Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Pennington (Councillor Laws substituted) and Councillor Woodhouse (Councillor Ford substituted).

Apologies were also received from Kenton Baker (Independent Person) and Staci Dorey (Head of Legal and Governance).

Confirmation of the Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 22July 2022.

It was proposed by Councillor Harding, seconded by Councillor Leather and –

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 20 July 2022 be agreed as a correct record.

(Vote: for 6, no 0, abstentions 2)

15 minute period for public contributions

No requests for public participation were received.

To review the action plan.

Chair reviewed the action list with members and the following updated were provided:   

Action 137 – It was confirmed that the Bucks Mills action would remain ongoing, and an update was provided by Councillor Harding.

Action 154 – Democratic Services updated members on the action for dentistry commissioning and explained that no report had been received at the time of the meeting.  Chair advised she would contact Councillor Hellyer, who is the County representative on the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee.

Members with interests should refer to the agenda item and describe the nature of their interest when the item is considered.

Members were reminded that declarations of interest should be made as and when the specific agenda item to which they related was under discussion.

There were no Part II items.

No urgent matters raised.

To review the forward plan.

Chair reviewed the forward plan with members.  No changes were made.

Report by Superintendent  Toby Davies, Devon and Cornwall Police (attached).

Superintendent Toby Davies introduced himself as the Local Policing Commander for North and West Devon and the current Chair of the Community Safety Partnership.  Members were also introduced to Nathan Walker, Community Safety Sergeant, Community Safety Manager Janet Williams (Community Safety Manager) TDC) and Natasha Rowlands (Service Lead – Vulnerable Needs Group and Community Safety) (NDC) and Tim Birtwistle, (Community Protection Officer) (NDC).  The Local Elected Members for Devon County, North Devon Council (NDC) and Torridge District Council (TDC) were also introduced – Cllr Paul Henderson, Cllr Caroline Leader and Cllr Philip Hackett.

A detailed introduction to the Community Safety Partnership the Safer Devon Partnership was provided for members. Superintendent Davies then drew members attention to the update report for the NDC and TDC Community Safety Partnership.  It was confirmed that over the last 12 months crime had increased in the local area – it was explained that comparative data was taken from 2019 (pre-Covid).

The main points highlighted were as follows:

·         From 2019 there has been a 4 percent increase in crime for the local ‘patch’. This was said to equate to 11,000 crimes across last 12 months.

·         Violent crime made up the majority of these crimes and crimes of violence had seen an increase of 10 percent.

·         A third of violence was domestic abuse. 

·         Sexual violence recorded crimes are up 20 percent.

·         Burglary and theft are down to 15 percent.

Superintendent Davies advised that:

There had been an increase in hate crime locally, with 250 reported crimes in the last 12 months – most of these cases were reported in the last 3-5 months. This was stated as an area of concern and potential focus for the Community Safety Partnership.  anti-social behaviour (ASB) was down from 2019 figures; however it was still recognised as the most visible issue for the area, with 2,840 reports in last 12 months.

·         Devon and Cornwall ranked the third safest within the force area. It was also stated that outcomes and crime data integrity was best in the force. 

The Strategic Assessment and feedback from CSP joint committee were referenced at this point and Superintendent Davies highlighted the main areas of focus – these were confirmed as:

·         Serious violence (inc VAWG)

·         Safer Streets (inc ASB)

·         Road Safety

·         Emerging Threats (Hate Crime was highlighted, along with Sexual Violence)

Principles and themes were then highlighted for members:

·         High Intensity work - targeting those causing the most harm in the community and then working with them in a trauma informed way.

·         The rurality of the community and the added sense of vulnerability and issues this part of the community experience.

·         National priorities – counter-terrorism and Prevent, as well as work on anti-slavery and modern day slavery and domestic homicide reviews. 

Superintendent Davies summarised the work taking place for the Partnership.

Serious violence / violence against women and girls – the work of the multi-agency forum was highlighted for members, along with the preventative work taking place through awareness campaigns and education resources.

In terms  ...  view the full minutes text for item 165.