Agenda item

The Safer City Manager delivered a presentation on ‘Keeping Communities Safe’, the Business Delivery Group part of the Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership which delivers the functions of a Community Safety Partnership (CSP). Key points raised included:

·       Officers are required to report on behalf of the KBSP on an annual basis as part of the statutory duty around the scrutiny of crime and disorder matters. The statutory duties of the CSP were outlined, including; engaging with communities around priorities; having systems in place for sharing information; analysing data (including crime data) as part of a strategic needs assessment; and commissioning Domestic Homicide Reviews.

·       The KBSP 2021-22 Annual Report was provided, but it was noted that this document had a safeguarding ‘lens’ while the covering report highlighted the community safety activity for the year.

·       A Community Safety Partnership Plan / Joint Local Police and Crime Plan for 2023-25 was in the process of approval, with a draft overview provided. This was to set out thematic priorities and objectives and was expected to be finalised in April 2023.

·       Information on progress against grant funded programmes and plans for the OPCC Police and Crime grant spend for 2023-24 was provided in the report and appendices.

·       For the future it was planned that an individual Community Safety Partnership annual report would be produced (expected July 2023), and a Strategic Needs Assessment for the 2022-23 year would be completed by May 2023.

Members thanked Officers for the work, and noted that a future Annual Report specifically for the delivery of the Community Safety Partnership function would be welcomed.

The thematic priority on tackling Hate Crime was raised, and Members noted how wide ranging this issue was. This was acknowledged, and work had been undertaken to ensure objectives were achievable. Officers drew attention to progress made in data analysis which had been able to identify trends and hotspots (an example of the Hate Crime dashboard could be found in Appendix C), while the Strategic Hate Crime Partnership delivered against objectives. Challenges with the data were noted; increased reporting was supported but did require more resources. A Member noted that the difference between reported and actual crime levels could be significant; this was an area that data analysis could draw out. Ensuring partner organisations were able to provide data as part of a Strategic Needs Assessment would be important, and these conversations were ongoing.

Members noted some safeguarding issues raised by the KBSP Annual Report. As the item was focused on the delivery of the Community Safety Partnership rather than the safeguarding aspects of the KBSP Members were invited to direct any safeguarding enquiries to the relevant leads.

A Member noted a question in the Quality of Life survey regarding whether domestic abuse was a private matter, considering this inappropriate. The Safer City Manager agreed to raise this with the relevant lead.

A Member raised Modern Day Slavery, noting the difficulty of using the National Referral Mechanism and found that involvement in the criminal justice system could be counter-productive. Officers recognised the challenges of the NRM, but locally practitioners were also supporting victims directly. Bristol had created a Modern Day Slavery Partnership which had been productive.

Members noted the Sanctuary Scheme to support victims of domestic abuse. This was a new intervention supported by funds from the Domestic Abuse Act. Work had been undertaken with procurement for capital spend around strengthening safety plans, and Officers looked forward to seeing the outcomes of this initiative.

RESOLVED; That Officers note the comments of the Communities Scrutiny Commission for consideration.