Community Safety Partnership - Thematic updates (September 2022)

Introduction

Following approval of the Community Safety Plan in March 2022, delivery has commenced with organisations from across the whole Community Safety Partnership to work across the six priorities identified, which collectively support the wider delivery of Bury's LET'S Do It! ambitions.

Below provides an update on delivery to date.

Reducing drug related offending

Leads: Consultant in Public Health/Superintendent Greater Manchester Police.

2022/23 Quarter 1 deliverables

• Development of partnership data piece on drug related criminality to better understanding issues driving drug-related crime
• Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) canisters a focus of key partnership campaign across Bury Council, Greater Manchester Police and Early Break to raise the awareness of the danger of such canisters in May and June in advance of the summer festival season.
• Operative Avro - approximately £650k of Class A and Class B drugs were seized and taken off the streets of the borough, in addition to over 2,800 illegal cigarettes.

2022/23 Quarter 2 deliverables

• Updated Council website to allow for drug related paraphernalia to be reported Report a litter issue
• Substance misuse multi-agency workshop taking place on 8 September to review existing; increase awareness of existing pathways and outline further opportunities for collaboration.
• Closer working relationships between Children's Services and Early Break on prevention and early intervention work including joint outreach youth work, providing multi-agency support, which has included providing more training to front line staff on drug related information.
• Holiday Activity Fund has been opened up to include young people vulnerable to becoming involved in criminality, including drug related offending, as positive diversionary activity.

Supporting victims and tackling the causes of domestic abuse

Lead: Director of Children's Social Care practice.

2022/23 Quarter 1 deliverables

• Bury Refuge service opened to support women and children escaping DA, 8 admissions into the provision to date. Safe accommodation work co-located within housing service tea
• Drive perpetrator programme now fully operational in Bury, facilitated by Talk, Listen, Change .
• Significant awareness raising though sessions with the Education Inclusion Officers who work with the local Roma and Traveller communities; with Holy Cross and Bury colleges to set up drop-in sessions and to promote the Cut It Out campaign; work with the Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender (LGBTQI) forum to share support through their networks; and additional sessions with representatives from Jewish community groups.

2022/23 Quarter 2 deliverables

• Successful bid to Ministry of Justice for additional Children and Young People's Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA).
• Safenet led partnership session to promote Bury refuge and floating support offer
• Extension of perpetrator programme to provide support to those below 14 years of age.

Strengthening Community Cohesion

Lead: Chief Office, Bury Voluntary and Community Faith Alliance (VCFA).

2022/23 Quarter 1 deliverables

• Hate Crime Ambassador session linked to Avro. A specific outcome of the session was for the LGBTQI Worker to connect into the Millgate centre, local schools and colleges in response to homophobic abuse staff had been experiencing.
• Faith Forum has committed to increasing the number of hate crime ambassadors and strengthening confidence in reporting. The Faith Forum has also considered the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on local communities and it's role in supporting our communities at times of hardship. Planning has commenced for joint Interfaith week activities in November Homes for Ukraine support : Arrivals have been supported through public service colleagues including Community Hub staff to integrate into local services, including through a fortnightly drop-in session at the Ukrainian Club supported by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Healthwatch and the Schools Admissions Team. In addition, an ESOL (English as a second language) open day event was held including Bury College, Bury Adult Learning and Eagles Wing to help connect people into learning and volunteering opportunities.

2022/23 Quarter 2 deliverables

• Prevent Steering Group met in August 2022 to refresh Terms of Reference; update on Prevent and Channel peer reviews and prepare for Greater Manchester week of Awareness Against Hateful Extremism (19th-23rd September). As part of this week there will be the local relaunch of the Prevent handbook which outlines the duty, local referral processes and how to access training; a specific handbook has also been produced in relation to education settings. In recent months a series of training opportunities have been developed and delivered locally, across front line public service colleagues, and through the voluntary and community sector to supplement an existing e-learning offer.
• Annual inclusion calendar has been developed in conjunction with the Bury Inclusion Working Group and Team Bury partners to better co-ordinate partnership activity
• Targeted message of support for Ukrainian Independence Day.
• Hate Crime plan reviewed

Creating and Maintaining Safe Spaces

Lead: Chief Executive, Six Town Housing.

2022/23 Quarter 1 deliverables

• Community Hub and Neighbourhood Inspector linkages including through Public Service Leadership Teams and weekly neighbourhoods demand meeting to identify place-based activity to reduce vulnerabilities/tackle hotspots.
• Development of Women and Girls Safety Plan including co-designing content based of Circles of Influence for Personal, Social, Health and Economic education curriculum on healthy relationships; partnership activity with community leads including drama workshops and creative sessions to build confidence, alongside self defence sessions; training for frontline Transport for Greater Manchester staff on spotting and responding to vulnerabilities.
• Development of a Licensing Women's Safety Charter, setting out commitments in relation to the night-time economy. Launch of Best Bar None in Bury.

2022/23 Quarter 2 deliverables

• Delivery against Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents recommendations with respect to the safety of blue spaces owned by the council. These actions, which include aspects relating to railings, path surfaces and signage, will be complete by the end of September 2022. Water Safety campaign led by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
• GMFRS led engagement on preventing wildfires and mitigating impacts of behaviour changes driven by the cost of living crisis
• Relaunch of Cut it Out campaign with Bury College students in Hair and Beauty Department. All hair stylists, barbers and beauty therapists are to receive training on identifying vulnerabilities and signposting to support.
• Operation Lioness commenced in July 2022 to build trust and confidence; create safer spaces and relentless pursue perpetrators.

Tackling crime and anti-social behaviour

Lead: Superintendent, Greater Manchester Police.

2022/23 Quarter 1 deliverables

• Operation Avro - multiagency day of engagement and enforcement which included district and force GMP resources, Council team's across public protection, community safety, safeguarding teams and the community hubs, alongside partners at Six Town Housing, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue and our voluntary sector partners. From an enforcement perspective a total of 80 individuals were arrested, with 28 search warrants undertaken; whilst 8 weapons were seized and 93 traffic offences dealt with.
• There is now a dedicated Out of Court Disposal Officer at GMP Bury to support Neighbourhood teams as part of their multiagency evidence led anti-social behaviour prevention plans
• Revised fortnightly Greater Manchester Police led serious acquisitive crime meetings to review priorities and agree partnership prevention activity.
• Secured enforcement monies through the Violence Reduction Unit to develop a localised plan to tackling knife-enabled crime.

2022/23 Quarter 2 deliverables

• Operation Heartbeat - continuation of problem-solving initiative to target knife enabled crime and anti-social behaviour in Bury town centre, predominantly between 1400hrs and 2300hrs on weekends. This included the deployment of dedicated Greater Manchester Police offices on mobile foot patrol at peak demand times, both as a deterrent and to take enforcement action, such as the use of Section 35 dispersal orders and stop-search activity where suspicion of individuals being in the possession of knives. Officers engaged in the Operation were shown CCTV footage of previous incidents in the proximity which supported the identification and detainment of offenders through the additional foot patrols.
• To compliment Heartbeat, partnership activity has taken place to support both the increase of collective insight on criminal activity and to support prevention work. The Council and GMP arranged joint sessions with Secondary Heads, School safeguarding leads, Bury College and Holy Cross in terms of reporting pathways for insight in relation to concerns over criminality and anti-social behaviour , whilst the Youth Outreach team conducted afternoon and evening sessions patrols to positively engage with young people.
• Partnership responses to acquisitive crime. activity. An example of this is practice is a response in June/early July to a concentration of burglary activity which was largely driven by lock-snapping. Increased foot patrols took place alongside an increase in messaging (online and via local leafleting) on the importance of property security. For this particular series of criminal activity a peak risk had been identified as taking place during the night, a number of neighbourhood staff have had their shifts diverted to run 6pm-4am, including the use of plain clothes officers in the vicinities at these times.

Reducing Reoffending

Lead: Chief Officer, Probation Services.

2022/23 Quarter 1 deliverables

• Development of a local offer to support offenders transitioning to adulthood. A lead officer from within the Probation Service in Bury has been identified to oversee all transition cases from the youth justice system to compliment a seconded probation service officer co-located with in the Youth Justice Service.
• Additional appointments with Integrated Rehabilitative Services ongoing for youths in transition in Bury.

2022/23 Quarter 2 deliverables

• Activity to increase capacity to allow the level of contact with 18-25 year old offenders, to include mentoring and welfare provision alongside supervision with their justice practitioner. This broader support is to help address the root causes in lives which lead to criminality and will build on increasing availability to Integrated Rehabilitative Services through a one-stop shop approach to provision.
• Specialist intervention toolkits are being developed, with insight from young people, to provide more targeted support to different circumstances, an example being work with Early Break to tailor specialist substance misuse provision to inform a bid into the Probation Innovation Fund.
• Meeting date set for September to engage key agencies on refreshed Reduced Reoffending Terms of Reference

Further information