The Community Safety Scrutiny Project Sub Group of Bexley Council is scheduled to meet on Wednesday 30 September 2026. The meeting's agenda includes an introduction to community safety in Bexley and the development of a project plan for a scrutiny review.

Introduction to Community Safety in Bexley

The meeting is scheduled to include an overview of the Community Safety service in Bexley. This overview is intended to highlight the team's work, key achievements, and current priorities in addressing crime and anti-social behaviour. The presentation is expected to cover how the council team and wider partnership operate, who contributes to community safety efforts, and how operational risk is managed. It will also detail the role of Ginny Hyland, Head of Libraries and Communities, and Emma Leathers, Community Safety Manager, in this area. The report pack indicates that community safety is viewed as a shared responsibility, with various partners bringing different powers, intelligence, services, and local reach to the table. The shared objective is to prevent crime and disorder, reduce reoffending and serious violence, support victims, utilise appropriate powers, and build community confidence.

The report pack outlines that the Community Safety team holds the council's coordinating responsibility, but delivery relies on the entire partnership. The team's specific capacity is focused around seven high-harm, high-impact, or enabling areas. Operational risk is coordinated through bi-weekly joint tasking meetings with partners, which discuss operational priorities, share intelligence, and plan joint actions. Specialist multi-agency panels are also in place for cases involving safeguarding, risk, or harm, where information is shared, risk is assessed and managed, and accountable multi-agency actions are agreed.

The documents also provide a definition of anti-social behaviour (ASB) as conduct that has caused, or is capable of causing, harassment, alarm, or distress to any person, with the practical test being impact and context. The report pack categorises ASB into three types: personal ASB, which targets individuals; nuisance ASB, affecting the community; and environmental ASB, impacting wider surroundings. It is also noted that ASB can sometimes be indicative of criminal offences, and apparent offences should be assessed by the police, while partners address vulnerability and community impact. The overall message from this section is that responsibility must be clear, and capacity should be used where it adds most value, with a focus on clear leads, shared action, and harm reduction.

Developing a Project Plan for Community Safety Scrutiny

A significant portion of the meeting is dedicated to developing a project plan for a focused examination of Community Safety and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) arrangements in Bexley. This review, agreed upon by the Places OSC, will concentrate on visible community safety issues that directly impact residents' quality of life, such as public nuisance, environmental crime, shoplifting, youth-related disorder, and incidents affecting parks and other public spaces. The report pack outlines several key issues for discussion and potential approval by the Sub-Group.

These issues include assessing the impact of reductions in external funding on the sustainability of Community Safety and ASB services, and reviewing the Council's ability to meet its statutory community safety responsibilities. The Sub-Group is also expected to evaluate the effectiveness of current governance and partnership arrangements with key agencies, including the Metropolitan Police, MOPAC¹, the Violence Reduction Unit, housing providers, and voluntary sector partners. Furthermore, the review will examine the Council's preparedness for new duties arising from the Crime and Policing Act 2026, and consider how prevention, early intervention, and enforcement activity are prioritised amidst increasing demand and constrained resources. The effectiveness of joint working across Council services and partner organisations in addressing ASB and wider public-facing community safety issues will also be examined, alongside identifying opportunities to improve the resilience, efficiency, and effectiveness of Community Safety delivery. The ultimate aim is to develop evidence-based recommendations for Cabinet on the future direction and prioritisation of these services.

The intended outcomes of this review are a clear assessment of the effectiveness and sustainability of current Community Safety arrangements, findings on the implications of reduced funding and emerging legislative requirements, and recommendations to strengthen governance, partnership working, prevention, early intervention, and enforcement. A strategic direction for Community Safety and ASB services that responds effectively to residents' visible concerns within available resources is also an anticipated outcome. The Sub-Group is invited to consider the business case and identify key lines of enquiry to inform the development of a detailed project plan.