Contact: Councillor Pat Kennedy (Board Member for Education, Crime and Community Safety) cllrpkennedy@oxford.gov.uk; Richard Adams (Environmental Protection Service Manager); 01865 252783, radams@oxford.gov.uk

 

Background Information

The Board Member will attend the meeting and make a short presentation on her priorities and work to date as the Board member for Education, Crime and Community Safety.   A short report from Councillor Kennedy is attached.

Why is it on the agenda?

The Scrutiny Committee will be able to discuss the report  with Councillor Kennedy, and make any suggestions as appropriate.

Who has been invited to comment?

Councillor Kennedy will attend the meeting.   Alex Wrigley (Anti Social Behaviour Investigations Team Manager) and Laurie-Jane Taylor (Community Response Team manager) will also attend the meeting to assist with any issues that may require clarification.

What will happen after the meeting?

Observations and any recommendations from the Committee will be passed to the Board Member.

 

 

Councillor Pat Kennedy, Board Member for Education, Crime and Community Safety submitted a report (previously circulated, now appended) that detailed her priorities and work to date as the Board Member for Community Safety.

 

Councillor Kennedy presented her report (previously circulated, now appended) to the meeting and spoke about her priorities as Board Member.

 

Laurie Jane Taylor (Community Response Team Manager) and Alex Wrigley (Anti-Social Behaviour Investigations Team Manager) attended the meeting to explain their respective roles and the work the Council was doing to tackle anti-social behaviour. They wished to raise awareness amongst the public of the means by which anti-social behaviour (ASB) could be reported, and how then the Council would act in response.

 

Local Offer

 

Alex Wrigley explained that a new local offer for dealing with ASB had been developed, focussed on 6 key points:-

 

1. Involvement & Empowerment

 

The Council would establish an ASB Champions Group (Service Task Team) to consider performance and recommend improvements.

 

2. Raising Awareness

 

The Council would work with the ASB Champions to develop a service standard leaflet to include:-

 

•           What ASB is;

•           What ASB is not;

•           How to report ASB;

•           What will happen for the victim;

•           What will happen for the perpetrator.

 

A diary sheet would be included with each leaflet

 

3. Pro-active Service

 

The ASB team aimed to visit each neighbourhood twice per week, train tenants to undertake environmental visual audits and develop action plans, and work with the ASB Champions to monitor progress of action plans

 

4. Out-of-hours Service

 

The Council would provide an out of hours service for noise nuisance

 

 

 

 

5. Our Response

 

Following an initial report of Anti-Social Behaviour into the contact centre or the out-of-hours reporting service, the Council would contact a complainant as follows:-

 

•           24 hours for Category 1 ASB (all serious ASB including violent, threats of violence, hate related crimes and incidents including domestic abuse);

•           2-4 days for Category 2;

•           5-7 days for Category 3.

 

(Categories 2 and 3 were less serious cases, and most complaints were expected to fall within these categories.)

 

5. The Case

 

For all Category 1 & 2 cases, the complainant would have a dedicated Case Manager (and a Case Officer for Category 3 cases), who would agree an action plan with the complainant and a strategy for how often and when contact would be made about the case.

 

There would also be information provided on the likely outcome of the case, realistic timeframes for its resolution and the circumstances under which the case would be closed and a commitment to after care beyond case closure.

 

6. Victims and witnesses

 

Greater support to victims and witnesses could be provided by referring them to agencies and support groups as required, and by encouraging them to engage in Victim Peer Support by training ASB Champions to provide this service.

 

A pilot scheme would be run during December 2013 and it was hoped to have the scheme in place by December 2014.

 

The Committee welcomed the Local Offer and asked that full details be circulated to members of the Committee. A report back to the Committee should be made in approximately one year’s time, including case studies, so that the Scrutiny Committee could monitor its progress.

 

Other Committee observations and questions.

 

The Committee made the following points:-

 

(1)  It is important that people are made aware of the service;

 

(2)  There should be training and support for victims;

 

(3)  The case should not be marked as “closed” too quickly, as this can lead to people feeling abandoned;

 

(4)  It is good that victims feel supported, and that they are supported, but what people most want is a resolution of their problem and to know that the perpetrator has been dealt with;

 

(5)  It should be noted that many situations are not what they seem at first and can contain vulnerabilities on all sides. We need to be well positioned to work with other agencies, such as the Police and Social Services;

 

(6)  There was concern that the ASB team may not be large enough to cope with the whole of the City;

 

(7)  There was concern that the Neighbourhood Police Groups (NAGS) were not well organised at present. The City Council no longer has anyone in the NAG co-ordinator’s role.

 

The Committee thanked Councillor Kennedy, Laurie Jane Taylor and Alex Wrigley for their attendance and RESOLVED to:-

 

(1)  Ask that fuller details of the Local Offer be circulated to members of the Committee;

 

(2)  Request a report back (including case studies)  in a year’s time;

 

(3)  Request that Councillor Kennedy should reflect the views of the Scrutiny Committee when writing to the Police Area Commander; and that in particular she should seek an indication of how the Police viewed the priority of the NAGs.