Issue - meetings

Matter for Decision

The Officer’s report set out a draft Cambridge Community Safety Plan 2014-17 (Year Three).  The Committee was asked to provide feedback on the proposed priorities, objectives and delivery of the plan.

 

Decision of the Leader

     i.        Commented on the plan and endorsed the priorities set out in section 3.3 of the Officer’s report.

 

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

 

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Safer Communities Section Manager.

 

The Committee made the following comments in response to the report.

i.             One of last year’s objectives was to improve the reporting rates of domestic abuse crimes, however they could not find any detail within the report as to how effective the priority had been.

ii.            It was noted that a great deal of time could pass before a domestic violence crime was reported therefore it could be difficult to measure the results after a year and difficult to quantify the crime in the same way as other crimes.

iii.           Questioned the mental health impact priority detailed on p157 of the agenda pack.

iv.          Priority 1 on p149 of the agenda referred to a spike in crime in Market and Abbey wards, it was questioned whether this was due to an increase in crime or a change in reporting methodology.

v.           Priority 2 ‘What do we aim to do’ seemed to be very Police lead.

vi.          Priority 4 on p152 detailed a decrease in anti-social behavior. Questioned what assumptions were being drawn.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Safer Communities Section Manager confirmed the following:

i.             Domestic violence incidents had gone up, which was equated to better reporting.

ii.            The mental health report had not been published to date due to restructuring at the County Council.  It was anticipated that the report would be made public after the Cambridge Community Safety Partnership meeting in April 2016.

iii.           It was not conclusively determined whether the spike in crimes in Market and Abbey ward was due to an increase in crimes or an increase in the reporting of crimes (or a combination of both).

iv.          Individuals were spending more time indoors on social media, this may have been why incidents of crime were decreasing, although there was no conclusive evidence of this.

 

The Leader made the following comments:

i.             The top 4 priorities detailed clear issues which affected the City and linked into Area Committees.

ii.            There needed to be better integration of objectives between the Council, the Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner and Area Committees.

iii.           Expressed thanks to Liz Bisset for chairing the Cambridge Community Safety Partnership as she was to stand down from the appointment.  Lorraine Parker was to take this position over.

 

The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse the recommendations.

 

The Leader approved the recommendations.

 

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Leader (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Leader.