Safer Solihull Working together for a safer Solihull NOTES FROM SAFER SOLIHULL BOARD MEETING 4 JUNE 2015 16:00-18:20 VANESSA CARROLL SUITE, SOLIHULL POLICE STATION Present: Cllr Karen Grinsell (Chair), Dave Dixon, Daniel Garcia, Kobina Hall (Community rehabilitation company), Jean Hamilton, Cllr Eric Knibb, Alex Murray (West Midlands Police), Sarah Mushtaq, Ian O Donnell, Cllr Jeff Potts, Nasheima Sheikh (Voluntary Community Services) Officers In Attendance: Gill Crabbe, Jim Harte, Sara Rooney, Hannah Colson (Notes), Caroline Murray (Item 3) Apologies: Cllr Len Cresswell, Alethea Fuller, Rosie Luce, Lindsay Melvin, Denis Murphy 1 Welcome, Introduction and Apologies Chief Superintendent Alex Murray welcomed everyone to the meeting. Following the appointment of the new Chair, Councillor Grinsell (see point 2 below), round the table introductions took place and apologies were noted. 2 Appointment of Chair Chief Superintendent Alex Murray welcomed Councillor Grinsell to the meeting, and invited her in to be appointed as the new Chair of the Safer Solihull Board following her recent appointment as the Council s Cabinet Lead for Stronger Communities and Partnerships, which includes the remit of the Community Safety agenda. Councillor Grinsell formally thanked Councillor Mrs Diana Holl-Allen MBE for her commitment to this Board over the years and that of the wider Community Safety work in Solihull. The Board asked to note their appreciation to Councillor Mrs Diana Holl-Allen MBE as the outgoing Chair.
Councillor Grinsell introduced herself to the Board, and noted the good work which has taken place over the past 12 months to reduce the number of total recorded crime. She went on to note that these are challenging but exciting times ahead, and the importance of having the community voice represented on this board and asked Board members to continue to promote the work of the partnership and get the message out to communities that we all have a role to play in the community safety of Solihull. The Board appointed Councillor Grinsell as the Chair of the Safer Solihull Partnership Board. 3 Domestic Homicide Update Report The Independent Chair Mrs Anne Cole was not able to attend the meeting to present her report. Gillian Crabbe and Caroline Murray, both panel members from the Domestic Homicide review Panel provided Board members with a brief overview of the main headlines within the Executive Summary of the Domestic Homicide Report. Gillian explained to the Board that this is the first report the Safer Solihull Board has had to commission following the change in legislation which gave Community Safety Partnership s the responsibility to commission a review following a Domestic Homicide incident. The Board had a lengthy discussion about the contents of the report and the four recommendations within the report. These specific comments were noted and Gillian Crabbe advised she would go back to the Author, Anne Cole, with the feedback from the Board. In conclusion of the discussion Gillian Crabbe asked Board members to acknowledge the time and resources needed to complete Domestic Homicide Reviews and asked that for any future reports agencies prioritise and put additional resources (if required) into this work so that momentum is not lost. Sara Rooney and Eric Knibb agreed to meet up outside the meeting on a number of issues which had arisen through discussions in the meeting. The Board received the report and supporting papers and agreed its contents. They wished for their observations to be relayed back to the Independent Chair Mrs Anne Cole following today s discussions. Sara Rooney to meet up with Eric Knibb 2
4 Finance Gillian Crabbe opened the discussion by informing the Board of progress the Safer Solihull Finance working group has made; and circulated a document detailing the costs for each of the existing commissioned services. Gillian Crabbe noted that with the exception of the Drug Intervention Programme and a possible opportunity for a reduction in the ASB service, none of the other commissioned services have noted that they can accept a reduction in budget to deliver their service. It was noted that if all services were funded as normal for this year using the PCC Community Safety Fund and income from reserves that projects will be at risk next year (2016/17). The Board had a discussion about proposing a % reduction in all commissioned services but agreed this would not be practical as some of the services are salary costs so it is difficult to cut budgets by a certain amount. Following a discussion all Board members agreed that the best way forward was for the Funding Group to meet up before the next Board meeting in July and come up with a set of proposals for all existing commissioned services, setting out that there is a zero based budget for 2016/17 and that all services need to present a business case for funding, as the Safer Solihull Partnership needs to make a 50,000 saving next year. The business case needs to set out what has the greatest impact and what is the biggest threat if the service wasn t funded etc. It was also agreed that the Funding Group would look at other funding sources, and would help to support agencies to bring in funding. Chief Superintendent Alex Murray suggested that Gillian Crabbe got in touch with Liz Grove to explore this. Kobina Hall commented that it would also be worth getting a message back to the PCC Office about the difficulty in commissioning services on an annual basis, and the need for consistent funding support for this Board over a number of years to enable more efficient commissioning of services. Gillian Crabbe replied to say she has already raised this with the PCC but agreed to reiterate it. Jim Harte suggested that Gillian Crabbe speaks to Sam Gilbert as it is possible some savings could be found through the Integration work which is taking place at the moment between the Local Authority and the Police. Eric Knibb proposed that the Safer Board looks to see if we can bring in funding from external grants. Gillian Crabbe explained that we already do this where possible, including Home Office funding for the MARAC and IDVA. Actions: Gillian Crabbe to convene a meeting of the Safer Solihull Funding Group. 3
Gillian Crabbe to meet with Liz Grove to explore opportunities for supporting agencies to bring in funding from other external sources. Gillian Crabbe to contact the PCC Office and reiterate the need for sustainable funding for the Board to help with efficient commissioning of services. Gillian Crabbe to arrange to meet with Sam Gilbert to discuss any potential opportunities for savings with the Integration Project. Caroline Himmons to add Finance to the agenda for the next meeting in July. 5 Local Police and Crime Plan Fair Treatment Assessment Inspector Gary Haywood provided the Board with a short presentation on the Solihull Local Police and Crime Plan for 2015/16 Fair Treatment Assessment (FTA) (also known as a Equality Impact Assessment) including: The FTA process aims to prevent discrimination against people who are categorised as being disadvantaged or vulnerable. How the Local Police and Crime Plan impacts on equality and diversity within the following areas: 1. Age 2. Carers 3. Disability 4. Mental Health 5. Gender reassignment 6. Looked after children/care leavers 7. Marriage/Civic Partnerships 8. Pregnancy/maternity 9. Race/ethnicity 10. Religion/belief/faith 11. Sex/gender 12. Sexual Orientation 13. Socio-economic disadvantage 14. People with an offending past The actions identified as a result of completing the FTA as listed in section 15 of the FTA. Inspector Gary Haywood advised the Board he will be pulling a working group together involving representatives from the five statutory agencies on this Board to ensure the actions identified as a result of the FTA are addressed. Inspector Gary Haywood noted to the Board that the FTA will sit alongside the Local Police 4
and Crime Plan 2015/16 and the Safer Solihull Strategic Assessment, with the aim to increase trust and confidence amongst the population of Solihull. Gillian Crabbe added that the FTA will be published alongside the Local Police and Crime Plan. The Board noted the Local Police and Crime Plan 2015/16 FTA and thanked Inspector Gary Haywood for his work in pulling this together and following through on the actions. 6 Board Work Plan Due to lack of time to discuss the Board Work Plan in depth, it was agreed by Board members that Gillian Crabbe would circulate electronically the list of 22 agenda items (as circulated with the papers for today s meeting) and ask Board members to vote for whether each item should be considered as: Core business For comments and/or observations For challenge and/or support For information purposes only Jim Harte suggested that Gillian Crabbe identified within the list of 22 which were essential business of the Board e.g. statutory, to help with the voting process. Gillian Crabbe to circulate the Board work plan list and ask Board members to vote on the items against the criteria above. 7 Police and Crime Commissioner office update As Aletha Fuller was unable to attend the meeting it was agreed an update from the Police and Crime Commissioner s Office would be circulated to Board members electronically. Gillian Crabbe to circulate the electronic update to board members. 8 Performance Year End Review The Board noted the end of year summary for the 2014/15 Safer Solihull scorecard. A key success for 2014/15 has been the 4.4% reduction in total recorded crime, which equates to 528 fewer victims of crime in Solihull compared with 2013/14. 5
The Safer Solihull 2014/15 scorecard was noted. 9 Minutes of the meeting held on the 26th March & matters arising The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting. Gillian Crabbe provided Board members with an update on the action regarding a satisfaction measure for ASB. Gillian advised that SCH are working on developing this and have been in discussions with House Mark business intelligence and other ASB teams. Gillian offered Board members the opportunity to sit on the discussions on this with SCH. It was noted that the Board s current vacancies have been advertised via social media and discussions are in progress around having a faith representative on this Board. Jim Harte suggested contacting Solihull BID for a business replacement following Trish Willets leaving the Board. It was noted all other actions were being picked up within the agenda. Actions: Board members to let Gillian know if they would like to be part of the SCH discussions around a satisfaction measure on ASB. Gillian Crabbe to progress the suggestions around additional members for the Board. 10 AOB It was agreed that the Board would keep the meetings as 4:00-6:00pm. Caroline Himmons to provide Board members with the details of future Board meeting dates, times and venues. 6