PAPER E
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FIRE AND PUBLIC SAFETY SELECT COMMITTEE - 15 MARCH 2004 SAFER COMMUNITIES REPORT OF THE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER |
REASON FOR SELECT
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Select Committee received a report in December 2003 on key
priorities for the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership. The Committee asked for information on the
proposed changes being planned for the way in which this area of work is
managed. This report fulfils that
request.
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ACTION REQUIRED BY THE SELECT COMMITTEE The Select Committee is asked to note
and/or comment on this report. |
BACKGROUND
There is a Government requirement that local authorities explore
opportunities for closer working between Drug Action Teams (DAT) and Crime and
Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP).
This wish was originally set out in the Police Reform White Paper in
December 2001 but extended by Home Office Guidance last November. The relevant part of the Circular includes
the following:
In Unitary/Metropolitan Authorities, DATs and CDRPs should adopt the most appropriate local arrangements in order to achieve integration. In these areas, DATs and CDRPs should operate on an aligned basis “as a single partnership”. This may mean that DATs and CDRPs formally become a single partnership.
During the last few months, this proposal has been formally considered
and then approved by both the DAT and the CDRP and agreement has been reached
that a single partnership will be created from the beginning of April to
combine the work undertaken by these two bodies. This partnership is likely to be further strengthened by the
addition of the Community Safety Team from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Police Force.
The partnership is to be re-titled Safer Communities Partnership to
link with and reflect the broader community aspiration of that name as
reflected in Theme 1 of Island Futures, the Island’s local strategic
partnership.
For historical reasons, the management of the DAT and of the CDRP has
been separate, both partnerships and respective staff groups having evolved
from small beginnings. At present, the
DAT is managed through the Social Services and Housing Directorate with the
CDRP managed through my own Directorate under the Head of Corporate Policy. In the light of the creation of a single
Safer Communities Partnership there needs, in my view, to be a single line of
management for this area of work.
The Council has decided to act quickly to respond to the Green Paper
‘Every Child Matters’ issued followed the Laming report. The Executive has agreed to create the post
of Director of Children’s Services and with it a new Children’s Services
Directorate. To achieve these changes
will require a number of alterations to the existing management structure of
the Council.
A report is due to go to the Executive towards the end of March recommending changes to the existing Directorates. Children’s Services will move from the existing Social Services and Housing Directorate into the new Children’s Services Directorate. In view of its changed focus, it is to be proposed that the Social Services and Housing Directorate be re-titled as the Adult and Community Services Directorate.
Within these management changes, there is a clear choice of Safer
Communities being placed in management terms under either my own Directorate or
under the Adult and Community Services Directorate.
The Executive will be recommended that the Adult and Community Services
Directorate should take line responsibility for this area of work, it
reflecting a clearer link with the remit of that Directorate rather than my
own. There is also advantage in
separating the line management responsibility from the chairmanship of Safer
Communities, a role undertaken by myself in accordance with national practice. For all those reasons, the Executive are to
be recommended that management responsibility for Safer Communities sits with
the revised Adult and Community Services Directorate.
In terms of scrutiny, the responsibility for CDRP remains with this
Committee and I would not recommend any change to that. I would, however, suggest that the
responsibility could usefully be amended to read Safer Communities rather than
CDRP to make it clear that the Select Committee’s remit embraces the broader
partnership rather than one of its former parts.
I hope this paper explains the current position and the proposals going
to the Executive shortly.
RELEVANT PLANS,
POLICIES, STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
These proposals will ensure a clear link between the Safer Communities
Partnership and Theme 1 of Island Futures, the Island’s local strategic
partnership.
CONSULTATION
PROCESS
There has been consultation with the DAT, the CDRP and the Police in
relation to the proposals for a combined partnership. There has also been extensive discussions with the two staff
groups.
FINANCIAL, LEGAL,
CRIME AND DISORDER IMPLICATIONS
There are no direct financial or legal consequences for the Council
arising from this report. There may be
some financial implications for the new Safer Communities Partnership but
those, if any, will be met by ring-fenced monies available to that Partnership.
Report
to the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership – 2 March 2004.
Contact Point: M J A Fisher, Chief Executive Officer, F 3102, e-mail [email protected]