(a)

the report produced evidenced the great work around the area of hate crime being delivered in partnership across the city and overseen by the community safety partnership;

(b)

following the management of risk in law enforcement workshops in September, Safer Plymouth highlighted within the Strategic Crime Assessment, the need to continue to understand the impact of hate crime within the city. There had been a drive to report a crime when they happen, increase community cohesion, and empower individuals to know that hate crime was completely unacceptable. This was pushed by the Safer Community steam group within Safer Plymouth where multiple agencies met bi-monthly to discuss various operational community safety issues, including hate crime;

(c)

Safer Plymouth was a trauma informed Community Safety Partnership and had at its core, the welfare of residents in mind working towards preventing adverse childhood experiences. Devon and Cornwall Police had a diverse communities team who worked at building trust, community cohesion and working on breaking down barriers to reporting. This team worked closely with the Council and Safer Plymouth in order to provide a joined up response to hate crime reinforcing its unacceptability within the city;

(d)

understanding the impact of a crime on people was paramount to identifying ways to prevent it. Positive work was going on in the city and initiatives such as safer delivery schemes, various activities in Hate Crime Awareness Week, and greater third party reporting network, contributed to tackling the area of hate crime making all communities feel safer;

(e)

education was a key area of focus when tackling hate crime; the unacceptability  of hate crime was key to preventing it for future generations. The police have been working with a number of schools to provide this input. However, this was an area looking to have further work.

(f)

the reporting of transgender hate crimes in any area of the UK was very low; reporting was very slowly increasing in Plymouth over a number of years which was considered positive. It was suggested that this demonstrated that people were gradually more likely to engage, and that there was a growing confidence to report or just a wider response to the city to have an open conversation around transgender issues. Councillors were encouraged to signpost people affected by hate crimes to the Police;

(g)

the Diverse Community Team spent time working in schools in the city delivering a programme of work; it was considered that the more work that could be done in schools, the better. Police Cadets and the Mini Police was also a way of engaging with young people on wider issues and delivering the message;

(h)

it was considered that there was a different approach in different schools to how incidents were reported. If an incident was reported to the Police or Safer Plymouth, the Diverse Communities Team would be sent to the school to provide structured sessions. Neighbourhood policing was also used to support schools and the wider community. It was acknowledged that there was a general issue of under-reporting of hate crimes therefore those schools that did report incidents were to be celebrated;

(i)

In terms of the recording of hate crime, it was not known what percentage was due to social media and what was categorised as a physical attack;

(j)

in any instance where there was a victim of a crime, a victim needs assessment

would be undertaken to understand the victims’ needs and what support was required – support was available at subsequent court cases if required and on a longer term basis if considered necessary. As part of this process the victim would be notified as to the outcome of their reporting and what to expect throughout the process of reporting;

(k)

there was no duplication in figures for reported hate crimes; if a hate crime was considered to be categorised as racial and religious it would be logged once under a primary offence;

(l)

crimes were recorded as to where the crime occurred other than where the victim lived; it was expected that the city centre would record a higher number of crimes however compared to the UK, Plymouth was considered a safe place to live;

(m)

the night time economy played a part in the higher record of crimes recorded in the city centre; it was considered that there were a lot of work being undertaken to help including the Best Bar None scheme, trained door staff and receptive bar staff that were on board with reporting crimes and supporting victims;

(n)

the Police’s Operation Scorpion linked into the night time economy and wasn’t specifically aimed at young people however they were very much featured in it. The operation incorporated people that were in a recreational situation and focused upon drug supply, drug possession and use. Safer Plymouth regularly considered the work of this operation with prevention and education on drugs being the main strands;

(o)

the Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Leisure and Sport highlighted the importance of education around the use of drugs and linking in with schools to spread the message;

(p)

in response to the letter partially read out by Councillor Lowry from a local resident regarding the four years of racial abuse they had received and the avenues of reporting they had gone down, it was responded that reporting of the crime needed to be seen through the eyes of the victim. Wraparound support could be provided from a variety of support services in order to encourage people to make a formal crime complaint when they felt ready – it was agreed that this specific issue would be discussed outside of the meeting;

(q)

the attendance of police officers at local Have Your Say Meetings was not a ‘thing of the past’; the branding of these meetings appeared to become more relaxed as a few prescribed officers would attend the meetings with other strategic partners and Councillors. It was recognised that it was generally the same members of the public attending these meetings therefore resource was often directed resulting in little impact. It was highlighted that it was important to build relationships with the local community, only benefitting the reporting of crimes, including hate crimes. Great value was also attributed to police officers walking the streets of Plymouth and being accessible to the public. The Police had recently invested in GPS trackers so that officers’ walking routes could be put on a map to demonstrate that police officers were out and about throughout the city;

(r)

the Independent Review of Prevent Report (by Williams Shawcross) focused upon the prevention of terrorism in the city; a draft action plan and risk assessment had been developed and was due to be considered at a local Prevent Partnership Meeting (under the Safer Plymouth Umbrella) in March 2023. There were four main elements of the report that needed to be focused on as a city which were brought to the Prevent Partnership. It was acknowledged that a different narrative was shared into our communities, to the one that sometimes was portrayed in the media. Where there was any misconceptions around what prevent was and what it was trying to achieve. The partnership worked with elected members and other community members to make sure that everyone understood how ‘prevent’ looked different in the South West however a national response was still required. In relation to the development of the action plan, this was done with the home office specialists; a risk assessment tool was used (which was used in every prevent partnership in the southwest), and benchmark data was created to help to understand how well the city could respond to intelligence received.

1.

to recommend to the Education and Children’s Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee that the consideration of hate crime is added to their work programme, specifically with regards to the link between schools and the community safety partnership, and how to best build links into schools, and other children youth settings to ensure that hate crime is tackled from an education and prevention perspective;

2.

that hints and tips on dealing with hate crime would be developed by officers and provided to all Members for their information;

3.

that a workshop upon the Prevent draft action plan and risk assessment (in response to the Independent Review of Prevent by William Shawcross) is scheduled for all Members to accommodate wider engagement in its development;

(4)

that the Chair writes to the Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Leisure and Sport requesting that he lobbies Government for more funding to specifically help with the prevention of drug abuse for under eighteen year olds in Plymouth.