Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all present.

Apologies were received from Jay Patel, Tina Salter and Emily Collins.

Marzia Nicodemi noted that there were some inaccuracies in the minutes of the previous meeting and agreed to send an email to the Chair and Democratic Services and Governance Officer to clarify.

RESOLVED – That the Chair be authorised to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2017 as a correct record subject to the circulated amendment below:

The Chair of Croydon S&S CMG commented she felt singled out and believed the minutes of the previous meeting did not reflect what she had said. She represented Croydon S&S CMG within the SNB meetings.

The Chair explained that the Democratic Services and Governance Officer was currently liaising with the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to establish a deadline for the submission of bids. It was agreed that the Democratic Services and Governance Officer would circulate the timetable once agreed to Safer Neighbourhood Board (SNB) members.

The Chair noted that the two main priorities of MOPAC were vulnerable people and knife crime. The Director of Safety explained that the SNB’s priorities should mirror the priorities identified by MOPAC, these were; violence with injury, burglary and antisocial behaviour.

It was suggested that hate crimes should be a priority.

It was agreed that there would be an update report on the bids from 2017-2018 at the next SNB.

The Director of Safety gave a presentation, focusing on anti-social behaviour, and highlighted the following:

·         The Council worked in partnership with the police and a range of different services, including the voluntary sector.

·         The breakdown of the Police Antisocial Behaviour Monitoring showed there was a trend in reduction.

·         The main hotspots for antisocial behaviour were the town centre, Broad Green, Selhurst and New Addington; particularly the Field Way area.

·         There were a large range of potential remedies that could be used.

·         For minor crimes prevention remedies would be used initially before formal enforcement action.

·         There were monthly Joint Action Groups (JAG) meetings, which were attended by various different groups, to discuss long standing issues and appropriate prevention.

·         Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) was a flexible tool used and was intended to ensure that people could use and enjoy public spaces, safe from anti-social behaviour.

·         The Town Centre PSPO was implemented in December 2017 and had ten recorded pour aways, 40 recorded dispersals and one prosecution.

·         New Addington, Thornton Heath and South Norwood were drinking ban zones and if there was sufficient evidence a PSPO could be implemented.

The Director of Safety gave a presentation, focusing on environmental crime and fly-tipping, and highlighted the following:

·         Since the Don't Mess with Croydon campaign was launched there had been a 20% reduction of fly tipping.

·         There were hotspots within the borough for fly-tipping.

·         Over 80% of fly tips were cleared within 48 hours.

·         Approximately 1000 fixed penalty notices were issued per year for fly-tipping and littering.

·         There had been 200 successful prosecutions for environmental offences.

·         Approximately 400 Community Protection Notice (CPN) warning letters had been issued and 52 actual CPNs.

·         35 vehicles involved in waste and fly tipping offences had been confiscated since the legislation was passed in 2015. Croydon Council was now a national leader for confiscating vehicles and often provided briefings and advice at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and for numerous other councils across London and England.

·         The time bandit waste targeted high street businesses and had been rolled out in 25 areas across the borough. It restricted when rubbish could be put out on the street and checked that trade waste agreements were in place.

·         Street Champions were local people who worked alongside Croydon Council and its partners to encourage residents and businesses to recycle more, manage their waste responsibly and reduce instances of environmental crime.

·         There were 345 Street Champions and had over 191 clean up events.

In response to queries from the Board the Director of Safety noted that the council could not choose the level of fine when someone was being prosecuted and this was the decision of the court. It was added that there was a wide range of fines for fly tipping from £100 - £1000.

In response to queries from the Board the Director of Safety explained that the youth offending services, voluntary sectors, probation officers, the police and social services oversaw the gang matrix, a list of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Roxana Preotescu was present from Victim Support and explained that the services provided emotional support for young people and children who were crime related victims. It was noted that the young person did not have to have reported the crime to the police and they did not have to be directly related to the crime as they could be emotionally effected if a family member or friend was a victim.

In response to the SNB Roxana Preotescu explained that Victim Support was currently focusing on intensive one-to-one support. It was added that the service could provide workshops to target a larger, specific audience if there was a demand for this.  

MarziaNicodemi requested that the Terms of Reference were made more user friendly.

It was noted that the date of the next meeting was 14 June 2018 and it was the Annual General Meeting (AGM). The AGM would start at 1830 hours and be in Croydon Town Hall.

The Democratic Services and Governance Officer agreed to circulate the information regarding the vote of the Chair and nomination forms to the SNB Members.