The Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board (OSPB) met to discuss community safety in Worcestershire, review their work programme, and receive updates from scrutiny chairmen and lead members. A key focus of the meeting was scheduled to be the annual update on community safety, with a specific overview of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). The board was also expected to discuss and comment on the Cabinet Forward Plan.

Worcestershire County Council Community Safety Update

The OSPB was scheduled to receive an annual update on Worcestershire County Council's statutory duties related to community safety. Councillor Satinder Bell, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Health and Wellbeing, the Director of Public Health, the West Mercia Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), the West Mercia Women's Aid Chief Executive, and a representative of West Mercia Police were invited to provide updates.

The report pack included details of the Worcestershire Safer Communities Board (SCB), which coordinates community safety and criminal justice activity. The SCB produces an annual Community Safety Agreement and action plan, and oversees subgroups focused on domestic abuse, substance misuse, reducing offending, and preventing violent extremism.

The report pack highlighted several areas of community safety activity:

• Trading Standards: The team has been removing illegal tobacco and vaping products from the marketplace, and has issued closure orders against five premises that were persistently offending. According to the report pack, the Council's Trading Standards service enforces laws covering weights and measures law, food and animal feed law, product safety law, animal health law and fair-trading law .
• Drugs and Alcohol: The team has been supporting individuals to access and sustain treatment, increasing rates of treatment access and maintaining improved rates of engagement following prison release.
• Prevent (Below Threshold Pilot): Worcestershire was selected as an area to pilot an approach which enables partners to review cases and offer support to individuals presenting potentially concerning behaviours.

Illegal Tobacco, Vapes and Underage Sales

The report pack noted that the sale of illegal tobacco and vapes poses a serious threat to community health and supports criminal activity. In 2024/25, the Trading Standards team, working with police, removed 321,660 cigarettes and 160.75 kilograms of hand-rolling tobacco from the marketplace, and nearly 9,000 vapes were taken off sale. Test purchases targeting underage sales of vapes and alcohol showed high failure rates - around 29% for alcohol and 34% for vapes.

The report pack stated that the above activity contributed to two premises in Droitwich having their alcohol licenses revoked following review action by officers under the Licensing Act 2003.

Drugs and Alcohol

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, local authority public health teams are responsible for commissioning drug and alcohol treatment services. Worcestershire's Drug and Alcohol Strategy focuses on prevention, treatment, and recovery. Between October 2024 and September 2025, 3,174 people engaged with treatment, compared with 2,147 during the same period in 2021/22.

With additional funding from the PCC, treatment options related to Opiate Substitution Therapy (OST) have been enhanced, enabling the rollout of Buvidal, a long-acting drug. Individual placement and support (IPS) is a service which supports people receiving treatment back into work. In its first year, 39 individuals were directly supported to start work.

Domestic Abuse

The report pack noted that Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) has been identified as a national emergency. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 included a statutory definition of domestic abuse and placed new duties on local authorities, including delivering accommodation-based support and publishing local strategies.

The Council commissions a range of support services for victims of Domestic Abuse, including the Domestic Abuse Advice and Support Service (DAASS), which is delivered by West Mercia Women's Aid. The Drive Project, delivered by Cranstoun, aims to reduce abusive behaviour by working with individuals assessed as posing a high risk of serious harm to partners or family members.

Counter Terrorism Strategy – CONTEST

CONTEST is the UK Government's counterterrorism strategy, which sets out responsibilities for local authorities to help prevent radicalisation, safeguard public spaces, and strengthen community preparedness for potential incidents. The Worcestershire Prevent Strategy Group oversees local delivery of the duty. In recognition of local activity, Worcestershire was selected by the Home Office as a participating area in the 'Below Threshold pilot program'.

The Terrorism (Protection of premises) Act, also known as Martyn's Law, received royal assent in Summer 2025 and requires public venues and local authorities to strengthen security and preparedness against terrorism.

Youth Services

The Council has a statutory duty to secure access for young people to a sufficient quantity of youth services. Public Health leads and oversees the local authority's youth work activity. A central element of Worcestershire's youth work approach has been the establishment of district-based youth networks.

In 2024/25, approximately 1000 young people regularly attended Public Health funded youth activity. Public Health also offers youth wellbeing grants to community organisations, with an ambition to engage young people in positive community-based activity which prevents crime, violence, anti-social behaviour, and county lines involvement.

For example, in Dines Green and in response to concerns raised about antisocial behaviour, funding was provided to 'The Up Foundation' to deliver a targeted 18 week programme of detached outreach work.

Reducing Reoffending

The Reducing Reoffending Board meets quarterly and adopts a partnership approach to lowering the risk of reoffending. A dedicated working group is undertaking a specific project to identify individuals with the three needs most strongly linked to reoffending - accommodation, substance misuse, and finances - and to design robust, supportive packages for those outside standard parameters.

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)

The report pack included an appendix on understanding Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). The National Police Chiefs' Council formally recognised VAWG as a national emergency in 2024. The national strategy, Tackling violence against Women and Girls, was published by the Government in July 2021. The Domestic Abuse Act (2021) provided a statutory definition of Domestic Abuse.

The report pack included the following estimates:

• 78,774 women and girls in Worcestershire may have experienced domestic abuse
• 68,129 may have experienced sexual assault
• 52,960 women and girls may have experienced stalking since the age of 16.

West Mercia Police record a spectrum of offences and can attach a DA marker to each. The graph below captures some of the more serious elements over the past 24 months 2023-25. While most offences have been consistently reported over that period, stalking and harassment have gradually increased.

An estimated 3% of women experienced sexual assault in the last year in England and Wales. The most common type of sexual assault reported was unwanted sexual touching. Approximately 10.4% of women aged 16 and over had experienced harassment, including one-off instances, in the year ending March 2025.

The report pack also included details of Worcestershire activity to tackle VAWG, including the Domestic Abuse Advice and Support Service (DAASS), the Family Court Pathfinder pilot, and Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs).

West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre (WMRSASC) are commissioned by the PCC to deliver Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) services across West Mercia. Operation Soteria was launched to address poor justice outcomes for adult rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO).

Community initiatives and targeted action include the Jog On initiative, the White Ribbon campaign¹, Ask for Angela, Behavioural Detection Officers, and the Walk Safe app.

Scrutiny Chairmen and Lead Member Update, Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Plan

The OSPB was also scheduled to discuss scrutiny chairmen and lead member updates, the work programme, and the Cabinet Forward Plan.

Members of OSPB were invited to provide feedback on recent scrutiny meetings, task groups, and emerging issues and developments within their remit. Overview and Scrutiny Panel Chairs were asked to feedback on the progress on the work of their Panels and to identify any other issue which they feel is relevant/of interest to the OSPB.

The Board was asked to consider its 2025/26 Work Programme and agree whether any amendments are needed. The main responsibilities of the Board are:

• Commissioning work for Scrutiny Panels
• Establishing Scrutiny Task Groups (agreeing Terms of reference and Reports)
• Advising on Council's Policy Framework

The Board was also expected to consider any issues arising from the Council's Cabinet Forward Plan.

The Cabinet Forward Plan included the following items:

• The Future use of Vale Lodge: Consideration of Public Consultation
• Medium Term Financial Plan Update 2026-27
• Update on Shrub Hill
• Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership Yearly Report April 2024-March 2025
• Draft Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan 2026/27
• Chief Financial Officer's Section 25 Statement
• Final Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan 2026/27
• Healthy Worcestershire Phase II
• School Organisation and Education Sufficiency Update
• Worcestershire Local Nature Recovery Strategy
• Admission Arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools for 2027/28
• The Adoption of an Advertising and Sponsorship Policy
• 'Called In' Decisions or Scrutiny Reports
• Notices of Motion