Committee Report Checklist 

 

Please submit the completed checklists with your report. If final draft report does not include all the information/sign offs required, your item will be delayed until the next meeting cycle. 

 

Stage 1

Report checklist – responsibility of report owner 

ITEM	Yes / No	Date
Councillor engagement / input from Chair prior to briefing	Yes	03/09/2026
Relevant Group Head review	Yes	11/08/2026
MAT+ review (to have been circulated at least 5 working days before Stage 2)	Yes	20/08/2026
This item is on the Forward Plan for the relevant committee	yes
	Reviewed by
Finance comments (circulate to Finance)	yes	20/08/2026
Risk comments (circulate to Lee O’Neil)	yes	20/08/2026
Legal comments (circulate to Legal team)	LH	02/09/2026
HR comments (if applicable)	n/a

 

For reports with material financial or legal implications the author should engage with the respective teams at the outset and receive input to their reports prior to asking for MO or s151 comments.

 

Do not forward to stage 2 unless all the above have been completed. 

 

Stage 2

Report checklist – responsibility of report owner 

ITEM	Completed by	Date rec’d
Monitoring Officer commentary – at least 5 working days before MAT	L Heron	02/09/26
S151 Officer commentary – at least 5 working days before MAT	T.Collier	20/08/26
Commissioner engagement	JK	No issues
Confirm final report cleared by MAT	8/9/26

 

 

Community Wellbeing & Housing Committee  

Date of meeting : 29^th September 2026

Title	Review of Community Safety Partnership Plan & Priorities 2026
Purpose of the report	To inform and assure.
Report Author	Will Jack – Community Safety Manager
Ward(s) Affected	All Wards
Exempt	No
Exemption Reason	Not applicable
Corporate Priority	Community
Recommendations	Committee is asked to: Receive the progress update contained in this report.
Reason for Recommendation	This report informs the Committee of current crime levels, highlights areas of improvement or concern, and outlines ongoing initiatives to reduce crime and enhance public safety across the Borough. It provides Members with an update on crime statistics in Spelthorne for the 2025/26 reporting year, summarises key trends and progress to date, and sets out actions taken with Surrey Police and other community safety stakeholders.

 

1.            Executive summary of the report

What is the situation	Why we want to do something
•      The Community Safety team has an agreed Community Safety Priorities and Action Plan in place.	•      To provide the Committee with a progress update on the Community Safety Partnership Plan and priorities.
Proposed action	Next steps
•      To undertake annual review of the Action Plan.	•      Consider and note the update report.

 

2.            Key issues

2.1         Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 requires local authorities and other responsible authorities to work together to reduce crime and disorder, tackle anti-social behaviour, and minimise re-offending in local areas.

2.2         Under section 6(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, as amended, responsible authorities for a local government area are required to formulate and implement: a strategy for the reduction of crime and disorder in the area, including anti-social and other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment; a strategy for combatting the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances in the area; a strategy for reducing re-offending in the area; and a strategy for preventing people from becoming involved in serious violence and reducing instances of serious violence in the area.

2.3         The Act also gives statutory responsibility to local authorities, the police and key partners to reduce crime and disorder in their communities, with local authorities required to lead the production of a comprehensive Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy.

2.4         The Police Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 creates a Serious Violence Duty which requires organisations to work together to share information, analyse the local needs of an area, and to come up with solutions, including the publication of a strategy to prevent and reduce serious violence on a local basis.

2.5         In exercising these functions, responsible authorities are required to have due regard to the police and crime objectives set out in the Police and Crime Plan which comprises or includes that local government area.

2.6         This report covers two issues. The first is the legal requirement to maintain an active Community Safety Partnership, known locally as the Spelthorne Safer Stronger Partnership (SSSP). The Community Safety Team acts on behalf of the SSSP and represents it at partnership groups and meetings focused on reducing crime and disorder across the Borough.

2.7         The team is also responsible for safeguarding victims and developing processes to prevent harm. This report outlines the local priorities that guide partnership activity to reduce crime and disorder. Some priorities are set nationally, while others are informed by the annual Crime Strategic Assessment, Organised Crime Local Profiles, and the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan. The report also provides an update on progress against the Borough’s Community Safety priorities. The updated Community Safety Partnership Plan and Priorities 2024–26 is attached at Appendix A.

3.            Options appraisal and proposal

3.1         This is a three-year strategy, with priorities agreed at the start of the plan period. The risks of not continuing with the plan include increased crime and disorder, reduced public confidence, and lower levels of community support. There are also resourcing risks associated with failing to address key priorities. Due to Surrey Local Government Reorganisation, it is proposed that the plan continues throughout 2027 to support a smooth transition into the new West Surrey community safety model once completed.

3.2         The plan could consider reducing the number of priorities. This would lead to a lack of partnership direction when seeking to meet the needs of the communities affected. This could seriously affect the reputation of Spelthorne Borough Council.

3.3         Alternative options could consider the Metropolitan Police model of Safer Neighbourhood Crime reductions with policing priorities and one community priority. This has been criticised in some community forums as taking control away from communities. This can ultimately risk a reduction in community intelligence.

4.            Risk implications

4.1         Strategic and Operational Risks

• Integration with Initiatives: Strategic and operational risks are not managed in isolation. They are intrinsically embedded within, and evaluated through, each distinct community safety operation and anti-social behaviour (ASB) reduction initiative.
• Operational Dependencies: Delivery relies heavily on cross-agency coordination. This includes vital partnerships between the Council, local housing providers, and Surrey Police.
• Mitigation Framework: The Community Safety team mitigates operational volatility by conducting routine tactical assessments. These assessments identify resource bottlenecks and shifting crime patterns early. They allow partners to reallocate resources dynamically without interrupting frontline community services.

 

4.2         Financial Risks

• Core Budget Protections: There are no direct financial risks identified that impact the Council’s core base budget or the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).
• External Grant Governance: Targeted interventions—such as the Football Project are entirely reliant on external funding streams, specifically commissioned via the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) Community Safety Fund. Financial risk is minimized through the following control framework:

·            Coordinated Management: All funding bids are managed transparently through external fund holders in direct coordination with the Borough Finance Unit.

·            Clawback Prevention: Strict financial tracking ensures total compliance with the specific grant criteria and performance milestones set out by the Surrey OPCC. This eliminates potential funding clawback or "pump priming" shortfalls.

·            Public and Partner Scrutiny: All accounts and project expenditures remain fully open to strict internal audit and external panel scrutiny.

 

4.3         Legal Compliance Risks

• Statutory Duties: Legal compliance sits at the core of all Community Safety operations. The team operates under strict statutory duties, including the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, data-sharing protocols, and the statutory ASB Case Review process.
• Continuous Workforce Training: To mitigate evolving legal and regulatory risks, officers regularly undertake mandatory updated training. This ensures that all enforcement actions, surveillance, and multi-agency interventions remain legally robust, proportional, and compliant with human rights and data protection standards.

 

4.4         Reputational Risks

• Plan Adherence: Reputational risks are managed by ensuring strict adherence to the priorities laid out in the published Community Safety Plan. Any deviations from agreed service delivery targets are escalated early to the Committee to prevent loss of public confidence.
• Community Engagement and Transparency: The team actively mitigates public perception risks through public transparency. Regular progress updates on anti-social behaviour and crime reduction are shared directly with residents, local businesses, and social housing stakeholders to foster community reassurance

 

4.5         Strategic and operational risks are covered within each operation and crime and anti-social behaviour reduction initiative. The Community Safety team is granted external funding for certain projects (Football Project), and these funding bids are managed through the external fund holders and the borough finance unit and are open to scrutiny.

4.6         Legal compliance is at the heart of Community Safety and additional training is undertaken regularly to mitigate those risks. Finally, reputational risks are managed by ensuring that the published plan is adhered to and the community is regularly updated with the ongoing progress

5.            Financial implications

5.1         There are currently no financial risks identified. The Community Safety Team applies and receives external funding for specific initiatives, such as the Football Project. All funding bids are managed collaboratively through the external fund holders and the SSSP ensuring transparency and accountability through established scrutiny processes.

6.            Legal comments

6.1         Legal implications are set out in the body of this report.

Corporate implications

7.            Commissioners’ comments

7.1         No issues.

8.            S151 Officer comments

8.1         Whilst as the report highlights LGR creates funding uncertainties (additionally there may be impacts arising from PCCs ceasing to exist from April 2028), there are no immediate financial impacts identified relating to the report.

9.            Monitoring Officer comments

10.         There are no legal implications arising immediately from the recommendation in this report. Procurement comments

10.1      There are no procurement implications arising directly from this report.

11.         Equality and Diversity

11.1      Equality and diversity are a key factor within the Community Safety Priorities and Action Plan review. Crime and disorder reduction regularly engages with all communities, irrespective of race, gender, ability or religious beliefs. Indeed, vulnerable parties and those from ‘hard to reach’ communities are regularly affected by crime such as Hate Crime. This is one of the key priorities within the Action Plan review.

12.         Sustainability/Climate Change Implications

12.1      Partnership Action Days (as mentioned in the review) are invariably targeting Environmental Crime such as fly-tipping, littering and the management of waste carried licenses. This has a significant positive impact on the borough.

13.         Other considerations

13.1      There are no other considerations

14.         Local Government Reorganisation implications

14.1      Local Government Reorganisation is a significant consideration for community safety planning because the current three-year plan would ordinarily be refreshed at this point. Extending the existing plan for one further year will provide continuity during transition, maintain focus on current priorities, and avoid creating a new strategic framework immediately before the move to the proposed West Surrey authority model.

14.2      The existing priorities remain relevant when compared with current crime and anti-social behaviour trends set out in the appendices, and continuing the plan will help preserve partnership momentum with Surrey Police, statutory partners, commissioned services, and community stakeholders during the reorganisation period. Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will cease to exist in May 2028 at the end of the current electoral cycle when terms of office expire. These will be replaced by new Police & Crime Boards who will liaise with Community Safety Partnerships through the transition process.

14.3      This approach also supports a managed transition by allowing the future authority to align community safety priorities, governance arrangements, data analysis, and partnership structures across the wider West Surrey area once the new arrangements are confirmed.

14.4      Progress will continue to be monitored through existing local governance and partnership reporting routes, with any material changes to priorities, risks, or statutory requirements brought back to Members as appropriate.

15.         Timetable for implementation

15.1      Implementation will begin immediately after the Community Wellbeing and Housing Committee notes the report on 29 September 2026.

16.         Contact

16.1      Will Jack – Community Safety Manager, Spelthorne Borough Council. w.jack@spelthorne.gov.uk

 

Background papers: There are none.

 

Appendices:

 

Appendix A – Review of Community Safety Priorities & Action Plan 2024–2026

 

Appendix B – Joint Neighbourhood Survey 2025–2026

 

Appendix C – Community Safety Survey 2025–2026

 

Appendix D – Crime & ASB Statistics 2026