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Safer Communities Partnership Board - Friday 29th November, 2024 10.00 am

November 29, 2024 View on council website  Watch video of meeting  Watch video of meeting or read trancript
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Summary

The Safer Communities Partnership Board noted a number of reports on crime, community safety, vulnerable adults and children, and modern slavery. They also received a verbal update from the police and considered their plans for promoting community cohesion in the borough.

Crime and Antisocial Behaviour

The most significant recent change in crime figures was in residential burglary, which has seen a decrease of 7.3% compared to the same period in 2023. There were 393 cases of residential burglary between July and September 2024.

However, Chief Inspector Paul Condren noted that in recent weeks there had been a few sort of high profile incidents of some, some quite, some quite nasty burglary. He reassured the board that a lot is, there's a lot of high visibility policing activity from uniformed officers in and around those we call hotspots and a lot of reassurance activity taking place. This includes proactive plainclothes policing, the use of a mobile police outreach vehicle, and a two-week period of increased police presence in burglary hotspots.

Superintendent Lorraine Busby-McVeigh explained that the police had made progress in tackling burglary in Burnt Oak. Under 'Operation Woodson', police, the council and other partners have been working together to tackle drug addiction as a driver of crime. This includes offering support and treatment to drug addicts. As a result, the Burnt Oak area has seen a 35% reduction in antisocial behaviour and a 63% reduction in residential burglary.

Violence Reduction

The board noted the FINAL Serious Violence Q2 2024-25 Report to SCPB September 2024 which was introduced by Christopher Kelly. The report explained that knife crime offences had fallen by 4.7% compared to the same period last year, however knife crime with injury offences had increased by 6.7% over the same period.

Mr Kelly reassured the board that work was ongoing to address knife crime, including Operation Sceptre.1 Operation Sceptre is a week of action on knife crime, which includes weapons sweeps, targeting people known to carry knives, and raising awareness of the consequences of carrying knives.

The board were particularly interested in the 'After School Safety Initiative', which aims to reduce street-based robberies by engaging with young people, property marking mobile phones, and deploying CCTV vans to deter crime. Mr Kelly reported that 311 young people that have been engaged in regards to property marking and that the CCTV mobile ban is now operational.

Councillor Sara Conway thanked Mr Kelly for the report and said there's been amazing steps forward in collaborative working between council departments.

Modern Slavery

Ramisa Yazdani Biouki, Strategy Manager, introduced the COPY - Modern Slavery - SCPB Report November FINAL. This report outlined the board's recent progress in developing its modern slavery strategy, which was approved in July 2024.

Ms Yazdani Biouki reported that the board had produced and published its referral pathway for modern slavery victims and is now developing a dedicated email address for people to report concerns.

Fiona Bateman, Chair of the Barnet Safeguarding Adults Board, expressed concerns about modern slavery within the care sector. She reported that the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) had recorded a 400% rise in cases involving care, social care workers. She suggested that the board prioritise training social workers to understand modern slavery and ensure social workers, [and] contract monitoring officers within both the ICB and the local authority...are actively looking for this when visiting providers.

Community Cohesion

The meeting heard an update on the work the council is doing to promote community cohesion in the borough. This work is being led by an internal Task and Finish Group chaired by Councillor Conway and is focusing on improving cultural understanding, celebrating diversity, and breaking down barriers between communities.

Tomorrow Kodikara, Strategy Officer, explained that the council recently hosted a 'Community Cohesion Conversation', a two-hour event with forty attendees from local organisations, voluntary and community groups. Attendees were asked to discuss what community cohesion means to them, how they work together to combat hate and division, and what the council should prioritise.

Ms Kodikara explained that the board is planning to launch a communications campaign that will focus on the importance of community cohesion. The campaign will include a new icon and will be used across a variety of platforms, including social media, posters, and schools' newsletters.

Safeguarding Adults

Fiona Bateman introduced the Barnet Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2023-24 Final. She explained that, in line with national trends, the council had seen an increase in the number of safeguarding concerns being raised. She reported that, of completed safeguarding enquiries, 97.5% of...the risks were reduced or removed and that the median time for reviewing a safeguarding concern was 3 days.

Ms Bateman welcomed the work being done by the Access to Justice Group, which is focusing on removing the barriers that people with care and support needs face in accessing justice. She reported that, thanks to their work, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) will be funding a new service across London to ensure that adults with care and support needs who are taken into custody receive appropriate support.

Ms Bateman also welcomed the work being done to reframe safeguarding and make it more accessible to minority ethnic communities. This work included focus groups and resulted in the production of a new video aimed at explaining what safeguarding is to people from different communities. MOPAC has committed to funding further work to reframe safeguarding.


  1. Operation Sceptre is a Metropolitan Police initiative that aims to reduce knife crime through a variety of activities, including weapons sweeps, targeted patrols, and engagement with young people.