1.         Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence: To receive an update on key developments, delivery and plans.

Presented by: Shirley Beauchamp, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Commissioning and Strategy Lead, Torbay Council and Collette Eaton Harris, Interpersonal Trauma & Violence Lead, NHS Devon.

2.       Torbay Combating Drugs Partnership: To review progress 1 year in.

Presented by: Bruce Bell, Director of Public Health, Torbay Council.

3.       Operation Loki: To receive an update on the impact, learning and next steps.

Presented by: David Hammond and Hayley Costar, Devon and Cornwall Police.

4.         Anti-social Behaviour: To consider the local picture, development and delivery.

Presented by: David Parsons – Strategic Lead for Community Protection, Torbay Council and Victoria McGeough, Partnership Lead Manager, Torbay Council.

5.         Other key areas of work: To receive an update on Prevent and Modern Slavery.

Presented by: Victoria McGeough, Partnership Lead Manager, Torbay Council.

Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence:

Shirley Beauchamp, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Commissioning and Strategy Lead, Torbay Council and Collette Eaton Harris, Interpersonal Trauma & Violence Lead, NHS Devon provided an update on domestic abuse and sexual violence and responded to the following questions:

·                     how were officers reaching out to the LGBTQ+ community to engage with them on work on domestic abuse and sexual violence;

·                     it was taking longer to house people from safer accommodation to permanent accommodation, what was the timescale for this;

·                     were officers talking to the safeguarding teams to encourage them to be more diligent to identify domestic abuse and sexual violence rather than safeguarding issues;

·                     what provision was there for victims not to face their perpetrators in court;

·                     was 22 properties for safe accommodation sufficient;

·                     what action was being taken to raise awareness of sexual violence and appropriate behaviours for children and young people;

·                     how can we reach those people who do not have access to social media to raise awareness and encourage reporting; and

·                     do we work with other authorities to move people out of area or take people from out of area so that they can be further away from their perpetrators.

Torbay Combatting Drugs Partnership:

Bruce Bell, Consultant in Public Health provided an overview of Torbay’s Combatting Drugs Partnership which was locally titled Torbay Drug and Alcohol Partnership (TDAP) and responded to the following questions:

·                     the paper focuses mainly on drugs, how was alcohol being included;

·                     what was being done about the smell of some drugs around Torbay, especially in our town centres;

·                     once drug dependency had been identified there was a need for support, was Torbay following other areas using alternative drugs to treat dependency;

·                     what support was there around drugs in prisons and the impact on repeat offending; and

·                     had there been a shift in the type of drugs being used.

Operation Loki and Safer Streets:

David Hammond and Hayley Costar, Devon and Cornwall Police provided an update on Operation Loki and Dave Parsons, Strategic Lead for Community Protection outlined the Safer Streets project and responded to the following questions:

·                     there seemed to be an increase in antisemitic graffiti in the Bay was this being done by a small group of people and has there been any outreach to the Muslim community;

·                     does the funding for CCTV include money for staffing behind the scenes;

·                     Police do not always attend Community Partnership meetings, how do Councillors ensure that community based issues were being addressed by the Police and that you have the resources to support our communities in their homes; and

·                     what can Councillors do to help the Police and how can we get the messages out to the community.

Members acknowledged the importance of community intelligence and getting information to the Police and encouraging members of the public to report information online, or by calling the Police or reporting to Crimestoppers.  This was then used by the Police to prioritise their responses but they were not always able to respond back to individuals but did use the information to look at patterns of crime and disorder.

Antisocial Behaviour and Key Areas of Work

Victoria McGeough, Partnership Lead Manager outlined her submitted report on antisocial behaviour and other key areas of work, this included:  Prevent and Channel; Modern Slavery; serious violence; youth antisocial behaviour and Domestic Homicide Reviews and responded to the following questions:

·                     how big a problem was modern slavery in Torbay compared to other areas;

·                     Ward Councillors were not aware of the work in Foxhole regarding youth antisocial behaviour, how can we ensure that Ward Councillors are informed of projects in their communities; and

·                     has there been a pattern identified nationally on the increase of Domestic Homicide Reviews.

Resolved (unanimously):

1.         that an update on Safe Accommodation Needs Assessment be included in the next Safer Communities Annual Review and the revised Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Strategy be presented to a future meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Board;

2.         that an update on the Torbay Drugs and Alcohol Partnership (TDAP) be included in the next Safer Communities Annual Review and that this includes the TDAP performance dashboard;

3.         that the Consultant in Public Health be requested to circulate a written update on the drug trial to the Board in six months time to see the effectiveness of the trial;

4.         that Councillors consider areas to introduce Crimestoppers in their communities where they feel this would be beneficial;

5.         that a copy of the letter on different ways of reporting be shared with Councillors so that they can share this with their communities; and

6.         that Partners be requested to ensure that Ward Councillors are kept informed of work taking place in their communities so that they can raise awareness and engage with these projects.