Agenda item

To consider a joint presentation of the Deputy Chief Executive and Greater Manchester Police.

The presentation focuses on the activity of the One Stockport Safety Partnership (OSSP) since this committee approved the partnership’s 2022-2025 Plan in March 2022.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to note the presentation.

Officer Contact: Karishma Chandaria at karishma.chandaria@stockport.gov.uk

Michael Cullen (Deputy Chief Executive) and Chief Superintendent John Webster (Greater Manchester Police) attended the meeting and made a presentation focussing on the activity of the One Stockport Safety Partnership (OSSP) since this Committee approved the partnership’s 2022-2025 Plan in March 2022.

The Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture & Sport (Councillor Frankie Singleton) attended the meeting to respond to councillors’ questions.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         The District Commander gave details related to the Child-Centred Custody Pilot, aiming for better working practices and a child-centred framework. The pilot also aimed to ensure that every child arrested would be discussed in detail with partnership organisations. The measures for improved working practices would be multi-faceted. Quantitative measures such as the time taken for the investigative process and time spent in custody would be taken into account. Other measures were more qualitative.

·         The District Commander invited Members of the Committee to observe the work of the police when children were arrested.

·         Members welcomed the revised approach to children in custody, which was considered to be humane, in particular describing children in custody as being vulnerable.

·         In terms of police engagement in community activities with children, it was stated that, whilst the police took up opportunities to engage with the local community, they did not take the lead on such engagement as that was not the core role of the police.

·         The police were involved with outreach programs aimed at preventing anti-social behaviour. They supported and facilitated the work of statutory and non-statutory partners in this work and had some significant successes. The police also had two dedicated schools officers who worked with troubled young people.

·         It was also reported that the Youth Justice Board and Youth Offending Teams worked with young people through means including community safety and partnerships such as football clubs. This work had helped to change the lives of young people.

·         The work of the Police Restorative Justice Officer involved looking at outcomes for young people.  Whilst in some circumstances, depending on the level of offending, a prosecution was inevitable, opportunities for an alternative path were sought.

·         County lines crime, where criminals – often drug dealers – took advantage of vulnerable individuals, often children, to force them into criminal activity. This was a nationwide issue, although not an especially significant issue for Stockport. Nonetheless, work was ongoing in Stockport to abate that type of offending.

·         There were some circumstances where individuals under arrest, particularly children, were treated as victims themselves, and where legislation related to duress and the Slavery Act were applied. 

·         Members commented positively on community engagement with the neighbourhood police inspectors, citing a recent, well-attended, Police and Communities Together (PACT) meeting in Werneth.

·         Neighbourhood policing and communications with local people were key to developing effective relationships between the police and the community.

·         It was noted that the neighbourhood police had been proactive in terms of social media updates, particularly related to town centre arrests. The police took the view that understanding the experiences of the community was vital and it wanted the town centre to be a place for people to thrive.

·         Members commented that the police still had some work to do to provide assurances to residents that they would attend burglaries. In response it was acknowledged that Greater Manchester Police’s historical position that it could not investigate all crime had been damaging. It was reported that 100 per cent of reported crime was now investigated. In Stockport burglaries were down by 35 per cent in the past two years. Residents were encouraged to contact the police in the event of burglaries.

·         In terms of crime rates, serious offending had significantly reduced and Stockport was regarded as a safe place to live.

·         The Right Care, Right Person initiative tackled the work carried out by the police on a daily basis which did not involve crime, for example, dealing with people in crisis. Those people required the right sources of care and support; police stations were not necessarily the right place.

·         The initiative was designed to ensure that the caller was directed to the correct person. This was a nationwide project and it was hoped that the outcome would allow the police service to return to core policing principles. The initiative was likely to come into effect in April 2024.

·         The methodology of triaging people in crisis was named ‘Thrive’ and involved an assessment of threat and risk under several scenarios.

·         It was reported that domestic violence was a pernicious issue across the country. An investigative team had been set up in Stockport to deal with domestic abuse offenders and to ensure that the victims of domestic abuse received the best support and had the opportunity to break the cycle of abuse.

·         Stockport Council was a white-ribbon accredited organisation, committed to ending violence against women and girls, with a number of supporters and allies across the council.

·         The Store Net system had been used effectively at the Peel Centre to tackle shoplifting. Overall there had been a 50 per cent increase in shoplifting. The District Commander commented that big businesses could do more to tackle shoplifting. The police were particularly concerned about staff potentially getting into violent situations by tackling shoplifters. Businesses were advised to contact neighbourhood police to seek advice on what strategies they can employ to help themselves, including a toolkit for small businesses.  

·         Members referred to a radio system set up between local business in Woodley Precinct to tackle business crime, which had been based upon a similar system on Castle Street in Edgeley. This had proved to be a successful and proactive approach, particularly for small businesses with fewer resources.

·         It was reported that the police’s data system was now more effective than it had been previously, however this led to some difficulties in extrapolating data in order to demonstrate trends in crime and the efficacy of police strategies. The data was under review and would be shared at future meetings of this Committee.

·         The Safer Streets initiative was a specific project which had taken place in Brinnington. The work undertaken included funding for CCTV and a control centre, business support work and youth work.

·         Members were encouraged to report residents’ concerns about speeding on roads to neighbourhood inspectors. Police Officers with speed guns were a visible and effective deterrent.

·         Members referred to a pilot which had taken place in Crewe to tackle illegal parking and asked whether a similar initiative was planned for Stockport. In response it was stated that it would be considered by the police and that residents were encouraged to provide intelligence to the police on illegal parking to ensure that vulnerable people were not forced onto the road.

·         Members thanked the District Commander for his time and for a very useful and informative discussion.

RESOLVED – That the presentation be noted.