Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

The report details the first Annual Report produced by the Safer Stockport Partnership.  The report aims to tell the story of change for the Partnership in 2016/17; reviews progress against the performance framework used by the Partnership to monitor achievement of its 2016/17 priorities; and looks ahead to the planned work and context informing the development of future Partnership Priorities. 

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to:

(a)       Consider the SSP Annual Report and accompanying presentation;

(b)       Note the progress made in relation to delivering against the 4 priority themes of the SSP Plan;

(c)       Provide any comments or reflections on the issues covered in the Report and presentation.

Officer contact: Katy Forde on 07527387232 or email: katy.forde@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing the first Annual Report produced by the Safer Stockport Partnership.  The report aimed to tell the story of change for the Partnership in 2016/17; reviewed progress against the performance framework used by the Partnership to monitor achievement of its 2016/17 priorities; and looked ahead to the planned work and context informing the development of future Partnership Priorities.

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing (Councillor Sheila Bailey) attended the meeting to present the report and respond to councillors’ questions.

Councillor Bailey commented that in response to complaints from members of the public and councillors, she had written to the Mayor of Greater Manchester expressing her concern in relation to the operation of the 101 police non-emergency telephone number, with particular regard to the length of time it was taking for such calls to be connected to an operator.  Councillor Bailey undertook to report back to the Scrutiny Committee when a response had been received.

Steve Skelton (CSS Strategic Head of Service, Stockport Council) and Chief Inspector Richard Timson (Greater Manchester Police) also attended the meeting to make a presentation to the Scrutiny Committee highlighting some of the key issues to arise out of the Annual Report.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         The reopening of Hazel Grove Police Station was welcomed.

·         It was suggested that Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology could be deployed on the new A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road.

·         Stockport was considered an attractive location for acquisitive crime due to its relative affluence.

·         It was suggested that the increase in the level of recorded crime was largely due to improvements in how the police recorded their activities to give a more accurate representation of the level of crime.

·         There had been a rising trend in the level of hate crime across Greater Manchester, with the majority relating to race.  It was suggested that this may partly be due to the impact of the referendum on leaving the European Union.  It was further commented that the rise in Stockport had not been significant which may be due to the demography of the Borough.

·         Demand on policing services had remained relative static, however at the same time resources had decreased and the increase in the level of work associated with the recording of crime meant there was less availability of policing resources.

·         A new initiative had been introduced through the office of the Mayor of Greater Manchester to provide mental health professionals in custody suites to provide assessments of children and adults.

·         Concern was expressed that the reported decrease in levels of anti-social behaviour did not correlate with members understanding of the rate of such incidents.

·         It was commented that there was a lack of a collaborative approach towards children missing from home or care outside ‘working hours’ which was when most incidents occurred. In response it was stated that improvements had been made to provide a seven day co-ordinated response service until 11 pm to reflect the fact those most incidents occurred at weekend and evenings.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.