The Joint Crime and Disorder Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Basingstoke/Hart/Rushmoor) was scheduled to consider a performance review of the Safer North Hampshire Strategic Community Safety Partnership for the 2025-26 period. The committee was also scheduled to review the minutes of its previous meeting.

Performance Review of Safer North Hampshire Strategic Community Safety Partnership 2025-26

The committee was scheduled to review the performance of the Safer North Hampshire Community Safety Partnership (CSP) for the 2025-26 period. This review was intended to assess the partnership's discharge of its statutory functions as defined by section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998¹. The report presented for consideration outlined the partnership's priorities for 2025-26, which included improving feelings of safety and health outcomes, addressing serious violence, tackling antisocial behaviour (ASB), combating domestic abuse, and reducing crime and ASB in town centres.

The report indicated that across the Safer North Hampshire area, 23,359 crimes were recorded in 2025-26, representing a 3% reduction compared to the previous year. However, there were increases in sexual offences, robbery, drug offences, and possession of weapon offences. Conversely, theft offences and criminal damage saw decreases. Incidents of antisocial behaviour recorded by the police increased by 19% in 2025-26 compared to the previous year.

The partnership's work was informed by an annual Strategic Assessment, which identifies crime and community safety priorities. The report detailed achievements against the partnership's priorities, including efforts to monitor feelings of safety, strategies to address serious violence, proactive steps in tackling domestic abuse, coordinated action against antisocial behaviour, and targeted approaches to improving safety in town centres.

The report also highlighted future risks and considerations for the partnership, such as funding and resource challenges, the need for further engagement with non-statutory partners, and the importance of early intervention work. It noted that access to consistent, high-quality data remains essential, with a particular gap in health data availability. The report also acknowledged that communities experiencing high levels of poverty and disadvantage are often disproportionately affected by crime and safety issues.

The report recommended that the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee review the performance of the Strategic CSP and summarise its findings and any recommendations for the respective councils to consider.