Agenda item

To receive any announcements from the Chairman.

The Chairman updated Council on her activities since the last meeting. These included attendance at:

-       remembrance Services at Purewell Cross and Christchurch Priory

-       a welcoming of a delegation of Bournemouth University politics students for a tour of the chamber and presentation of regalia

-       Winton Community Pantry with the Mayor of Bournemouth

-       an art exhibition hosted by the Soroptimists

-       the Admiralty Carol Service with other civic dignitaries and the Leader in aid of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity

-       Christchurch Priory to read a lesson at the Carol Service

-       the 100^th Birthday celebration for Gwen Taylor at the Fairhaven Christadelphian Care Home

The Vice Chairman updated Council on his activities since the last meeting on behalf of the Chairman.

These included attendance at:

-       the remembrance parade and service in Poole

-       the Indian Cultural Association of Dorset’s Ayyappa Swamy Padi Pooja

-       Royal British Legions Service of Dedication for a new County Standard in Wimborne Minster

The Chairman invited Councillor Kieron Wilson (Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regulatory Services) to provide an update on the knife crime motion which was supported at the Council meeting in September 2023.

Councillor Wilson thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to update members on the progress of the Community Safety Strategy, paying particular attention to knife crime.

Council was advised that the Portfolio Holder, the chair of the Community Safety Panel (CSP) and officers attended the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Board on 5 December to provide the annual report on this subject. The report contains a detailed overview of the crime disorder across the BCP area, along with details of the significant partnership work taking place. Councillors can access the annual strategic assessment and key performance indicators for the CSP along with the hotspot mapping and trend analysis.

The Portfolio Holder advised that:-

• there was no statistical significant change in public place recorded violent crime between 2021/22 and 2022/23, bucking a national trend;
• there was a 7.6% reduction between the number of recorded domestic abuse violent crime incidences in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22;
• a 5% reduction in the total number of serious sexual offences when compared over the same period, and
• a 12% decrease in the total number of all ASB reported to the police, with 10,952 incidences reported in 2022/23, as compared to 12,440 in 2021/22.

Under the serious violence duty, we are required to monitor from 31 January, 2024, data around three of the following KPIs. A reduction in hospital admissions for assaults with a knife or sharp object. A reduction in knife and sharp object enabled serious violence recorded by the police, and homicides recorded by the police.

Knife crime is recorded against crime groups, such as violence against the person, possessions of a weapon, public order, etc., rather than a specific category of knife crime, depending on the incident, and therefore requires the police data to be flagged when a knife has been involved. The serious violence needs assessment identified that there were 422 flagged occurrences in BCP in 2022/23. 45% of these were classified as violence against the person; of those 194 occurrences, 34% were assault with injury, 26% were common assault, and 20% were the most serious violent crime.

Council was further advised that the Council had held a Keeping Young People Safe conference in November, coinciding with Operation Skepta, a week of intensified action against knife crime. This included speakers who spoke on the importance of being persistent with our most vulnerable young people due to their complexities, including key speakers from the Ben Kinsella Trust.

All organisations were able to provide practical tips for attendees to take away to help our young people be as safe as possible. We are holding the same conference again this year in 2024, in addition to our five weeks of action around knife crime between 15 April and 17 May, which is currently under development, focusing on education, support, prevention, and deterrence around knife crime. The Portfolio Holder reminded members that this area is the seventh safest policing area across the country when compared across all policing crime recorded rates.

Councillor T Trent paid tribute to former Poole Councillor Randolph Meech who had passed away in December. Mr Meech had represented the Hamworthy ward from 1976 to 1996, served as Sheriff and subsequently Mayor in 1987/88. Council passed its best wishes to Mr Meech’s family.

Member’s stood in silent tribute.