Councillor Haydon (Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Libraries, Cemeteries and Crematoria) introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

a)    In order to prevent serious violence in the city the following works had been implemented:

                              i.        Plymouth City Council worked with vulnerable victims to offer support of safe housing;

                             ii.        Devon and Cornwall Police had worked in significant hotspot areas to reduce crime and provide reassurance;

                            iii.        By-standing training had been offered to help people understand safety challenged poor behaviour;

                            iv.        Youth Justice mentoring had taken place with children who were at risk of being drawn into crime;

                             v.        Anti-social behaviour specialists worked in schools to educate children as to what healthy relationships look like;

b)    The assessment showed that different communities were impacted differently by violence;

c)    Plymouth City Council and Partners would work together to address issues at a local level which would include focusing on understanding people who cause harm in the community;

d)    Learning from the impact of what had been undertaken would be used to shape the future of the service.

Tracey Naismith (Community Connections Strategic Manager) added:

e)    Draft terms of references had been agreed to lay out what the relation with the police and crime commissioners office would look like;

f)     Terms of reference would be agreed by the end of January 2024 with a view to receive £150,000 in funding for 12 months from the Home Office;

g)    The national indicators for serious violent reduction include: hospital admissions for assaults with knives and sharp objects, reduction of knife and sharp objects enabled serious violence recorded by the police and homicides recorded by the police;

h)    The local indications for serious violence were tailored to Plymouth and included: reduction in the numbers of recorded violent crimes, reduction of the number of young people going into the criminal justice system, a reduction of those who reoffend, and a reduction of school exclusions,  absences and 16 – 17 year olds not in education;

i)     Public consultations with diverse communities would take place in the next 18 months.

In response to questions, it was explained:

j)     Although Plymouth had the lowest rate of overall crime compared to similar family groups, Plymouth was second in examples of violence that include injury and sexual offences;

k)    The Safer Plymouth Chair had met with the courts to better understand sentencing and delays in sentencing.

The Leader proposed additional recommendations which were seconded by Councillor Penberthy –

1.    That an action plan for Plymouth City Council would be created;

2.    That support be provided to representatives of the Police and Crime Panel and Safer Plymouth in questioning the OPCC’s priorities and funding;

3.    That the Performance, Finance and Customer Experience Overview and Scrutiny Committee would increase their role as a crime and disorder panel in holding Safer Plymouth to account;

Cabinet agreed to:

1.    Endorse the Safer Plymouth model for violence preventing in Plymouth and strategic needs assessment;

2.    That an action plan for Plymouth City Council would be created;

3.    That support be provided to representatives of the Police and Crime Panel and Safer Plymouth in questioning the OPCC’s priorities and funding;

4.    That the Performance, Finance and Customer Experience Overview and Scrutiny Committee would increase their role as a crime and disorder panel in holding Safer Plymouth to account;