Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Councillor Dafydd Meurig

To consider the report

The Senior Operational Officer of the Gwynedd and Anglesey Community Safety Partnership presented a report which updated the Committee on the Partnership's work. It was explained that the Partnership was required to report formally to the Committee every year, presenting an overview of the Partnership's main strategic developments over the year, together with the commissioning work that sets the framework for the priorities that were based on a strategic assessment. She added that this ensured that the Partnership fulfilled its obligations in accordance with sections of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2006, by working with the Police, the Health Service, the Probation Service and the Fire and Rescue Service.  She highlighted the main messages resulting from the activities undertaken in 2018/19 together with the year's main achievements. 

The main milestones for 2019 – 2020 were highlighted and the Scrutiny Committee was asked to support the priorities listed in the report together with the future direction of the work. 

In response to a question regarding the 13.5% increase in victim-based offences in Gwynedd, the analysis indicated that this was due to the increased effectiveness of the process of recording offences rather than an increase in offending. It was added that changes to the recording of some cases such as stalking and harassment had contributed to the increase, as now every stage of the crime/relevant case was counted rather than it just being recorded as a single offence / case. It was also noted that the number of people coming forward to report offences had increased.

In response to a question regarding the Most Similar Groups, which were a Group of Counties that are similar in respect of offending levels, it was reported that there were eight counties in the group and that full information about the group was available from the Home Office's website. She added that the information was updated every quarter.

In response to a comment regarding the intention to try to identify a new site in Bangor for substance misuse treatment, this was corrected by the Officer who stated that the aim was for the building to be a base for the Substance Misuse services to work from, which was a plan being led by the Health Board.

In response to the status of training completed on domestic abuse in accordance with Welsh Government requirements, she added that it was a challenge to deliver the training and that every effort was being made to ensure that all Council staff completed the basic level of training. It was noted that the training was statutory and that it was delivered through the E-learning service – it was added that we should seek better ways of reaching the target and consider innovative methods of doing so. The Council would report to the Welsh Government on the number who have completed the training and the Learning and Development Unit will keep a record.

In response to a question regarding concerns about the influence of gangs on local communities, it was reported that the Police were working hard to tackle County Lines. It was suggested that it would be useful for the Police to present information on this work to the Members.

            RESOLVED:

·         to accept the report

·         to support the priorities and the Partnership's direction of work to the future.