Agenda item

The Chair of the CSP to provide a progress report on the levels of performance.

Councillor David Mackintoshaddressed the Committee and confirmed that the Partnership had worked well with other agencies and were now developing health and care plans for vulnerable street drinkers in the town centre.  There had been Street Drinkers and these are being addressed, but the new Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, that came into force in October 2014 will strengthen how these issues can be dealt with.  A paper would be presented to Cabinet in December about the new Act, it was suggested that it would be useful for Overview and Scrutiny to receive a copy of this report, when it is published.

Adam Simmonds, Police Crime and Commissioner confirmed that the CSP Performance in Northamptonshire showed that violence had increased by 14% and Serious Acquisitive Crime had decreased by 20% which had outperformance elsewhere in the County.  Good progress had been made and the Police had been working with other agencies.  There were challenges around the PCSOs although they had 154 Special Constables who worked 4000 hours per month and 23000 hours in the last 6 months.  This was a large contribution from people in this town outside their day jobs.

Martin Jelley, Deputy Chief Constable, confirmed that in the last five years he considered that Northampton had moved onto a new level with the help of Superintendent Mick Stamper and Chief Inspector Mark Evans.  Street drinking and dispersal orders had been very positive.

Julie Seddon, Chair of the CSP, confirmed that she endorsed what had been said and confirmed that although there were challenges which still needed to be responded to, they had an effective Safety Community Partnership which was the key to making progress.

In response to a question from Councillor Brendan Glynane, Councillor David Mackintosh confirmed that the new Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Police Act 2014 would make the threshold for evidence lower and could see action being taken on suspicion/concerns rather than evidence.  The Cabinet report had a summary of changes and would be made available to all Members.

Councillor Aziz made reference to the Asian gold issue and Councillor David Mackintosh confirmed that a lot of work had been done around this problem.  A joint seminar had taken place at the Bangladesh Association where advice had been given to the community and intelligence made available to the Police which had been productive.

Adam Simmonds confirmed that confidence in the Police had increased to 85% and was still rising but forces were still under pressure. Street drinking and violence had decreased by 20% in the last two years which made the Town Centre safer but there was still work to do in the daytime and the Asian area.

Martin Jelley, Deputy Chief Constable advised that they were aware of the Asian gold issues and had put a lot of effort into the community at the time with extra patrols and community meetings to work on prevention.  Predictive policing had also worked well and had seen a 20% reduction in burglaries although not specific to Asian communities but made areas safer.

Councillor David Mackintosh advised that they had seen issues with people who had moved here from the EU where they had a different culture in relation to drinking.  If Councillors were aware of any issues in their wards then to report to him and he would look into it.

Councillor Tony Ansell praised the work Adam Simmonds had carried out as Police Crime Commissioner so far and had confidence Adam would tackle the issues.  He expressed concerns over too many licenced shops in one area for example the Wellingborough Road.

Adam Simmonds confirmed he shared his view on the licensing issues and hoped to tighten the rules in licensing as in some areas where the night-time economy effected the daytime.

In response to a question from Councillor Rufia Ashraf, Adam Simmonds confirmed that they would not be reducing the number of PCSOs but their target was to increase the amount of Special Constables to 900 by 2016.  They wanted to bring back the concept of a village Constable who would be warranted and fully trained and increase the visibility of the Police.

Councillor Phil Larratt thanked Adam Simmonds for the Special Constable in Hunsbury and the residents were very happy with their high visibility.  It worked well and urban areas needed their own Specials as well.

Adam Simmonds confirmed that Northampton was on a journey to becoming the safest place and there were 1000 Police across the county who were working on behalf of the residents to keep them safe.

In response to a question from Councillor Brendan Glynane, Martin Jelley confirmed that sexual offences had increased as there were historical offences being reported.  There was also a Police Operation which would start next week to give preventative messages to the public about car crime and robbery.

AGREED:  That the update be noted.