AGENDA ITEM No.
NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL
REPORT
To: MOTHERWELL LOCAL AREA Subject: JOINT COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP REPORT
From: HEAD OF PLANNING & REGENERATION
Date 14th JANUARY 2015 I Ref: SL/MB
1. Purpose of the Report
1.1 The purpose of this report is to update members of the Local Area Partnership on progress with Community Safety in the locality and the joint work carried out in the area by the Local Community Safety Sub−Group over the last period incorporating October − December 2014. 2. Background
2.1 The Joint Community Safety Report reflects the impact which the Local Area Team and Community Safety Sub−groups are making in the area.
3. Proposals/Considerations
3.1 Paragraph 4 provides a description of some of the activity reflecting and Appendix 1 gives an up to date summary of the community safety subgroup action plan that is regularly updated by partners using the Sharepoint system.
4. Promoting Positive Outcomes
4.1 The Out of Hours Project was piloted in Motherwell, Wishaw & Shotts from August 2014 following initial meetings with Police Scotland and Housing & Social Work Services. This project involves Anti —Social Behaviour Investigators working jointly with Community Police Officers on a Friday and Saturday evening, visiting repeat offender/locations and anti−social hotspots. To date 82 home visits have been carried out across the Motherwell, Wishaw& Shotts area with 15 default foot patrol areas being identified. Early signs are encouraging and this proactive approach has proved successful in driving down the number of complaints in the Motherwell area. To promote this initiative a media launch took place in October 2014 to increase public awareness of the service being provided. Such is the success of the project it has now been rolled out across other locality areas in North Lanarkshire.
4.2 The Community Asset based approach which has been ongoing in Gowkthrapple since January 2013 and has now been extended to Craigneuk. There are three Community Police Officers shared between Gowkthrapple and Craigneuk and they focus on engagement with the community designed at breaking down barriers and using the assets within the community to their benefit. 4.3 There is an enforcement angle and again this is proving successful with a huge drop in anti−social behaviour & crime in Gowkthrapple. It is anticipated that as the Craigneuk branch of the initiative grows similar results will be achieved.
4.4 Police Scotland and Trading Standards are working together to identify suitable recipients for 10 True call telephone call blockers that have been provided by Trading Standards. Initial results show that the vulnerable people are being targeted by various bogus agencies and these devices are blocking these agencies calls leading to an improvement in the quality of their lives.
4.5 The Local Development Programme and NHS Lanarkshire funded the Local Festive Safety Campaign delivering hundreds of information packs at the Town Centre Christmas Light switch−on. These packs provided community safety advice, local activity information and free items such as purse bells to deter potential thefts, alcohol unit measure guides and stop smoking compact mirrors. In addition Robbery Prevention Packs were provided to local businesses to assist them at their busiest time of the year; these packs proved very popular. This funding also provided Taxi Marshals at a taxi rank on Windmillhill Street, adjacent to the Mega Bar in an effort to make the journey home safer for people during the festive season.
4.6 As a result of effective partnership working between Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and Town Centre Activities there have been a total of eight confirmed arrests of individuals identified as being involved in deliberate fire setting.
4.7 The SFRS Firereach programme now includes the Dynamic Youth Awards which is being managed by the CLD Youth Worker. This has resulted in over 60 young people being accredited with the Award in the past two months.
4.8 Sheltered Housing complexes are the focus of joint discussions between NLC Housing & Social Work, NLC Design Team and SFRS to address the high level of fire alarm actuations resulting in attendance of the fire service over the past eight months. It is anticipated that a solution will be reached in the near future which will reduce the impact on both the residents and SFRS due to the actuations.
4.9 Supported through the Community Safety Sub Group (CSSG) for an initiative highlighting the dangers and impact of wheelie bin and refuse fires has been launched through a media release. This initiative will target local communities identified through data analysis as having higher numbers of refuse and wheelie bin fire incidents. SFRS, Police Scotland and NLC Housing & Social Work staff will deliver safety advice leaflets to residents in the affected areas. Where appropriate 2 metre lengths of chain and padlocks will be issued to residents to be used to secure their bins making it very difficult for the wheelie bin to be stolen. This initiative has been piloted in other areas and resulted in an 80% reduction of fires involving wheelie bins and refuse.
4.10 As a result of the CSSG multi agency approach to the recent bonfire period there has been a positive reduction of deliberate fire setting incidents over the October/ November period. The uplift service operated through Northline has been central to the overall reduction of bonfire incidents within North Lanarkshire.
4.11 Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS) are working in partnership with Network Rail and British Transport Police to educate our younger residents of the dangers of unauthorised access to the rail network. In addition the SFRS have adapted the Cut It Out delivery programme which targets 6th Year pupils to include a hard hitting session focusing on the dangers surrounding level crossings. The partnership will operate for the next twelve months. 4.12 Trading Standards, Police Scotland, SFRS, Electrical Safety First and Town Centre Activities joined forces on the 15 th October 2014 to host a joint Winter Safety Event at Motherwell Town Centre. The day was a success with several hundred shoppers visiting the four stalls based in one of the vacant shop units. The chip pan unit was on site and there were four kitchen fire safety demonstrations to emphasise the dangers of kitchen fires.
4.13 A serious incident occurred in the Forgewood area during the period of the report which resulted in a lengthy custodial sentence following an attack on polish residents. Officers from Housing Services worked alongside Police Scotland to ensure the case was brought to a speedy conclusion and demonstrates the benefit of partnership working. The work undertaken in this case gave reassurance to the families' involved and reduced tensions within the community.
4.14 North Lanarkshire Council was successful in securing a Decree for repossession against another resident in the Forgewood area following a drugs conviction. In this particular case the drug dealing led to serious consequences. This ASBO was granted on unique circumstances as the order was granted not on the tenancy itself, but included the wider Forgewood area. The order was also granted despite the case being defended by the tenant who was legally represented.
4.15 A property in the North Motherwell area has also been returned to NLC following the initial stages of court action. Both these individuals were well known in their respective communities and the Council actions and secured convictions give a clear message that anti−social behaviour, in any form, will not be tolerated.
4.16 Following receipt of a petition from local residents in Airbies Street and Airbles Tower about anti−social behaviour from the McClurg Court area which had been the source of disorder/violence and subsequent public meeting held, a number of arrests were made. Investigations and review of CCTV proved vital and led to subsequent convictions and resulted in one property being returned to the Council.
4.17 In ward 17, Local Elected Members, on behalf of their communities in New Stevenston Road and Leven Terrace and Parkneuk Street complained of large scale youth disorder. The behaviour included underage drinking, leading to intoxicated youths causing noise disturbance, verbal abuse, vandalism, urinating, litter dropping and fighting. Visits were carried out to all neighboring properties and door to door enquiries undertaken. Appropriate advice and assistance was given to all local residents as well as information packs and contact telephone numbers of Anti−Social Officers. Police Scotland carried out extra patrols to the areas. Weekly updates were maintained with the complainers who commented that the situation has improved due to partnership working.
4.18 In the Flemington area, two cannabis cultivations were detected following intelligence gathered from Housing & Social Work Services which was passed to Police Scotland. Both properties are in the process of being returned to the Council. This is a positive outcome as the detection has prevented the cultivation progressing to distribution. 4.19 Muirhouse was represented in the documentary The Life in the Motherwell Towers from Past to Present as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival. The documentary was shown on 10th October 2014 at the GLO Centre, Motherwell and was well attended by local residents.
5. Corporate Considerations
5.1 The Joint Community Safety Report reflects the Partnership's commitment to tackling community safety in all our localities.
6. Recommendations
6.1 It is recommended that the Local Area Partnership note the content of this report.
Shirley Linton Head of Planning & Regeneration January 2015
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