Gateshead District Council are leading a new joint working between CDRPs and local Criminal Justice Boards.

Download as PDF: Improving the Link between CDRPs and Local Criminal Justice Boards

Background

Gateshead is the largest of the five Tyne and Wear districts in North East England, has a population of 190,643 and a mix of urban and rural areas.

The Safer Gateshead Partnership is led by six Responsible Authorities: Gateshead Council, Northumbria Police, Northumbria Police Authority, Gateshead Primary Care Trust, Northumbria Probation and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service. The partnership also involves a range of other public, private, voluntary and community sector organisations including The Gateshead Housing Company, Gateshead Magistrates court, Victim Support and Nexus.

Northumbria Criminal Justice Board (NCJB) is one of 42 across the country and works to prevent crime and work together on issues relating to victims, witnesses and offenders.  The NCJB has a number of multi-agency sub groups, such as Domestic Violence, Youth Justice and Victims & Witnesses. Each Local Authority area has a Local Delivery Group.  In Gateshead this is chaired by the Deputy Justice Clerk and there is representation from the CDRP.

The Northumbria Criminal Justice Board identified the need for much stronger joint working to tackle public perceptions of crime. It was recognised that, while considerable progress had been made in reducing crime, public perceptions did not correspond with this.  Criminal Justice agencies were all looking to develop methods of consultation and engagement to improve confidence.  The Board approached Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) across the region and Safer Gateshead responded positively to joint working, resulting in a number of activities.

WHAT THEY DID

Public Reassurance and Engagement Group

The partners formed a Public Reassurance and Engagement Group, which at first was Gateshead-wide, involving partners such as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Police Authority, Probation Service, Criminal Justice Board (CJB) etc.

The group started by mapping out exactly what consultation and engagement activities each of the partners were currently doing and then organised joint activities to bring the partners together.

Improved structures

The courts were not historically part of the CDRP and vice versa.  The structures were amended so that the Chair of the Local Delivery Group sat on the Safer Gateshead Executive Group and a representative from the Safer Communities team sat on the Local Delivery Group.  At all times the requirement of the courts to maintain judicial independence is respected.  There were some common agenda items, including community engagement and building confidence. The move towards greater community engagement began with a programme called Magistrates in the Community, run by the Magistrates Association, including interactive mock trial sessions with junior school children.  The courts enjoy a longstanding good relationship with the Council and were also able to call on the expertise of the community safety team when it came to community engagement.

Events

“What happens to Robert?”

One of the Gateshead Local Delivery Group’s most successful initiatives was to organise a full day workshop called “What happens to Robert?”. This event, held in March 2009, gave community representatives and front line workers the chance to find out exactly how the various agencies would work together in Gateshead to deliver criminal justice for a fictitious young man. The partners worked together to plan and deliver the range of presentations and materials.

“Robert” was already known to the Police and was picked up by the Youth Offending Team, and arrested.  Early intervention methods were explained, including the young persons substance misuse team SMART demonstrating work they carry out with young people – including using beer goggles. A DVD showed viewers what went on inside the arrest suite and the CPS explained how they brought evidence forward and supported and cared for witnesses. There was a mock trial with the magistrate explaining the court process and sentencing guidelines   Community orders were explained and probation officers took part in role play to explain their role and what community payback was all about. The day ended with a Question Time panel.

Feedback from participants was interesting: while there is usually tendency for the public to say the authorities are too lenient, when Robert’s case was fully explained, most of those who observed said they thought he was innocent of the charges.

“Access to Justice”

Another initiative was the “Access to justice” event, which was structured around giving people with disabilities information about the Criminal Justice System and what agencies can do to support them through the system. The event also explained disability hate crime. Scenario’s were used with each agency represented to try and bring criminal justice to reality.

Focus on Felling – Connecting Communities – Week of Action

The Government’s Connecting Communities budget seeks to provide a programme of activity in communities suffering disproportionately from the effects of the recession and where there is potential disengagement and disaffection. Gateshead made a successful bid in respect of Felling Ward (a rather isolated neighbourhood in Gateshead where engagement levels were poor).  The Gateshead bid was threefold: to develop a Neighbourhood Agreement, to improve confidence in the criminal justice system and to myth bust with local councillors.  A Week of Action was planned in March 2010 during which all the activities would take place.  The week included story-telling, archery, hula hoop fitness and after-school activities. Healthy ‘Cook and Eat’ sessions are also being organised, with free fruit and vegetable packs, as well as health walks and free health MOTs. The Gateshead Housing Company organised a series of clean-up days where local people could get involved in making their area a cleaner place to live.

During the week residents also had the chance to speak to organisations involved in the criminal justice system.  They were invited to share their views and contribute to developing a criminal justice ‘myth busting’ leaflet which will be distributed throughout the area. Residents could join the Police Area Commander on a walkabout and raise issues or concerns.  One local councillor said “this week is [also] about learning, gaining a proper understanding of the criminal justice system and having some of the myths around immigration dispelled. The Chief Superintendent said: “We’re very keen to increase public confidence and that starts with understanding their issues. This week of activity forms a key part of that work.”

Progress and roll out

Public Reassurance and Engagement

As the partnership progressed, involvement has widened across the region and the group became a formal Northumbria-wide subgroup of the Criminal Justice Board for Public Reassurance and Engagement, involving:

• Northumbria Criminal Justice Board
• Northumbria Police
• Northumbria Police Authority
• 6 CDRPs
• CPS
• Courts
• Government Office North East
• Prisons

The partners are now looking at how they can run practical campaigns together.

Perception Surveys

In the past each locality carried out its own resident community safety survey but there was clear duplication of effort among the various agencies involved.  After careful analysis of existing surveys, community safety partner agencies across different geographical boundaries (Sunderland, Newcastle, Gateshead, South and North Tyneside) decided to work together to develop a single safer communities survey.  The work, led by Northumbria Police, has resulted in a single data source, giving the partners a collective understanding of residents’ local priorities and thus driving a partnership response to improving public confidence.  The Tyne and Wear Community Safety Survey stripped out duplication and identified critical community safety questions that could inform action to improve public confidence, feelings of safety and confidence in the criminal justice system.  Expert advice came from Newcastle University through a research project with the Northumbria Local Criminal Justice Board.

The quarterly survey findings will help the Public Reassurance Group target its work more effectively.  For example, where residents feel that sentencing is too light or community payback is a soft option, information may be targeted to help tackle myths. The partners needed to agree a governance framework for the survey, covering analysis and reporting; agreement of strategic aims; delivery of local actions; the central collation of all actions across the partnerships and an assessment of their impact on community safety.

Structures

The improved structure has meant that communication and understanding have improved through better representation and information sharing.  This has helped with some practical and, on the face of it, quite banal issues such as the layout of the courts, which was unhelpful to witnesses and victims.  There had been only one approach to Gateshead Law Courts, but the CDRP was able to fund the building of a new path to the rear of the court building, which gave witnesses and victims safer and more private access to the building.

THE IMPACT

The Tyne and Wear Community Safety Survey is in a way, an outcome of the mapping and better partnership working.  Up to this point each locality did its own survey but these have now been consolidated into one quarterly survey which will help to drive the work of the Public Reassurance group and provide a measure of impact.

There is scope now for better cooperation on specific policy campaigns, for example during the World Cup period, a concerted campaign to tackle domestic violence, with localities able to help each other in a more joined up way.

The separate access to the law courts has also been widely regarded as significant in reassuring victims and witnesses.

The partners in the courts and CDRP have spoken on both sides of a new accessibility in their dealings with each other, which was simply not present before: “we can just pick up the phone”.

LESSONS

The experience of those involved suggests the following lessons for others:

A great deal of information is now available to partnerships: research, conferences and consultations, but in the end “you just have to get on with it”.  You need to work across the spectrum of engagement – from front line one-on-one engagement mechanisms to big, high profile events where all the partners are represented.

Big events need to be targeted and focus on the needs of the public. Partners need to be well prepared and fully briefed about their audience. “Keep talking and don’t think that people are not interested in what you’re doing, because they are”.

The partners have recognised the value of investing in innovative approaches: make DVDs, create role plays, mock trials and other interactive processes.  Once the materials have been developed they can be re-used as subsequent events. Using a fictitious character (Robert) rather than real life examples was the best approach because it removed any concerns about confidentiality, whilst bringing the Criminal Justice System to life.

Make sure structures are right and embedded.  The partners in Gateshead are confident that they have the right structures in place to encourage dialogue and discussion between the CDRP and LCJB. At a local level don’t get bogged down with theory about what the meaning of community engagement: you need effective structures and practical measures.

Working well together suggests that you should:

• Identify common agendas. Potential key areas of common interest between CDRPs and LCJBs are:

• tackling prolific and other priority offenders
• engaging communities – including work to increase confidence in the wider Criminal Justice System
• reducing domestic violence
• reducing re-offending

• Focus on specific geographies:
  • Develop CDRP clusters or mergers
  • LCJB working with targeted CDRPs – use the National Intelligence Model
  • LCJB operational sub-groups on particular themes relating to common agendas

• Communicate

• Make sure links at a strategic level are formalised
  • Use overlapping membership at meetings to improve communication channels
  • Formalise responsibilities – who is doing what.
  • Talk to each other and be receptive. Remember why you need to engage in the first place.

The courts have gradually been getting to grips with how far they can go with community engagement – it is a delicate path to tread, but it has been helpful for them to explain to people how witnesses are treated and the rationale behind sentencing.

Evidence

The new survey will be the main measure of changes in perceptions.  It is only in its first cycle at present and so comparing it directly with earlier surveys (which measured slightly different things in a slightly different way) would not be appropriate.  There does however already seem to be an encouraging shift in residents’ perceptions about antisocial behaviour.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Contact:

Carole Gibson

Community Safety Co-ordinator

Safer Gateshead Partnership

Gateshead Council

carolegibson@gateshead.gov.uk

Louise Fletcher:

Deputy Justice Clerk

Gateshead Magistrates Court

louise.fletcher@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk

Comprehensive Area Assessment green flags show outstanding achievements or improvements, or an innovation that is likely to be successful within a local area.  In the first round of CAA assessments several areas received green flags for their approach to crime and anti-social behaviour.  This case study covers the innovative work of Trafford in tackling gun crime and gang violence, Liverpool’s work to tackle city centre violence, and Camden’s and Kensington and Chelsea’s approach to crime and anti-social behaviour

Essential knowledge

Comprehensive Area Assessment, or CAA, is an assessment of local public services in England. It examines how well councils are working together with other public bodies to meet the needs of the people they serve. It’s a joint assessment made by a group of six independent watchdogs.  Assessments provide a snapshot of each area, and act as a catalyst for improvement by identifying where more effort is needed or where exceptional improvement may help others learn.  CAA reports performance against the national indicator set and focuses on indicators that areas have selected as priorities, making an assessment of current delivery and future prospects against those priorities.

Each area across England has been independently assessed by six inspectorates, who say how well local public services are delivering results for local people and how likely these are to improve in future. Area assessments do not have an overall score or rating, but green flags show outstanding achievements or improvements, or an innovation that is likely to be successful.

Tackling crime and anti-social behaviour can help address the following national indicators:

• NI 15 Serious violent crime PSA 23
• NI 16 Serious acquisitive crime
• NI 17 Perceptions of anti-social behaviour
• NI 18 Adult re-offending rates for those under probation supervision
• NI 19 Rate of proven re-offending by young offenders
• NI 20 Assault with injury crime rate
• NI 21 Dealing with local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and police
• NI 22 Perceptions of parents taking responsibility for the behaviour of their children in the area
• NI 23 Perceptions that people in the area treat one another with respect and consideration
• NI 27 Understanding of local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and police
• NI 28 Serious knife crime rate
• NI 29 Gun crime rate
• NI 30 Re-offending rate of prolific and priority offenders
• NI 33 Arson incidents
• NI 37 Awareness of civil protection arrangements in the local area CO DSO
• NI 38 Drug-related (Class A) offending rate
• NI 39 Rate of Hospital Admissions per 100,000 for Alcohol Related Harm
• NI 40 Number of drug users recorded as being in effective treatment
• NI 41 Perceptions of drunk or rowdy behaviour as a problem
• NI 42 Perceptions of drug use or drug dealing as a problem

What works?

Trafford: Tackling gun crime and gang violence

Trafford has experienced gang-related problems for a number of years along the north border areas of Old Trafford and Stretford, with strong links to problems across the border in Manchester.  About 400 people, many of them under 18, were thought to be involved. Competition between drug dealers was part of the driving force.  Since 2007 Trafford and Manchester councils and Greater Manchester Police have run a major joint project to tackle the problem.

The partnership has focused on developing a clear governance structure bringing together local partners with suitable levels of responsibility.  The Most Serious Violent Crime (MSVC) Group developed a partnership plan.  This group evolved from the Violent Gangs Strategic Group into the MSVC Group so that violent gang activity is now viewed within a broader serious youth violence context and the learning to date used effectively to tackle knife crime, violent extremism and serious sexual violence.  A strategic co-ordinator was appointed to kick start the partnership approach to this issue.  This specialist resource was vital while the work was starting, but has now been mainstreamed into a core funded Strategic Co-ordinator for Community Safety role.

The scheme has improved joint working between partners.  For example, the council are now involved in a range of settings which were previously police exclusive, including risk management meetings following serious incidents, tasking and co-ordination groups and operations.  Some police operations have been in partnership with council staff such as social workers and the youth offending service to ensure they address safeguarding needs and engage prevention services as early on as possible.

Workforce development is also a vital part of the project.  At the start of this work, there was anxiety and fear among practitioners and managers whose services came into contact with this client group and this contributed to poor decision-making and reluctance amongst services to take ownership and responsibility.  More than 200 staff within core services have now received training in tackling violent gangs and a developmental workshop now runs four times a year as part of the mainstream Children and Young People’s Service (CYPS) training programme.  This has ensured that violent gang work is now viewed by core staff as part of their day to day business.

Working with the local community has been a key aspect of the project.  Examples of this include:

• There was funding and practical support to a group of local community members to launch Peace Week 2009 in Old Trafford.  Through a series of events and a local peace march / lantern parade, it engaged residents in challenging gang culture and violence.  It ran in conjunction with an event in Manchester and is due to run again during 2010.
• The Living to Die film was made in partnership with a group of local young people and Mothers Against Violence, a local group of women whose children have been involved in gang violence. The film explores the consequences and emotions of a gang following the stabbing and murder of one of its members.
• There has also been funding and practical support to a group of local parents in Old Trafford to set up their own peer-led parent support project.
• The Old Trafford Inspiring Leaders project, designed to build local leadership, has led to a number of residents getting involved in activities directly tackling gang violence.
• An Independent Advisory Group in the Old Trafford area has been working alongside the police to tackle gang violence effectively while minimising the potential negative impact of targeted policing activity.  This has included meetings following serious incidents and ahead of high profile police raids.
• Older ex-gang members have been able to speak to young people in youth club settings to give advice and guidance on making better decisions and choosing positive lifestyles.
• Funding has supported a group of local young adult musicians to attend a series of assemblies within schools across Trafford and Manchester as positive role models with a positive message about peace.
• A specific mentoring project is being developed with Trafford Youth Offending Service to develop a cohort of their existing mentors to be specialist mentors working with young people at risk of, or involved in, violent gang activity.

Over the past two years, the Trafford Partnership has had significant success in tackling violent gang activity. Gun crime has fallen by 40 per cent in the past three years, confirmed firearm discharges also reduced by 54 per cent compared to 2007/08, and were at their lowest since 2004/05.  There were no gang-related firearms discharges at all during 2008/09. This trend has continued into 2009/10 were there has been only one confirmed discharge in the first four months of the year.  The findings of the 2008 MORI Residents Survey compared to the 2007 results also show improvements in key perception indicators within particular wards in Trafford where the bulk of the work around violent gangs has been undertaken.

From the onset the partnership has also focused on ensuring sustainability for the project.  Initially all of the funding for tackling violent gangs came from external grant funding but by April 2009 all funding was from internal sources, with the required funding being reduced from nearly £200,000 per year to £46,000 per year, provided by the Safer Trafford Partnership Board.

Liverpool: promoting a safer night-time economy

Promotion of a safer night-time economy is a key component of the overarching regeneration strategy for Liverpool and is a key consideration in the reputation and image of Liverpool.  Liverpool’s City Centre Joint Agency Group (JAG) – a sub-group of Citysafe, Liverpool’s Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership, serviced by the City Council – was established in 2004, and incorporates all of the main agencies and stakeholders in the city centre.  It meets regularly to promote the city centre as a safe place to visit, invest and live in, and it has put in place a number of activities to address particular challenges and issues highlighted as a result of its proactive environmental scanning. The aim of the JAG is to work together in partnership to promote a safer night time economy whilst managing all of the issues in a proactive and integrated manner.

The JAG supports the strategic and operational activity of all partners and uses analytical data and information from a range of surveys, partnership data and knowledge.  Partners recognise the importance of public perceptions and communication, so the JAG routinely collects data through an Annual City Centre Feelings of Safety Survey, to bring a clearer understanding of the city centre, its market and consumers.  The JAG can then target its pooled and aligned resources to identified needs, shared priorities and outcome targets.

It delivers a number of projects and partnership activities to address these shared priorities and outcome targets:

• Goldzone – enhancing partnership resources in the city centre through a dedicated team agreed by the City Council and Merseyside Police.  The team of one sergeant and 12 constables has been in place for several years and contributes to crime reductions and community safety initiatives. To reassure and support people enjoying a night out, a taxi rank marshalling initiative has targeted potential trouble makers and stopped taxi drivers from ‘cherry picking’ fares.  Dedicated partnership patrols work closely with the Security Industry Authority accredited taxi marshals in key locations. The scheme has proved popular with residents and visitors and has helped reduce incidents of violent crime and other crime. A nine week taxi rank marshalling partnership operation held in 2007/08 resulted in a 55 per cent reduction of total crimes.  In particular, there was a 34 per cent reduction in violent offences.
• Liverpool’s city centre Pubwatch scheme has 110 pubs, bars and clubs on its membership list.  Pubwatch activities include radio alert communications – sharing information among premises; distribution of photographs and details of offenders and criminal activity, a Best Bar None Scheme – a scheme that provides an incentive for the operators of licensed premises to improve their standards of operation to the level of a commonly agreed national benchmark, Smoke Free schemes, conflict resolution training, and use of Banning Orders.
• Seasonal alcohol awareness campaigns have also been in place.
• Youth diversionary activities to divert up to 200 youths from causing anti-social behaviour in the city centre, for example a live music event for the young people resulting in high attendances and correspondingly low levels of anti-social behaviour.
• Targeted work with students has included marketing campaigns linked to safer alcohol consumption, and a new Students Health and Wellbeing Group led by the Primary Care Trust (PCT) which will take forward actions on this issue.
• Predictive crime pattern analysis provided evidence of an increase in street crime in the city centre during the Christmas shopping period.  A street crime reduction plan was therefore developed and the main hotspot areas targeted by partners including a multi-agency robbery reduction team supported by neighbourhood policing with support from the Council’s CCTV and Street Crime Wardens to gather intelligence and identify potential offenders.
• Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) have been used successfully against prolific offenders.  A quarter of all ASBOs in Liverpool have related to the city centre.

The City Centre JAG has pre-empted huge changes to the city which have an impact on the night time economy and have delivered key outcomes including:

• Levels of recorded crime in the city centre encompassing all crime categories have fallen in the last year by 23 per cent (2,760 offences) and by 40 per cent (6,187 offences) since 2005/06.
• Year on year, anti-social behaviour incidents have reduced in the city centre.  There has been a two per cent reduction (72 offences) since 2006 despite a booming and revitalising city centre economy.
• Injury violence offences have reduced every year since 2004/05 with a 20 per cent reduction (287 fewer offences) in 2008 compared to 2007, and a reduction of 39 per cent (722 offences) since 2004/05.

• Results from the Public Perception Survey in 2007 also show a great success in the improvement of safety feelings in the city centre, including feelings of safety in the night time. There has been an increase of two per cent in feelings of safety for women (43 per cent) during the night time in the City Centre, from 2006. For the same period, men have shown an increase of twelve per cent in their feeling of safety during the night time (four per cent).[?]
• The fear of becoming a victim of crime in the City Centre has reduced as well. This has fallen from 34 per cent of people questioned in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2007.
• The Public Perception Survey has also shown that those interviewed had witnessed fewer incidents of disorder at taxi ranks at night. This has fallen from 40 per cent of people questioned in 2006, to 26 per cent of people in 2007.

Camden – tackling crime and anti-social behaviour

In Camden significant and innovative partnership working has focused on tackling crime among the most vulnerable people in the area. In 2008/09, crime reduced by 18 per cent compared to the previous year. There have been significant reductions in theft from motor vehicles (down 32 per cent), robbery (down 25 per cent) and burglary (down 22 per cent). Camden has performed particularly well at reducing theft from the person, and assault without injury. Public confidence in Camden’s police is 78.24 per cent.

The Youth Disorder Engagement Team (YDET) was introduced in 2007/08 and expanded in 2008. The YDET work with the police Youth Engagement Team and Safer Schools Officers, carrying out regular patrols, for example at lunch times, after school and other peak times, to stop young people from causing and getting into trouble and diverting them into support services.  As trained mediators, the YDET also mediates between young people to ease hostilities, and to build trust. Five Youth Inclusion and Support Panels have provided further focussed support and monitoring to more than 190 young people in the last year and more than 3,000 Camden school pupils have taken part in “Prison Me? No Way!” and “It’s no Joke” programmes, to educate them about the consequences of getting involved in ASB and crime.

A new reparation scheme has also been introduced to reduce the number of first time entrants to the youth justice system.  Under the scheme, when a young person is arrested for the first time for a low level offence, there is an assessment of their suitability for the scheme and rather than entering the criminal justice system, the young person would be given a ‘one time deal’ to complete a set amount of reparation and be referred to relevant services, such as YISPs, for ongoing intervention and support.  Serious youth violence in Camden is rare and the approach taken has led to reductions in serious youth violence (21 per cent) and knife-enabled crime (34 per cent).

Innovative and strong partnership work by the safer streets team and local communities has contributed to a 92 per cent reduction in rough sleeping. The Safer Streets team has a key role in reducing levels of street activity such as rough sleeping and begging, street drinking, sex working, and drug related activity. The team monitors the levels of this activity, putting people in touch with support services. It has a key role in the on-going implementation of the approach, which is managed at a case-work level through the borough-wide Tasking and Targeting (T and T) model. Key to the approach is the geographically specific multi-agency meetings, which bring together all agencies working with members of the street population, and agree an intervention package.

In 2007 an extra 18 Police and Community Support Officers (PCSOs), alongside 10 borough police constables formed an enhanced team to tackle drug dealing and crime in the Camden Town area. Funding for the PCSOs came from the council and the Metropolitan Police Service. The team has contributed to a sustained decrease in crime with local analysis showing a bigger reduction in Camden Town than in the borough as a whole. To tackle drug dealing in the area there have been two major police-led operations resulting in over 60 drug related arrests over recent months.  In addition, antisocial behaviour legislation was used to address gang-related crime in the Camden Town area, with twelve members of the TMS gang being given full ASBOs.

Tackling antisocial behaviour continues to be a top concern for Camden residents.  The introduction of Antisocial Behaviour Coordinators in each District Housing Office led to increased reports of antisocial behaviour on housing estates. The new Casework system, which records and maps cases of housing related antisocial behaviour, allows more accurate targeting of resources to support this. The Housing Patrol Service has merged with Parks Patrol and the new structure has improved the response to low-level crime and antisocial behaviour.  The areas covered by the street warden team also changed so that wardens patrol areas of the borough with the highest levels of antisocial behaviour. Wardens now cover areas identified through analysis as having significant levels of antisocial behaviour and higher levels of need.

To tackle and prevent burglary, there have been extra police patrols in hotspot areas and more than 500 older and disabled people had home security checks in the last year through the Safe as Houses scheme.  In addition, to reduce the likelihood of re-offending, work is ongoing to ensure all prolific and priority offenders (PPOs) receive a post conviction ASBO with a condition not to associate with other PPOs. Together with other work these actions have helped reduce the number of burglary victims by 20 per cent. The skills and experience of private businesses’ security staff are also successfully used in partnership – such as the night time economy or the radio scheme, which expanded during 2008, to address shoplifting and other crimes against businesses.

Kensington and Chelsea – tackling crime and anti-social behaviour

As a result of local services working together and the effective use of uniformed officers there are significant and lasting falls in crime in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Most types of crimes are reducing in the area including burglary , theft from cars,  violence and knife crimes.

Joint working with the police has included:

• funding to enable the number of PCSOs in every ward in the borough to be, at least doubled to six – in some wards there are ten, with very positive feedback from residents
• appointing four council Safer Neighbourhood Managers  to work alongside Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) and make sure that issues needing council attention got a quick response
• council funding for

• motorbikes to help catch criminals on scooters or motorbikes who snatch valuables from passers-by
• forensic equipment to increase the chances of capturing useful information at a crime scene to help identify and successfully prosecute criminals
• buttonhole cameras for use in covert operations to catch drug dealers
• a joint police and council target hardening service that secures the homes of vulnerable residents.

Enforcement campaigns and measures to reduce reoffending include:

• multi-agency joint enforcement operations where an area is filled for a day or two at a time with enforcement staff from as many different agencies as possible working together to tackle offending behaviour.
• Making intensive efforts to make Community Payback work in the borough. One of the SNOs has a team of offenders doing clear ups across the borough. Most recently they cleared snow from the homes of vulnerable people.
• a multi-agency protocol for dealing with street drinkers that doesn’t just  move drinkers on or focus on arrest.  Outreach services are available to help tackle the problems street drinkers have. Areas are made less ‘attractive’ to street drinkers, for example taking away walls for them to sit on. Work is contiuning with local off licences to discourage them from selling strong alcohol to known street drinkers.  A borough wide controlled drinking zone has also been introduced, making it an offence to continue drinking when told to stop by a police officer or PCSO.
• a multi-agency protocol for closing down crack houses. This has proved very successful and enabled public landlords to move swiftly and close down such establishments at the same time as supporting what is usually a very vulnerable tenant being preyed on by unscrupulous drug dealers.
• the introduction of the Drug Intervention Programme (DIP). DIP offenders are those caught up in a vicious cycle of drug taking and criminal activity. By motivating and preparing them for the challenge of treatment DIP offers them the opportunity to kick the habit and rebuild their lives.

Preventative measures are also in place such as:

• securing vulnerable properties to prevent burglaries. This usually involves improving locks on doors and windows and, where necessary, replacing weak doors. The service, which uses trusted private contractors, also works with public and private landlords to secure the front entrance doors to properties in multiple occupation. The team also provide enhanced security for vulnerable members of the community, for example victims of domestic violence or race or homophobic crime.
• drawing attention to the dangers of using cannabis.  A particularly effective initiative was a competition for schools (including the Pupil Referral Unit) and youth groups to develop a poster for a major anti-cannabis campaign and to produce a play or film on the same subject. The quality of the posters produced was very high and the winning entry formed an important part of the campaign.
• The Information Exchange Scheme (IES), a groundbreaking initiative in partnership with the London Borough of Camden and the Greater London Authority, draws together information about crime and antisocial behaviour from a wide range of different agencies and enables the results to be analysed and mapped so that complete profiles of hotspot areas can be developed.  This, in turn, enables the police and other agencies to focus their efforts on these hotspot areas. The council is now looking at the second stage of this initiative to make information available to local residents on what is happening in their area.

Why it works

The following are key success factors identified within the case study examples:

• Strong partnerships incorporating a range of partners with a shared vision at both the strategic and operational level
• The willingness of a range of partners to share responsibility for the agenda

• Workforce development so that the approaches to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour are mainstreamed throughout all partners and service areas.

• Incorporation of crime and disorder into wider issues such as regeneration and safeguarding
• Horizon scanning so that partners can target their limited pooled / aligned resources towards identified needs (including communities’ issues)
• Community engagement including involvement in identifying the problem and developing the solution
• Evaluation of activity to see what works and whether plans need to change
• The ability to deal with real-time issues alongside strategic planning
• Showing communities the results and showing that all partners are engaged in dealing with their problems
• Building relationships between staff in different agencies that continue after short-term project work has finished

References and further reading

Audit Commission CAA information

Oneplace – The site includes CAA results for each area, of different local public services and a wide range of information on how these public services are performing.

Trafford

Liverpool Citysafe

Camden Community Safety

Kensington and Chelsea Community Safety

Download as PDF: Comprehensive Area Assessment Green Flags-Domestic violence, sexual violence and prostitution

Comprehensive Area Assessment green flags show outstanding achievements or improvements, or an innovation that is likely to be successful within a local area.  In the first round of CAA assessments several areas received green flags for their approach to domestic violence, sexual violence and prostitution.  This case study covers the innovative work of the Devon Against Domestic Violence and Abuse Partnership, Ipswich’s Joint Agency Strategy Group to tackle prostitution, Camden’s Safer Streets team, Kensington and Chelsea’s Domestic Violence Management Committee and Liverpool’s seasonal awareness campaign on sexual assaults in the city centre.

Essential knowledge

Comprehensive Area Assessment, or CAA, is an assessment of local public services in England. It examines how well councils are working together with other public bodies to meet the needs of the people they serve. It’s a joint assessment made by a group of six independent watchdogs.  Assessments provide a snapshot of each area, and act as a catalyst for improvement by identifying where more effort is needed or where exceptional improvement may help others learn.  CAA reports performance against the national indicator set and focuses on indicators that areas have selected as priorities, making an assessment of current delivery and future prospects against those priorities.

Each area across England has been independently assessed by six inspectorates. These assessments say how well local public services are delivering results for local people and how likely these are to improve in future. Area assessments do not have an overall score or rating. To provide a clear indication of either significant concerns about future improvement or to highlight exceptional performance or improvement, red and green flags have been used. Green flags show outstanding achievements or improvements, or an innovation that is likely to be successful.

Tackling domestic violence, sexual violence and prostitution can help address the following national indicators:

• NI 15 Serious violent crime
• NI 17 Perceptions of anti-social behaviour
• NI 20 Assault with injury crime rate
• NI 21 Dealing with local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and police
• NI 23 Perceptions that people in the area treat one another with respect and consideration
• NI 26 Specialist support to victims of a serious sexual offence
• NI 27 Understanding of local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and police
• NI 32 Repeat incidents of domestic violence
• NI 34 Domestic violence – murder

What works?

Devon Against Domestic Violence and Abuse (ADVA) Partnership

The Against Domestic Violence and Abuse (ADVA) Partnership over the last eight years has spearheaded work to tackle domestic violence and abuse and has been one of the major successes under Devon Strategic Partnership. Its vision is to “Increase the safety of victims of domestic violence and abuse in Devon.”

ADVA has now firmly established services which focus on all three aspects of domestic violence: survivors, perpetrators and children. Most of these services are delivered by the voluntary and community sectors as consultation with survivors has consistently delivered the message that this is the mode of delivery they prefer. Work is still required to develop responses within the statutory sector as many of those affected will be accessing services as a result of domestic abuse but not declaring that as the reason, for example admissions to A&E, attendance at GP surgeries.

Success has been based on the impetus given by both rounds of Local Public Service Agreements to develop a multi-agency domestic violence partnership, strategy and funding. The contributing partner agencies, and some time limited pump-priming grants, have created an ADVA budget which collectively has enabled the development of the following vital services in Devon. This has seen a rise in the multi-agency pooled budget from 2001/02 level of £50,000 (approximate) to £2,103,700 in 2009/10.

From the ADVA budget funds the following extensive community based services:

• Outreach support services for women survivors of domestic violence and abuse in each district (eight districts).
• County-wide support service for male survivors (Men Safe).
• Three REPAIR community family intervention programmes geographically covering the county. This provides direct work with self and agency referred male perpetrators, alongside support to their partners and children. This is a unique programme to identify the cost/benefit and other benefits of early intervention family-based work, which was initially funded partly by the Government Invest to Save programme via Home Office and partly by the EU Daphne Programme. Its success has led to it now being funded locally as part of ADVA core activity.
• Child support workers within the three women’s refuges in Devon and in local communities providing specialist support to children and young people who live with domestic violence and abuse. A particularly vulnerable group supported are young adults 14 to 25-year-olds.
• The development and delivery of multi-agency training courses to improve practitioner awareness and skills in direct work with all those affected by domestic violence issues. Over 6,000 front-line workers have received this training to date.
• The development of an employer policy supported by training for staff and 15 Domestic Violence and Abuse contacts to provide support to colleagues experiencing domestic violence.
• Establishment of four Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) working to the Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs). These deal with those cases assessed at the highest risk of repeat and serious victimisation (approximately 750 women a year).
• Establishing an IDVA to work with the three Specialist Domestic Violence Courts within Devon, making the county one of the few in the country with full SDVC coverage. This is showing improved success in dealing with cases in the criminal justice system.
• Introduction of the Modus database for case management, as one of the first in the country that will allow better monitoring of victims and perpetrators.
• Establishment of the SEEDS Devon group for survivors of DV, based on good practice in Somerset, which is a vital link in ensuring that services are sensitive to their needs and based on what they say.
• Delivering 25 courses a year of a 15 fifteen-week pattern-changing programme for groups of women survivors to become empowered and to develop skills to increase safety.
• Establishment of an emergency fund to support migrant women, because they cannot get housing benefit when in a refuge.
• Strategic co-ordination of all districts’ work through ADVA Partnership working with Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships and Domestic Violence Forums.
• Every year ADVA has invested in publicity (newspaper, television, radio) to raise the profile of its services in Devon. Additionally it has run seven conferences or large-scale events since 25 November 2002.

Ipswich

Following the murder of five young women in Suffolk who all worked as street prostitutes in Ipswich, a multi-agency group – the Joint Agency Strategy Group (JASG) – was set up to develop and implement a strategy with five key aims initially:

• identifying the extent of the street prostitution problem in Ipswich
• developing routes out of prostitution – a multi-agency approach, tailored to the individual
• tackling demand: deterring those who create demand and designing environments that prevent prostitution
• prevention: early intervention and preventing young people from being abused through sexual exploitation
• community intelligence: understanding the extent of the problem and the impact on the local community.

A sixth strand has recently been added around ‘coercive adults’ which reflects the need to identify as early as possible, those young people being manipulated into to the sex industry by adults.

The JASG, made up of senior officers from organisations including Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk Police, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Primary Care Trust, Suffolk Probation Area, Suffolk Mental Health Partnership, Suffolk Drug and Alcohol Action Team and voluntary organisations, was pulled together quickly with the support of local authority leaders, chief executives and the chief constable. Assigning senior officers meant the JASG could make decisions and commit resources quickly,

A number of actions have been implemented to deal with the issues:

§  A dedicated multi-agency team enables regular and sustained contact with women working as street prostitutes. The team is made up of a social worker, support worker, police and a probation officer, all of whom work together to tackle the health and well-being issues faced by the women.  The team has adopted a case conference response to ensure that planning routes out of prostitution incorporates all of the identified needs of the individual.

• Providing help to leave prostitution including:

o   help to get access to housing and then maintain their tenancies. A recent development has been an extended Emergency Direct Access Beds service, which houses people for up to three weeks while longer-term accommodation is being found. Also bed and breakfast rooms are funded where direct access beds are not suitable..

• Domestic violence is a continued barrier to getting out of prostitution – this becomes obvious when ‘partners’ go into prison, as women are more fully engaged with the team. Women are referred to Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC), and they are also given information about leaving a violent situation.
• Women can access treatment for their drink and drug issues, by referral to the drugs treatment services in the area, including those from the voluntary sector. This enables the women to receive methadone prescriptions and access to counselling services, and other structured interventions ranging from education opportunities to employment.
• They are supported to register with GPs and keep health appointments, as their health is often poor. In addition, four women have been given a full set of dentures – something that may seem inconsequential, but which has greatly improved the women’s self-esteem.

Tackling demand has helped to improve the well-being of the women, and of the community as a whole. Covert police patrols complemented by high visibility patrols are regularly in operation. The latter monitor activity and enforce traffic restrictions, as well as provide reassurance for the community. CCTV support intelligence work and automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) systems.  To date, 138 kerb-crawlers have been arrested, with 131 receiving cautions and six being charged to court. Only two of these individuals have returned to kerb-crawling in the area.

The multi-agency team has pulled together resources to target young people who are at risk of sexual exploitation. This enables the partnership to tackle issues of health and well-being at an early stage.  Key staff have undertaken training to help them identify vulnerable young people. Fifty one  young people aged between 13 and 17 have been identified as either being at risk or being abused through sexual exploitation. Funding for sessional support workers has helped three of these young people. A children and young people’s co-ordinator supports staff working with these young people.  Work is taking place with young people to raise awareness of these issues directly with young people, alongside the Red Rose Chain Theatre Company, in order to promote health and well-being.

The response from residents has been positive. Community representatives have been involved in developing the strategy, and understanding the community impact enabled the steering group to respond appropriately to local residents’ needs. Regular public meetings keep residents informed and hear their views, and residents are represented on the strategy implementation group.  In response to community concerns, schemes such as the installation of new lights in alleyways and alley gating are considered.

Work in Ipswich continues to evolve and change as more experience is gained and new challenges encountered.

Camden

Sex workers are an area of street activity targeted by the Camden ‘Safer Streets Team’ (SST).  The work is undertaken through outreach shifts, including joint shifts with New Horizons Youth Centre outreach workers.  Camden Council commissioned New Horizons to work with difficult to engage client groups such as sex workers.  All street active clients are discussed at the various Tasking and Targeting (T&T) meetings held throughout the borough, which are attended by a number of statutory agencies and service providers such as agencies that run drop-in sessions for sex workers such as Women @ The Well.  A case plan, with timescales, is agreed for all clients.

In dealing with street active clients, Camden follows an antisocial behaviour laddered approach whereby initially clients are offered services, or signposting and/or diversion if they do not have a Camden connection, and at all times are given advice about the possible enforcement options if they continue the behaviour.  If a client refuses to engage, or accepts services but does not reduce their street activity, then they may become an enforcement target for either the police or the council’s Street Wardens.  At that point an anti-social behaviour warning letter would be served and the Safer Streets team would meet with the client to offer the support necessary to stop them from being street active.  This includes referrals into accommodation, scripting, drug and alcohol treatment and mental health services, plus assistance with benefits and other softer outcomes such as support in becoming Big Issue sellers.  The Safer Streets Team would also offer the client an Acceptable Behaviour Agreement (ABA), either yellow or red depending on the level of activity, the signing of which would be attended by representatives from the Council and Police. The meetings continue until the client no longer comes to notice, or if the activity does not stop, enforcement follows.

In addition to the targeting of clients, T&T partners also focus on specific areas and sites.  For example, following reports from residents of an increase in sex working, the T&T group undertook joint work at Agar Grove.  The police Safer Neighbourhood Team received extra funding to do additional shifts to target the sex working taking place in the early hours of the morning. The Partnership also funded signs that were displayed in the area warning against sex working.

Camden provides drug treatment and wraparound support to sex workers through the Drug Intervention Programme (DIP) and the Camden Crack Treatment Team (CCTT).  Camden DIP has a specialist prison link worker in HMP Holloway who works with a high proportion of women offenders with a sex work background.  The link worker identifies clients while they are still in prison custody and develops a post release plan to support the client’s resettlement on release.  When a client is released the link worker carries on working with them, making sure they have appropriate housing, benefits, healthcare, access to drug treatment and other support.  The CCTT is a new service introduced in October 2008 to work with crack users who have never accessed drug treatment.  They identify people through street outreach and drop-ins, and work with them for three months to stabilise them so they can go onto to work with mainstream drug treatment and/or specialist services.

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

In 2006 some concern was expressed that not enough was being done locally to prevent domestic violence and provide support for victims. The Council responded by establishing a high level forum (the Domestic Violence Management Committee) to investigate the issues and find solutions. This involved various Council Cabinet Members and senior officers from a variety of agencies.

Several new services were commissioned including:

the establishment of a Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) that focuses partnership attention on the most serious domestic violence cases and

• a domestic violence advocacy service provided by an independent organisation to provide a 24 hour a day service to women suffering domestic violence.
• Alongside this and other measures, the police have developed their positive arrest policy, which is arresting perpetrators when they are called to deal with a report of domestic violence.

Liverpool

Promotion of a safer night-time economy is a key component of the overarching regeneration strategy for Liverpool.  A recent 2009 alcohol awareness campaign focused on raising awareness of key messages to highlight alcohol related sexual assault, encouraging 18 to 25-year-old women in Liverpool to adopt more responsible attitudes and behaviours towards alcohol and reducing the amount of alcohol related sexual assaults.  The campaign involved:

• radio and press campaigns
• safety messages sent via Bluetooth in key areas at weekends
• handing out personal attack alarms and branded waterproof ponchos
• having a ‘hit squad’ present to provide advice to those out at weekends, including targeting those arriving in the city centre or coming home from work parties through presence at the city centre transport hubs.

Why it works

The following factors have been identified as key success factors across the case study examples:

• A multi-agency response brings joint ownership of the issues and solutions.
• Senior officer commitment brings people who have the ability to make decisions and commit resources.

• It is important to locate services as part of core service provision, rather than them being seen as extras or add ons.
• Engaging with service users has been at the heart of shaping services.
• Raising awareness of the significance of issues such as domestic violence and prostitution is a vital factor in gaining commitment.
• Developing services need to recognise the different needs of within the community.

Part 2 of this helpful study will be shared on Friday, 9 July 2010.

References & Further Reading

Audit Commission CAA information

Oneplace – The site includes CAA results for each area, of different local public services and a wide range of information on how these public services are performing.

Devon Against Domestic Violence and Abuse

Ipswich Prostitution Strategy

Camden Community Safety

Kensington and Chelsea Community Safety

Liverpool Citysafe

Download as PDF: Making sense of Comprehensive Area Assessment Green Flags: Domestic violence, sexual violence and prostitution

Comprehensive Area Assessment green flags show outstanding achievements or improvements, or an innovation that is likely to be successful within a local area. In the first round of CAA assessments several areas received green flags for their approach to domestic violence, sexual violence and prostitution. This case study covers the innovative work of the Devon Against Domestic Violence and Abuse Partnership, Ipswich’s Joint Agency Strategy Group to tackle prostitution, Camden’s Safer Streets team, Kensington and Chelsea’s Domestic Violence Management Committee and Liverpool’s seasonal awareness campaign on sexual assaults in the city centre.

Essential knowledge

Comprehensive Area Assessment, or CAA, is an assessment of local public services in England. It examines how well councils are working together with other public bodies to meet the needs of the people they serve. It’s a joint assessment made by a group of six independent watchdogs. Assessments provide a snapshot of each area, and act as a catalyst for improvement by identifying where more effort is needed or where exceptional improvement may help others learn. CAA reports performance against the national indicator set and focuses on indicators that areas have selected as priorities, making an assessment of current delivery and future prospects against those priorities.

Each area across England has been independently assessed by six inspectorates. These assessments say how well local public services are delivering results for local people and how likely these are to improve in future. Area assessments do not have an overall score or rating. To provide a clear indication of either significant concerns about future improvement or to highlight exceptional performance or improvement, red and green flags have been used. Green flags show outstanding achievements or improvements, or an innovation that is likely to be successful.

Tackling domestic violence, sexual violence and prostitution can help address the following national indicators:

• NI 15 Serious violent crime
• NI 17 Perceptions of anti-social behaviour
• NI 20 Assault with injury crime rate
• NI 21 Dealing with local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and police
• NI 23 Perceptions that people in the area treat one another with respect and consideration
• NI 26 Specialist support to victims of a serious sexual offence
• NI 27 Understanding of local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime issues by the local council and police
• NI 32 Repeat incidents of domestic violence
• NI 34 Domestic violence – murder

What works?

Devon Against Domestic Violence and Abuse (ADVA) Partnership

The Against Domestic Violence and Abuse (ADVA) Partnership over the last eight years has spearheaded work to tackle domestic violence and abuse and has been one of the major successes under Devon Strategic Partnership. Its vision is to “Increase the safety of victims of domestic violence and abuse in Devon.”

ADVA has now firmly established services which focus on all three aspects of domestic violence: survivors, perpetrators and children. Most of these services are delivered by the voluntary and community sectors as consultation with survivors has consistently delivered the message that this is the mode of delivery they prefer. Work is still required to develop responses within the statutory sector as many of those affected will be accessing services as a result of domestic abuse but not declaring that as the reason, for example admissions to A&E, attendance at GP surgeries.

Success has been based on the impetus given by both rounds of Local Public Service Agreements to develop a multi-agency domestic violence partnership, strategy and funding. The contributing partner agencies, and some time limited pump-priming grants, have created an ADVA budget which collectively has enabled the development of the following vital services in Devon. This has seen a rise in the multi-agency pooled budget from 2001/02 level of £50,000 (approximate) to £2,103,700 in 2009/10.

From the ADVA budget funds the following extensive community based services:

• Outreach support services for women survivors of domestic violence and abuse in each district (eight districts).
• County-wide support service for male survivors (Men Safe).
• Three REPAIR community family intervention programmes geographically covering the county. This provides direct work with self and agency referred male perpetrators, alongside support to their partners and children. This is a unique programme to identify the cost/benefit and other benefits of early intervention family-based work, which was initially funded partly by the Government Invest to Save programme via Home Office and partly by the EU Daphne Programme. Its success has led to it now being funded locally as part of ADVA core activity.
• Child support workers within the three women’s refuges in Devon and in local communities providing specialist support to children and young people who live with domestic violence and abuse. A particularly vulnerable group supported are young adults 14 to 25-year-olds.
• The development and delivery of multi-agency training courses to improve practitioner awareness and skills in direct work with all those affected by domestic violence issues. Over 6,000 front-line workers have received this training to date.
• The development of an employer policy supported by training for staff and 15 Domestic Violence and Abuse contacts to provide support to colleagues experiencing domestic violence.
• Establishment of four Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (IDVAs) working to the Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs). These deal with those cases assessed at the highest risk of repeat and serious victimisation (approximately 750 women a year).
• Establishing an IDVA to work with the three Specialist Domestic Violence Courts within Devon, making the county one of the few in the country with full SDVC coverage. This is showing improved success in dealing with cases in the criminal justice system.
• Introduction of the Modus database for case management, as one of the first in the country that will allow better monitoring of victims and perpetrators.
• Establishment of the SEEDS Devon group for survivors of DV, based on good practice in Somerset, which is a vital link in ensuring that services are sensitive to their needs and based on what they say.
• Delivering 25 courses a year of a 15 fifteen-week pattern-changing programme for groups of women survivors to become empowered and to develop skills to increase safety.
• Establishment of an emergency fund to support migrant women, because they cannot get housing benefit when in a refuge.
• Strategic co-ordination of all districts’ work through ADVA Partnership working with Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships and Domestic Violence Forums.
• Every year ADVA has invested in publicity (newspaper, television, radio) to raise the profile of its services in Devon. Additionally it has run seven conferences or large-scale events since 25 November 2002.

Ipswich

Following the murder of five young women in Suffolk who all worked as street prostitutes in Ipswich, a multi-agency group – the Joint Agency Strategy Group (JASG) – was set up to develop and implement a strategy with five key aims initially:

• identifying the extent of the street prostitution problem in Ipswich
• developing routes out of prostitution – a multi-agency approach, tailored to the individual
• tackling demand: deterring those who create demand and designing environments that prevent prostitution
• prevention: early intervention and preventing young people from being abused through sexual exploitation
• community intelligence: understanding the extent of the problem and the impact on the local community.

A sixth strand has recently been added around ‘coercive adults’ which reflects the need to identify as early as possible, those young people being manipulated into to the sex industry by adults.

The JASG, made up of senior officers from organisations including Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk Police, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Primary Care Trust, Suffolk Probation Area, Suffolk Mental Health Partnership, Suffolk Drug and Alcohol Action Team and voluntary organisations, was pulled together quickly with the support of local authority leaders, chief executives and the chief constable. Assigning senior officers meant the JASG could make decisions and commit resources quickly,

A number of actions have been implemented to deal with the issues:

1. A dedicated multi-agency team enables regular and sustained contact with women working as street prostitutes. The team is made up of a social worker, support worker, police and a probation officer, all of whom work together to tackle the health and well-being issues faced by the women. The team has adopted a case conference response to ensure that planning routes out of prostitution incorporates all of the identified needs of the individual.
2. Providing help to leave prostitution including:

• help to get access to housing and then maintain their tenancies. A recent development has been an extended Emergency Direct Access Beds service, which houses people for up to three weeks while longer-term accommodation is being found. Also bed and breakfast rooms are funded where direct access beds are not suitable..
• Domestic violence is a continued barrier to getting out of prostitution – this becomes obvious when ‘partners’ go into prison, as women are more fully engaged with the team. Women are referred to Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARAC), and they are also given information about leaving a violent situation.
• Women can access treatment for their drink and drug issues, by referral to the drugs treatment services in the area, including those from the voluntary sector. This enables the women to receive methadone prescriptions and access to counselling services, and other structured interventions ranging from education opportunities to employment.
• They are supported to register with GPs and keep health appointments, as their health is often poor. In addition, four women have been given a full set of dentures – something that may seem inconsequential, but which has greatly improved the women’s self-esteem.

Tackling demand has helped to improve the well-being of the women, and of the community as a whole. Covert police patrols complemented by high visibility patrols are regularly in operation. The latter monitor activity and enforce traffic restrictions, as well as provide reassurance for the community. CCTV support intelligence work and automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR) systems. To date, 138 kerb-crawlers have been arrested, with 131 receiving cautions and six being charged to court. Only two of these individuals have returned to kerb-crawling in the area.

The multi-agency team has pulled together resources to target young people who are at risk of sexual exploitation. This enables the partnership to tackle issues of health and well-being at an early stage. Key staff have undertaken training to help them identify vulnerable young people. Fifty one young people aged between 13 and 17 have been identified as either being at risk or being abused through sexual exploitation. Funding for sessional support workers has helped three of these young people. A children and young people’s co-ordinator supports staff working with these young people. Work is taking place with young people to raise awareness of these issues directly with young people, alongside the Red Rose Chain Theatre Company, in order to promote health and well-being.

The response from residents has been positive. Community representatives have been involved in developing the strategy, and understanding the community impact enabled the steering group to respond appropriately to local residents’ needs. Regular public meetings keep residents informed and hear their views, and residents are represented on the strategy implementation group. In response to community concerns, schemes such as the installation of new lights in alleyways and alley gating are considered.

Work in Ipswich continues to evolve and change as more experience is gained and new challenges encountered.

Camden

Sex workers are an area of street activity targeted by the Camden ‘Safer Streets Team’ (SST). The work is undertaken through outreach shifts, including joint shifts with New Horizons Youth Centre outreach workers. Camden Council commissioned New Horizons to work with difficult to engage client groups such as sex workers. All street active clients are discussed at the various Tasking and Targeting (T&T) meetings held throughout the borough, which are attended by a number of statutory agencies and service providers such as agencies that run drop-in sessions for sex workers such as Women @ The Well. A case plan, with timescales, is agreed for all clients.

In dealing with street active clients, Camden follows an antisocial behaviour laddered approach whereby initially clients are offered services, or signposting and/or diversion if they do not have a Camden connection, and at all times are given advice about the possible enforcement options if they continue the behaviour. If a client refuses to engage, or accepts services but does not reduce their street activity, then they may become an enforcement target for either the police or the council’s Street Wardens. At that point an anti-social behaviour warning letter would be served and the Safer Streets team would meet with the client to offer the support necessary to stop them from being street active. This includes referrals into accommodation, scripting, drug and alcohol treatment and mental health services, plus assistance with benefits and other softer outcomes such as support in becoming Big Issue sellers. The Safer Streets Team would also offer the client an Acceptable Behaviour Agreement (ABA), either yellow or red depending on the level of activity, the signing of which would be attended by representatives from the Council and Police. The meetings continue until the client no longer comes to notice, or if the activity does not stop, enforcement follows.

In addition to the targeting of clients, T&T partners also focus on specific areas and sites. For example, following reports from residents of an increase in sex working, the T&T group undertook joint work at Agar Grove. The police Safer Neighbourhood Team received extra funding to do additional shifts to target the sex working taking place in the early hours of the morning. The Partnership also funded signs that were displayed in the area warning against sex working.

Camden provides drug treatment and wraparound support to sex workers through the Drug Intervention Programme (DIP) and the Camden Crack Treatment Team (CCTT). Camden DIP has a specialist prison link worker in HMP Holloway who works with a high proportion of women offenders with a sex work background. The link worker identifies clients while they are still in prison custody and develops a post release plan to support the client’s resettlement on release. When a client is released the link worker carries on working with them, making sure they have appropriate housing, benefits, healthcare, access to drug treatment and other support. The CCTT is a new service introduced in October 2008 to work with crack users who have never accessed drug treatment. They identify people through street outreach and drop-ins, and work with them for three months to stabilise them so they can go onto to work with mainstream drug treatment and/or specialist services.

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

In 2006 some concern was expressed that not enough was being done locally to prevent domestic violence and provide support for victims. The Council responded by establishing a high level forum (the Domestic Violence Management Committee) to investigate the issues and find solutions. This involved various Council Cabinet Members and senior officers from a variety of agencies.

Several new services were commissioned including:

• the establishment of a Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) that focuses partnership attention on the most serious domestic violence cases and
• a domestic violence advocacy service provided by an independent organisation to provide a 24 hour a day service to women suffering domestic violence.

Alongside this and other measures, the police have developed their positive arrest policy, which is arresting perpetrators when they are called to deal with a report of domestic violence.

Liverpool

Promotion of a safer night-time economy is a key component of the overarching regeneration strategy for Liverpool. A recent 2009 alcohol awareness campaign focused on raising awareness of key messages to highlight alcohol related sexual assault, encouraging 18 to 25-year-old women in Liverpool to adopt more responsible attitudes and behaviours towards alcohol and reducing the amount of alcohol related sexual assaults. The campaign involved:

• radio and press campaigns
• safety messages sent via Bluetooth in key areas at weekends
• handing out personal attack alarms and branded waterproof ponchos
• having a ‘hit squad’ present to provide advice to those out at weekends, including targeting those arriving in the city centre or coming home from work parties through presence at the city centre transport hubs.

Why it works

The following factors have been identified as key success factors across the case study examples:

• A multi-agency response brings joint ownership of the issues and solutions.
• Senior officer commitment brings people who have the ability to make decisions and commit resources.
• It is important to locate services as part of core service provision, rather than them being seen as extras or add ons.
• Engaging with service users has been at the heart of shaping services.
• Raising awareness of the significance of issues such as domestic violence and prostitution is a vital factor in gaining commitment.
• Developing services need to recognise the different needs of within the community.

References and further reading

• Audit Commission CAA information
• Oneplace – The site includes CAA results for each area, of different local public services and a wide range of information on how these public services are performing.
• Devon Against Domestic Violence and Abuse
• Ipswich Prostitution Strategy
• Camden Community Safety
• Kensington and Chelsea Community Safety
• Liverpool Citysafe

Safer Sutton Partnership (SSP) was the first partnership to create a fully integrated police and local authority team under single line management. The process involved the co-location and amalgamation of the Sutton’s Police and Community Unit and the London Borough of Sutton’s Safer Communities Team. The SSP and its services are now delivered or commissioned from a single point in Sutton town centre.

Bringing senior managers together from the police and local authority has led to better performance management. There have also been savings from joined-up strategic planning, rationalised meetings, voluntary sector commissioning and integrated services. In 2006/07, the SSP was awarded national Beacon status in recognition of its innovative approach to partnership working and integrated service delivery.

The issue

Safer Sutton Partnership (SSP) was the first partnership to create a fully integrated police and local authority team under single line management. The process involved the co-location and amalgamation of the Sutton’s Police and Community Unit and the London Borough of Sutton’s Safer Communities Team. In 2006/07, the SSP was awarded national Beacon status in recognition of its innovative approach to partnership working and integrated service delivery.

There was already a close working relationship between the police and local authority before the SSP was formally established. The fact that Sutton had the second lowest crime rate in London at the time was a testimony to the strength of this relationship.

The trigger for introducing integrated services was a shared aspiration to make the borough an even safer place to live. Both partners recognised that community safety was a key concern to local people and both wanted to build a greater level of trust with the local community. The SSP’s main aims were therefore not only to make Sutton safer but also to reduce the fear of crime. This, they believed would best be achieved through an integrated approach to community safety.

According to SSP’s Partnership Plan for 2008-2011: “Although Sutton is already one of London’s safest borough’s with statistically low levels of crime, a key measure of success will be continuing to enhance the perception of safety and deliver increased community confidence within the borough. Initiatives to improve community confidence are therefore a recurring theme.”

The partnership’s innovative approach to service delivery also meets many of the objectives in the government’s police reform programme ‘Building Communities, Beating Crime’. For example:

• Making police services and councils more accountable to the public
• Police working with local authorities to help the public be and feel safer
• Informing the public about what’s been done to make them feel safer
• Involving the public in decisions about how these services are delivered

What they did

Origins

The Safer Sutton Partnership Service (SSPS) was officially inaugurated in 2005. At its inception it brought together 60 council staff involved in community safety and 80 borough police officers to work together from a shared base.

The significance of this initiative was highlighted by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner at the time, who at the launch, said “for the first time police and council staff are working alongside one another under a single management structure, in pursuit of shared aims and objectives. What is happening in Sutton is an outstanding example of partnership in action. The borough’s brave new approach could become the model for the rest of the country”.

Objectives

The partnership’s expectation was that by creating a more joined-up service, resources could be deployed and managed more efficiently and effectively. This would minimise the chance of matters being referred across the two agencies and enable a quicker, more coordinated response. As well as addressing key local concerns such as anti-social behaviour, more joint working and planning was expected to lead to a better understanding of cultures between the police and local authority.

The anticipated benefits of service co-location included:

• A single point of contact for all community safety issues
• Information-sharing and better problem-solving
• Improved communication at all levels
• Quicker and more effective response to incidents
• Greater accountability to councillors and local people
• Service structure

The SSPS model involved the co-location of a number of key police and local authority services at a dedicated building (a police station) in Sutton town centre. The first services to be offered from this centre included:

• Drug and alcohol abuse services
• Neighbourhood wardens
• Parks police
• Domestic violence services
• Police safer neighbourhood teams
• Special constables
• Police volunteers
• Schools and training liaison officers
• Police and local authority licensing departments

Alongside these services, the council’s CCTV monitoring was located in a new integrated operations room at the police station. More recent service additions have included the council’s emergency planning and preventing violent extremism functions.

Management and organisation structure

An early priority in developing the SSPS was to find a suitable candidate to head the partnership and its services. The post was advertised to civilians and police officers in a joint recruitment exercise and resulted in the appointment of Police Superintendent Warren Shadbolt.

The head of the partnership is responsible for both police and local government staff and is jointly managed by/accountable to the council’s chief executive and the borough commander. Joint protocols between the Metropolitan Police and the London Borough of Sutton cover the staff management between the two organisations.

The essential element of Sutton’s co-location model is that first, second and third tier managers responsible for delivering or commissioning police and the council’s community safety services are based together in a single building. The main strategic forum for bringing senior managers together is the fortnightly meeting, chaired by Sutton’s borough commander.

Co-location has made closer working possible and, in some cases, the amalgamation of services. Council community safety staff and police staff work together as part of the partnership arrangement and under a single management structure. For example, a police chief inspector has been responsible for the council’s neighbourhood wardens and council security staff, while council staff manage police colleagues in the support and commissioning teams.

Joint working

A shared approach to problem solving has been the cornerstone of SSP’s co-location initiative. At an operational level, weekly ‘problem solving’ meetings are convened to address and resolve priority issues across the borough. These inter-agency forums include not only police and council staff based at the police station but other partners including the London and Fire Rescue Service, the Sutton Housing Partnership and occasionally the probation service.

The problem solving meetings provide an opportunity to share intelligence and identify a lead agency to tackle emerging issues ranging from environmental problems to licensing issues. The brief covers crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour as well as community safety issues such as neighbour disputes, race/hate crime and harassment. For example, when a series of linked burglaries targeting vulnerable older people took place, the partnership was able to respond effectively by taking coordinated action.

In addition to core services, a number of mechanisms can be used to address problems raised at the meetings. These include rapid deployment cameras, community payback events and a small capital budget for physical security measures.

Community engagement

The SSP’s work has been supplemented by the introduction of a borough-wide safer neighbourhood approach with ward panels in each of the 18 safer neighbourhood areas. This helps two-way communication between the police, council, partners and residents.

Through its engagement with the community, the SSPS can identify emerging issues and identify potential gaps in the knowledge and intelligence base, particularly in relation to community concerns. In this way, both the police and council have a better understanding of local issues and can coordinate their activity more effectively. By developing a greater dialogue with the community, SSPS is concerned not only with gathering and acting on local intelligence but also restoring public confidence in police and council services at a time when fear of crime is still one of the most common concerns in the borough.

Fear of crime is being tackled using a sophisticated model developed by the SSP in partnership with the University of Cardiff. Using information from Intelligence and Neighbourhood Security Interviews to complement residents’ survey data, the SPSS can build a picture of perceived problems matched against recorded incidents. The information is then used to prioritise activity that ensures that the community sees that action is being taken by a range of organisations in their area.

The impact

Increased dialogue

Co-location of services has led to a significant increase in levels of communications between the local authority and police service. This in turn has led to greater co-operation and joint action between the two partners. For example, there are now regular meetings involving police and council staff that go all the way down the hierarchies. These include fortnightly meetings of senior managers and weekly problem solving meetings. The informal contacts that result from co-location are also having an impact on improved partnership working and enabling connections to be made.

More effective working

Bringing senior managers from the police and local authority to work together is giving greater credibility to the process and ensuring that joint action is taken where needed. According to the SSP Performance Manager:“…having the backing at senior levels brings greater clarity and more resources to priorities and problems, particularly dealing with domestic violence. ….it provides a golden thread that runs all the way down to street level”. Having senior managers together in one place has also led to a cross fertilisation of skills.

Improved performance management

As part of the co-location exercise, a police analyst now works alongside a local authority analyst to provide consistent data capture, analysis and distribution. This is enabling better performance management, outcome monitoring and service planning. Another joint innovation resulting from co-location is the creation of an integrated borough operations function delivering a real time intelligence and proactive task management capability to operational units.

Greater rationalisation of resources

Policing of parks and open spaces in the borough was formerly undertaken by the local authority parks police service. Deployment of the council’s team of seven was inflexible and expensive and the parks police were not always available at peak demand times due to operational limitations. Their limited powers meant they faced a loss of confidence by the community in their ability to tackle anti social behaviour, particularly in relation to parks and open spaces.

In response to increasing public concern, the council wound down its parks police service and replaced it with a police-resourced safer parks police team, financed by the local authority and managed by SSP. Two safer parks teams are now deployed across the borough for longer hours and for less money than the original neighbourhood based council service. This re-organisation acknowledged that public demands for policing of the parks could be more effectively delivered in terms of cost, volume, supply and outcomes through the use of warranted police officers and PCSOs. For example, as part of a routine check on a white van, the Sutton Safer Parks Team discovered a large quantity of cannabis. This resulted in arrests and closure of one of the biggest cannabis factories to be uncovered in Sutton in recent times.

In another recent development, the local authority has disbanded its neighbourhood warden service and reinvested in a police-provided anti-social behaviour unit. This is also being managed through the SSPS and, likewise, is expected to ensure better outcomes for residents whilst providing better value for money.

Achieving savings

There is hard evidence to show that co-location and rationalisation of services has resulted in savings to the SSP. Estimates of savings for the past two years are:

• 2006/07 – £132,000
• 2007/08 – £170,000

The savings have come from a number of areas including joined-up strategic planning, rationalised meetings, voluntary sector commissioning, and integrated services. Further savings are expected to be achieved from the creation of a new and integrated communications hub that will serve both the police and local authority.

Communicating a consistent message

By working in partnership and sharing information about issues across the borough, a consistent message has been sent to the public about what is being done to make improvements to their neighbourhoods. For example, through the problem solving meetings, a ‘lead person’ is identified to deliver a ‘corporate’ response to demonstrate that the concern is being taken seriously. The emphasis on the customer ensures that resources and activities are targeted on the most important issues for residents and businesses.

Improved outcomes

Since co-location was first implemented, there is some evidence to suggest that the SSP is having a quantitative impact on meeting some of its objectives. For example:

• The 2007 borough wide MORI survey of Sutton residents shows a reduced fear of crime across all major types of crime. This is consistent with the findings from the Intelligence and Neighbourhood Security Interviews and ward panel priorities.
• The re-organisation of the parks police resulted in a fall of 10 per cent in the number of reported incidents of anti-social behaviour between 2006/07 and 2007/08. More significantly, the number of arrests was up nearly 15 fold during the same period.

Challenges, lessons

In the early stages of co-location, there were some challenges to planning and implementing integrated services. These included:

• Different targets and action planning cycles for police, local authority, internal departments and partner agencies
• Differences in cultural, structural and working practices between the police and local authority
• Differences in targets, definitions and problem identification making it hard to reach common agreement on which local problems should be tackled

Many of the initiatives that have accompanied co-location in Sutton have addressed these issues. For example, closer working through the fortnightly manager meetings has helped to break down cultural and structural barriers and the introduction of the problem solving process has enabled partners to reach consensus on priorities and targets. Having a police analyst working alongside a council analyst is enabling better performance management, outcome monitoring and service planning.

The lessons from Sutton suggest that co-location can only be successfully achieved if there is trust and understanding between partners and service providers. In the case of Sutton, this was already a hallmark of the relationship before the partnership was launched.

Another key ingredient to success is for partners to have shared objectives. For Sutton, one of the driving forces behind service integration has been the joint aspiration to instil public confidence in police and community safety services and to reduce the fear of crime in the borough.

Other factors favouring co-location include a strong senior lead to oversee the process and, at managerial level, having clearly defined roles specifying who does what and why. This needs to be balanced by good operational links on the ground. Having an effective joint communications strategy will ensure that a consistent message is sent to the public that their concerns are being taken seriously.

Data/evidence

Crime and community safety outcomes

Outcomes of relevance to the case study include the following:

• The 2007 borough wide MORI survey of Sutton residents shows a reduced fear of crime across all major types of crime. This is consistent with the findings from INSI and ward panel priorities.
• The British Crime Survey statistics show that there was a reduction in crime of nearly 10 per cent in Sutton between April 2007 and January 2008.
• The re-organisation of the parks police resulted in a fall of 10 per cent in the number of calls regarding anti-social behaviour between 2006/07 and 2007/08. More significantly, the number of arrests was up nearly 15 fold during the same period.
• As of December 2007, 568 individuals had engaged with structured drug treatment agencies (up 37 per cent on December 2005) and Sutton had achieved its milestone of increasing the number of problematic drug users ahead of schedule.
• Sutton has achieved its milestone in line with the government’s national drug strategy aim of increasing the numbers of problematic drug users in treatment by 100 per cent.
• Sutton’s drug treatment services have also been judged by the National Treatment Agency to be the most cost-effective in London with the borough being in the top ten performing areas for the number of drug users that are retained in treatment to a successful conclusion.

National Indicators being addressed by the Safer Sutton Partnership through the Sutton Local Area Agreement

• NI 15 Reducing the serious violent crime rate
• NI 16 Reducing the serious acquisitive crime rate
• NI 21 Dealing with local concerns about anti-social behaviour by the local council and police
• NI 34 Reducing repeat incidents of domestic violence

The second quarter monitoring report for 2008/09 suggests that there are no problems anticipated in meeting these targets in the LAA. The report also indicates that serious acquisitive crime (NI16) is down 19 per cent compared with last year.

Further information

The Safer Sutton Partnership Plan 2008-2011

The Audit Commission’s Corporate Assessment of the London Borough of Sutton November 2008 – highlight’s areas of good practice relating the Safer Sutton Partnership’s Service