BRIDGEND COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL

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Item 4 Appendix B
BRIDGEND COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL

REPORT TO THE CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY
COMMITTEE

18th FEBRUARY 2008

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF REGENERATION

COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP & SECTION 17 UPDATE FOR SCRUTINY

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 To update the committee on the progress made in relation to Section 17 of the
Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and the Community Safety Partnership.

2. Connection to Corporate Improvement Plan / Other Corporate Priority

2.1 Community Safety and Section 17 issues comply with the Community Strategy aims
to:
 Improve quality of life for all; and
 Have safer communities.

3. Background

3.1 As Members are aware a number of awareness raising sessions have occurred in
relation to Section 17 and the role of the Community Safety Partnership. This has
included issuing copies of the Section 17 Awareness Raising presentation to
members at the Extraordinary Council Meeting in November 2006. This
presentation was delivered to Councillors over 6 sessions during April 2006 (of
which 22 out of 54 Councillors attended), it was also delivered to the Regeneration
Enterprise Board (REB), some Directorate Management teams and the licensing
sub-committee. In addition the Community Safety Partnership has produced
annual newsletters that outline overall performance. This report therefore outlines
what further work has been done to further this process.

4. Current Situation

4.1 Many of the points stated in the January 2007 Section 17 update remain in place
and are on-going projects. The only point that has been discarded is the Single Non
Emergency Number (SNEN) due to the withdrawal of Government financial
support.

4.2 The values and objectives relating to the Council’s responsibilities to the reduction
of Crime and Disorder are being cascaded through the Community Safety
Partnership representatives. This is achieved by the Community Safety and
Welfare officer currently attending key partnership meetings including:

 PACT/Quality of Life and Late Night Economy task groups;
 The Community Safety Partnership Executive Group and Youth Offending
Team Management Board;

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Item 4 Appendix B
 Safer Bridgend Camera Partnership; and
 The Marketing and Communications sub group.

4.3 The Safer Bridgend website went live on November 20th 2006, a publicity event was
held at the McArthur Glen Outlet, Bridgend, to promote the website. Cabinet
Members have been informed of the new website and how it can assist in providing
relevant community safety information.

4.4 Section 17 ‘Working together: A guide for members and Council staff’ has been
designed and has been distributed to the Chief Executive, Directors, 52 elected
members, and other relevant personnel in 2007. A second batch of these guides
has been printed and will be distributed to new senior management post holders.
The guide was also placed on to the Bridgenders intranet website for all staff to
access and an insert will be included in all March 2008 payslips. It will also be
included within the Corporate Induction training packs from January 2008.

4.5 The Police Liaison Architect Officer now links in with the Planning Service every
Friday to consult with BCBC on planning applications, utilising the ‘Secure by
design’ methodology of crime prevention. This is an example of how we are
working in partnership to comply with Section 17 by designing out crime.

4.6 A PACT Steering Group (PSG) has been established and has met on a number of
occasions. The PSG will become a key strategic group looking at key priorities and
other important matters affecting PACT. Areas that have already been analysed
are:
 the top three priorities across the whole of Bridgend, which were quality of
life issues such as dog fouling, parking and speeding; and
 the disparities between anti-social behaviour and youth annoyance,
identifying that not all youth annoyance is anti-social behaviour, in some
areas resources must be invested to provide services to young people.

This approach has been highlighted as an example of ‘best practice’ and is
currently being adopted by other Local Authorities across South Wales.

4.7 The partnership working with the Visible Unpaid Work team of the National
Probation Service will continue throughout 2008 with many innovative projects,
which will benefit the communities across Bridgend, whilst assisting both the
Council and the Probation Service. A full report of the success of this scheme, with
up-to-date statistics since the inception in October 2006 is available.

4.8 The Street Pastor Scheme is also continuing to be a huge success with many
benefits to the Council, South Wales Police and members of the public. There are
now approximately 30 Street Pastors Volunteers, who patrol the streets of Bridgend
Town Centre every Friday night. They have recently been involved with the
successful Triage Centre initiative that was opened at Hope Chapel the busy
weekend before Christmas. This is hoped to be continued in 2008 on major
sporting event days and other busy periods.

4.9 An alley-gating opportunity within Maesteg and Bridgend town centres is being
investigated. Consultation with local residents forms a major part of this process.
Legislative issues are also being looked at to enable a scheme to be taken forward.

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Item 4 Appendix B
4.10 Safer Bridgend continue to publish their Community Safety Partnership Newsletter,
informing residents across the borough about the work that the partnership has
conducted within the last 12 months and results achieved. This will also support the
Council’s Bulletin.

4.11 The Community Safety Partnership have utilised a Marketing Officer to increase the
awareness of Neighbourhood Policing, the Community Safety Partnership and
community safety initiatives. A number of articles have been published in the Welsh
Assembly Government Crime Reduction Newsletter, NCSN newsletter (National
Community Safety Network), BCBC Bulletin and the South Wales Police Bulletin.
The above marketing officer now has a more active role and is dedicated to
branding the CSP over the next few months, making the public and partner
agencies aware of the work that they are involved in, this will include greater
targeting of all BCBC staff.

4.12 The implications of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 review are still to be approved
by the Welsh Assembly Government and guidelines issued to Partnerships.
However, one of the key areas that the Community Safety Partnership is already
following is that of the Accountability Framework to increase the awareness around
the issues relating to community safety, including PACT, via annual newsletters,
Safer Bridgend website and marketing the brand of the CSP. This ‘Accountability
Framework’ will enable the Local Authority and members to be more accountable
and have a better understanding of community safety business.

4.13 There are now core steering groups within the Community Safety Partnership
covering the following key areas:
 Substance misuse
 Quality of life
 Motor vehicle crime
 Acquisitive crime
 Late night economy
 Public protection
 CSP marketing and communications group
 Prolific and priority offenders

5. Effect upon Policy Framework & Procedure Rules

5.1 None.

6. Legal Implications

6.1 Bridgend County Borough Council are complying with Section 17 of the Crime and
Disorder Act 1998.

7. Financial Implications

7.1 None.

8. Conclusions

8.1 That scrutiny note the ongoing work in relation to the Community Safety Partnership
and Section 17 issues.

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Item 4 Appendix B

Louise Fradd
Director of Regeneration
31st January 2008

Contact Officer: Emma-Louise Maher
Community Safety and Welfare Officer

Telephone: (01656) 679930