Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Trey Campbell-Simon.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest. Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

None.

(a) To approve as an accurate record and the Chair to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Social Inclusion and Community Safety PAC held on 19 July 2022; and

(b) To note the outstanding actions.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 July 2022 were agreed.

This report provides PAC with an update following the previous meeting focusing on work of the Law Enforcement Team between July and September 2022.

This was a standing item and Mo Basith provided an update with data and completed actions arising from previous meeting held on July 2022, highlighting key areas of performance in undertaking frontline and visible community support.  Key highlights were provided in the main report which included performance figures and the high visibility and engagement of Law Enforcement Team (LET) officers and their care and regard for the safety of H&F residents.  During quarter two, the LET conducted over 23,806 patrols, an average of over 250 per day at hot spots and areas of concern, received 1433 service requests from residents and businesses were investigated and resolved. LET officers issued 505 fixed penalty notices for issues such as fly tipping littering and highways obstruction.  Over five and a half thousand Patrols had been undertaken on housing land and in addition approximately 4000 hours of reassurance patrols were conducted on highways and in district centres with particular emphasis on the Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith Broadway areas.  The LET had also conducted 1154 weapons sweep during their patrols the from July 2022 to September 2022.

Areas of growing demand stemmed from anti-social behaviour (ASB) in parks (appendix 1), much of which was diffused on the scene with LET officers actively engaging with residents in ward areas such as White City and Shepherds Bush.  Some of the highlighted completed actions included:

·        LET had reached out to every ward councillor and offered site visits, and most had taken up the offer to meet with their local ward LET officer, local meetings, engagement, attending the tenants and residents association meetings;

·        LET contact details had been posted at the Monk Street housing office, as requested; and

·        LET had engaged with the youth council to explore concerns and identify areas for improvement.

Neil Thurlow commended the work of the LET which had supported several high profile events such as the Queens cortege as it passed through Hammersmith, bank holiday weekend, and Remembrance Day weekend.  The two way communication and dialogue between LET officers and residents was essential.

Councillor Omid Miri welcomed the performance update, actions and commended the work undertaken.  With reference to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), a breakdown of LET officers by gender was requested, and information about specific training has been given in relation to VAWG, as with mental health training.  Mo Basith explained that the were few female LET officers however support had been sought from the council’s equalities leads to actively tackle the underrepresentation of women in the team and a new female recruit would be joining the team shortly.  It was confirmed that all LET officers had undertaken VAWG training.

Councillor Miri asked how officers sought to identify and engage with women and girls in fear of violence and who might need assistance, noting that there were many in the meeting who could offer advice and guidance about this.  Mo Basith described an incident where LET officers had supported a drunk female and remained with her until a family member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This report provides PAC Members with the opportunity to scrutinise the work and performance of the Council’s Gangs Violence and Exploitation Unit (GVEU) reviewing its work and progress since its establishment in September 2020.

The Gangs, Violence and Exploitation Unit – Gemma Lightfoot

The Chair welcomed Gemma Lightfoot and colleagues from voluntary sector, Michael Defoe and Charlie Rigby.  Gemma Lightfoot briefly described the remit of the Gangs Violence and Exploitation Unit (GVEU) established in 2020, responding to increased rates of violent crime and with a primary focus on serious youth crime working with young people between the ages of 10 to 25 years in the borough.  The team’s staffing structure included a dedicated data analyst, two anti-social behaviour (ASB) co-ordinators and four outreach workers.  Outreach support work aligned with a need for enforcement through injunctions and behaviour orders, and this work was underpinned by proactive and reactive criminal network analysis. 

The breadth and depth of the GVEU remit was set out in the report and emphasised the value and importance of early intervention in addition to enforcement, as indicated by key performance indicators across the community (not just young people).  The primary aim was to reduce violent crime committed by young people.  Key data highlights were set out in paragraph 26 and 28 of the report and in addition, included:

• Outreach work with 1500 young people
• 251 Norton classified domestic violence assault of injuries or murder offences committed by young people aged between 10-24 years, October 2021 to September 2022
• Following three unrelated murders in 2019, there had not been a murder recorded in the borough since February 2021(paragraph 25)

Reported in paragraph 30 of the report, data on serious injuries caused by youth violence explicitly demonstrated that this was a difficult period of post-pandemic recovery.  The pandemic had greatly impacted crime figures and it was important to understand this in the broader context of the Unit’s operational work.  Paragraph 34 of the report detailed the development work undertaken to produce a vulnerability tracker, collaborating with youth justice colleagues, police and colleagues in children’s services.  There was a clear correlation between vulnerable young people, and gangs and exploitation linked violence.  The tracker allowed the GVEU to implement early interventions and preventative work with young people at the earliest opportunity. 

A key success was a bid to the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), MOPAC (Mayors Office for Policing and Crime). The funding would support targeted interventions in South Fulham as there were serious concerns about youth crime in the area.  Community empowerment to utilise the Council’s new Sands End Arts & Community Centre (SEACC) was welcomed by parents of young people in the area with coffee mornings that offered a safe space to meet and talk. The funding also supported a late night youth project on Friday evenings, based at Sands End Youth Club and delivered by The Harrow Club. 

The totality of the programme delivered in Sands End showcased the value of preventative work and investment to achieve the dual outcomes of protecting young people and developing a safe and supportive community environment through a range of projects, including one that had successfully channelled and nurtured the musical and creative interests of young people. Due to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

This report provides PAC Members with the opportunity to scrutinise the council’s approach to responding to and preventing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) in H&F. In particular this, report focuses on the support services provided to women and girls experiencing domestic abuse.

Council’s strategy on Violence Against Women and Girls – Beth Morgan

Councillor Nikos Souslous welcome Beth Morgan and a range of organisations who kindly contributed to the discussion.   The council’s response to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) has been a key administration commitment and 2021 saw the appointment of Annabel Moores, Violence Against Women and Girls Lead followed by the publication of the council’s coproduced VAWG strategy 2022-25 in March 2022 setting out a five year action plan (included in the agenda pack).  A fundamental aspect of the work was that it adopted a co-ordinated community response incorporating multiple agency support involving all partners and not just the council in tackling offences.  Focusing on the three key elements of refuge and safe accommodation, commissioning of domestic abuse support services (Angelou Partnership) and survivor consultation (Women and Girls Network) the approach emphasised collaborative engagement between partners in addition to placing survivor engagement at the heart of the commissioning process.  Performance monitoring data was appended to the report.  

Beth Morgan also announced that since the publication of the agenda the Greater London Authority Domestic Abuse Safe Accommodation Fund had verbally confirmed funding in H&F for 2023/24. 

Consideration of the report by the Committee had been timed to coincide with the annual, international 16 days of activism event which would run from 25 November – 10 December 2022.  This aimed to highlight gender-based violence, and this year also overlapped with the commencement of the men’s football World Cup.  High profile football tournaments and similar events unfortunately often also recorded a spike in domestic abuse offenses.  Local events to mark the 16 days of activism had been scheduled and a final list would shortly be confirmed.  These included a workshop on allyship and bystander intervention looking at the role of the community in tackling abuse against women and girls, particularly in the public realm. Webinars for practitioners were also planned which aimed to raise awareness of harmful practices, the “Ask Angela” scheme was being further promoted with licensed premises across the borough and the council was also hosting an event in solidarity with women in Iran.  A communications campaign to raise awareness about VAWG services was also being implemented.

Advance – Laura Dix

Laura Dix outlined the work of the organisation, established in 1998, with their main offices located in H&F.  The two key aims of the charity were to support women who had experienced domestic abuse and who also had experience of navigating the criminal justice system, often there was a crossover with women going through both experiences.  The Angelou Partnership worked as a consortium of organisations, which included Advance, to collectively support women and girls who experienced domestic violence and abuse (DVA).  Advance consisted of independent domestic violence advisors who worked with women aged 13 plus.  Typically, advisors worked with individuals for about 3-6 months, walking alongside the person during what was potentially the most challenging time in their lives and complemented by specialist advisors providing support on mental  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The committee to discuss potential work programme items within the remit of its terms of reference.

Committees discussed suggested items for the next meeting which included:

• The council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy;
• To scrutinise the police and their contribution to supporting local communities, and the community organisations they work in partnership with to achieve this;
• Mental Health services in the context of the two items discussed (GVEU and DVA), although it was recognised that this fell within the remit of the Health, Inclusion and Social Care Policy and Accountability;
• The impact of the cost of living on community safety, although it was recognised that this was a key cross cutting theme being tackled across the council; and
• To achieve insights into causal factors of social inclusion by considering the work and contributions of community and faith leaders in helping to prevent crime.

Tuesday, 24 January 2023

Tuesday, 21 March 2023

24 January 2023*.

(*this date was later amended to 1 February 2023)