relevant and able to provide the partnership with the right qualitative data that demonstrated whether or not it was making a difference.  The issue of quantitative vs qualitative service was also raised.  The Chair suggested asking the Your Plymouth overview and scrutiny panel to look at the issue on behalf of the partnership with a view to making improvements for the following year.  However, it was the view of the partnership that the status quo remained in terms of performance measurement at least until the next report had been produced based on the police’s new system and with the inclusion of a trend line.

CCTV

The Chair reported on CCTV provision in the city.  Partners were informed that –

·         CCTV was now solely funded by PCC;

·         there were 300 CCTV cameras in the city;

·         it was difficult to remove/relocate cameras;

·         the control room was being relocated due to the scheduled demolition of its existing accommodation

Board members were asked to consider how the CCTV provision could be improved and best use of its coverage could be made.  It was suggested that this matter be looked at in the form of a ‘task and finish’ review and that members be canvassed for their interest in being involved together with a request for some administrative assistance to support the review.

Agreed a task and finish review looking at CCTV, subject to interest being expressed by partners and necessary administrative support being identified.

Fairness Commission

The Chair reported that Dame Suzi Leather had written to all organisations asking for a response.  He was of the opinion that there were a whole range of issues in the report which members, as a partnership, could have a view on and he therefore asked members’ if they would like to put forward a response on which he would be happy to lead.

Agreed that the Chair and Sarah Hopkins draft a response on behalf of the Safer Plymouth Partnership and circulate it to members for their comment prior to the end of June submission deadline.

Agreed that the dates of future meetings would be circulated after the meeting.