The Stronger Communities Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to meet on 23 September 2025 to discuss community safety and licensing policies in Knowsley. Councillors will examine the effectiveness of the borough's community safety partnership and review the development of the new Statement of Licensing Policy. The committee will also look at the minutes of the previous meeting.

Tackling Crime and Improving Community Safety

The committee is scheduled to discuss a report that provides an overview of community safety in Knowsley. The report pack includes Knowsley's Strategic Threat Assessment for the period covering 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, which uses both national and local data sources.

Key findings from the Strategic Threat Assessment include:

• A recorded 8% reduction in crime in Knowsley between 2023/24 and 2024/25, with 13,132 offences recorded in 2024/25, excluding fraud.
• A 6% increase in anti-social behaviour offences, with 1,821 offences recorded in Knowsley in 2024/25.
• Nuisance behaviour accounted for 91% of all anti-social behaviour incidents in Knowsley.

The report also highlights several initiatives, including the Be The Change programme, which aims to engage young people and provide them with positive role models. The report pack states that the programme's core philosophy:

revolves around inspiring young people to aspire, opening doors to new opportunities, and providing positive role models who can influence their development away from the criminal justice system and risky relationships.

The report also covers domestic abuse in Knowsley, noting that Knowsley Council has invested a further £1 million into community-based and internal capacity to support victims and prevent abuse. The report mentions the establishment of the Multi-Agency Domestic Abuse Survivor Forum, which aims to ensure the voices of victims and survivors are heard. According to the report pack, the forum has contributed to shaping local services by:

Co-creating a new marketing campaign 'Is this you?' that aims to create 'lightbulb' moments for people who are unaware they are living in a domestic abuse situation which launched in Knowsley in November 2024.

The report also sets out the Knowsley Community Safety Partnership priorities for 2025-28, which are: domestic abuse and violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour, and serious and organised crime.

The committee is asked to consider and endorse the findings of the 2024/25 Strategic Threat Assessment.

Statement of Licensing Policy 2026-2030

The committee will be asked to consider the development of the new Statement of Licensing Policy and give assurance that consideration has been given to the key issues.

The Licensing Act 2003 requires each licensing authority to publish a Statement of Licensing Policy, which must be reviewed and updated every five years. The current policy came into effect in January 2021, and the new policy is due to come into force in January 2026.

The Statement of Licensing Policy must promote the four licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.

The draft Statement of Licensing Policy was approved by the Licensing Committee on 31 July 2025 and subsequently published for consultation. According to the report pack, no responses to the consultation were received.

The report pack notes that since the previous Statement of Licensing Policy was published, there have been no permanent legislative changes made to the Licensing Act 2003, but that the Statutory Guidance issued under Section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 was updated in February 2025.

The report pack also mentions the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, also known as Martyn's Law , which is in its final stages and will require certain licensed premises to improve protective security and preparedness.

The committee is asked to consider whether the report enables the council to ensure compliance with the Licensing Act 2003 and mitigates the risks of harm associated with the licensing of premises.

Minutes

The committee will be asked to approve the minutes of the Stronger Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 29 July 2025 as an accurate record. At that meeting, the committee considered the Volair business model and community offer, and the work programme for 2025-26. Volair is Knowsley Council's leisure and wellbeing provider.