An apology for absence was received from Cllr Ejaz Aslam. CllrDavid Beattie attended as his substitute.

The minutes of the meeting of the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 26 October 2023 were agreed and signed by the Chair.

Cllr Pearton declared an interest as his daughter worked for the prison service.

The Strategic Manager presented members of the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee with a report detailing the proposed topic review following recommendations made by members at the last meeting of this Committee. The committee were asked to consider the proposed topic review and subject to Members’ approval, agree that the appropriate members and officers commence the review process. The Strategic Manager highlighted the following key points:

• At the previous Crime and Disorder Scrutiny meeting, members put forward ideas for a topic review and agreed for the Chair, Vice-Chair and Strategic Manager to meet and discuss the suggested topics and report back with the proposal.
• Subject to the members approval, it was suggested that the topic review focused on ‘anti-social behaviour (ASB) involving school-age young people and occurring after school finishing time in the afternoon and early evening, particularly in Gravesend town centre’.
• ASB is an issue that affects the borough, including residents and local businesses.
• Some residents and others wishing to visit the town centre reported consequently avoiding the area at those times.
• The Strategic Assessment 2023 established that Police-recorded ASB in Gravesham had increased by 11.4% in the year ending 30 September 2023 compared to a Kent average increase of 2.0%.
• Tackling ASB can be resource-intensive, and placed demands on all CSP partner agencies.
• It was felt that ASB was a suitable topic for review as it was highlighted as a priority amongst residents and that all CSP partner agencies could be involved.
• Members were advised that the next stage would involve appointing four members of the committee as part of the topic review group and elect one as Chair. Members were reminded that the group must be politically balanced.
• The Strategic Manager then outlined to members the process of the topic review detailed within the report.

The Chairman advised the Conservative Members of the committee to decide the members who they would like to put forward for the topic review group and for the membership to be agreed outside of the meeting.

The committee agreed for the topic review process to commence.

As Kent Fire and Rescue were in attendance, the Chair agreed for their verbal update to be taken as one item alongside Kent Police.

Kent Police Update

Kent Police, Chief Inspector Will Lay and Acting Inspector Kirsty Dunne, presented members with a verbal update on recent work being undertaken by Kent Police. The following key points were highlighted:

·         Funding in previous years from the Home Office had covered patrolling for serious violence offences. However, this year, Kent Police had (in addition) been given funding dedicated to targeting hot spots for anti-social behaviour.

·         The Chief Inspector advised he would update the committee on any identified hotspots.

·         Members were advised that it was the responsibility of Kent Police to resource against those hotspots.

·         As a result of the Angiolini Inquiry Part One, Members were advised that there had been 16 recommendations, which Kent Police would adhere to. Work had already started and would continue.

·         Members were updated on the last PEEL (Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy assessment, which highlighted improvements made in certain areas, such as responding to the public like 101 calls and how quickly they were answered. There had been significant improvements and calls were getting answered quickly.

·         The Acting Inspector updated members on nuisance bikes, advising there was an operation launching in April 2024.

·         The ASB team had been working in the town centre and in Denton, working with schools and with staff to deliver education around ASB.

·         Kent Police were looking to work with the Cyclo-Park as youth groups had been taken away and it was important to give school age/young adults something to do in the evenings/weekends.

·         Burger King in the town centre had reported incidents of ASB – these individuals had been successfully dealt with.

Following questions and comments from members, the Chief Inspector and Acting Inspector explained the following:

·         Kent Police had done a lot of work around the rules and regulations of e-scooters. They’re able to enforce confiscation and advised members that where they had concerns regarding dangerous areas, this would get fed back to the team so they could proactively target those areas.

·         The Chief Inspector advised that the danger around children on e-scooters was a valid concern. The Child Centred Policing team had undertaken prevention work around this.

·         Kent Police were aware of the risks surrounding the storming of shopping centres. Where possible, they received early warnings and put measures in place where they were advised gatherings/planning were expected. They had successfully prevented such events from occurring, including warning phones shops and electronic goods stores.

·         Kent Police were keen to work with educational establishments and were happy to look into opportunities where they can identify programmes as a deterrent. They had a good working relationship with social services and were able to report any children they felt were at risk.

·         They had dedicated ward officers, but often found that they were not seen, and advised they needed to find a better way to capture that, such as using social media to promote  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The Chairman advised that this report was for information only, and advised members that if they had any questions about the minutes, to direct them to Cllr Shane Mochrie-Cox, the council representative.

The committee noted the report.

To move, if required, that pursuant to Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 that the public be excluded from any items included in Part B of the agenda because it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted that if members of the public are present during those items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act. Part B Items likely to be considered in private.

Part B

Items likely to be considered in private

The Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee considered and discussed in detail the Part B information pertaining to the Strategic Assessment 2023 (Summary of Key Findings) and the priorities for the new Community Safety Strategy 2024-28.

The Strategic Manager provided the committee with further information which needed to remain confidential at this stage.

The committee noted the report.