Cllr. Ball requested that his apologies be added for the meeting of the Social Affairs Select Committee on 16 June 2011.

Resolved:      That the minutes of the meeting of the Social Affairs Select Committee held on 16 June 2011, as amended, be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Cllr. Mrs. Cook declared an interest in minute item 15 as Chairman of West Kent Mediation.

None

None.

The Actions from the previous meeting were noted.

Members will develop a schedule of work over the year to reflect the terms of reference of the Committee focussing on the Council's priorities for policy development. This includes opportunities to invite other organisations who provide services in the District to provide information to the Committee and discuss issues of importance to the Community.

The Chairman drew Members’ attention to the Work Plan and also to the programme of presentations to future meetings under Item 10. She explained that the meeting on 1 November 2011 would have the theme Improve Health and Wellbeing and Members would have opportunities before that meeting to review and participate in activities including a health walk. If Members were interested in any of the activities they should notify the Head of Community Development.

A Member requested that the Committee consider visiting Self Unlimited and MacIntyre House, Sevenoaks in advance of the meeting. It was thought those bodies would appreciate Members’ interest.

The Chairman hoped that for the meeting in January 2012  Mandy Wynne, Deputy Chief Executive of Voluntary Action Within Kent and Gill Shepherd-Coates, Chief Officer of Age UK Sevenoaks and District would attend. It was also hoped the Committee would be able to consider the effectiveness of the minibus services since the District Council stopped directly providing it.

Attending: Chief Inspector, Peter Steenhuis; a representative from West Kent Mediation; and PACT chairperson.

The Chairman welcomed Chief Inspector Peter Steenhuis from West Kent Police,  and Amanda Bell the Service Manager and Bev Giannoni the Restorative Justice Manager from West Kent Mediation to the meeting. Unfortunately the Chairman of Hextable Partners and Community Together (PACT) was unable to attend but the Sevenoaks District Council Community Safety Co-ordinator attended instead.

Peter Steenhuis, the new District Commander for Sevenoaks,  gave a presentation about the New Policing Model which was to be implemented by Kent Police on 16 November 2011. He gave the model strong support and believed it would bring policing back to the community.

He explained that crime in Sevenoaks was the lowest in the County. He considered it a joint effort and thanked the Community Safety Partnership for its significant impact. Burglary and vehicle crime were down but there were still problems with handling stolen goods, retail theft and particularly with metal theft. The area also suffered from theft from sheds so an Officer has been redeployed from a specialist team to investigate this.  Resources would be available from November in  the new policing model for  this function.

The new model meant there would no longer be separate sections within the police but each Officer would own a case from when it was reported until the charge. The most appropriate, available resource would deal with a matter regardless of district boundaries.

There would be an increase in neighbourhood policing with 5 teams to cover 7 days a week between 7a.m. and 1a.m.. Each team would have 5 Officers and a Sergeant. This meant that at the height of a changeover between teams there would be 12 Officers which was a significant increase on the current 3 or 4. Response officers would come out from Tonbridge.

In reply to a question the Chief Inspector acknowledged that detection for hate crimes was low, particularly compared to the rest of the County. An Officer had been assigned to review the 16 cases over the last year to ensure that all that could be done to address hate crimes had been done and that any further action was taken if required. A Member felt it was important that an Officer came to talk to the black community and the Chief Inspector agreed to do this next time such meetings were organised.

Since the eviction of travellers from Dale Farm in Essex a Member enquired whether the District had been put on alert. The Chief Inspector reminded Members that it was a lawful lifestyle but the whole County was on notice. He did not expect to use any special powers to remove travellers as bye-laws were often effective. Extended powers would only be employed in cases of anti-social behaviour or if schools or hospitals were affected. If travellers were on private land without consent they would be monitored.

Peter Steenhuis commended the approach in Sevenoaks of using PACTs for dealing with community safety issues of importance to local communities. He felt it was effective and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

(verbal)

A Member gave a presentation about the visit 5 Members of the Council took to the Police Force Command and Control Centre in Maidstone.

It was noted that the visit had been arranged after concerns voiced by a former-Member of the Committee about how a 999 call was dealt with. The presentation explained that all calls, including the one in question, could be recalled using software they were shown. They had been informed the call was dealt with more seriously than the caller realised, with a prompt reaction and significant resources. However, the operator had not relayed this back to the caller and this training issue had been addressed with the operator concerned.

Members were shown the Control Room where the calls were received and also the Initial Crime Investigation Unit collected information relating to an incident.

The Member thanked the Chief Inspector for hosting the visit.

The Chief Inspector accepted that perception and communication can be a problem, such as with the call in question. He encouraged Members to hold him to account for any breakdown in communication.

A Member asked the Chief Inspector what should be done with calls in the evening when the local station could not be telephoned and which were not an. He explained that he expected the launch of a non-emergency number (101) to be launched in Kent around 16 November 2011. All such calls would go through to Maidstone.

(verbal)

The Chairman gave an overview of her visit to the Daily Tasking Meeting. She commented that it brought police, partners and council officers together and allowed for an holistic approach to solve those problems that occurred overnight and the previous day. In turn this allowed issues to be dealt with  effectively, at an early stage. The Chairman thanked the team for allowing her to sit in.

The Chief Inspector informed the Committee that Sevenoaks had the highest satisfaction rate in the County for how matters were dealt with by its Community Safety Unit (CSU). In response to a question he confirmed that, although Community Safety Units were used elsewhere, Sevenoaks did have the best practice and he had brought visitors along to observe. He added that since CSUs had been introduced the police had become involved in more issues in a more timely way as part of the holistic approach.

A Member asked whether the impact of the meetings could be measured so as to identify strengths and weaknesses. The Chief Inspector clarified that quality assurance check surveys were taken by their staff and some external random calls were made. “Doorsteps” checks were also carried out. Any negative feedback was passed on and would be acted upon. This data could be provided to Members, if requested.

A Member provided a written report of a visit to Swanley police station. He emphasised that  the use of technology was interesting and that they had a clear focus on crime prevention.

Another Member gave a verbal report on a morning spent with a Police Community Support Officer. He commented that the PCSOs had a clear reliance on their own skills and motivation. Their presence helped build relationships with the community, particularly in the high street. This meant confidence in the PCSO increased and information was more likely to be collected. He thanked all those who made the visit possible.

The Chief Inspector clarified that the PCSO had been assigned the “Red Route” for patrol, which an Officer can explore if they have spare time. The route was designed to disrupt particular crimes which were expected, based on trends. The routes were reviewed every two weeks.

A Member enquired what information there was about Health Walks. The Head of Community Development said this could be provided.

Action:         The Head of Community Development to provide information about Health Walks to Members, through Democratic Services, before the next meeting.

The Chairman asked that a visit be organised to the District Council CCTV room because information from there was used by the police Command and Control Centre in Maidstone. It was felt it would complete the Community Safety theme.

Action:         The Community and Planning Services Director to organise for interested members to visit the Sevenoaks District Council CCTV room.