Agenda item

The Board received a verbal update report on the outcome from the review of community safety.

The Board was advised that Halton Community Safety team was a combined Police and Council partnership team that reported to the Safer Halton Partnership and had been traditionally funded over recent years through some mainstream funding from Police, Partners and the Council but primarily by Government grants given on a year to year basis. The team had grown over a period of years but due to financial cuts had been slightly reduced in size during the last financial year. The current economic climate and cessation of Government grants for the next financial year dictated that the team could not continue in its present format without an injection of funding to address the anticipated shortfall.

The Board was further advised that rather than simply reduce the team in size again it had been agreed to review the current and future activities and structure of the team in order to be ready for 2012-13. The review was being jointly led by the Police and the Council. To help inform this review, the views of members and other stakeholders had been sought.

It was reported that the review had been completed and a number of options had been identified.  The options were being considered by the Safer Halton Partnership Chairman and they would be presented to the next meeting of the Board. 

It was reported that the review had been very thorough and had been a worthwhile process.  There had been significant funding cuts to various organisations, the Council and Cheshire Police and this had impacted on the team and the service.  It was also reported that services provided had been very successful and the review sought to build on that success. In addition, it was reported that the new Police Crime Commissioners would be responsible for funding for such services by 2013 and commission these services to any interested party i.e the Local Authority or a private organisation.  It was therefore vitally important that the service delivered was robust and represented value for money.

Furthermore, it was highlighted that some Local Authorities were adopting Halton practices and the review placed the team in an excellent position to undertake services on behalf of other authorities and to generate some funding. In conclusion, it was reported that there would be some negotiation regarding staff and it was hoped the team could be secured and move forward over the next twelve months.

The Chairman reported that it would no longer be the responsibility of the Board to scrutinise the Police, this would be undertaken by the new Police and Crime Panels. It was also reported that the Chief and Deputy Chief Constable had been invited to attend the next meeting to discuss the role and responsibilities of the Board in order to prepare and understand how the Police and Crime Panels might operate in the future.  He reported that there would be at least two Elected Members from Halton Borough Council on the Board and it was anticipated that there would be 10/12 members on the Board, although this could be extended to 17 members if necessary.   In addition, he reported that the Board would need to undertake a considerable amount of work over the next twelve months and there may need to be additional meetings arranged in the future.  The Board would need to consider and identify priorities in order to submit a bid for funding to the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Board noted that every Police Authority had opposed the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.  However, it was not legislation and a lot more information was required on how the Police and Crime Commissioner would operate.

The Chairman requested that a report on Persistent and Prolific Offenders be presented to the next meeting of the Board.

RESOLVED: That

(1)                     the report and comments raised be noted; and

(2)          a report on Persistent and Prolific Offenders be presented to the next meeting of the Board.