The Head of Environmental Services, Licensing and Community Safety outlined the annual report to Members, which provided information on the work of the Rother Community Safety Partnership [known as the Safer Rother Partnership (SRP)] for the Committee to review, scrutinise and make reports or recommendations to the responsible authorities of the SRP, in line with the Council’s statutory responsibilities under the Police and Justice Act 2006.  The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was the Council’s Crime and Disorder Committee with responsibility for annually scrutinising crime and disorder and community safety matters.  The Chair welcomed Chief Inspector Jay Mendis-Gunasekera and the Council’s Community Safety Coordinator to the meeting, who were present remotely to answer Members’ questions.

The Rother Joint Action Group (JAG) (an officer group) met monthly to oversee the delivery of the local priorities for Rother which in 2023/24 included: anti-social behaviour (ASB) and youth crime; drug related harm (including drug supply (both local and county lines) and the impact on the local community); and rural crime.  Work on domestic abuse, business crime, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and road safety was also included as a focus for work, but not as specifically identified priorities.

JAG continued to support and deliver work to address issues that were business as usual through the work of partnership agencies and were priorities, such as cuckooing; domestic abuse (including the White Ribbon Campaign); high and medium risk ASB and all hate crime cases; modern slavery; safety; professional safeguarding and ASB case reviewal.

In addition, work that came about through the work of the partnership agencies and were priorities such as Operation Radcott (Camber) Herbrand Walk, Serious and Organised Crime, Safeguarding, Multiple and Complex Needs, Community Tensions and Protests, Shoplifting, Rural Crime, Hate Crime, ASB Young People Project, ASB Tools and Powers, Drug Related Harm, Civil Parking Enforcement, Fly Tipping, Criminal Damage, Fire setting were also supported.  The work plan for the Rother JAG for 2023/24 was attached to the report at Appendix A.

The joint Board met quarterly to identify changes in crime and ASB of strategic significance to both areas, wider trends and reviewed the work delivered against these priorities.

There were 5,879 crimes in Rother reported to Sussex Police (SP) during the 12 months to the end of December 2023, which was 355 more than in the previous year.  This was a similar pattern across East Sussex and Sussex, except Hastings which had seen a decrease in reports.

In 2023/24, SRP funded a range of projects to address priorities in Rother, namely: airtime agreement for deployable CCTV; contribution to Domestic Homicide Reviews; hire of variable messaging signs; young people’s voices films on ASB; hate crime awareness; equipment and materials for youth space at the Pelham; mural at Sutton Place; doorbell CCTV; removal of signage contributing to community tension; and equipment and resources for Fire Service Cadets.

Environmental Services and Licensing and Community Safety staff, the Police and other agencies continued to carry out successful operational and education initiatives across Rother and Wealden, as detailed within the report.  The Community Safety Team also worked with other Council departments to both fulfil the Council’s duty and responsibilities and cases and enquires from residents and Members, such as Housing, Planning and Planning Enforcement and Customer Services.

SP had confirmed that the current public agreement to deliver CCTV was scheduled to end on 1 April 2024.  Therefore, during 2023, a significant amount of work had been undertaken by the Council’s community safety team to manage the transition phase of the Public Facing CCTV changes for Rother.  The report outlined the specific changes and costs for replacement cameras and associated equipment; secured funding had been received from the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC).

The SRP JAG agreed the priorities for 2024/25 at its March meeting: using crime and ASB data; monitoring and evaluation provided by OPCC; consultations with residents and businesses to reduce violence and contextual safeguarding; local and East Sussex Policing priorities; and East Sussex and Pan Sussex risk assessments and plans.

During the debate, the following points were noted:

·         Successful results / outcomes over the last year included the termination / disbandment of an unauthorised encampment at Herbrand Walk which had caused environmental damage; arrests for burglary and sexual assaults; prosecutions leading to convictions (including prolific offenders); and collaborations with neighbouring forces.

·         An increased presence of Police Community Safety Officers (PCSO) was welcomed across the whole of the district.  Additional officer patrols had and would be increased in areas where crimes were reported, if resources were available.  The level of ASB in Bexhill town centre had decreased, which was attributed to an increased PSCO presence.

·         Clarity was sought on the levels of shoplifting, particularly by organised gangs within the district and how SP dealt with this type of crime.  Chief Inspector Mendis-Gunasekera advised that crime trends were considered monthly, and that gang crime was rare in Rother (East Sussex).

·         What was SP doing to prevent crime, particular regarding first time offenders?  Partnership working was encouraged, and rehabilitation / care programmes were delivered in prison to direct offenders away from continued crime.

·         It was clarified that Rye Police Station was available for multi-agency usage to hold events etc.  Hiring requests would need to be made direct to SP.

·         It was important to report all crimes, no matter how small.

·         In general, it was felt that shoplifting had increased across the district.  The economy was suffering, and business owners / shopkeepers were dealing with high levels of stock losses and horrendous abuse, leading to mental health issues.

·         DISC was a community sharing platform for people to report incidents and offenders.  It also provided safety and security awareness for people to protect their property, staff and customers.  Members were advised that the project had been delayed due to funding issues.  All information uploaded to the platform would be forwarded to SP.  Once in operation, all communities would be encouraged to use the platform.  Members would be kept abreast of developments.

Member Briefings would be used to deliver information / updates on community safety issues.

The Chair thanked Chief Inspector Jay Mendis-Gunasekera and the Community Safety Coordinator for their attendance and helpful contributions to the debate.

RESOLVED: That: 

1)   the comments made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be fed back to the Safer Rother Partnership; and

2)  the Council’s work in relation to Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime Reduction and Community Safety be noted.

(When it first became apparent, Councillor Maynard declared a Non-Registrable Interest in this matter in so far as he was the Chair of the Safer Communities Partnership Board (Pan Sussex) and in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct remained in the meeting during the consideration thereof).