Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence from the meeting.

Apologies received from Councillor L Bell.

To be notified of the appointment of any substitute members.

There were no substitute members reported.

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable interest that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

You are also requested to complete the Declarations of Interests card at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

Councillor O’Keefe declared a non-registerable personal interest in Item 5: as she has a family member who works for North Tyneside Council.

The Committee is asked to confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2023.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2024 be agreed and signed by the Chair.

A presentation to the Committee taking into account the following three questions.

·        What do we do to prevent Anti Social Behaviour

·        What’s our approach to tackling Anti Social Behaviour

·        What do we do to support victims of Anti Social Behaviour

Attached are the following documents for background information.

·        Safer North Tyneside Partnership Plan 2023-24

·        Safer North Tyneside Delivery Plan 2023-24

·        Safer North Tyneside Serious Violence Action Plan 2024-25

·        Safer North Tyneside Strategic Needs Assessment  2021-22 (currently in the process of being updated)

The Secure Sub-committee received a joint update from the Director of Public Health, the Head of Environment and Safer Neighbourhoods and the Team Leader Community & Public Space Protection on Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in North Tyneside Council.

The sub-committee was informed that whilst North Tyneside is one of the safest places, residents are informing the council that they are feeling less safe and crime, including anti-social behaviour, is one of the most important issues and in most need of improvement.

Officers highlighted that the Council is only able to deal with ASB and not criminal behaviour, and that this distinction was sometimes confusing for those not working directly with ASB. The committee stressed that it hoped that work on tackling ASB would lead to stopping individual acts becoming criminal behaviour.

That while ASB reported to the police has decreased, low-level anti-social behaviour reported to the Community and Public Spaces Protection Team has increased by 23% in the last 5 years.

Officers mentioned that there did appear to be some disparity between what the reality of the figures were showing and the perception of rising ASB. Officers talked about how the Council was reshaping how it approached ASB with Multi Agency working, co-location of partners agencies and the Mayor’s ASB taskforce.

A question was asked about how Operation VITA decided which areas to concentrate their work in. the geographical location was intelligence led and moved to where the crime / ASB figures directed the joint NTC and Police led project.

A discussion took place about resident and member expectations about ASB case reviews. Officers stated that sometimes there could be a discrepancy between what residents would like to see happen and what was possible. Officers were aware that this was a case of expectations not being in line with what officers were able to do and in within what timescales. ASB cases often involved multi-agency coordination and extensive data / evidence gathering before action can be taken. This combined with what data protection allowed in terms of sharing, could lead to the view that cases were not progressing, and officers always attempted to manage expectations were possible.

Officers shared with members that they often act as mediators between residents, but there is an external mediation service that has been using a small number of times.

In terms of where grants were used, officers said that the locations that were led by both ASB / crime data / intelligence and any relevant conditions set by the grant provider (e.g. for use only in preventative, youth, location etc projects). 

A question was asked regarding retail crime / shoplifting and the increase in groups of kids and officers responded that the Police were now doing more to tackle this issue. Members stated that this was not their experience.

A discussion took place around tenancy agreements and what council officers could do in terms of reported ASB and breaches of tenancy agreements. Officers stated that a Secure tenancy more strongly protects tenants against eviction, and that  ...  view the full minutes text for item S5/23

To consider any items for work programme for the remainder of the 2023-24 municipal year.

The Chair encouraged Members of the sub-committee to put forward any ideas they may have for suggested topics for inclusion in the work programme.

The next meeting will take place on 18 March 2024 at 6.00pm

The next meeting will take place on 18 March 2024 6.00 pm in room 4.01.