Issue - meetings

To consider the report on a review of Community Safety issues for Spelthorne Borough Council during the period 2019-2020.

The Committee will also be pleased to hear from Surrey Police and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) on community safety matters.

The Community Safety Officer presented the report on a review of Community Safety. He corrected some errors in Paragraph 2.1 of the report: the table giving the data on reported crimes over the previous 12 months should refer to 2018/19 not 2017/18 and the figure for the decrease in shoplifting should be in green font to indicate a reduction.

The Community Safety Officer outlined the priorities and statutory obligations for the Safer Stronger Partnership Board and the resources required to meet its responsibilities. He provided data on crimes in Spelthorne for the last two years and in comparison to the Surrey force area. Finally he gave an overview of the activities the Partnership had delivered in response to community concerns.

He explained the actions used to address crime including: crime prevention strategies through use of social media, community protection warning systems to address potential offences before taking formal routes for prosecution, and referral of offenders to the crime prevention programme.

Borough Inspector Maxine Cilia provided an update on the latest crime figures which showed domestic burglary was down, drug offence statistics were up due to an increase in the number of people being caught during lockdown and domestic abuse had continued to increase, with lockdown a contributory factor. This was also the reason for more youth anti-social behaviour at many locations.

The Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner, Mr David Munro, gave a presentation highlighting his achievements and his priorities for 2020/21, the concerns raised by residents and what he was doing to tackle crime.

Cllr R.O. Barratt, the portfolio holder for compliance, reported that he had spent a night with the police to understand the issues they faced. He enquired about the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras to help combat crime. The Borough Inspector advised that there were already ANPR cameras in the Borough on the M3 and M25 and also covering Staines town and Stanwell but more were needed on the border with the Metropolitan Police area between Feltham and Ashford. The Police and Crime Commissioner agreed to look at providing more cameras in the Borough.

Mr Munro and Inspector Cilia invited members to contact them about any local, or individual ward, issues they wanted to discuss.

The Chairman thanked Inspector Cilia and Mr Munro for attending the meeting.

The Committee noted the report on Community Safety.