Interviews with:

·  Martin Adams, Chairman of the Safer Maidstone Partnership;

·  David Coleman, Independent Chair of the Kent Police Authority Standards Committee;

·  Robbie Graham, Chief Inspector Kent Police; and

·  Zena Cook, Director of Regeneration and Communities.

The Chairman welcomed Martin Adams, Chair of the Safer Maidstone Partnership (SMP) and Zena Cooke, Director of Regeneration and Communities to the meeting.

Mr Adams began by addressing the issues faced by the SMP including the future economic environment and local needs. He explained that they had taken the opportunity to look at their 9 priorities and rationalise them. The 9 priorities, he explained, had now been reduced to 4: Anti Social Behaviour; Domestic Violence; Road Safety; and Drug & Substance Misuse.  He explained that the group’s decision was supported by the strategic assessment which had looked at all areas of the partnership; data and information. Mr Adams felt that the SMP now had a clear direction for the next 12 months. The composition of the SMP was described as a good mixture of committed people with a range of expertise, coming from various organisations including Highways.

Members confirmed that alcohol misuse was picked up under the priority: Drug and Substance misuse. Mr Adams explained the importance of the Town Centre to this priority and that there would be a focus on this area. Members questioned the responsibility of the Partnership to the Rural Areas if there was to be this emphasis placed on the Town Centre and the High Street Ward.  Mr Adams explained that in terms of Road Safety rural areas were a priority and by the same measure the High Street ward’s issues were focused around relevant priorities chosen by the SMP. There was no intention that this would compromise the SMP’s support of other areas in the borough. Mr Adams explained that he had chaired a working group which included many organisations such as Maidstone Mediation and Golding Homes and it was on this basis with the input from other organisations that it was felt that the regard for issues in the High Street ward should not be lost, with statistics proving the need for focus as it was disproportionately generating more anti social behavioural issues but again he emphasised that the 4 priorities were borough based.

Members questioned the spending cuts and how they would affect the work of the SMP. They queried whether the left over funds could be carried forward.  Zena Cook responded by explaining to the Committee that the funding came from Kent County Council and they were in dialogue with them about keeping money left over from the current year as there would be less expected next year.  The Officer went on to explain that the partnership had recently provided funding for Porchlight and for Crime Prevention initiatives at their last meeting and as such were not waiting for April, they were continuing to make decisions and funding allocations. A 20% reduction in funding was expected. The Officer emphasised to Members that they would have less money but would still have money and went on to explain the work already completed by the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) on Resource Mapping. Resource mapping  identified public money coming into Maidstone and how it was spent which put them in good stead for the future. The Committee was told that Mr Adams was coordinating activities and the stakeholder events organised by Sarah Robson that had been held on Domestic Violence and most recently Road Safety had brought partners together as a means of combining resources. Ms Cook told Members that it would be a difficult year in terms of being able to plan but the principles agreed put them in a good position for when funding was allocated.

Members asked whether the Partnership had a viewpoint on the proposed changes to CCTV in Maidstone and also asked the witnesses present if they felt there were links to drug and alcohol misuse and burglary. Matthew Nix, Chief Superintendent at Kent Police responded to the question on burglary and confirmed that there were national statistics that proved the link to drug and alcohol misuse which was taken into account  by the police and was backed by academic research. Members raised concerns about the rise in gold exchange organisations that could make it easier for stolen goods to be sold.  The officer explained that there was little that could be done with regard to the postal companies. With regard to local organisations the Officer explained that close working relationships with local organisations were maintained to counter the criminal element but this only worked with those with fixed premises. Members were told that this intervention proved successful in Maidstone.  With reference to CCTV, Mr Nix told members that the priority was to provide 24/7 cover with a wider reference than the Town Centre and stressed the importance of rural areas.  He said that whilst the 24/7 coverage was a priority it was the quality of service and public safety and how this could be maintained and increased that was of importance. Ms Cook gave the Committee the perspective of the SMP on CCTV, explaining there was no collective view on CCTV but that there had been consultation with all Members. She told the Committee that it was an exceptionally good service that should be maintained. There were divergent views on how outcomes were achieved but overall the opinion was that we must not lose the proactive effective elements of the service. Members questioned the real time issue and queried whether or not this was a problem and if it would be referred to in the report.  Ms Cook explained the analogue and digital comparison and the delay between the two being a short 2-3 second delay.  Delays could be eliminated in time but at a cost and it would be for the Cabinet Member to consider this in the report. The current system was analogue and video tapes were used so there was a technological issue to consider. Members discussed with Mr Nix his preference for maintaining a local CCTV service.  He explained that it was about building relationships and a rapport with business but that this could still be achieved with the proposed move with visits.  He explained his involvement with Swale who were already working in partnership with Medway on CCTV and he felt had a better service as a result. Reference was made to Maidstone being a regional centre for shopping and with a vibrant night time economy having different needs to an area like Swale. Ms Cook expressed her opinion that CCTV was not there solely to prevent crime and by holding on to all elements of CCTV we were narrowing what we could achieve. It was the partnership between the local retailers that made it work.

Members raised questions about Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOS)

Mr Nix responded to this by explaining that there appeared to be a desire by the coalition government to move away from ASBOs as they were seen as a badge of honour and not effective.

Members questioned what the SMP were doing in terms of engaging the wider community with the 4 revised priorities. Officers explained that there were 4 working groups and they would be meeting with the Cabinet Member, John A Wilson to equate the priorities across the groups.  In terms of community engagement and publicity the officers reflected on the recent Road Safety Event and the ideas that had been brought forth which included advertising on buses, to target scooter and motorcyclists via social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and a general desire to be more inventive in terms of engagement.

Councillors raised the ‘Fit for the Road’ Review that had previously been carried out by Scrutiny and suggested that this was revisited to ensure that the recommendations that had been made had been implemented. This suggestion was echoed by the SMP who were also keen to take this forward. Councillors emphasised the use of local knowledge in relation to speed limits in rural areas.  The SMP were told that Parish Councils had requested 30 and 40mph speed limits in some areas where 50mph limits had been imposed emphasising the need for local knowledge and consultation with local people Mr Nix spoke from an enforcement perspective and explained that cameras based around hotspots were effective and agreed that flexibility to work with the local community was important. Members asked that the information regarding the 4 priorities was sent to Parish Councils; Ms Cook agreed that the SMP would be happy to do so and that the plan was to engage widely.  She asked the Committee to consider the Local Strategic Partnership’s input when looking at their work programme in the future.

The Chairman thanked Martin Adams and Zena Cook for attending.

It was resolved that the Committee would revisit the Fit for the Road review working in conjunction with the Safer Maidstone Partnership.

Members questioned what the SMP were doing in terms of engaging the wider community with the 4 revised priorities. Officers explained that there were 4 working groups and they would be meeting with the Cabinet Member, John A Wilson to equate the priorities across the groups.  In terms of community engagement and publicity the officers reflected on the recent Road Safety Event and the ideas that had been brought forth which included advertising on buses, to target scooter and motorcyclists via social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and a general desire to be more inventive in terms of engagement.

Councillors raised the ‘Fit for the Road’ Review that had previously been carried out by Scrutiny and suggested that this was revisited to ensure that the recommendations that had been made had been implemented. This suggestion was echoed by the SMP who were also keen to take this forward. Councillors emphasised the use of local knowledge in relation to speed limits in rural areas.  The SMP were told that Parish Councils had requested 30 and 40mph speed limits in some areas where 50mph limits had been imposed emphasising the need for local knowledge and consultation with local people Mr Nix spoke from an enforcement perspective and explained that cameras based around hotspots were effective and agreed that flexibility to work with the local community was important. Members asked that the information regarding the 4 priorities was sent to Parish Councils; Mrs Cook agreed that the SMP would be happy to do so and that the plan was to engage widely.  She asked the Committee to consider the Local Strategic Partnership’s input when looking at their work programme in the future.

The Chairman thanked Martin Adams and Zena Cook for attending.

It was resolved that the Committee would revisit the Fit for the Road review working in conjunction with the Safer Maidstone Partnership.