Safer Arun Partnership meeting minutes 24 January 2023

Tuesday 24 January 2023 – 2.00pm

MS Teams virtual meeting

Attendees:

AC Cllr. Alison Cooper (Chair)
GB Georgina Bouette (Arun DC)
AC Adrian Carter (WSFRS)
NB Nick Bowman (Sussex Police)
DO Dax O’Connor (Arun DC)
AL Amy Loaring (OSPCC)
AO Alex O’Keefe (WSCC)
PG Philippa Gibson (WSCC)

Apologies received:

David Satchell (Probation Service)
Annabelle Goodenough (Crimestoppers)

Agenda item 1

AC welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Agenda item 2

Confirmation of apologies given.

Agenda item 3

Declarations of interest

AC reminded attendees of the need to make any declaration of interest as appropriate to the meeting.

Agenda item 4

Minutes and matter arising from previous meeting on 15 November 2022

NB: Meeting on 15 November did not meet minimum quorum threshold of 3 responsible agencies represented by suitable decision making officers.

Copy of minutes from 15 November 2022 meeting subsequently issued by email to main partners. No objections raised, so agreed.

Agenda item 5

2022 Strategic Intelligence Assessment (SIA)

Proposal that the Strategic Intelligence Assessment, produced by WSCC, be adopted.

Agreed by unanimous vote.

ACTION: DO to arrange publication on Safer Arun Partnership and Joint Action Group | Arun District Council webpage.

Agenda item 6

Strategic priorities and partnership plan

DO presented an amendment to the way in which SAP sets out its partnership plan and operational procedures. This followed a review of the community safety partnership undertaken by the Community Safety team at Arun DC as a result of the meeting on 18 November 2022 not being quorate. Additionally, due to reduced attendance and engagement over the year 2022, the partnership had not formally signed off its strategic priorities and set a formal plan.

The review resulted in the following proposals:-

• 1. To adopt a three-year strategic partnership plan which:
  • 1.1. Sets out the overarching principles and aims of SAP.
  • 1.2. Clearly identifies the partnership’s strategic priorities, detailing the reasoning why each is considered a priority and the objectives of the partnership in dealing with such matters.
  • 1.3. Illustrates the partnership approach that SAP will take and sets out the key organisations in tackling the priority areas.
• 2. It will be the responsibility of each partner authority to provide regular written updates on their work and actions in relation to the partnership plan.
• 3. Update reports will be collated by Arun District Council’s Community Safety Officer and presented to the local Crime and Disorder Committee in order to scrutinise the partnership and the contributions of each authority.
• 4. Partnership meetings to be held on a quarterly basis.
• 5. A collective annual review of the partnership plan will be undertaken, to include:
  • 5.1. Comparison of baseline data from year to year Assessing the data sets on an annual basis will provide a clear indication of progress against the strategic priorities and identify where additional work/resources may be required.
  • 5.2. A clear summary from all partners as to the work they have undertaken in direct correlation to the partnership plan, outcomes, and key achievements.
  • 5.3. Consideration of the strategic intelligence assessment (SIA) for Arun provided by West Sussex County Council. Upon adoption each year, the SIA will become a public document.
  • 5.4. Confirmation that the strategic priorities contained within the partnership plan remain relevant and the focus for SAP. If additional priority areas arise or any of the current priorities are to be discharged, the decision will be recorded, and the plan updated.
• 6. The Safer Arun Partnership’s terms of reference and governance to be updated to reflect the recommendations agreed upon.

ACTION: To include reference to the new Serious Violence Duty under relevant priority.

ACTION: Embed contextual safeguarding approach to understanding harm in relation to serious violence and anti-social behaviour priorities.

ACTION: Partners agreed to provide quarterly update reports to be utilised as part of the scrutiny process. Additional ‘by exception’ reports may be requested if action is pertinent to partnership plan activity.

ACTION: Partnership meetings to be retained on a quarterly basis. NB: April’s meeting will not take place due to ‘pre-election’ protocol, with Chair standing for re-election in local elections.

ACTION: Partners to determine what data sets they have available to help provide annual comparisons and inform DO.

ACTION: DO to work with WSCC partnership analyst to obtain annual data sets.

ACTION: Partnership terms of reference to be updated.

Agreement reached to adopt the draft partnership plan for 2023-2025, subject to aforementioned actions.

Agenda item 7

Partnership funding statement

GB presented the latest funding statement – unallocated balance remains at £66,668.

Awaiting notification of 2023/2024 Police and Crime Commissioner CSP grant funding.

It was noted by the partnership that there is a need to identify projects and allocate funds. Given the large amount in the pot it was agreed that this should be a priority.

Agenda item 8

AOB

AL informed the group of the OSPCC implementation of a dedicated Safer Streets funding team. This team will lead on the allocation of Safer Streets funding and monitoring of projects.

AL also reminded the partnership of the upcoming Community Safety Partnership review being instigated by HM Government. At the moment, we do not know what the implications are, but there are likely to be a number of consultations coming up which will need to be completed and engaged with.

NB advised that the Arun NPT Inspector is running a number of workshops for parish councils in relation to travellers to confirm the actions police can take and to ensure close working between parishes and police remain strong and effective.