Themes:
Domestic Abuse Services
SASBU performance/Anti-social behaviour on estates
Noise team targets
Protection of minors - alcohol, tobacco
Alcohol saturation zones
Community Warden Service
General crime statistics for Southwark - the long-term trends
Proposals for police stations/offices
Southwark's response to IPPC report re Walworth's Sapphire operation
Proposals for CCTV installation
Minutes:
5.1 The cabinet member councillor Richard Livingstone updated the sub-committee on the fire that had taken place in the old Walworth Town Hall today and stated that he hoped to receive updates during the course of the meeting. Substantial damage to the roof and old council chamber had been reported and Cumming archive may have been lost.
5.2 The sub-committee were also informed that the fire was still burning inside the building and the roof had collapsed, some artifacts have been saved and as yet there was no idea of how the fire started.
5.3 The chair thanked the cabinet member for the update and started the interview by opening the meeting with questions for the cabinet member.
5.4 A member asked about SASBU performance and anti-social behaviour on estates as well as what the future was for SASBU.
5.5 The Cabinet members reported that the overall number of ASB the council was dealing with has increased from 1474 in 2011/12 to 1884 in 2012/13, he also explained that cases were being dealt with effectively. There had also been an increase in injunctions and number of evictions for ASB.
5.6 He further reported that even though smaller resources were available they were used far more effectively and the outcomes were pleasing, work had been up-skilled and joined up e.g. Anti-social team working together with Housing and Police resulting in the closure of a number of drug dens.
5.7 A member asked how have the cuts impacted on performance over the last 3 years?
5.8 There had been a increase in cases and better outcomes, improved partnership work between the police and council e.g. the work on Manor Estate, and the need to continue to get smarter about partnership working and think about the use of capital e.g. using CCTV effectively on the estate.
5.9 A member asked how the performance of the noise team and number of staff been affected and are they meeting their targets?
5.10 95% of time scale for non-essential and 75% for essential (attending within an hour), the cabinet member reported that Southwark offers a more substantial service than other boroughs. The service consists of 16 staff and provide 135 working hours per week, the gap in service was presently 2% outside working hours.
5.11 The chair asked who collected the performance data?
5.12 The sub-committee were informed that noise reports to CSC and the team then produce reports which provides robust data they are backed up by the courts and tracked. The cabinet member explained that only 2% of calls come outside operating hours but agreed it will never hit 100%.
5.13 The chair asked why only 75% for essential performance?
5.14 Members were informed it could be for all sorts of reason e.g. someone who didn’t want to wait up in the early hours for a call out.
5.15 The cabinet member was asked what is essential and non-essential? He explained that low level noise e.g. construction would be non-essential, noisy party would be essential. Some builders start work earlier than they should and it’s more effective for the noise team to go round during the day when the site management will be present to address questions.
5.16 The chair asked about domestic abuse and the issue regarding the scale of workload for the domestic abuse caseworkers? He had met with during the scrutiny and had been informed that one extra caseworker could make a big difference to the quality of service they are able to provide, was there any progress on that?
5.17 The sub-committee were informed that the strain on the team had been recognised and a bid had been submitted to MOPAC with the hope to get some additional resources. The cabinet member also confirmed that the domestic abuse support worker had been placed with the police since November 2012. The SOLACE worker basing themselves once a fortnight with the police.
5.18 A sub-committee member asked had we received a formal response from Southwark to the Sapphire report?
5.19 It was stated that no formal response had been received as yet, but the cabinet member reported to have met with the Borough Commander and local MPs and was concerned that they’d not heard about it till the IPCC report came out. He undertook to share the letter from the Borough Commander and stated there were 2 encouraging signs which were the method of compiling statistics had changed and the police no longer counted % clear up rate but overall successful conclusion of cases so the incentive is to clear up more and more cases.
5.20 Sapphire is now dealt with at a London wide basis rather than within local CID so there is more capacity and training as well as staff are moved around according to need, local MPs were very critical of the police and told them they need to work at rebuilding confidence and looking at Harriet Harmens suggestion of getting in an independent person to review the cases.
5.21 A sub-committee member asked how does Southwark compare to other boroughs and are there any trends?
5.22 The problem was across the Metropolitan area, but especially at Walworth because of the individual who was trying to manage the statistics, this situation is now improving.
5.23 The sub-committee felt the focus needs to be on the victims, these cases are very complex and SSP attention has referred to looking at the quality of support services.
5.24 The chair requested that the cabinet member give a big picture of statistics and trends for Southwark?
5.25 The cabinet member reported that the total notifiable offences were down around 5.8% in the last year, he was especially pleased with the drop in violent crime (25%) from 8,007 to 5,992 (2,015 fewer offences), but this is still one of the highest in London.
5.26 Domestic violence decreased by 25%, youth violence down 24%, violence with injury down 27%, violence without injury down 25% and serious youth viloence is down 6%.
5.27 Personal robbery up 43%, knife crime increased by 8% and residential burglary is up 4%. Knife crime is still a massive concern in Southwark and has the worse statistics in London, the new Borough Commander talks about tackling the trinity of knife crime, youth crime and violent crimes in the borough. The partnerships are working well to tackle some of this e.g. voluntary organisations who are called in if a youth turns up at Kings with injuries apparently from gang violence.
5.28 A sub-committee member asked what was the reaction to the Mayors crime plan? And why are we not getting more officers to tackle violent crime given it’s a mayor priority.
5.29 Members were informed that the mayor had not taken onboard any of our points. It was also reported that the ward based Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) were disappearing and being replaced with sectoral teams. An example from our own ward of excellent work by SNT was to tackle drug dealing based on concentrated work in one road we will need to work with the Borough Commander to see what can be replicated in the new structure.
5.30 The cabinet member expressed his disppointment that the mayor had not kept his promise on front counters. It was reported that officers were currently working to get some spare space in Seven Islands to provide for police when they vacate Rotherithe police station. Officers were also working with victim support to see what can be done with victim support contact centres to provide more appropriate environment than a generic counter.
5.31 Members were also informed that although 1,200 more police officers were being bought into London, Southwark would only be receiving 2 officers.
5.32 A member asked what was happening with the community wardens?
5.33 It was reported that the community wardens had been downsized since 2011 and were now down to three town centre teams, which were Camberwell, Peckham and Elephant & Castle, though they work beyound the town centres and in the estates nearby. They were also a response team that could be deployed according to need. The expectation is to stick with this structure, although there is an awareness of of the next massive wave of cuts coming through the government, assurances cannot be given beyound the current year.
5.34 The cabinet member reported that money had been put into the night time economy team which have done good work around Bankside and Borough High Street.
5.35 A member stated that people that she worked with did not understand the role of community wardens, their image does the service no favours. There is a need for more publicity about what they do and how to request their services.
5.36 The cabinet member agreed that he used to get very different messages even in his own ward about their value, they have refocussed their efforts and believe they are more effective now they have concentrated e.g. they have been providing community assurances on the Aylesbury following the 2 murders on the estate.
5.37 A member requested a update on the alcohol saturation zones?
5.38 It was reported that Southwark currently had 3 special saturation or cumulative impact policies in place and these were Borough and Bankside, Camberwell and Peckham.
5.39 The saturation areas apply to the following categories of premises, Borough and Bankside – night-clubs, public houses & bars, restaurants & cafes, off-licences, supremarkets, grocers and convenience stores.
5.40 Camberwell and Peckham - night-clubs, public houses & bars, restaurants & cafes, off-licences, supremarkets, grocers and convenience stores.
5.41 The other three areas that area currently under ongoing monitor are Elephant & Castle, Old Kent Road and Walworth Road and East Street. Other areas that have previously been under monitor but never progressed to saturation policies have included Shad Thames and Herne Hill.
5.42 Cumulative impact is considered in terms of the partnership analysis of :-
5.43 The partnership analysis for 2012 has just been published but has not yet been reported to the council’s licensing committee. It is due to go to the next meeting likely to be scheduled for June 2013. Until then the analysis is not public. The 2012 analysis reports the following position in the saturation areas.
5.44 Borough and Bankside
5.45 Camberwell
5.46 Peckham
5.47 The sub-committee were informed that within the areas under current monitor there are some increases in crime figures in both the Elephant & Castle and Old Kent Road areas which the committee will look at in June 2012.
5.48 A member asked how is street drinking on rough sleeping impacted by the policy?
5.49 The sub-committee were informed that street drinking and off licenses were the origin of the saturation zones, there were fewer cases of street drinking in Camberwell Green, but there had been an increase in cases in Peckham Square along with prostitutionand other issues.
5.50 The chair requested an update on protection of minors – alcohol and tobacco?
5.51 It was reported that police cadets were used for the purpose of test purchases which continued to be carried out covering :-
It was confirmed that about 32% of premises fail.
5.52 A member requested a update on CCTV installation?
5.53 It was reported that all street cameras were fully digital now and send pictures to the control rooms at Southwark police station, the current programme is to upgrade all cameras on estates to a similar quality.
5.54 The key problem with cameras on estates is they were put in on a bespoke basis and were monitored in different ways or just recorded and not monitored, all will need to send pictures to the control room so they can be monitored live. A schedule is in place for all systems to be replaced we also have 32 redeployable cameras and we are making use of 7 of them on the Aylesbury at the present time.
5.55 Members were also informed that officers were working closely with Walworth Academy and working with the replacement of the Four Squares system.
5.56 It was noted that the SASBU’s assessment was used as the criteria for replacement cameras in a number of estates located throughout the borough and this information will be circulated to members.
5.57 The chair thanked councillor Livingstone for attending the meeting and for providing the information requested.
The chair suggested a 10 minutes break in the meeting at 8.15 p.m. to recommence at 8.25 p.m.