Agenda item

To review the Cherwell Community Safety Partnership, including a presentation from the Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety.

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, Matthew Barber, the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, Jason Hogg, and the Chief Superintendent of Thames Valley Police, Benedict Clark, will be in attendance to answer questions from the Committee on their presentation (attached).

Members will have an opportunity to ask questions, please submit any questions to the Democratic and Elections Team in advance of the meeting.

All Members of the Council are invited to attend the meeting for this item.

Resolved 

(1)          That having given due consideration, the Cherwell Safer Communities Partnership Presentation be noted.

(2)          That the Committee recommends that the Executive, as a matter of urgency, ensure that the Cherwell Safer Community Partnership Plan be reviewed and updated and presented to this committee early in the next municipal year.

The Committeeconsidered apresentation fromthe Headof Regulatory Services and Community Safety on the Cherwell Community Safety Partnership (CCSP) detailing its inception as well as its duties and responsibilities. Members were informed of the make-up of the partnership and its seven statutory partners as well as other permanent members.

The Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety updatedthe Committee onthe CCSPPlan 2020– 2023,detailing itsnotable successes in securing a Home Office Safer Streets 4 bid from the Office of thePolice andCrime Commissioner(OPCC) totackle youthrelated violence and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in Banbury, introducing a Public Spaces Protection Order for Bicester town centre, securing funding to support a Young Women and Girls project, working with Takes Valley Police (TVP) colleagues to deliver objectives for an ASB focused operation named OP JANKLE,as wellas theSafeguarding Childrenin Banbury(SCiB) initiative.

The Headof RegulatoryServices and CommunitySafety updated theCommittee onthe proposednew CCSP2025 –2028 priorities:

·           Anti-socialbehaviour (ASB)

·           Modernslavery and exploitation

·           ViolenceAgainst Womenand Girls(VAWG)

·           DomesticAbuse

·           SeriousViolence

·           RetailCrime (includingshop lifting)

·           RoughSleeping.

Members were also updated on the Safer Oxfordshire Partnership (SOP), a thematic group in Oxfordshire that aimed to bring together community safety partnersto work together to deliver joint priorities and emergingthemes, with a focus to make the county a safer place to live, work and visit by providing strategicoversight anddirection forpreventing crimeand anti-socialbehavior across Oxfordshire.

In response to a question regardingthe lack of a CCSPplan for 2024 as well as afull reporton theprevious 2020 – 2024 plan, the Head ofRegulatory Servicesand CommunitySafety advisedthat thechange inthe plans term and lack of a report were caused by the loss of staff as a result of the decoupling from Oxfordshire County Council.

It was proposed by Councillor Lynne Parsons to recommend that the Executive,as amatter ofurgency, ensurethat theCherwell SaferCommunity Partnership plan be reviewed and updated and presented to this committee early in the next municipal year. This was seconded by Councillor Andrew Crichton.

The Committeediscussed themotion. On beingput tothe vote,there were5 votes for, 0 votes against and 3 abstentions. It was agreed that recommendation should be submitted to Executive as soon as practicable.

The Chairmanwelcomed thePolice andCrime Commissionerfor Thames Valley,Matthew Barber,Chief ConstableJason Hoggand Superintendent Benedict Clark, Thames Valley Police, to the meeting and invited them to update the Committee regarding policing in Thames Valley.

The Police and Crime Commissioner updated the Committee on officer numbersand plansfor recruitmentof additionalofficers. Thisincluded plans for increasing diversity and inclusion within the force, with measures being researchedto encouragefemale applicantsas wellas applicantsfrom diverse backgrounds.

The Police and Crime Commissioner gave an overview of the review and restructure of the Thames Valley force, highlighting that it was the largest reviewand restructuresince 2010,with identifiedsavings of£15.7m. £7m of these savings had been delivered to date. Members were advised that the restructure was necessitated by the uplift in demand on policing in the area and that dedicated command units for specific areas were being rolled out across the district.

The Policeand CrimeCommissioner explainedthe measures that had been undertaken to improve the response times on the nonemergency 101 police contact service. This included the introduction of newmethods of contactsuch associal medialchannels, webchatfunctionality and an online victim portal as well as a new neighbourhood policing app.

The Chief Constable gave a presentation which provided more details on neighbourhoodpolicing, focusingon theThames ValleyAlerts systemwhich had seen a boost in users to the sum of 107,000, and a rise of 57.37% interactions, which better enabled the force to tackle local crime. Members werealso advisedon thefocus ontackling E-Scootersand E-Bikes,with 31E bikes/scooters seized in January 2025, 16 of which were seized in Oxford LCU.

Superintendent Clark provided the Committee with more details on some of the operations currently taking place to reduce knife crime, anti-social behaviour, retail theft and rural crime in the Cherwell district. The Committee was advised that the emphasis was on prevention of such activities and often involveda highlytargeted approachworking withother agenciesand partners.

In response to Members’ questions regarding if the Thames Valley “TV Alerts” could be simplified to make it more accessible and easier to use, the Police and Crime Commissioner advised that they were aware of issues accessingthe systemand wouldlook toroll outtraining totackle thisissue.

Members of the Committee queried if allsecondary schoolshad anindividual school liaison officer or if they were shared and whether all schools in the district had access tothis service.The Policeand CrimeCommissioner respondedthat therewas dedicated coverage for both secondary and primary schools as part of the Safeguarding Children Partnership.

With regards the use of restorative justice for damage causedby antisocialbehaviour, in response to a question if restorativejustice wasused on a regular basis to repair the harm causedby acts of ASBand what the impact was, the Police and Crime Commissioner explained that evidence to the effectiveness of restorative justice had been noted and that it was a potential avenue, but more research would be needed before implementation.

In response to a question regarding Oxfordshire County Council’s proposals to switch off street lighting after 11pm in some areas, and whether TVP saw any potential risks or rise in crime due to the proposals, the Police and Crime Commissioner explained that TVP did express concerns about the proposals and were in discussions with the County Council. It was not anticipated that crime levels would be greatly affected by the proposals, but residents’ perception and concerns about crime would rise. TVP was working to increase the public’s trust and perception of safety within the district.

It was agreed by the chairman that written responses to questions presented to the Portfolio Holder for Safer Communities would be provided after the meeting.

The Chairman thanked the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Chief Constable and Superintendent for their attendance.

Resolved

(1)              Thathaving givendue consideration,the CherwellSafer Communities Partnership Presentation be noted.

(2)              Thatthe Committeerecommends thatthe Executive,as amatter of urgency,ensure thatthe CherwellSafer CommunityPartnership Plan be reviewed and updated and presented to this committee early in the next municipal year.