The Safe Redbridge Policy Development Committee was scheduled to meet on Monday 02 February 2026 to review and agree the draft outcome report for the 2025/2026 municipal year, which focuses on aligning police and council policy and priorities. The committee was also set to discuss the Safe Redbridge PDC Work Plan.

Review of Draft Safe Redbridge Policy Development Committee 2025/2026 Outcome Report

The committee was scheduled to review and agree the draft outcome report titled Aligning Police and Council Policy and Priorities. This report stems from the committee's work throughout the 2025/2026 municipal year, which aimed to identify key areas for collaboration between the police and the council to enhance community safety.

The report's background information highlights that the Safe Redbridge Policy Development Committee (PDC) was established in May 2023 as part of the council's broader initiative to address issues such as violence against women and girls, anti-social behaviour, and public trust in the police and probation service. The committee's overarching goals for the year were to increase the percentage of residents who feel safe during the day and at night, and to enhance flooding prevention measures.

Key themes explored during the committee's workshops included:

• Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs): The committee was set to review the effectiveness of PSPOs, their associated costs and value for money, and to benchmark their use against other London boroughs. PSPOs, introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014¹, are designed to tackle persistent anti-social behaviour in public spaces by prohibiting specific activities that have a detrimental effect on the quality of life. The report pack indicated that Redbridge currently has three PSPOs in place: one for sexual harassment across the whole borough, one for town centre anti-social behaviour (including street drinking, aggressive begging, and congregating in groups) in Ilford Town Centre, and one for the buying of sex on Ilford Lane and surrounding areas. The report pack noted that Of those boroughs surveyed for the period requested, it is clear that Council officers carry out most enforcement: related to PSPOs ≈14,507 FPNs recorded compared to Police-issued FPNs: ≈264 FPNs .²
• Improving Police and Council Working Practices: This theme focused on how ward councillors engage with the police, improving casework responses, and enhancing the interaction between councillors and ward panels. The report pack detailed discussions on how to foster closer collaboration, including joint communications and escalation processes.
• Public Confidence and Feelings of Safety: The committee was scheduled to consider how public confidence in the police is measured, how different agencies gauge safety perceptions, and what actions the council can take to promote confidence. The report pack included data from the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC)³ Public Attitude Survey, showing trends in Redbridge residents' perceptions of the police between 2024 and 2025. For instance, the data indicated an improvement in the perception of police reliability, increasing from 51% in 2024 to 59% in 2025.

The report pack outlined a series of recommendations agreed upon by the committee, which were to be reviewed. These included improving PSPO communications, exploring new locations for PSPOs, enhancing council and councillor support for the police's use of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs)⁴, ensuring councillor attendance at ward panel meetings, implementing induction training for councillors, improving communication following serious incidents, and establishing maximum response times for messages to police Neighbourhood Officers. Recommendations also covered developing a councillor toolkit on the Redbridge intranet, providing councillors with the work number for their local Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) sergeant, promoting Met Engage⁵ as a communication channel, and increasing clarity on how and where to report issues.

Safe Redbridge PDC Work Plan

The committee was also scheduled to review the Safe Redbridge PDC Work Plan for the remainder of the 2025/2026 municipal year. The plan indicated that following this meeting, the next scheduled meeting would be on 02 March 2026, where the outcome report would be received and referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. A further meeting was scheduled for 30 April 2026, with the topic to be confirmed, likely considering pre-election period considerations.