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Report to:
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People Scrutiny
Committee
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Date of
meeting:
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19 November
2020
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By:
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Director of Adult
Social Care and Health
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Title:
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Annual Review of Safer
Communities Performance, Priorities and
Issues
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Purpose:
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To update the
Committee on performance in relation to safer communities in
2019/20 and priorities and issues highlighted in the Partnership
Business Plan 2020 to 2023.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
(1)
To consider and
comment on performance in 2019/20 and the priorities and issues
identified for 2020/23
(2)
To consider if
there are any specific issues that should be considered for
inclusion in the Committee’s future work
programme
1 Background
Information
1.1
Over the last few years new challenges and new types of crime have
surfaced. There
has been a notable shift away from traditional crime types to new
emerging threats such as
cyber-crime, human trafficking, child exploitation and serious
organised violence related to
County Lines.
1.2
The County Council’s priorities for community safety are
informed by the East Sussex
Safer Communities Partnership business planning process.
1.3 The Safer Communities Partnership
has a three-year business planning cycle. In
preparation for the next three-year plan research was undertaken by
the Safer East Sussex Team (SEST) to inform the partnership
priority setting process. The information was then shared with
partners at a partnership development morning. Following
agreement by the Board on the community safety priorities for the
next three years, the SEST, in conjunction with partners, developed
a more detailed plan; the draft of which is attached at Appendix
1 of this report. This document sets the direction
for partnership work over the next three years.
2
Headline
Activity
2.1
Over the past three years there
have been significant changes nationally in the way
that
performance information is
viewed. Agencies have moved away from numerical targets and
measures, focussing instead on broader outcomes over longer
periods. This is reflected in the Sussex Police and Crime Plan for
2017/21, and the Sussex Police Operational Delivery Plan 2019/20.
The Safer Communities Partnership has also mirrored this trend and
has developed a headline report, which monitors outcomes and
activity as opposed to output targets.
2.2
On the 23rd March 2020 the UK went into lockdown, significantly
changing the way
people live, and the way in which criminals operate. Restrictions
on people’s movements caused dramatic changes in crime
opportunities. Nationally, many crime types from shoplifting to
burglary declined, while other crime types, including domestic
violence and online crimes (from fraud to child sexual abuse)
increased. As we ease out of lockdown, the nature of criminality
will change once again, and it is a challenge to predict the impact
that the lifting of restrictions will bring, and the further impact
of a predicted second wave on society. Many of the crimes that will
have occurred during the pandemic are harmful and hidden crimes
that are under-reported, and there are many vulnerable groups of
people needing support.
2.3
In the year to end March 2020 Sussex Police recorded a total of
38,116 offences on
East Sussex compared to 34,761 the previous year, an increase of
9.7% (+3355 crimes).
This increase is mirrored within Sussex which has an increase of
8.8%, which breaks down to 8.3% for West Sussex and 8.9% for
Brighton & Hove. Contacting the Police has become easier with
the national Single Online Home project providing the opportunity
to report more crimes and incidents on-line and investment in
Sussex Police Force Contact, Command and Control Department
dramatically reducing non-emergency call wait times.
2.4
East Sussex remains a comparatively safe place to live with a lower
risk of crime than
elsewhere in the country. With a rate of crime per 1000 population
of 68.7, (Total Crime). It is similar to West Sussex (68.2), but
less than Sussex as a whole (73.9) and the England & Wales rate
of 88.9. Wealden in particular has a low rate at 43 crimes per 1000
population which when ranked against other local authority areas in
the country placed in it the top 10 low risk areas. Lewes and
Rother both have rates below the Sussex average at 57 and 64
respectively with Eastbourne and Hastings showing higher at 90 and
108 crimes per 1000 population likely influenced by their urban,
coastal locations and their night-time economy attracting more
visitors than their rural counterparts.
2.5
There was an increase in the majority of crime
types2 when compared to the previous year. The
largest percentage increase was in Drugs offences at 24.5% (217
more crimes) which is driven by the increase in Drug Possessions
(+30%) and can often be attributed to proactive policing targeting
known hotspots and offenders. The category with the second highest
increase is Violence against the person offences (+13.8%), followed
by Theft offences (+11.5%) and Robbery (10.9%). The increase in
Violence against the person offences is being driven by an increase
in the Stalking and Harassment sub-category offences at +681
offences (+26%). This increase is similar the Sussex increase
(+29%) and although higher than the national 12% increase the rate
of crime is lower at 6 offences per 1000 population for East Sussex
compared to 8.4 in England and Wales.
2.6
Recorded Domestic Abuse crimes in East Sussex increased 10.4% (+618
offences) for the year to end March 2020 for a total 6545
offences.
79% (5191) of DA crimes fall within the Violence against the person
category which showed a higher 12% increase (+556 crimes) against
the previous year period. Stalking and Harassments offences
significantly contribute to the increase with a 28.8% increase or
414 more offences. The increase in Domestic related Violence with
injury offences was less at +7.5%. There were 2 Domestic related
Homicides recorded on East Sussex in 2019/20, 1 less than the
previous year.
2.7
Between April 2019 and March 2020, there were 1,051 high risk
domestic violence and abuse cases discussed at the East Sussex
Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conferences (MARACs). This was an
increase of 18% when compared to the previous year. Repeat referral
rates accounted for 32% of all cases discussed in Eastbourne, Lewes
and Wealden and 30% of all cases discussed in Hastings and Rother.
These are both within the Safe Lives recommended range of 28% to
40%. There was a total of 1,700 children associated with the MARAC
cases recorded in the year up to the end of March 2020[4].
2.8
Sussex Police recognise that Domestic Abuse and Stalking crimes
often go unreported. The force regularly raises public awareness of
these crimes for improved recognition of offences and increased
public confidence to encourage reports to be made. This allows for
Intervention, support and advice to be provided. As such
increases in volume could be a result of increased confidence and
awareness with more people coming forward to report offences.
2.9
The reported instances of modern slavery and human trafficking are
increasing nationally each year and the reported instances in
Sussex have followed this national trend. In 2019, there were 103
potential victims referred to the National Referral Mechanism by
Sussex Police (39 Adult, 61 Child and 1 not recorded), and 2 NRM
referrals from East Sussex County Council, both for a child under
17 years. This compares to a total of 48 potential victims referred
to the NRM in 2018, an increase of (+115%). The significant rise is
likely due to the increase in NRM referrals relating to County
Lines. Referrals for minors accounted for 61% of all potential
victims.
Covid-19
2.10
The impact of lockdown on total crime in East Sussex is evident, as
looking at the crimes recorded between 23 March to 30 June, total
recorded crime was showing a decrease of 19.6% (-2033 crimes) when
compared to the same dates in
20192.
2.11
The reduction in crime was seen in the majority of crime and
incidents types reported in East Sussex particularly in Theft
offences (-42%) which includes Shoplifting (-45%) and Burglary
Residential offences (-36%). The main crime types showing an
increase during this period were:
·
Drug Possession at +86 crimes
(+41.7%)
·
Stalking and Harassment at +79
crimes (+8.4%)
·
Public Order at +24 crimes
(+2.5%)
2.12
In East Sussex, there was a notable increase in reports of
Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) made to police. Between April 2020 and
June 2020, there were 5,302 reports of ASB (+90.4%)[6].
86% of reports were recorded as ‘Nuisance’ ASB[7].
The increase can largely be attributed to breaching lockdown
restrictions including social gatherings in parks and neighbourhood
disputes, including ASB and lockdown breaches by some individuals
in temporary accommodation who have been housed under emergency
COVID-19 powers. Substance misuse services in East Sussex have been
working with providers of temporary accommodation, neighbourhood
policing teams and other partners to address this.
2.13
Between April 2020 and June 2020, there were 1,558 reports of
Domestic Abuse crimes in East Sussex. During the lockdown period,
referrals to the specialist domestic abuse service decreased
significantly from the end of March but started to rise steadily
from mid-April and from mid-June were above the weekly average seen
compared to the same week in 2019. The local refuge provision
for those wishing to flee a domestic abuse situation remained
steady, with an average of 3 units available each week throughout
lockdown. In contrast referrals made to MARAC for those at the
highest risk in East Sussex increased on average by 10% from
mid-April in comparison to the same period in 2019[8].
3
Partnership Priorities April 2020 to March 2023
3.1
The East
Sussex Safer
Communities Partnership undertakes a Strategic Assessment of
Community Safety every three years with an annual refresh in order
to select work streams and plan activity for the year
ahead. In
two-tier areas one document may be produced which encompasses all
of the districts within that area.
3.2
Partners have agreed the following
priority areas for the Business Plan 2020/23:
·
Serious Organised Crime - Prevent
and protect vulnerable adults, young people and our communities
from being exploited by Serious and Organised criminals in relation
to County Lines, Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking, and Fraud
Related Harm.
·
Serious Violent Crime - Prevent
and protect individuals from becoming victims of Serious Violent
Crime, including Knife Crime.
·
Domestic Violence & Abuse,
Rape & Sexual Violence and Abuse, Stalking & Harassment and
Harmful Practices - Prevent and protect individuals from the
serious harm of Domestic Violence & Abuse, Rape & Sexual
Violence and Abuse, Stalking & Harassment and Harmful
Practices.
3.3
Partners have also agreed that the following work streams would be
maintained as “business as usual”:
·
Preventing Violent
Extremism through education & training, and supporting
individuals through the Channel programme;
·
Assist in the
implementation of the Offender Management Strategies through our
joint work at the Reducing Re-Offending Sub-Group of the Surrey
Sussex Criminal Justice Board;
·
Helping people recover from Drugs
and Alcohol misuse and preventing premature death;
·
Raise awareness and
identify hotspots, patterns and repeat victims of Anti-Social
Behaviour and Hate Crime within the community, and work with key
partners to improve and manage partnership responses;
and
·
Working to reduce road casualties
across Sussex with education, enforcement and engineering through
the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership.
·
A cross cutting enabler throughout
all of our priority areas is to: Raise awareness of online safety
and encourage young people to develop a positive and healthy
relationship with social media, the internet and mobile
phones.
3.4
For those areas that
have not been agreed as priorities, such as street communities, it
is important to note that these are being dealt with through other
partnership structures. It is also important to note that the
partnership remains interested and involved in these areas of work
and provide support where appropriate. The full descriptions
of the priorities are set out in the attached Business Plan
(Appendix 1).
4 Community Safety Developments in East Sussex
2020
4.1
There are a number of challenges and
opportunities on the horizon that will impact on partnership work
over the coming year:
·
The Serious Violence
Bill which will place a new duty on schools, police, councils and
health authorities to prevent serious violence;
·
The Domestic Abuse
Bill which aims to transform the approach of the justice system and
other agencies to victims of domestic abuse;
·
Probation Reform. The
National Probation Service and Community Rehabilitation Companies
will amalgamate into one service in June 2021 which means the
National Probation Service will be responsible for all sentence
management including interventions such as accredited programmes
and Unpaid Work. The major change for partnership organisations
will be that they will be dealing with one organisation;
·
The independent review of Prevent will gather and analyse a
range of information to underpin robust, evidence-based findings
and recommendations on the government’s strategy for
supporting people vulnerable to being drawn into
terrorism;
·
The rollout of
Dovetail will see changes to the Channel process aimed at
de-securitise the
process by transferring responsibilities for some elements of
Channel from the police to local government, sitting more closely
with local authorities’ wider safeguarding responsibilities;
and
·
The rollout of the
recommendations arising from the independent review of the Modern
Slavery Act; which looked at the role of the
Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, transparency in supply
chains, Independent Child Trafficking Advocates and legal
application of the Modern Slavery Act.
4.2
The COVID 19 pandemic required a
fast operational response from our commissioned services to enable
delivery to continue within national safety guidelines. Where
possible strategic work to address the Safer Communities continued
and this is outlined in Appendix 2.
4.3
In addition, Safer Communities are
part of the change management program for adult social care and
have identified a number of changes to the way we need to work as a
result of the pandemic and are covered under three
headings:
·
Review and adapt,
where necessary, current operational delivery models in light of
COVID19;
·
Investigate and, where
beneficial, establish new models of working that take account of
key challenges;
·
Apply due
consideration to COVID19: its evidential impact on communities and
crime in future strategic and partnership planning and
development
5 Supporting Information
5.1
There are no specific
financial implications arising from this report.
5.2
Police and Crime
Commissioner funding for community safety is directly allocated to
District and Borough Council based Community Safety
Partnerships.
6
Conclusion and Reasons for Recommendations
6.1
The Modern Crime Prevention Strategy has developed the community
safety agenda to consider the broader threat of exploitation.
A common theme of the work of the partnership continues to be
people with complex needs, which would relate to any one or a
combination of substance misuse, accommodation and mental and
physical health. During the COVID 19 pandemic the Safer East
Sussex Team continued to work with partners to deliver the Safety
Communities Partnership priorities and support commissioned
services for substance misuse and domestic and sexual violence and
abuse.
6.2
The Committee is asked to consider and comment on the performance
and achievements of the Partnership and their plans for 2020 to
2023.
KEITH HINKLEY
Director of Adult Social Care and Health
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 – The
Partnership Business Plan 2020 to 2023
Appendix 2 –
Work to address the community safety priorities identified by the
Safer Communities Board, and support users of our commissioned
services during the COVID 19 pandemic.
Contact:
Justine
Armstrong-Smith, Safer Communities Manager
Tel: 01323 466526
Email: Justine.Armstrong-smith@Eastsussex.gov.uk