Agenda item
Topic Review Group Progress Report
Minutes:
The Chair advised that the group had met for one meeting and its membership consisted of Cllr Deborah Croxton, Cllr Helen Ashenden, Cllr Ektaveen Thandi and Cllr Gary Harding. Cllr Croxton had recently been replaced by Cllr Gavin Larkins due to her Cabinet appointment.
The Committee were provided with a presentation, presented by Cllr Thandi, that showed the outcomes of a public consultation on Youth-Related Anti-Social Beauvoir.
Copies of the presentation slides and a link to the full report on the responses received to the survey would be provided to Members of the Committee.
The Strategic Manager (CSU) thanked Cllr Thandi for her presentation and added that there was more detail to go with the results of the consultation and the information presented was just a summary of the survey findings, identifying key factors and the impact of youth related ASB to the towncentre and its residents. The Board raised concern that some responses stated that residents avoided town at certain times.
As part of next steps, the Strategic Manager (CSU) advised that surveys had been drafted to send to schools which would give a better understanding of student’s issues and possible youth related ASB. The CSP will work with the Child Centre Policing Team to better understand what students were causing a problem and if there were any issues at home which were causing the bad behaviour that could be addressed by support services. Additionally, information would be reported to the Police on students who were beyond helping and required monitoring.
The Strategic Manager (CSU) advised that it was good opportunity to have a roundtable meeting, get the relevant stakeholders together and the community and share all the findings as well look at ways of obtaining funding for activities that could be run.
The Strategic Manager (CSU) advised that the respondents of the consultation were asked to pick three types of youth-related ASB in the town centre out of the list shown in the presentation; noisy/rowdy behaviour, nuisance bikes/scooters and gathering in groups in the streets were the viewed as the biggest problems. Respondents had the chance to write any other problems, that weren’t listed, in the ‘other’ box for the question. In the full report, all other types of ASB and comments made by the respondents would be outlined for the topic review group to consider
In response to a Members concern that harassment and intimidation were not included on the types of youth-related ASB, Cllr Thandi explained that the group had a discussion on intimidation and there was a finding that there was a generational divide on what was classed as intimidation. Some of the older generational found large groups of young people intimidating when they were not being outwardly intimidating, it was just the size of the group. The Strategic Manager (CSU) further added that 77% of respondents saying that they were avoiding the town centre was indicative of them being intimidated.
The Strategic Manager (CSU) agreed to schedule another meeting of the Topic Review Group in the future.
Supporting documents: