To provide
an overview to Members of the activities of the Gwynedd and Anglesey Community
Safety Partnership.
Decision:
Resolved:
1.
To accept the report, noting the observations made during the
discussion.
2.
To support the priorities and the future direction of the work.
3.
Recommend that the Partnership add preventative work linked to sexual
offences as a specific priority for the future.
Minutes:
The report was presented by the Cabinet
Member for Adults, Health and Well-being, Senior Manager for Safeguarding,
Quality Assurance and Mental Health, Senior Operational Officer of the Gwynedd
and Anglesey Community Safety Partnership, Statutory Director of Social Services
and Chief Inspector of North Wales Police.
All were reminded that submitting an
annual update on the implementation of the Safety Partnership was a statutory
requirement for Local Authorities in accordance with the Police and Criminal
Justice Act 2002 and 2006.
It was explained that Community Safety
Partnerships had been established in 1988 to ensure that crime and disorder was
considered as a problem for everyone within society, not just for the police.
It was added that the Partnership had a responsibility to formulate and
implement a strategy to prevent and reduce serious violence and this was being
done regionally across north Wales.
It was emphasised that no funds were
permanently allocated for community safety and the Partnership was dependent on
ad-hoc funding opportunities following the submission of detailed bids. It was
noted that the only service directly commissioned by the Partnership were the
Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR). It was explained that the Domestic Homicide
Reviews were a statutory duty as a result of the
Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2024. It was confirmed that two
reviews had been submitted to the Home Office and had been approved. Members
were updated that the Partnership had submitted a bid to the Self-Harm and
Suicide Prevention Fund to deliver a joint project with the Domestic Abuse
Safety Unit, North Wales Police, and the ’Live Fear Free’ helpline to provide
support to victims of domestic abuse. Pride was expressed that this bid had
been approved and the project would be developed during 2025.
Several priority issues were highlighted
for the partnership during 2024-25, based on the regional priorities of the
Safer North Wales Board Strategy. It was explained that these included:
·
Prevention of crime and anti-social
behaviour
·
Tackling violent crime
·
Tackling serious organised crime
·
Safeguarding and building resilient
communities and maintaining public safety.
Data was shared data on several different
types of crime and compared with the 2023/24 data statistics to look if
Gwynedd's statistics were similar to what was seen
across north Wales. It was recognised that there was a significant increase in
the rates of stalking and harassment (+11.5%) and sex offences (+27.9%)
compared with 2023/24 rates. It was considered that this increase derived from
the fact that more cases were being reported as victims were more confident to
do so following recent campaigns. It was added that there was an increase in
the number of offences being reported after more than 12 months had elapsed
since the offence. Reference was also made to hate crime rates, and it was also
noted that these were 16.3% higher in Gwynedd compared to 2023/24. It was
emphasised that a 10.9% increase in this type of crime appeared to be regional.
However, it was assured that the rates of all types of crime were not on the
rise, such as domestic incidents (-1.3% compared to 2023/24) and rates of
individuals offending under the influence of alcohol or drugs (-28.5%
regionally compared to 2023/24).
It was reported that the North Wales
Serious Violence Strategy had been published in January 2024. It was explained
that this Strategy imposed a Serious Violence Duty on specified authorities to
work together to prevent and reduce serious crime in their communities. It was
emphasised that the Partnership had played a central role in developing this
Strategy. The Partnership received £82,000 for this work which was designated
to fund eight new projects.
Pride was expressed that the Partnership
had received £450,000 through the Shared Prosperity Fund to install and upgrade
close circuit television (CCTV) in areas of Caernarfon, Bangor and Pwllheli.
Thanks were given for the close collaboration with the Highways, Engineering
and YGC Department who had been assisting with the installation of the cameras.
It was added that the Partnership intended to submit applications for
additional funding from the Shared Prosperity Fund so that more CCTV cameras
could be installed in other areas of Gwynedd.
An update was given that Public Spaces
Protection Orders had been issued in areas of Caernarfon, Cricieth
and Pwllheli in August 2024 following the Cabinet's approval. It was noted that
these had been introduced to ensure the public felt safe within their
communities and to give police extra powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.
During the discussion, the following
observations were made:-
Concern was raised that the data presented
within the report indicated that sex offences had increased significantly more
in Gwynedd (+27.9%) than regionally (+14.6%) compared to the 2023/24 data. The
Partnership was thanked for the work being done to support victims of sex
offences. However, it was considered that the Partnership should ensure that
preventative work in this area was a future priority to ensure that rates are
reduced. In response to the comments, the Senior Manager for Safeguarding,
Quality Assurance and Mental Health confirmed that preventative work was being
implemented such as the programmes undertaken in schools to learn about
acceptable behaviours and healthy relationships.
The Partnership was congratulated on their
success in refurbishing CCTV systems in the Caernarfon, Bangor and Pwllheli
areas. It was considered that if work was being carried out to assess crime
rates before the new cameras were installed and to compare these to see if this
project had resulted in fewer offences. In response to the comments, the Senior
Operational Officer of the Gwynedd and Anglesey Community Safety Partnership
confirmed that this was an important element of the project and positive data
would give information to support additional applications to the Shared
Prosperity Fund. It was confirmed that the Wavehill
company had been commissioned to ascertain the relevant data and confirm that
the information would be included in the Partnership's 2025/26 annual update,
and it would be possible to share information with this Committee if desired.
Reference was made to the North Wales
Vulnerability and Exploitation Strategy 2021-24 which involved violence against
women, domestic abuse, sexual abuse and modern slavery, and it was asked what
work was taking place to support communities to recognise signs that
individuals were victims of modern slavery. In response to the query, the
Senior Safeguarding, Quality Assurance and Mental Health Manager confirmed that
this work was not being implemented directly by the Partnership but that a
Vulnerability Board was looking into these issues and educating residents on
the awareness of modern slavery and how they could recognise signs that someone
was suffering.
It was highlighted that hate crime was a
growing issue in Gwynedd and regionally, with statistics increasing annually.
In response to a query on how to deal with this challenge, the Senior
Operational Officer of Gwynedd and Anglesey Community Safety Partnership
confirmed that the Partnership was aware of the challenge. It was noted that it
was difficult to deal with this using one specific method as there were several
different aspects to the offences. However, it was emphasised that the
Partnership was working together to develop powerful plans to respond to the
challenge with a view of reducing the number of this type of crime in the
future.
It was considered that rates of domestic,
sexual offences and stalking could fall if more resources were earmarked to
deal with them, such as ensuring more police officers were on patrol in our
communities. In response to the comments, the Senior Operational Officer of the
Gwynedd and Anglesey Community Safety Partnership agreed that this could be an
effective way of lowering the crime rates. However, it was confirmed that the
Welsh Government was responsible for the various grants that fund the Partnership
and there were limits as to how those funds could be spent. It was emphasised
that lobbying work was happening to see an increase in the grants available to
the Partnership this year and that officers were enquiring about the grants’
forecasts for the 2025/26 financial year.
It was noted that house and business
burglary crime statistics were relatively similar to
those seen in 2023/24. It was asked whether it was possible to receive data to
outline how many of these crimes occur in rural settings compared to urban
areas. It was also considered whether any consideration had been given to a
mobile CCTV device which can be used in different areas as required. In
response to the comments, the Senior Operational Officer of Gwynedd and
Anglesey Community Safety Partnership explained that due to the complexity of
the task and that there was only one analyst carrying out the work across north
Wales that this data could not be received for the whole of the County, but
that data could be provided if information about a particular area was
requested. The Chief Inspector elaborated that the Police and CSP welcomed the
idea of a mobile CCTV device but financial
considerations were a barrier to purchase.
It was asked whether the locations where
crime takes place were assessed (such as the quality of the streetlight, if it
was a shaded or hidden area) and being considered following crimes, to consider
improvements to prevent future crime. In response to the question, the Chief
Inspector confirmed that this was a very important part of police
investigations and led to adjustments in the way those spaces were protected.
It was considered whether the increase in
sexual offences figures was due to any changes to crime reporting. In response
to the query the Senior Manager for Safeguarding, Quality Assurance and Mental
Health confirmed that victims felt more confident to report crime following
campaigns to raise awareness about this process. It was added that this has led
to victims reporting historical crimes which had been included in the figures
in the report.
It was mentioned that the statistics
presented in the report reflected the crimes reported. It was discussed that a number of offences had not been included in the report as
no one had reported them, and to consider what work was being done by the
Partnership to try to ensure that as many crimes as possible were detected and
that data was processed annually. In response to the query, the Senior Manager
for Safeguarding, Quality Assurance and Mental Health confirmed that collecting
this data could be challenging but the Partnership was working with support
services such as the Live Fear Free Helpline, North Wales Violence and Sexual
Abuse Support Centre, Gorwel and the Domestic Abuse
Safety Unit (DASU) to be able to consider the type of challenges that affect
them. The Chief Inspector added that offenders were often not caught when
undertaking their first offence and work was being done to try to catch offenders
sooner and to encourage victims to report offences earlier.
The members expressed their thanks for the
report.
RESOLVED
1. To accept the report, noting the observations made during the
discussion.
2. To support the priorities and the future direction of the work.
3.
To recommend that the Partnership
adds preventative work linked to sexual offences as a specific future
priority.
Supporting documents: