Agenda item

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 Policing plans put in place to tackle the issues.  The Partnership receives data on crime levels on a quarterly basis.  Most recent crime data for Anglesey for January 2022 was included within the report to the Committee.  During the early part of last year, due to the lockdown situation, all crime reported to the Police reduced in numbers.  However, Domestic Abuse figures has risen across the North Wales Police area and these cases are considered via MARAC as was noted previously by the Deputy Chief Executive.  Anti-social behaviour in Anglesey has also seen an increase in the first half of 2021/22 which has been since across North Wales. Nationally increase in youth related Anti-social behaviour since the end of lockdown and similar increases have been noted in the monthly Anti-social behaviour multi-agency tasking groups across North Wales.   The Implementation and Projects Officer further said that some of the activities within the 2020/21 Plan

have not been achieved due to the pandemic and this has resulted in 5 out of the 28 actions being incomplete at the end of the year. 

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

·           Questions were raised as to whether the loss of grants has affected the efficiency of the Community Safety Board.  The Implementation and Projects Officer responded that the loss of grants has not had a substantial effect on the activities of the Board as the financial allocation has now been afforded regionally;

·           Reference was made that the Partnership works to an Annual Plan and has seven priorities which has been identified by Community Safety Partnership.  Questions were raised whether the Board reviews their priorities and especially during the pandemic where there has been a rise in Domestic Abuse.  The Implementation and Projects Officer responded that the Boards priorities are driven by the Strategic Review by North Wales Police and the Safer North Wales Regional Board, PCB and the Beating Crime Plan by Welsh Government;

·           Questions were raised as to the extent does the partner organisations within the Board agree as regards to the priorities which are based on the local needs assessment process and whether there are other matters which need to be prioritised.  The Deputy Chief Executive responded that he believed that the partner organisations are in agreement with the priorities identified as the strategic data is driven by these priorities.  He noted that partner organisations are focus to work in partnership and no changes occur to the priorities during the current year.  However, the focus and activities can change if data shows the need to priorities a particular rise in a specific crime in communities;

·           Questions were raised as to the situation as regards to County lines drug trafficking problems within local communities. The Deputy Chief Executive responded that North Wales Police is working to reduce the County lines issues and there has been considerable success recently in tackling the problem of drug trafficking.  He noted that at the recent meeting of the Community Safety Board it was reported that there is no County lines drug trafficking operation on the Island at present which is to be welcomed. 

The Deputy Chief Executive wishes it to be noted that whilst the data figures within the report are currently red, however, it must be realised that the data need to be compared in respect of 2019 data figures on an ‘year on year’ basis as there has been a period of lockdown due to the pandemic and people will be returning to their usual pattern of working and socialising. He also referred that data figures should evaluated to population figures in the summer and the winter on the Island due to the influx of visitors. 

It was RESOLVED to note the contents of the report and to support the priorities and future direction of the work of the Community Safety Partnership.

ACTON : As noted above.