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MINUTES OF BARNSLEY COMMUNITY SAFETY SERVICE
MAP HATE CRIME REDUCTION INITIATIVE GROUP
HELD AT 1.30 PM, WEDNESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2010
In Attendance:Inspector Ian Barber (Chair)SYP/BCSS
Max Senior BCSS Principal Hate & Hidden Crime Officer
PS 3220 Janet PursleySYP Prevent Engagement Officer
Darren AsquithBerneslai Homes
Jacqui GoodridgeBMBC Senior Welfare Rights Officer
Yvonne CassMARCO
Councillor Margaret BruffCentral Ward
Julie MilburnSYF&R
George ArthurTUC Barnsley
Tiwonge ChipetaBMBC Equalities Officer
Beverley PowellBarnsley NHS Foundation Trust
Kaveh RejaieProbation Service
Gareth NicholasWho Is Your Neighbour
Faye LawsonBarnsley College
Apologies:Angie MillsomCultural Diversity, Education
Diane WestonBerneslai Homes Equality & Diversity Mgr
Katherine RichardsEquality & Diversity Mgr, Adult Social Services
Sharon SmithBBEMI, Community Engagement Co-ordinator
Steve SmithBarnsley Youth Service
Jules HorslerBMBC Equalities Officer
Colin BrotherstonPrincipal Hate & Hidden Crime Officer
Charmaine Bolton-ChoyBME Gypsy & Traveller Support Worker
Reverend William ShawBaptist Pastor/PCT Chaplain
Annie TurnbullWho Is Your Neighbour
Amanda HeenanNHS Barnsley
Copies:Judith StoneVictim Support Barnsley
Elizabeth Barton-RossallStonham Housing
Gaz GerrardBMBC Communications Officer
Jackie WrayBarnsley Asylum & Migration Team
Kevan RiggettBarnsley BPL (Metrodome)/LGBT Forum
Tim HolidayBarnsley Arena
Alan BlooreBFC Supporters Trust
Polly HarrowBarnsley College
1.APOLOGIES
1.1See previous page for apologies.
1.2Introductions were made for the benefit of members.
2.MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING & MATTERS ARISING
2.1The minutes of the previous meeting held on 13 October 2010 wereaccepted as a true record.
3.ACTIONS UPDATE
3.1Racist Victimisation Leaflet. Ongoing. Currently with Peter Roberts, BMBC Governance. Refer to 3.2. Discharged.
A copy of the Berneslai Home leaflet will be circulated to members for consultation. Once Max has received feedback on this,he will pull something together for further consultation. A copy of the Berneslai Homes leaflet was circulated to members requesting feedbackaround this and as to whether the MAP should proceed with their own hate crime leaflet. As this leaflet encompasses all pertinent areas, Max Senior suggested that there was no need to produce a second leaflet, however, there is an issue in that the Berneslai Homes leaflet is only for their tenants and leaseholders and not for the general public. Action: Members to feed back to Max Senior(a) their comments on the leaflet produced by Berneslai Home and(b) whether they feel the MAP should use it as a general leaflet for the public in 2011/12.
3.2Asylum Seekers & Refugees. Ongoing – leaflet currently with Katherine Richards and Carol Brady prior to a full impact assessment being conducted. The A5 leaflet has been fully impact assessed along with another leaflet entitled Advice for Parents What to do about Bullying at Schools and a poster headed Hate Crime So Do We. A quote has since been requested for printing and once received,Max will submit the leaflets for printing. Bob Williams has been copied into the final drafts of each of the leaflets.
Beverley Powell queried whether it was too late to include a couple of minor amendments from a Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Adults perspective in the Parents leaflet. Max asked that Beverley forward these to him and, if appropriate, he will include these. Discharged.
Max to also clarify that once the template for the myths flyer is approved that in future he will be able to update the statistics without having to go through this formal process again. Ongoing.
Once a decision has been reached in respect of the flyer, advice will be sought from a member of BMBC Corporate Communications department on how best to market the idea of wider circulation. An approach will then be made to the Partnerships to see who would be willing to contribute to funding.
3.3Presentation. Max Senior to deliver a presentation to the November meeting around the work he does on hate crime issues. Refer to item 4. Discharged.
3.4Hate Incidents. PS Pursley to provide Max Senior with details of the CYPOs and PCSOs covering each school. Details have been passed to Max. Discharged.
3.5Casework Update. Max Senior to include details of the type of hate crime and the total number of offences relating to each on the total Harassment Casework report. Refer to item 6. Discharged.
3.6Deferred Actions. Ultra Right Groups. In terms of the town centre issue, Councillor Bruff advised she had spoken to both Stephen Parker and Alan Maher who agreed to raise the issue at a meeting with Andrew Frosdick this afternoon. Councillor Bruff has requested a response via email at the conclusion of the meeting. On receipt of this, she will forward to Max Senior for circulation or discussion at the next meeting.
3.7Open Door Publication. No items have been submitted for the Open Door Publication. However, Beverley Powell is doing a report on the work of the Hate Crime Reduction Initiative for publication in the NHS newsletter.
4.HATE CRIME REDUCTION INITIATIVE (PRESENTATION)
4.1Max Senior delivered a presentation to members around the Hate Crime Reduction Initiative (HCRI), advising of its aims as follows:-
- To increase the reporting of hate incidents.
- To reduce the levels of victimisation.
- To raise awareness of all forms of harassment and abuse.
- To work towards changing attitudes and perceptions.
- To improve service provision.
- To contribute to a safer and more inclusive society.
He stated that often the prejudice, ignorance and attitudes of individuals towards people of different cultures stemmed fromthe beliefs of their parents andpeers and from articles reported in the press. He advised there was also some misunderstanding around Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Failed Asylum Seekers, Illegal Immigrants and Economic Migrants. An Asylum Seeker is an individual fleeing persecution from their country of origin who is trying to gain sanctuary in another country. Asylum Seekers enter the country legitimately with a passport and have to seek Asylum at the point of entry. A Refugee is an Asylum Seeker who has gone through this process and has been granted leave to remain by the Home Office. They can remain in the country on licence for five years. A failed Asylum Seeker is an individual who has been refused entry by the UK Border Agency. Failed Asylum Seekers have a right of appeal and move from Section 4 funding to Section 95 funding. An illegal Immigrant is an undocumented Migrant who arrives in the country by clandestine means, eg. The back of a lorry, and often disappear intoa black hole. An Economic Migrant is an individual from a Commonwealth country or an EU Accession State who has a right to work in this country.
4.2A hate crime is any incident which constitutes a criminal offence, perceived by the victim or any person as being motivated by prejudice or hate. Hate incidents can be identified under ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, sexuality, disability or age.
Racism is any conduct of words which advantage or disadvantage people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. The definition of a racial incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person. In 2009/10, 218 racial incidents were reported in Barnsley, 178 in Doncaster, 388 in Rotherham and 307 in Sheffield. Max advised that Barnsley is unique when it comes to reporting and recording racial incidents because there are no communities within communities like there are in the other three areas.
Following receipt of a report of a hate incident, SYP record the incident on a Crime Management System. Max also receives a copy of the report, which is logged on a corporate database. All cases are discussed at a Casework Conference to determine what other action, besides the initial police response, should be taken and, where necessary, Victim Support visits victims to offer support. Contact with victims after a hate incident is also paramount and a lot of work is done to offer reassurance to these individuals.
Incidents can be reported via direct contact to SYP, the 999 emergency number, Reporting Centres, Crime Stoppers, Stop Hate UK or on line.
The hate crime statistics for South Yorkshire and Humberside are as follows; 442 people were prosecuted for racist and religious crimes, 37 for homophobic crime and 26 for disability crime. South Yorkshire exceeded the targets for all hate crimes.
4.3A snapshot of foreign nationals living in Britain was then given. The largest contingent of BEMI residents residing in the UK are from India, followed by Poland and the Republic of Ireland. In 2001, the population of Barnsley was 218,055. Today it is estimated at 250,000. Approximately 75% of these are Christians. The percentage of Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh religions etc. is very small.
There are less than 2,000 Migrant Workers and less than 230 Asylum Seekers living in Barnsley. The top ten nationalities of Asylum Seekers living in the UK are China, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nigeria. For Barnsley, the top ten includes Zimbabwe, China, Pakistan, Congo and Iran.
4.4In conclusion, Max stated that Barnsley was a safe town to live, as the majority of people were friendly and welcoming to others, with only a tiny minority being racist. As a result of this, most refugees residing in Barnsley actually remain, as they see Barnsley as their home.
5.ANTI-BULLYING LEAFLET (REVISED)
5.1Refer to item 3.2.
6.CASEWORK UPDATE
6.1Fourcasework reports were presented to the meeting as follows:-
Racial Harassment - From 1 April 2010 to 31 October 2010, 113 incidents were logged and recorded with the majority of the referrals being received via SYP. By Ward, Central had the highest number of incidents followed by Kingstone. Councillor Bruff queried whether it was possible for each of the Ward Councillors to receive a copy of the casework statistics in order that they were aware of the problems on their Wards. Max had no objections to circulating this, once Councillor Bruff had sought permission from the Leader.
Homophobic Harassment – From 1 April 2010 to 31 October 2010, 19 incidents were logged and recorded. Each case will be discussed in full at the Casework Conference.
Disability Harassment – From 1 April 2010 to 31 October 2010, 7 incidents were logged and recorded.
Total Harassment – Between 1 April 2010 and 31 October 2010, 139 incidents were logged and recorded.
7.CORRESPONDENCE
7.1Max Senior had received details of a CPS mental health toolkit for Prosecutors and Advocates entitled Achieving Justice for Victims and Witnesses with Mental Distress. Members requiring a copy should contact Max Senior.
7.2A business seminar on Gendership, based on sex, gender and the Equality Act will be held on 29 November 2010 in Leeds and on 30 November 2010 in Hull. The cost per delegate is £20. Further details can be obtained from Max Senior.
7.3Between 11 am and 1 pm on 23 November 2010 at the Refugee Council, Leeds, there will be a Dignity and Respect for Women event. This is a charter for Refugee Women, which Local Authorities and organisations are asked to sign. If members access the Website WhyRefugeeWomen.org.uk they will also be able to sign the Charter on line.
Further to this, Yvonne Cass advised that the book written by the Refugee Women entitled One World Different Cultures – Women of South Yorkshire, referred to at a previous meeting, had been very successful and had in fact sold out. A second batch will be available soon.
8.ANY OTHER BUSINESS
8.1December Meeting. Max Senior advised that he would be on leave for the December meeting. Colin Brotherston is not available either. As such, he suggested that this meeting be cancelled. PS Pursley volunteered to run the meeting in Max’s absence with Inspector Barber. No objections were raised. As such, the meeting will be held as planned at 1.30 pm on Wednesday 8 December 2010 in the Town Hall.
Members should be aware that the 2011 MAP meetings will be held at the Police Station.
9.TIME & DATE OF NEXT MEETING
9.1The next meeting will take place at 1.30 pm on Wednesday 8 December 2010 in the Town Hall – Committee Room 2.
MAP DEVELOPMENT GROUP
WEDNESDAY 10 NOVEMBER 2010
A C T I O N S
SUBJECT
/ ACTION / INITIAL ACTIONDATE / ACTION MANAGER
Berneslai Homes Leaflet
/ Members to feed back to Max Senior (a) their comments on the leaflet and (b) whether they feel the MAP should use it as a general leaflet for the public in 2011/12. / 10.11.10 / All MembersAsylum Seekers & Refugees Flyer
/ Max Senior to clarify that once the template for the myths flyer is approved that in future he will be able to update the statistics without having to go through this formal process again.Once a decision has been reached in respect of the flyer, advice will be sought from a member of BMBC Corporate Comms department on how best to market the idea of wider circulation. An approach will then be made to the Partnerships to see who would be willing to contribute funding. / 11.08.10
09.06.10 / Max Senior
Max Senior
MAP DEVELOPMENT GROUP
D E F E R R E D A C T I O N S
SUBJECT / ACTION / INITIAL ACTIONDATE / ACTION MANAGER
Ultra Right Groups / Members to report pertinent issues relating to Ultra Right Groups activities in and around the Borough to future meetings. / - / All
Designated area in the Town Centre for political activity ongoing. This is currently in the hands of BMBC Legal Department and a decision is awaited. / 09.06.10 / Max Senior/
Councillor Bruff
Open Door Publication / Members to submit any Good News stories/ positive articles around the work taking place in Barnsley to Max Senior who will feed these into BMBC Corporate Comms. / 11.08.10 / All
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