Community, Housing & Environment Committee Acting as the Crime and Disorder Committee			20 March 2018

2013-18 Community Safety Partnership Plan Refresh

Final Decision-Maker	Full Council
Lead Head of Service/Lead Director	John Littlemore, Head of Housing and Community Services
Lead Officer and Report Author	Nicolas Rathbone � Community Protection Officer
Classification	Public
Wards affected	All

Executive Summary
The purpose of the report is to update the Committee on the work of the Safer Maidstone Partnership (SMP) in tackling the priorities identified at the start of the last financial year.

This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:
That the Committee give delegated authority to the Chief Executive to finalise the Community Safety Plan and associated action plans, in consultation with the Chairman, and that the Plan be recommended for adoption and implementation by Council on 11^th April 2018.

Timetable
*Meeting*		*Date*
Communities, Housing and Environment Committee acting as the Crime & Disorder Committee		20 March 2018
Council		11 April 2018

2013-18 Community Safety Partnership Plan Refresh

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 The draft 2018/19 refresh of the Maidstone Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Plan 2013-18 (Appendix 1) has been updated following the annual process detailed within the plan and is an update on the CSP Plan brought �to this Committee on 28 March 2017.

1.2 Based on the information in the Strategic Assessment, the priorities that have been identified for 2018/19 are:

� Domestic Abuse

� Organised Crime Groups (including Modern Slavery)

� Gangs & Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)

� Substance Misuse

� Mental Health

1.3 Our priorities remain unchanged, although as detailed in Appendix 1 it was agreed at the Safer Maidstone Partnership meeting that �Other Violent Crime� be removed to allow for a greater focus on tackling domestic abuse, which makes up a significant proportion of all recorded violent crime.

1.4 Appendix 1 is the latest draft of the Community Safety Plan.� In this year�s revision of the plan we have introduced Outcome Based Accountability (OBA) to our action plans as detailed in section 3.

1.5 Whilst the deliverable actions will be developed by each priority forum, the Outcomes and Indicators (how will we measure progress) will be finalised and agreed by the Chief Executive in consultation with the Committee Chairman in time for the finalised CSP to go to Full Council in April.�

2. AVAILABLE OPTIONS

2.1 �� Do nothing (not recommended). The Strategic Assessment shows the current community safety trends which need to be addressed by the partnership and if not picked up will potentially result in more victims of crime and anti-social behaviour, especially amongst the most at risk and vulnerable of society.

2.2 Give authority to the Chief Executive to finalise the CSP Plan, in consultation with the Committee Chairman in time for it to go to Full Council on the 11 April 2018, thus allowing the CSP Plan to be updated to include the Outcomes and Indicators described.�

3. PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1 The draft CSP plan is a live document and officers are working with partners to agree the desired outcomes for each priority in time for the CSP Plan to go to full Council in April.� To ensure the action plans for each priority are focussed on improving the quality of life conditions of identified communities and will improve outcomes for service users, the 2018/19 refresh will include outcomes based on Outcome Based Accountability.� This will ensure all partners are focussed on the same objectives and that performance is measurable through identified indicators (data held by relevant partners).�

3.2 The draft CSP plan in Appendix 1 includes the draft Domestic Abuse action plan as developed by the Domestic Abuse Forum as an example of the format and content for this year�s action plans. At an SMP away day in late February partners worked on developing OBA Action Plans for the 5 strategic priorities and officers are finalising the agreed Outcomes and Indicators with the relevant SMP leads for their inclusion in the finalised CSP Plan that goes to full council in April.

3.3 Whilst officers continue to work to finalise the CSP Plan, it still needed to come to this Committee on 20 March, therefore Appendix 1 represents the latest draft of a live document.� To allow officers time to complete this work it is recommended that the Committee give delegated authority to the Chief Executive to finalise the Community Safety Plan and associated action plans, in consultation with the CHE Committee Chairman and that the Plan be recommended for adoption and implementation by Council on the 11^th April.

4. RISK

Risks related to this matter will be detailed in the report to full council once the CSP Plan has been finalised.� It is likely that the risks associated are within the Council�s risk appetite and will be managed as per the Policy.

5. CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

5.1 The Strategic Assessment for 2018/19 was approved by the Communities, Housing & Environment committee on 13 February 2018. The priorities drawn out of the assessment were then used to assist partners develop action plans during an SMP away day that took place on 20 February 2018. These action plans are being finalised and will be released to full council for approval in April.�

6. NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

6.1 Following approval, the CSP Plan will be disseminated to all partners for their information and implementation through the subgroups. This year�s Police & Crime Commissioner�s community grant has been advertised externally. Part of the criteria for bids is their alignment with the SMP & PCC�s priorities and applications will need to submitted, sifted and a report sent to the PCC�s office for invoicing by March 30^th.

7. CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

Issue	Implications	Sign-off
Impact on Corporate Priorities	The Community Safety Partnership Plan will contribute to the delivery of the Strategic Plan priorities; continue to create safer communities and deter and reduce crime & anti-social behaviour. It will contribute to the delivery of the Strategic Plan priorities; for Maidstone to be an attractive place for all. The Community Safety Partnership Plan also supports good health and wellbeing, enhancing the appeal of the town centre for everyone and providing a clean and safe environment.	[Head of Service or Manager]
Risk Management	None	[Head of Service or Manager]
Financial	The Community Safety Grant funding is allocated directly by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). Maidstone Borough Council is due to receive a grant of �40,814 for 2018-19. This will include up to a third of this amount as a �tactical pot� to be used throughout the year as and when other initiatives or issues are raised outside of this current funding round. However the plans and strategies detailed within the plan cover a wide range of services provided by the Council and partner agencies with the majority of activity being either mainstream funded or funded via other grants or allocations not directly allocated to community safety.	[Section 151 Officer & Finance Team]
Staffing	The priorities within the Plan cross cut the agencies that make up the Safer Maidstone Partnership. Delivery against the priorities will be via mainstream activity and any grant funding that the borough is able to secure, including this Head of Service year�s Community Safety Grant allocation.	[Head of Service]
Legal	Sections 5 to 7 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (the 1998 Act), headed �Crime and Disorder Strategies�, require �responsible authorities� to comply with section 6 of the 1998 Act which states that �responsible authorities� shall formulate and implement; a) A strategy for the reduction of crime and disorder in the area; and b) A strategy for combating the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances in the area; and c) A strategy for the reduction of reoffending in the area. By virtue of section 5(1)(a) of the 1998 Act, the Council is the �responsible authority�. By completing an annual refresh of the Community Safety Plan based on the findings of a comprehensive Strategic Assessment, Maidstone Borough Council is fulfilling its statutory requirement. There are reputational, environmental, economic and legal risks to the Council for not pro-actively pursuing any reductions in crime and disorder levels. The recommendations in this report recognise the importance of constructive dialogue with the partner organisations comprising the Community Safety Partnership and also the importance of coordinated and collaborative working.	[Legal Team]
Privacy and Data Protection	None	[Legal Team]
Equalities	The benefits of delivery against the plan will apply across the Maidstone borough; by adopting an evidence based approach greater benefit should be felt in areas where the identified problems are greatest.	[Policy & Information Manager]
Crime and Disorder	The Community Protection team is under the reporting line of the Community Partnerships and Resilience Manager. The focus is strongly on preventative. Work, being co-located allows for fluid information sharing and working closely in partnership with the police and other community safety related partners.	[Head of Service or Manager]
Procurement	None	[Head of Service & Section 151 Officer]

8. REPORT APPENDICES

The following document is to be published with this report and form part of the report:

� Appendix 1: DRAFT V1 2013-18 Community Safety Partnership Plan Refresh