Agenda item

The Committee received a report of the Director of Strategy and Partnerships on the Strategic Assessment, which was an annual review of the patterns of crime and anti-social behaviour in the borough as required by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.  Members were informed that the findings of the Strategic Assessment would help inform the annual refresh of the Council’s Community Safety Strategy for Harrow.

The Director introduced the report and informed Members that the requirements for a Strategic Assessment and Community Safety Strategy had been suspended during the emergency measures introduced under the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Chair welcomed the Borough Commander, North West Basic Command Unit, who was present at the meeting, together with her two colleagues.  She would report on the Metropolitan Police violence against women and girls (VAWG) action plan.

The Portfolio Holder for Community Cohesion, Crime and Enforcement informed the Committee that the Strategic Assessment set out the available data collected.  Some data was not available and could be as a result of trust and confidence in reporting crime, particularly involving women and girls.  A great deal of work was required in some areas with a view to building trust.

The Borough Commander made a presentation to the Committee, which covered a couple of the presentation slides attached in full at appendix 2to the minutes.  She explained the work being done by the Metropolitan Police and referred to the Met VAWG (violence against women and girls) Action Plan attached at appendix 3 to the minutes.  The Action Plan would be shared with Partner Organisations.  She drew attention to the following slides:

·                 key objectives of the Action Plan. One of the key objectives was to increase women’s confidence in the police and see an increase in reporting to police, but a decrease in women being abused.  In Harrow, reporting of crime by women and girls was not to be a major issue and this could be as a result of good partnership work and a good base in terms of trust;

·                 key themes and areas of focus.  One element of this would be to continue working with partners and women to improve prevention and victim crime.  The Borough Commander added that successful prosecutions were key to building trust.

The Borough Commander added that feedback from the Council and its residents was important and she urged all to send in their comments, details of which were set out in the final presentation slide 6 at appendix 2 to the minutes.  The Action Plan would be aligned with other strategies, including those of the police.  It was important that voices were heard, and that the community of Harrow was fully engaged, involved, and represented.

Members made the following comments and asked questions of the Portfolio Holder, Director, and the Borough Commander:

·                 use of the Kick Start Scheme whereby 16–24-year-olds on Universal Credit who were at risk of long-term unemployment could be trained in ensuring security and safety.  The Director informed Members that employers in Harrow could be encouraged to explore this suggestion which the police could then support;

·                 personal safety of women and girls was of paramount importance and this matter was brought to the forefront following the recent murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa.  A Member asked how the police could help in pre-empting issues and assure women and girls to feel safe.  The same Member highlighted the issue of the proposed new Harrow Civic Centre in Wealdstone where crime levels were perceived to be high.  Moreover, the provision of car parking would be limited, and perhaps further thought was needed to consider the impact of this perceived safety for staff and visitors coming to the new Civic Centre. In response, the Borough Commander stated that it was important to design out crime when constructing new buildings.  The Street Safe initiative also encouraged the reporting of areas where people have felt unsafe, for example in transport hubs.  The use of digital technology would help to make areas safer.  It was important that these initiatives were publicised;

·                 the Portfolio Holder stated that safety would be built into the new Civic Centre site.  Increased street lighting, visible police presence, design of the building and the street corridors, use of CCTV cameras would be part of the overall £1m investment into the build.  Safety audit walks would be carried out and problem areas, such as alleyways, could be designed out.  She was confident that by the time the new Civic Centre was built, the area would have a different feel with safety measures having been put in place and it was important to design crime out;

·                 another Member referred to the interim location of staff and the issue of the YOT (Youth Offending Team), which was found to be requiring improvements by the Inspector who had also mentioned that the team did not have a permanent location.  The Director considered the latter statement from the Inspector to be based on a position where the Council was supporting an agile model of working.  He added that an improvement plan for the YOT would be developed and reported to the Committee.  The Council’s Accommodation Strategy would address the issue of location of staff and would also be reported to the Committee.  It was noted that the Committee would be able to discuss this issue in the New Year when the HSDP (Harrow Strategic Partnership Development) report would be presented to Members;

·                 the issue of reporting crime by women and girls was key and ought to also be publicised by the Council.  Reporting of hate crime and domestic abuse were also important;

·                 it was not sufficient to say whether the level of crime had gone up or down but how investigations had been conducted and the level of punishments given.  These were important than merely providing statistics.  The Borough Commander replied that the Metropolitan Commissioner wanted to deliver on a legacy of protection.  Numbers of crime and outcomes for victims were key factors.  Performance figures and how crimes were dealt with would be provided to Members;

·                 the Metropolitan Police would be improving its communications channels and digital engagement would be introduced in the New Year so that the public were better informed;

·                 a Member stated that it was important to know how various strategies were communicated.  For example, a newsletter on crime levels in Harrow had been started but had stopped.  Residents also considered reporting crime as a waste of their time because the police did not follow up reports of crime even when CCTV was available.  The Borough Commander reported that she met with the Council’s Chief Executive and the Director of Strategy and Partnershipson a monthly basis and any issues should be brought to their attention so that improvements could be made.  Councillors too could help get the message out to their constituents.  Information was based on the supply of intelligence and residents should be urged to report all crime to allow the police to build a picture and as they operated a covert system.  The Director stated that the issue of the thefts of catalytic converters could be raised with him and he would pass the information to the Borough Commander as the police were aware of how these were being sold by the criminals and could therefore investigate further;

·                 a Member stated that the statistics showed that the burglaries in her Ward had gone down.  However, her constituents did not feel that this was the case.  She cited an example in her Ward and that residents had lost confidence since the relocation of the police station from her Ward which had contributed to the lack of visibility of the police.  The Borough Commander undertook to look into this particular issue;

·                 a Member was of the view that there was an unrealistic fear of crime.  A balance had to be struck on how the Council, police and press dealt with this issue and how they reported on crime as fear affected people’s lives.  The Borough Commander stated that the police embraced realism, but she would be interested in knowing if her officers when discussing local crime levels with members of the public resulted in an increase in fear;

·                 information on hotspots where anti-social behaviour (ASB) activity was relatively high was in progress and detailed analysis would be made available to Members.  Low levels of ASB were being addressed by enforcement officers but they would start issuing fines soon.  The Borough Commander reported that this type of crime was on a downward trend.  The root causes of some long terms ASB was the supply and misuse of recreational drugs.  The police normally pursued such crimes until enquiries were completed.

RESOLVED:  Thatthe findings of the Strategic Assessment be noted, and the comments of the Committee be fed into the review of the Community Safety Strategy.