Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“1.0Relevant Background Information

 

1.1Members will be aware that the previous Community Safety Partnership and District Policing Partnership were dissolved in March 2012 and in their place a new Policing and Community Safety Partnership established.

 

1.2In Belfast there is an over-arching Policing and Community Safety Partnership, and four District Policing and Community Safety Partnerships; one in each of the north, south, east and west of the city.  Their membership is made up of:

 

·       Elected members - from each of the parties in Council

 

·       Independent members - who are appointed through a public appointments process and are representative of the wider community

 

 

·       Designated organisations:

 

o   Formal - these are statutory organisations required by statute to sit on PCSPs across NI.   The DOJ is currently undertaking consultation to this effect and it is proposed that 7 statutory organisations will be formally designated i.e. compelled to participate.   These organisations are PSNI, NIHE, PBNI, YJA, NIFRS, ELBs and the health family.

 

o   Local - The PCSP and DPCSPs also have the opportunity to locally designate additional organisations. 

 

1.3The political and independent members who sit on the (D)PCSP also form a ‘Policing Committee’, which carries out a distinct role in relation to monitoring police performance and obtaining the cooperation of the public with the police. 

 

1.4The role of the PCSP is to:

 

§  obtain the views of the public about matters concerning policing;

 

§  act as a general forum for discussion and consultation on matters affecting policing and enhancing community safety;

§  prepare plans for reducing crime and enhancing community safety;

 

§  identify and measure performance against targets;

 

§  provide financial or other support to  ventures designed to reduce crime or enhance community safety

 

§  Provide views to the District Commander and vice versa

 

§  Inform local policing plans

 

§  Encourage cooperation with police

 

1.5       Importantly, it is hoped that the new structure will harness the best characteristics of the previous DPP and CSP, such as responsiveness, innovation, political and public engagement, whilst improving on previous flaws such as burdensome administration.  An annual funding package has been provided from the DOJ/NIPB to support the work of the PCSP this is being directed towards local service delivery as much as possible.  To that extent DPCSPs have been allocated a combined total of £500,000 (£125,000 each) for 12/13 and it is anticipated that, as was the case in the CSP, the partnership will leverage considerable additional funding.

 

1.6The Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the partnerships for the first 12 months are as follows:

 

§  PCSP - Cllr Jim McVeigh (Chair), John MacVicar (Vice-Chair)

§  North - Cllr Gareth McKee (Chair), Bronach Graham (Vice-Chair)

§  South – Cllr Tom Ekin (Chair), Nuala Toman

Vice-Chair)

§  East – Cllr Claire Hanna (Chair), Mark Houston

(Vice-Chair)

§  West – Cllr Matt Garrett (Chair), Harry Connolly

(Vice-Chair)

 

1.7The organisations that will be invited to attend, as discussed by the (D)PCSPs to date, are also listed in Appendix 1.

 

2.0Key Issues

 

2.1The new Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP) met for the first time on 31^st May 2012 followed shortly afterwards by the inaugural meetings of the north, south, east and west District Policing and Community Safety Partnerships.

2.2At these initial meetings the PCSP and DPCSPs agreed a transitional plan, and associated funding commitments, for the initial months of operation; or until such time as the Partnerships can put in place longer-term action plans.

 

2.3The transitional plan supports a number of  initiatives such as:

 

§  Small grants - £150,000 has been awarded following an open call for applications.  Funding has gone to over 50 groups and has supported a range of community-led initiatives such as midnight soccer, youth drop-in centres, cross community projects and inter-generational initiatives

 

§  Mobile CCTV – the PCSP has allocated a small resource to support the use of mobile CCTV over the summer.  This has been successfully used at a number of key public events and within the city centre at the beginning of the cruise liner season

§  Intervention and diversionary work – the PCSP and DPCSPs has supported a range of initiatives in communities over the July and August period to help reduce interface  and community tensions

 

§  Advocacy and support services for victims of hate crime – the PCSP is working with the Peace III funded Tension Monitoring project to support advocacy services for victims of crime within the LGB&T community

 

§  Obtaining cooperation with the police - the PCSP continues to support community-led structures such as PACTs, CPLCs and local community safety structures in their work.  The partnership is also exploring making additional funding available for initiatives which specifically offer communities and the police opportunities to work together to improve relations and in so doing enhance community safety

 

§  The PCSP did however decide not to utilise the funding from the Joint Committee to support staff overtime costs for alcohol enforcement work with the PSNI stating that this should be met by Departmental budgets.

 

2.4Over coming months the PCSP and DPCSPs will be developing more robust and relevant area-based action plans for the period until March 2014, reflecting local priorities and allocating available resources.  The DPCSPs will then have responsibility for ensuring delivery against these local action plans and will be required to report on performance to the PCSP on a regular basis.  The PCSP will also develop an action plan; though its focus will be on city-wide or strategic issues.  The PCSP will also play a role in lobbying for service or policy improvements that will enhance community safety and also seek the strategic commitment of partner organisations towards service delivery.

 

2.5A joint Committee, consisting of representatives from the DOJ and NIPB has been established to oversee the functioning PCSPs and will request regular performance and financial updates.  These will be made available to both Council and the public.

 

2.6The PCSP and DPCSPs will also hold public events whereby communities have the opportunity to engage with the PCSP and the police; as well as receive feedback on performance information on key community safety issues.

 

2.7As the role and work of the (D)PCSP has strategic implications for the Council and will also be relevant to the Area Working Groups, future reports on the (D)PCSP will be brought to Strategic Policy and Resources Committee.  Those reports relating to the community safety functions carried out using Council resources will still be brought through the Health and Environmental Services Committee.

 

3.0Resource Implications

 

3.1The Joint Committee has allocated Belfast £776,000 for the 2012/2013 period.  The PCSP has agreed that £500,000 of this should be made available to support service delivery by the DPCSPs.  The remaining £276,000 will support staffing and partnership support costs and reflects the previous external funding commitment to the former DPP and CSP.

 

4.0Equality Implications

 

4.1None

 

5.0Recommendations

 

5.1The Committee is asked to note the report.”

 

            The Committee noted the contents of the report.