AGENDA ITEM NO.

REPORT TO:Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee

REPORT NO:LR/17/12S

DATE:18 July 2012

LEAD MEMBER:Councillor Hugh Jones

(Communities, Partnerships & Collaboration)

CONTACT OFFICER:Gillian Cowan (Tel: 297032)

SUBJECT:Overview of Wrexham Community Safety Partnership Plan

WARD:ALL

1.PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

To provide an overview of the Wrexham Community Safety Partnership Plan. This will include brief information on significant developments for the future that will impact on Community Safety as a whole.

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2.1 The report provides Members with an overview of the Wrexham Community Safety Partnership Plan, information on identified local priorities for action and information on significant developments that willimpact Community Safety in the future.This information will inform development of the Forward WorkProgramme for Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee.

3. RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee:

3.1 Consider the report and note the CSP Plan.

3.2 Note the significant changes for the future.

3.3 Develop a Forward Work Programme based on areas of interest and where more work is required.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

(i)Due to the number of significant changes that will have a direct impact on the work of the Community Safety Partnership, Members need to be fully appraised of the future developments and potential impact.

4.BACKGROUND INFORMATION

4.1The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) was established in Wrexham in 1998, to bring together key public sector agencies in the local authority area to work jointly to reduce crime and the fear of crime. The CSP includes:

Statutory partners

  • WrexhamCounty Borough Council
  • North Wales Police
  • North Wales Police Authority
  • North Wales Fire and Rescue Service
  • BetsiCadwaladrUniversity Health Board
  • Wales Probation

Other partners

  • The Welsh Government
  • The Home Office
  • Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW)

4.2 In addition a range of other public and voluntary sector organisations are directly involved in the design and delivery of CSP plans and actions.

4.3 The CSP aims to make our area a safer place to live, work and visit. This aim links directly into the Community Strategy for the County Borough which includes a key priority ‘to make our communities safer’. The Plan's outcomes also relate directly to the ‘People’ Strategic Theme of the Council Plan (PE3)', ‘People feel, and are, safe and secure’.

4.4 Our Statutory Obligations

Community Safety Partnerships are statutory organisations. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 makes it a legal requirement for each local authority area to have such a partnership.

As part of these statutory duties the Home Office require each Community Safety Partnership to:

  • Undertake an annual Strategic Assessment of crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour.
  • Produce a three year partnership plan which is refreshed annually based on the findings of the Strategic Assessment.

4.5Recorded crime in WrexhamCounty Borough

Although crime levels in Wrexham have reduced significantly over the past 10 years,

fear of crime and disorder and concern over levels of anti-social behaviour continue to be priorities for local people.Wrexham Community Safety Partnership is committed to reducing local levels of crime and disorder, improving community safety and reassuring those who live, work or visit the area.

4.6 The outcomes we are trying to achieve

The Community Safety Partnership Plan aims to tackle crime, disorder and anti-social

behaviour and reduce the fear of crime in Wrexham County Borough during the period 2011 - 2014.

We continue to work with our partners to achieve two main outcomes for the people of Wrexham:

Outcome 1

Reducing crime - ‘Our area is a safe place to live, work and visit’

Outcome 2

Reducing fear of crime - ‘Our area feels like a safe place to live, work and visit’

4.7Partnership working to make Wrexham a safer place

In early 2011, Wrexham CSP worked with Flintshire CSP to undertake a Strategic Assessment, and following on from that the findings have been used to influence and inform a joint Community Safety Partnership Plan for the period 2011 to 2014.

Wrexham and Flintshire Community Partnership Executive was formed in late 2011 to oversee the delivery of this joint Plan and promote sub regional working.

4.8Our priorities for 2011/2014

Wrexham CSP Priorities 2011-14
1 / Reduce the levels of violent crime including domestic and sexual violence
2 / Tackle anti-social behaviour
3 / Reduce the levels of acquisitive crime
4 / Reduce re-offendingby supporting the agencies which actively manage offenders
5 / Reduce the harm that substance misuse causes to communities, families and individuals
6 / Tackle hate related crime and disorder and encourage reporting
7 / Engage with communities to provide re-assuranceand increase public confidence

4.9This final priority acknowledges that Wrexham is no different from other areas in that as well as reducing actual crime, the CSP needs to continue to work to reduce people’s fear of crime through positive re-assurance and improving confidence.

4.10Funding Streams

Wrexham CSP currently manages a number of different funding streams. The following table gives a summary of the confirmed funding streams which have been made available to the Community Safety Partnership for the 2012/13 financial year and comparative figures for 2011/12.

Table 1.

Funding Stream / Awarding Body / Funding Purpose / 2011/12 Funding / 2012/13 Funding
Substance Misuse Action Fund (SMAF) / Welsh Government / To tackle substance misuse in local area / 926,148 / 926,148
Safer Communities Fund (SCF) / Welsh Government / Reduction and prevention of youth (18 and under) crime and disorder. / 205,163 / 205,163
Community Safety Fund (CSF) / Home Office / To address locally identified priorities / 109,419 / 55,355
Community Cohesion Fund (CCF) / Welsh Government / To promote community cohesion. Allocated to North Wales for 12/13 to fund 2 Community Cohesion Posts / 50,290 / 0
Domestic Abuse
Co-ordinator Grant / Welsh Government / To support employment of domestic abuse coordinator / 27,500 / 27,500
Independent Domestic Violence Advocate Grant / Welsh Government / To support the employment of an Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVA) / 10,000 / 10,000
TOTAL / 1,328,520 / 1,224,166

4.11Significant Developments for the Future

The developments outlined below represent significant changes to Community Safety in Wrexham at a strategic level over the next six months.

  • The introduction of a Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for North Wales -the PCC is due to be elected in November 2012.
  • The Community Safety Fund (CSF) funding will be taken over by the Police and Crime Commissioners office from April 2013.

Given that the Police and Crime Commissioner will be elected in November 2012 it is suggested that this should be the area of initial focus for members of this ScrutinyCommittee.

  • The CSP plan will form part of Wrexham’s Single Integrated Plan from March 2013.
  • The Guidance from WG regarding the development of the Single Integrated Plan states that theLocal Service Board (LSB) can determine if it wishes to take on the role of the Community Safety Partnership and thus oversee the Community Safety Plan.
  • From April 2013 the Substance Misuse Action Fund (SMAF) monies will be regionalised and form a North Wales funding stream to be overseen by the Area Planning Board (APB) Structure. The APB is a regional group focusing on tackling substance misuse across North Wales.
  • The formation of the North Wales Safer Communities Board (SCB) will bring together a group of Senior Officers and Elected Members to take a regional approach to Community Safety issues.

4.12Policy Framework – Wrexham Community Safety Partnership (CSP) is a statutory organisation that was established in 1998 as a result of the Crime and Disorder Act. The Home Office guidance requires Community Safety Partnerships to formulate and implement a strategy to tackle local crime and disorder, including action to reduce substance misuse.

4.13Budget– The budget is detailed within Table 1 on page 4 of this report. As a result of the regionalisation of the SubstanceMisuse Action Fund monies in April 2013 and CommunitySafety Fund grant funding being taken over by the Police and Crime Commissioners office in November 2012, there will be a total reduction of funding to Wrexham CSP of £981,503.

4.14 Legal –No legal issues.

4.15Staffing –The reduction of funding will have an impact on the current staffing within the Community Safety Partnership Team.

4.16Equality/Human Rights–The CSP plan in its entirety has been Equalities Impact assessed. (Reference: EIA/575)

4.17Risks- Regionalisation will have an impact on local commissioning and delivery.

5.CONSULTATION

N/A

6.EVALUATION OF OPTIONS

N/A

7. LEAD MEMBER COMMENT- The Lead Member has considered the draft report and his comments have been reflected within this report.

BACKGROUND PAPERS / LOCATION / WEBSITE INFO.
Flintshire and Wrexham Community Safety Partnership Plan / Wrexham County Borough Council’s Intranet. /

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