Agenda item

The report will follow.

Lisa Wills, Strategy & Partnerships Manager introduced the report.  There were no questions for her.

Councillor Gemma New stated that she was pleased to have been involved since the start and she was happy to support this.

Councillor Corkery noted his general support for this project and added the following comments:

·         He was pleased that the resources were targeted to areas of need and to have been invited to have been invited to the consultation events.  

·         The role of the Hive was interesting and he looked forward to seeing how that develops in the long term.

·         He was not sure if the cost of the consultancy work would prove value for money. 

Lisa Wills added that £10,000 for the consultancy had come from her Community Safety budget and had represented the best value for money she could have obtained.  A total of £17,000 had been spent on that to date.

Councillor Hunt observed that it had been pleasurable working with the Opposition Spokespersons and that he had listened to their comments and amended the project accordingly where required.

He noted that they had worked together cross party to find consensus on this project as they all wanted to ensure that people have a voice.  He felt that this encourage residents and groups to better support and build their own safer communities.  This is important as they know their communities better than the council.

This investment was not huge but would pay dividends.  Working with the voluntary sector enabled the council to lever in more money.

The Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner, crime charities and lottery funders had been involved to help strengthen local communities and make them more resilient in the struggle against crime, anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and violence.

He hoped that local councillors would match fund the initiatives proposed by their own communities with Community Infrastructure Levies that might be available.

The Hive has won praise for its work during this crisis.  The initiative recognises that it is a trusted partner and values its network of volunteers. 

This Crime Reduction initiative is part of this administration's strategy to build local communities and strengthen them in the fight against all crime.  It sits alongside the continued funding for community wardens and detached youth workers in the budget.

The partnership with Southampton, the Police & Crime Commissioner office and others has enabled the creation of the Violence Reduction Unit.

The administration is investing in youth provision and detached youth workers after so much was deleted previously.  Five hundred thousand pounds was commissioned in the Active Community Network and its partners Motiv8 and Portsmouth in the Community to go out and engage with young people in constructive activities.

Funding will continue for Portsmouth's network of anti-crime safeguarding cameras.  Such is the high demand for this service a further three were purchased.  The cameras are effective; the previous week the council helped the police 125 times with incidents and on average with 100 a week.

Councillor Hunt thanked the unsung heroes in the CCTV control room.   The Wi-Fi installed in the city will lead to better pictures.

The council will continue to support its police partners especially regarding County Lines crime.  The police supports the council in our parks and open spaces and works by the consent of the people it represents.

They are all working together build better and safer communities.