Agenda and minutes

As noted above.

To receive any declaration of interest by any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

None received.

To submit, for confirmation, the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November, 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 November, 2021 were confirmed as correct.

To submit a report by the Director of Social Services.

Submitted – a report by the Director of Social Services in respect of an overview of the work of the Corporate Safeguarding Board.

The Leader of the Council said that Corporate Safeguarding is the responsibility of all services of the Council.  To support the implementation of the Safeguarding Action Plan an Operational Corporate Safeguarding Board was established with a membership of safeguarding champions from all services of the Council.  She further said that this report is to assure the Elected Members of the effectiveness of the Council’s safeguarding arrangements. 

The Director of Social Services reported that the Authority has established a Strategic and Operational Corporate Safeguarding Boards which has a robust agenda in place which include important data which is shared with the Boards.  He accepted that the report contains extensive information and that there is a need to summarise the information in the next report to this Committee.  The Director of Social Services further said that there are other partnership and governance arrangements in place such as North Wales Regional Safeguarding Boards for Children and Adults, for dealing with specialist safeguarding matters.  The Council has a duty to contribute to the operation of these Boards on a regional basis.  There is a Regional Contest Board and the Deputy Chief Executive, Mr Dylan Williams is the representative of this Authority.  The Gwynedd and Anglesey Community Safeguarding Partnership has responsibility for overseeing Prevent programmes within the partnership’s services.  The Regional Vulnerabilities and Exploitation Board has oversight in respect of Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence and the Safeguarding and Quality Service Manager Represents this Authority on this board.  

The Committee considered the report and made the following main points:-

·      Questions were raised as to whether the partner organisations are in agreement as to the priorities with the safeguarding arrangements and whether they share information.  The Director of Social Services referred to Domestic Abuse and noted that North Wales Police share information between partner organisations across North Wales; this allows for lessons to be learnt if a specific areas sees a rise in Domestic Abuse figures and as to address the issue and to put services in place to tackle the issue.  Multi-agency response is undertaken and discussions are also undertaken within the Vulnerability and Exploitation Board as regards to Domestic Abuse.  He noted that this Authority has an ‘one front door’ service in relation to domestic abuse referrals that allows for low level Domestic Abuse cases up to high level; cases are addressed at an early intervention to alleviate potential issues reaching a high level of abuse and also as regards to placing children into care if the situation escalates. The Director of Social Services also said that this Authority has employees that specifically deals with families where domestic abuse is present and there is also a good working relationship with Gorwel who provides support for people who suffer domestic abuse or support for people at risk of losing their homes and prevent homelessness;

·      Questions were raised as to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To submit a report by Community Safety Senior Operational Officer for Gwynedd and Anglesey.

Submitted – the Annual Report of the Community Safety Partnership Gwynedd and Ynys Môn.

The Portfolio Holder – Housing and Supporting Communities said that he was pleased that since the meetings have been held virtually the attendance at the meeting has improved and in depth discussions has undertaken within the Committees. 

The Chair referred that there is a statutory duty on Local Authorities in accordance with the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and subsequent amendments because of the Police and Criminal Justice Act 2002 and 2006, to work in partnership with the Police, the Health Service, the Probation Service and the Fire and Rescue Service, to address the local community safety agenda. 

The Deputy Chief Executive reported that the Community Safety Partnership has now been in place for 22 years, latterly, as a joint county partnership between Gwynedd and Ynys Môn.  He noted that the areas of responsibility remain to be:-

·           Crime and Disorder;

·           Substance Misuse;

·           Reducing re-offending;

·           Delivering a strategic assessment to identify priorities (work that is now undertaken on a regional basis);

·           Putting plans in place to deal with these priorities (a plan now exists on a regional and local basis)

Working between partners is fundamental to community safety and has enabled the Community Safety Partnership to share data and good practice.   The Deputy Chief Executive further reported that the Domestic Abuse continues to be a focus by the Community Safety Partnership. Partners agreed that in addition to the monthly  MARACs (Multi-agency Risk Assessment Conference) weekly virtual meetings would also be held, so the heightened risk factors could be dealt with quickly.  The Partnership has also had an input into the Prevent Plan which is a plan to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.  The North Wales Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy was launched in March 2020 and the Community Safety Partnership has supported the delivery of the strategy in Anglesey by attending the regional meetings and keeping up to date with priorities and relevant actions as they arise.   Cyber Crime has also increased due to use of virtual activities and training sessions have been afforded by North Wales Police as fraud has been identified by the Partnership.

Ms Daron Owens, the Implementation and Projects Officer reported that the Community Safety Partnership has faced many changes over the years and some of the main changes are the loss of local grants and the loss of local co-ordinators; however the Partnership is focused in maintaining close and purposeful membership of the regional groups, and if confident that local needs are embedded in all regional plans and activity.  She further reported that the Partnership works to an Annual Plan and seven priorities have been identified by Community Safety Partnership which is noted within the report.  These priorities are based on a regional strategic assessment, the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Plan and the regional Safer Communities Plan.  The Police looks at crime figures constantly, and reviews all changes on a regional and local basis.  Problem areas will then be reviewed with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To submit the Forward Work Programme.

Submitted – a report by the Scrutiny Manager.

The Scrutiny Manager said that the Chair has agreed that the meeting scheduled to be convened on 8 February, 2022 will be cancelled due to lack of items for discussion.

It was RESOLVED:-

·      To agree the current version of the forward work programme for 2021/2022;

·      To note the progress thus far in implementing the forward work programme.