Decision Maker: Cabinet

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Date of Decision: September 11, 2024

Purpose: The Serious Violence Duty came into effect in Jan 2023, requiring police, councils and local services to work together to share information and target interventions to prevent and reduce serious violence. The authorities responsible were responsible for forming a relevant partnership, agreeing a local definition of serious violence, producing a serious violence needs assessment for the borough and using this to inform a strategic delivery plan for the partnership to tackle serious violence. The serious violence and exploitation strategy group is a sub-group of the Community Safety Partnership. This item presents the Draft Serious Violence and Exploitation Strategic Plan: formulated using the findings from the Serious Violence needs assessment, recommendations, engagement with professionals and wider consultation with our local residents (including children, young people and young adults). The Serious Violence Plan on a Page, produced in Jan 2024, has been used to consult the public and professionals on the proposed approach to tackling violence and exploitation: contributing to the development of the full strategic delivery plan.

Content: DECISION   1.    Approve the Serious Violence and Exploitation Strategy (Appendix 1 to the report) which is being brought to Cabinet for adoption by the Council as a “duty holder” and a member of the Community Safety Partnership (CSP).   2.    Advise the Community Safety Partnership that robust governance arrangements for the new strategy are put in place to oversee delivery and to ensure there is accountability for all the “duty holders’, involved.   3.    Advise the Community Safety Partnership that an effective data set is developed to assess performance and will enable constructive challenge across the system.   4.    To note the existing Violence and Vulnerability Reduction Action Plan (Appendix 2 to the report). This plan encompasses the broad spectrum of partnership work and operational delivery that will form the local response to serious violence and exploitation. This will be further developed as part of this range of work.   5.    To note the governance arrangements for the Strategy will be through the statutory Community Safety Partnership Board. However, there are a number of other statutory boards that have responsibility and play a critical role in the delivery of this strategy across the wider system e.g. the Health and Wellbeing Board, the Safeguarding Adults Board and the Safeguarding Children’s Partnership.   Action by CORPORATE DIRECTOR COMMUNITIES (S. BAXTER) Director of Community Safety (A. Corbett)