Update on Safer Neighbourhoods

Report: 13
Date: 5 June 2008
By: Assistant Commissioner Territorial Policing on behalf of the Commissioner

Summary

At the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Board on the 24th May 2007, Chief Superintendent Bloomfield presented a comprehensive report on the equalities and diversity of the Safer Neighbourhoods programme. This report provides an update on the challenges highlighted within that report and a number of the issues raised within the meeting. In particular:

• Update on the demographics of Safer Neighbourhoods Teams (SNTs)
• Current demographic information on Neighbourhood Panels and Youth Panels.
• Work being done to include Deaf and Disabled people on the Panels

A. Recommendations

That

1. the Board notes the content of this report; and
2. receives a progress report on equality and diversity in relation to the development and composition of Safer Neighbourhood Panels in 18 months time.

B. Supporting information

Overview of the report submitted to the EODB in May 2007

1. The report to the Equalities Opportunities and Diversity Board (EODB) in May 2007 was very wide ranging and covered the full remit of the Safer Neighbourhoods programme. Topics covered included:

• How equality and diversity are woven through the Safer Neighbourhoods seven-stage model.
• How equality and diversity is delivered through the five-day Safer Neighbourhoods training course.
• Current demographics of Safer Neighbourhoods staff along each of the diversity strands.
• Update current position around recruitment and retention.
• Other resources that support the programme
• The range of community engagement tactics that are used to engage all communities thereby ensuring that local priorities are identified and resolved.
• Latest performance update and challenges for the future.

2. This report deals specifically with a number of issues that arose from the meeting on 24 May 2007. In particular, the demographics of SNTs and Neighbourhood and Youth Panels, how we are building the confidence of Londoners, relationship with Communities Together Strategic Engagement Team (CTSET), partnership working, synergies with Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs), Community and Police Engagement Groups (CPEGs) and what are the developing processes for managing neighbourhood panels. This report will provide the current position of each of these issues in turn.

Current Demographics of Safer Neighbourhoods Teams

3. There are currently over 4500 officers (police officers and PCSOs) working within Neighbourhood Policing. Officers within Safer Neighbourhoods teams comprise a diverse group of individuals and the significance of cultural experience, ethnicity and gender along with other characteristics is recognised. The diversity of these teams provides a significant benefit to the MPS and adds to the capability and competence of SNTs:

• There are 80 female sergeants
• There are 554 male sergeants
• There are 270 female constables
• There are 1103 male constables
• There are 898 female PCSOs
• There are 1706 male PCSOs
• 33 sergeants are from a BME background
• 160 constables are from a BME background
• 735 PCSOs are from a BME background

4. With regards the age of Safer Neighbourhoods staff

• 45 sergeants are aged between 25 & 29
• 234 sergeants are aged between 30 & 39
• 307 sergeants are aged between 40 & 49
• 48 sergeants are aged between 50 & 59
• 54 constables are aged between 20 & 24
• 313 constables are aged between 25 & 29
• 529 constables are aged between 30 & 39
• 414 constables are aged between 40 & 49
• 64 constables are aged between 50 & 59
• 75 PCSOs are aged under 20
• 1424 PCSOs are aged between 20 & 29
• 546 PCSOs are aged between 30 & 39
• 414 PCSOs are aged between 40 & 50
• 132 PCSOs are aged between 50 & 59
• 13 PCSOs are aged 60+

Disabilities, Faith and LGBT

5. The following information is based upon the officer’s own self-classification, which is voluntarily provided. Not every officer has provided information on these three areas. There are three police officers and 40 PCSOs shown as having a disability. In relation to faith, the breakdown is shown at Appendix 1 for police officers and Appendix 2 for PCSOs. Although there is a LGBT field entered onto METHR it has not been populated at this time.

6. The Recruitment Directorate has made a significant contribution to the development of a diverse workforce within the MPS. One of the outcomes of the inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence was a target for black and minority ethnic (BME) representation across the public sector and police service, with a requirement that the MPS reflect the London population. Nearly 10 years on from the Inquiry, over 30% of police community support officers and Special Constables are from a BME background, exceeding the BME economically active population of 26%; equally of significance has been the sharp increase in proportion of BME police officers, which has more than doubled since 2000 and now stands at over 8%.

7. Although conventional recruitment methods, which make use of high profile, generic advertising campaigns, have been effective as a means of increasing overall police strength, they have proven to be ineffective as a way of increasing diversity; the intense recruitment campaign during 2002 – 2003 to increase police officer strength to over 30,000 resulted in a predominantly white male application pool, notwithstanding a presence in minority media.

8. Consequently, since 2004, the Recruitment Directorate has re-assessed its recruitment methods and moved away from generic advertising campaigns in favour of relatively small-scale, focused campaigns, making the most of mobile (i.e. the recruitment bus) and local resources (i.e. volunteers, staff associations and community groups). The events are carefully planned, drawing upon the principles within the national intelligence model, and focus upon specific communities with a view of marketing the MPS as an employer of choice, highlighting the wide range of opportunities available.

9. Underpinning these activities has been the development of an operational requirement, which provides a focus for recruitment activities by prioritising languages/community knowledge in light of a composite measure for demand. In this way, the recruitment activities focus upon specific communities and moves the measurement of success beyond the unrealistic BME/white dichotomy. Furthermore, the operational requirement has identified many emerging communities as priority groups, highlighting the growing complexity of London’s population and policing demands.

10. The operational requirement highlights the tremendous variability within London’s population, along with the widely differing needs of these communities. From a recruitment perspective the growing diversity within the population of London, means gaining access to these communities is becoming an increasingly important consideration. Consequently, drawing upon the Community Engagement Pathfinder programme (refer to paragraph 73 for detail), the Recruitment Directorate has initiated a pilot focusing upon five priority communities (i.e. Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Somali, Turkish and Polish), with the ultimate aim of gaining access to these communities through a robust process of community engagement.

11. Initial focus groups with members from these five communities have highlighted many differences between the communities and how the MPS needs to proactively nurture trust and confidence within these communities in order to gain access.

BME representation of SNT as part of the Pathfinder work

12. Central HR draws upon MPS workforce data and population estimates produced by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), to provide a comparison between the different BME groups and SNT across boroughs. The resulting ratio provides an indication of the extent to which the BME representation within the various safer neighbourhoods teams match the ethnic groups within their respective boroughs.

13. As an example, taking the boroughs with the greatest Bangladeshi populations, there is parity between the SNT and borough populations within the following boroughs: Ealing, Hackney, Islington, Redbridge and Southwark. The boroughs of Haringey, Newham and Westminster have SNT that are nearly equal to the local Bangladeshi populations. Conversely, Camden and Tower Hamlets have very low Bangladeshi SNT representation and the greatest Bangladeshi communities. The HR community engagement pilot is currently focusing upon the Bangladeshi community within Tower Hamlets. In light of these findings, on the successful completion of the pilot, the community engagement undertaken by HR is likely to focus upon the Bangladeshi community in Camden.

14. Interestingly, the data is supporting some findings from our focus groups where participants, especially younger members, felt disinclined to work within their local community due to the effect this may have upon their friendships and relationships with peer groups - this was particularly evident with the Bangladeshi and Turkish groups.

Training

15. We include the six stands of diversity throughout our five-day SN course. Consultation was undertaken with the Diversity and Citizen Focus and Directorate (DCFD) to ensure our model followed the community engagement policy and guidance. Two members from DCFD who observed the course stated it was of a good standard and met the needs of the MPS.

16. Training is formatted to follow the seven-stage engagement model and includes equality and diversity as follows.

• Research. Demographics of ward make up using Census data / Acorn / Mosaic data.
• Engage. We use the mnemonic GARRDS, Gender / Age /Race /Religion /Disability / Sexual Orientation. We introduce ground rules to control meetings that include diversity. We refer to the diversity windmill to ensure all communities are engaged. Key Individual Networks (KINs) and representation across the community is also discussed.
• Public Issues. Continuous referral is made to ensue all communities are consulted and engaged.
• Investigate and Analysis. Ensure that all areas are looked at and all questions around equality and diversity are considered.
• Public Choices. Ensure that the neighbourhood panels are reflective and representative of the community, Diversity matrix used to show how to measure and ensure that this is being monitored. Officers are reminded of the need to record their effort to get communities to engage and participate. Emphasis is made as to why negative responses are also important facts to record.
• Plan and action. Ensure any action taken is compliant with Data Protection Act and Human Rights Act, i.e. proportional, legal, accountable and necessary. All actions recorded including who consulted and what difficulties / barriers encountered in getting the diverse communities within the ward to engage.
• Review. What we did well / not so well and how can we do better / be more inclusive?

17. The MPS has a training programme to meet its obligations under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. As part of the MPS implementation of the Police Race and Diversity Learning and Development Programme (PRDLDP), includes understanding of individual obligations and awareness raising for new police recruits and new PCSOs. Part of this Programme also includes a current training programme called the Equality and Diversity Assessment Workshop, which is aimed at supervisory ranks to ensure that the six strands of diversity are incorporated in the completion of appraisals for Police Officers PCSOs.

18. As of 1 January 2008, all police officers are being trained in Every Child Matters (ECM). Public Protection Desks will also be set up on every Borough. The ECM Programme Board is overseeing major organisational change through delivery of the Youth Strategy throughout the MPS.

Police Officer Training – Central HR Perspective

19. Diversity Learning and Development Branch (DLDB) are currently working with Westminster Borough (Commander Steve Allen) as a development site for a product on delivering quality policing through the Quality of Service principles (as part of the wider Citizen Focus Programme). This package will include:

• The behaviours underpinning the MPS Value “Proud to deliver Quality Policing”.
• The importance of quality of service to citizen focused, quality policing.
• The Quality of Service (QoS) principles, and their relationship with service delivery and internal relationships (Together).
• What is a Key Encounter and how they impact upon the user experience?
• The QoS principles relationship with:
  • Key Encounters
  • Improving the user experience
  • Public confidence and how this links to reducing crime and Disorder.
• How they can deliver quality policing through the QoS principles and improve their key encounters within their role.

20. In addition to this work, we are exploring how this product can act as a precursor to more focused "Key Encounter" activity for particular roles, particularly in community based roles (i.e. Safer Neighbourhood Teams) where diversity awareness and cultural sensitivity can be of particular importance to delivering quality policing. It was felt that SNTs could be an ideal group to take this more focused "Key Encounter" activity forward and there has been agreement in principle between DLDB and Central Safer Neighbourhoods Unit that this be explored further as part of the work with Westminster Borough.

Brief Overview of the seven-stage model

21. As explained in some detail last year, Safer Neighbourhoods is built upon the seven-stage engagement model as follows:

• Research
• Engagement
• Public Issues
• Investigation and Analysis
• Public Choices
• Plan and Action and
• Review.

22. Each team is required to undertake a full range of community engagement activity. To assist SNT sergeants, particularly under stages one and two, they are provided with a significant amount of information about their ward from the Strategic Management & Performance Development Team (SM&PD) (now DOI PIB Development Team). They have a responsibility for supporting Safer Neighbourhoods by devising ways to make all the data held by the MPS, previously at Borough level, available down to at least ward level. As well as providing crime and incident tables of performance information, we have developed a system that enables us to produce a demographic profile for each ward in London.

23. This profile uses the CACI Ltd, ACORN data as its foundation and allows us to provide a derived profile of each ward based upon its ACORN profile. The data is produced down to postcode level and then aggregated up to that of a ward. The data allows a view to be taken of the profile of the following categories:

• Population
• Age
• Marital Status
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Religion
• Place of Birth
• Economic Activity and British Crime Survey Concerns.
• Plus a crime profile to this information for the past 12 months.

24. In addition to providing this data by ward, we also supply it for those teams that do not police to existing ward boundaries. We also have the individual categories available as specific lookup tables at both ward and postcode level. The ACORN data can be viewed as a map in order to give the information a spatial context if this is deemed preferable for the user.

25. This information informs the activities that the SNTs will undertake in engaging with their communities, identifying the main issues and assist in identifying representatives for a Neighbourhood Panel. This information was been circulated to all SNT sergeants and also formally presented to them on 21 and 22 April 2008. As a follow up to the presentations, we will be sending out a user guide for each team sergeant.

The role of Safer Neighbourhood Panels

26. The Neighbourhood Panel will decide the priorities for the area by examining the results of community consultation and research by police and partners. This will include taking account of results from public events, street briefings and meetings where the community has voiced concerns, as well as an overview of crime statistics for that neighbourhood. In addition to priority setting the Neighbourhood Panel should be fully involved in deciding what type of action should be taken on their concerns and have an involvement, where possible, in a problem solving approach.

27. The panel should be made up of local people that: live and/or work in the area; are involved in charitable work or business; and, have a close connection with the area. These people could be identified through consultation activities carried out on the ward i.e. public meetings, ‘have a say events’, street briefings or questionnaires. A panel should include a wide range of people to ensure that the group is representative of the community, both geographically and demographically i.e. different ethnic origins, faith groups, sexual orientation and young people, and be drawn from all parts of the neighbourhood to prevent focus on one area at the exclusion of others.

28. Representation should be sought from different socio-economic sectors i.e. both those living in private dwellings and people from social housing. Each team must also make plans to involve people with disabilities and ensure that the panel is accessible to this section of the community. The make up of each neighbourhood in terms of the above categories will be reflected in a neighbourhood profile.

Demographics of Neighbourhood Panels

29. At the EODB in May 2007, the Central SNT confirmed that the demographics of the Neighbourhood Panels were not recorded centrally. In his concurrent report, the Head of Equality and Diversity (MPA), stated, given the size, investment and impact of the programme, allied to the MPS’ general duty under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 (RR [A] A2000) in view of its functions, policing priorities and relevance, it is hard to see why, from a legal standpoint, the composition of Neighbourhood Panels are not monitored.

30. Chief Superintendent Steve Bloomfield agreed that the MPS would look at this issue with a view to putting in a process to capture the necessary information.

31. To ensure that appropriate systems were to be put in place the Metropolitan Police Authority, National Policing Improvement Agency, Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate, Directorate of Information and Directorate of Legal Services were consulted. The advice received was to tread carefully, particularly in terms of the Data Protection Act. Draft guidance and forms were submitted to the MPS Directorate of legal Services. Their recommendations are copied below:

32. Although the engagement forms are to be completed on an anonymous basis, the MPS will need to assess if there is any risk that a determined person could identify an individual from the data provided and other information in the MPS’ possession. If there is no such risk, you are not processing data under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and so its provisions do not apply. If there is such a risk, the information collected is personal data and you must comply with the DPA.

33. If the information is personal data, you must comply with conditions in Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 DPA. Schedule 3 applies to the data relating to race/ethnic origin, religious belief, disability and sexual life, in other words most of the information to be collected. The only safe course to ensure that all of this information is processed in accordance with Schedule 3 is to obtain the explicit consent of each Panel member. That consent should, therefore, incorporate wording to cover specific details of the anticipated processing.

34. Considering the recommendations that had been made, appropriate guidance was sent out to all 32 boroughs explaining the process for the collection of this information. This activity generated a lot of discussion at ward level and it became clear that there was resistance by some parts of the community in taking part. Some Panels declined to provide any information at all.

35. Feed back received from SN sergeants and panel members felt that this was a step too far in their role by providing very sensitive and personal data about themselves. Some members have intimated that any insistence from the Centre will run the risk of losing members from the Neighbourhood Panels. As a result, some of the data returned is incomplete and a comprehensive view has not been achieved. The data shown below must be balanced against the fact that a significant number of people declined to provide some detail against one or more of the six diversity strands or declined to give any information at all.

36. This is clearly an important issue and one that we are working on to ensure that we have a suitable method of monitoring the make up of Neighbourhood Panels. Paragraphs 38 to 45 outline some of the future work that will be undertaken over the coming months.

37. Neighbourhood Panel demographic data is recorded centrally for all SNTs, but for this report it is summarised on an MPS basis. The following information must be balanced against the fact that a significant number of panel members declined to provide information on one or more of the six diversity strands:

• 627 SN panels in place.
• 4512 panel members are male
• 3589 panel members are female
• 1501 panel members represent the BME Community
• 277 panels have member(s) representing the disabled community
• 152 panels have member(s) representing the LGBT Community.
• 1706 people are aged between 21 and 40
• 3650 people are aged between 41 and 60
• 1697 people are aged over 61.
• 33 panels have indicated they have Buddhist representation
• 517 panels have indicated they have Christian representation
• 136 panels have indicated they have Hindu representation
• 108 panels have indicated they have Jewish representation
• 219 panels have indicated they have Muslim representation
• 69 panels have indicated they have Sikh representation.
• 195 panels indicated they have ‘other’ shown as representation.
• Over 600 panel members declined to provide information on one or more of the diversity strands

Next steps

38. The gathering of information around each of the diversity strands has provided the MPS with a number of challenges for the future. The following activity is now underway:

• Maintaining local records on each of the six diversity strands to continue.
• By using all available information within the ward profile to Identify any gaps within the Neighbourhoods Panels for further engagement, In particular people with disabilities.
• Local ownership and action plans to increase representation of Neighbourhoods Panels.
• Local communication to increase awareness and understanding on why we need to monitor our Neighbourhoods Panels.
• Roll out of Neighbourhood Panel Training.
• All Boroughs to provide a progress report every six months.
• Look to introduce an IT system to collate information during the year.

Croydon Borough

39. The Senior Management Lead for Safer Neighbourhoods on Croydon Borough has taken all the information from the Census, Mosaic and Acorn data and compared it against what is currently known for each Neighbourhoods Panel. He has then drawn up an action plan on a simple spreadsheet, clearly identifying the gaps in the community representation and asked each team sergeant to provide regular updates on progress made. A copy of his plan has been circulated to all Borough senior management team (SMT) leads as good practice in effective monitoring.

Future Neighbourhood Panel Development Work

40. To further explore the demographic composition and current monitoring processes of ward panels, the Strategic Research Unit (SRU) and the Research and Survey Unit (RSU) are currently in the process of conducting an on-line survey with all SN sergeants. This survey will explore the following both in relation to adult panels and youth panels and will be completed in June 2008:

• Current ward panel composition including detailed information on specific disabilities and youth representation.
• Processes to identify ward panel members
• Any barriers to recruitment
• How teams ensure flexibility to cater for attendees needs
• Where information gleaned at the panels links in to tasking, Crime Disorder Reduction Partnership’s (CDRPs) etc
• If priorities are set at the youth panel, do they consequently become part of the agenda at the adult panels?
• Do priorities set at the youth panel become ward priorities?

41. A second theme identified in the MPA concurrent report on 24 May 2007 report was the need to conduct an up to date review of the ward panels to identify the ‘impact and effect’. The SRU’s original ward panel review reported in 2006. As a result, the next stage of this work focuses on a survey for the Neighbourhood Panel members and will address questions such as:

• How members became involved
• What they consider to be the purpose of the panel and if this is achieved
• Does the panel set priorities and what information is provided to facilitate decision-making?
• Do members feel they are contributing to the safety of their community as a result of attending?
• Do they feel more comfortable about approaching the police as a result of membership?

42. A final report will draw together the findings from both these surveys to identify any issues impacting on the recruitment of members and the members’ perceptions of any impact the panels have at a local level. The findings and recommendations will be included within the SN Organisational Control Strategy to ensure that action is taking.

Neighbourhood Panel Training

43. We recognise that this is one of the biggest challenges that the programme has at this time. We have provided advice and guidance to officers, invested in a five-day training course for inspectors, sergeants, constables and PCSOs. We provide a lot of information in order to give the SNTs a head start in identifying communities for engagement. The next step is to provide training for Neighbourhood Panel chairs and other community groups in order for them to have an understanding of Safer Neighbourhoods and the vital role that they play in developing an inclusive panel. This will role out over the next two years.

44. In conjunction with the Safer London Foundation and the MPA, we have piloted training for Neighbourhood Panel chairs on four boroughs. This is intended to provide information to panel members to enable them to be more effective in their role, and improve the priority and selection process. The Community Engagement Project (CEP) pilot was evaluated throughout its delivery, and a report was produced. The evaluation showed that the seminars were very useful for panel chairs, who felt empowered, and had a clearer understanding of their roles within Safer Neighbourhoods. The report recommends that the seminars are rolled out across London and should include CPEG chairs.

45. There are no formal processes to hold panels to account. The role of the panel is to represent the local community by identifying the issues that matter most locally based upon the extensive engagement activity carried out by the SNTs. However, SNTs are held to account through the SN Performance Management Framework.

Specific work conducted to include deaf & disabled people within NH Panels

46. Six Inspectors within the Central Safer Neighbourhoods Team have each been aligned with the diversity strand leads within DCFD. The role is to improve working relationships between both units to ensure that each unit does not duplicate each other’s work. On 21 and 22 April 2008 the six diversity strands leads gave a brief overview of their role to all of the SN sergeants in order to raise awareness.

47. The Disability strand within Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate (DCFD) have put together a guide, 'Notes to assist in meeting the needs of Deaf and Disabled people at Community Meetings'. During the process of compiling the guide, we consulted with all members of the Disability Independence Advisory Group (DIAG), a number of colleagues within the DCFD who either have experience of the issue or were able to comment on the usefulness of the document.

48. Outside of the MPS it went to the Employer’s Forum on Disability and we asked specific organisations for advice around specific areas these included the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) & Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). Having considered all the advice and guidance, we produced a document. The diversity strand team undertook presentations to SNT sergeants to explain in a bit more detail the content of the document.

49. The main challenge identified by the SN Sergeants was around funding in order to obtain the services of an interpreter for Neighbourhood Panel meetings. At this time, each team is currently dependent on their respective borough to provide the funding.

50. There are over 275 Neighbourhood Panels with a member(s) representing the disabled community. The true picture maybe a lot higher as a large number of people declined to provide us with the required information as stated previously.

51. All Boroughs have responded stating there is local engagement with disabled groups in order to identify their issues and concerns, but they are not necessarily represented on Neighbourhood Panels.

52. As a result of a successful crime prevention day at the 'Walthamstow Deaf Club', Orford Road, E17, The Hoe Street Safer Neighbourhood team now hold a monthly surgery within the Club premises (first Wednesday of each month) to provide information, guidance and advice to members of the community that are deaf. The team works in tandem with an advocacy worker who acts as a mediator and interpreter between police and community. This initiative forms part of the MPS's drive to establish 'Deaflink' on Waltham Forest BOCU.

53. Officers within the Hoe Street SNT are now undergoing deaf awareness courses to improve their understanding and improve communication. The deaf awareness course is a precursor to formal courses in British Sign Language skills. In the medium/long term, the Hoe Street SNT is looking to identify a possible member of the Deaf Club to participate in their bi-monthly ward panel meetings.

54. The sergeant on Woodhouse SNT on Barnet Borough succeeded in recruiting a person to represent the disabled community on their Neighbourhood Panel. This person has now joined the MPS as part of the Metropolitan Volunteer Programme.

55. There are numerous examples of SNT officers providing transport to and from panel meetings for people with disabilities in order to ensure that their views are taken into consideration.

Youth Engagement and priorities

56. A key activity for Safer Neighbourhoods has been the work undertaken to engage with and understand the needs of young people. Since June 2007, all SNTs across London have been tackling priorities that reflect the concerns of young people. In 2007/08 SNTs have made significant progress in engaging with London’s young people. For example, between October 2007 and March 2008 SNTs attended 1,660 School assemblies, 304 School fetes/carnivals and 3776 youth clubs. They have participated in 33,571 dedicated school patrols and 10,698 school visits. The principle behind youth engagement is to work with young people with a problem solving approach to identify and resolve issues of concern.

57. Each Safer Neighbourhoods Team is now required to have a youth priority. This can be achieved in two ways:

• Stand alone Youth Panel or
• A Neighbourhood Panel setting the priority based upon extensive youth engagement activity.

58. To ensure every SNT has a youth priority the following activity was undertaken:

• SNTs were required to develop a systematic and targeted approach to engage with young people, building on existing practice, working together with Safer Schools officers and partner agencies. These processes are used to establish the issues most effecting the safety and security of young people within the neighbourhood.
• The identified issues by young people are then to be presented to the Neighbourhood Panel and are made subject of prioritisation, either as one of the three priorities or as a fourth priority.
• The monthly SNT performance returns clearly identify the young persons priority set by the Neighbourhood Panel.
• Where the issues identified through the youth engagement processes relate to the same problem as those already identified by the Neighbourhood Panel as a priority then a separate youth priority is not required.
• Boroughs may use other methods of prioritising youth issues through systematic engagement processes such as youth panels and youth forums, in which case the information should be discussed within the Neighbourhood Panel to ensure consistency of approach.
• Every opportunity must be taken to allow for the participation of young people in priority setting and problem solving at a local level.
• Effective communication processes must be established to feedback the results of policing and partnership activity undertaken to deal with the identified youth priority.

59. Between February and March 2007, a youth survey was launched to involve young people of secondary school age. The survey was designed to identify issues and places where young people felt unsafe in their neighbourhoods, such as on their way to school, at school and on their journey home from school. The survey was conducted on the Internet.

60. A total of 13,322 surveys were completed across London and the results were fed back to individual Boroughs. Each Borough, in setting their youth priorities, took this information into account. We have taken the lessons learnt around wider advertising for this year’s survey.

61. There are currently 134 Youth Panels set up across London. Bearing in mind the data collected is incomplete as mentioned previously there are 211 people, aged between 16 and 21, shown as members of the Neighbourhood Panel. See Appendix 3 for a borough by borough break down.

Current Youth Priorities identified by Youth Panels

62. The top five priorities identified by Youth Panels across the MPS are:

• Anti Social Behaviour by youths
• Youth Engagement
• ASB in general
• Drug Dealing and Using
• Youth Diversion

Current Youth Priorities agreed by the Neighbourhood Panel

63. The top five priorities agreed by the Neighbourhood Panel after the SNTs had consulted with young people are:

• Anti Social Behaviour by Youths
• ASB in general
• Drug Dealing and Using
• ASB by motorists
• ASB related to alcohol

Safer School Partnerships (SSPs)

64. The MPS is working closely with the London Youth Crime Prevention Board (LYCPB) to expand and enhance SSPs. The LYCPB is developing a ‘Safer Schools Award’, which will invite schools to promote best practice in keeping young people safe. This is key to the development of the LAAs and Youth PSAs to produce a ‘Gold Standard’ in relation to reducing youth crime and victimisation.

65. The MPS is investing in enhancing SSPs, by ensuring that all high priority secondary schools have a dedicated police officer. This will see additional officers dedicated to SSPs, with 185 priority schools having a dedicated constable. In addition, the MPS will deploy PCSOs to support SSPs.

66. We are now looking at developing the SSP approach to follow the SNT seven stage model (paragraph 21). This will allow for a structured approach to engagement, priority setting and problem solving. The close working relationship between the officers and their colleagues on the SNTs is already considerable and this approach will continue to enhance performance.

MPS Community Engagement Strategy

67. The joint MPA/MPS Community Engagement Strategy was launched on the 7 December 2006 in which Safer Neighbourhoods is an integral part. This strategy demonstrates how ‘actively engaged communities’ make policing sense – how they contribute significantly to the improvement of policing services, the reduction of anti-social behaviour and solving crime at all levels. The community engagement activities by which Londoners can engage in the policing of London are already considerable. It encompasses a variety of approaches at a strategic level (i.e. service-wide, pan-London), at an operational level (i.e. borough level), and at a community level (i.e. neighbourhood and ward level).

68 SNTs play an important part in the MPS engagement strategy. As outlined within this report SNTs have Neighbourhood Panels who comprise of local residents and representatives from business who are charged with choosing the police priorities for the neighbourhood in which they work or live. This enables local people to have a major say in the way in which their neighbourhoods are policed. There is growing evidence of communities becoming involved in solutions to local problems, leading to long-term sustainable solutions. SNTs are involved in engaging with communities across their neighbourhoods by using a variety of innovative tactics, including street briefings, 'face in every street' (Haringey), 'have a say' days and many more. Number of meetings between April 2007 and end of March 2008:

• 11,143 Pre-planned meetings across the MPS attended by 164,704 people
• 3323 Neighbourhood panel meetings
• 2816 Street Briefings

69. The lead for the MPS Communication Engagement Strategy is the Communities Together Strategic Engagement Team (CTSET). Safer Neighbourhoods and CTSET are working closely together on a number of projects in order to develop community engagement. Current pieces of work include:

• Need for a ‘Contacts’ data base
• Tag Map TV
• Five Borough Pathfinder sites.

Contacts Database

70. In recognition of the challenges in monitoring the diversity of ward panels, the increase in contacts and relationships being built with communities, a need has arisen to design a database to record community contacts across London, a database that can be linked to a mapping system to provide an interactive visualisation, and to enable quick identification, of contacts. The database can have a number of uses:

• When used in conjunction with other systems (i.e. Mosaic/Origins) the database can highlight gaps in community engagement at ward and borough level.
• It provides the facility of effective community contact and consultation in the event of a major incident (including terrorist attack) in a certain area.
• It provides a single system for all directorates to consult when seeking appropriate consultation on issues.
• It provides an effective network for distributing key messages to communities in London.
• Provides demographic data for ward panels, Key Individual Networks (KINs) and other community groups.
• Provide cross boundary information on community contacts.

TagMap TV

71. TagMap TV is the culmination of five years research and project work by Bold Creative, a BAFTA award winning not for profit media company, in engaging young people in community consultation and cohesion. Used as a bespoke online application it is designed to assist local authorities, regeneration agencies and policy makers in empowering young people in a meaningful and sustainable way to inform the consultation and engagement process. The application uniquely maps video research and user-generated content to specific locations using a simple and intuitive interface. As well as uploading video content on issues which matter to them, users are able to comment on other users’ videos as well as local services and issues.

72. TagMap TV was cited by the Prime Minister (Statement on National Security, 28 October 2007 and the Home Secretary (Preventing Violent Extremism Conference, 31 October 2007). TagMap has been successfully used:

• To assist young people in communicating with planners and architects in large scale regeneration projects (Poplar Harca / Southern Housing)
• As a platform to develop positive messages against extremism propaganda and explore what it means to be a British Muslim. (Government Office for London - National Pathfinder Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) agenda)
• To facilitate communication between young people, Police and residents on housing estates to resolve conflict and increase community cohesion (Tower Hamlets Crime Reduction Services)

Three sites have given agreement to be pilot sites and these will focus on gangs, guns and knives, promoting talent and social regeneration. At this stage the three sites proposed are:

• Hackney Quest Youth Club: Social Regeneration through the Olympics
• Brent Borough: Promoting talent and tackling gangs.
• Lewisham College: Feeling Safe

Five Borough Pathfinder Site

73. CTSET and the University of Central Lancashire are working together on the Community Engagement Pathfinder Programme. The five Boroughs involved are:

• Newham
• Tower hamlets
• Redbridge
• Haringey
• Ealing

The objective of this piece of work is to increase understanding within the police and other stakeholders of the concerns, pressures, needs and perceptions of the pathfinder communities in relation to safety, crime and policing. The SNTs within these five Boroughs are an integral part of the work.

Community and Police Engagement Groups / Partnership

74. Community and Police Engagement Groups bring together the MPA, police, local authorities, partnerships and community groups not only to identify problems but also to propose solutions. They are expected to take an active part in enabling effective community engagement at a local level to support the MPA and MPS Community Engagement Strategy.

75. Membership of the Group should represent the local community in terms of its diversity and must also link to the local crime and disorder reduction framework. Safer Neighbourhoods panel representatives are being encouraged to join their local CPEG.

76. We are now seeing emerging linkages with local Community Police Engagement Groups (CPEGs) and Neighbourhoods Panels. In a number of Boroughs the CPEG have representatives from the Neighbourhood Panels included in their meetings, who are able to feed in local priorities and to assist the group in the way engagement is taking place in their neighbourhoods. The panel members are equally able to feed back to their panels the work of the CPEGs.

77. With the publication of the Flanagan review into policing we are now considering the recommendations, in particular, his recommendation around a Neighbourhood Management Model. We need to look very carefully at this recommendation to determine what the challenges are for the SN programme, what are the differences with the current structures and possible impact of any changes. This is a key piece of work that the Central SNT will be working on over the coming months.

78. There is already considerable partnership working that is taking place across London by various MPS departments. In order to coordinate current MPS activity and further enhance partnership working the Central SN Unit is conducting two pieces of work (1) partnership mapping and (2) review of Borough consultation arrangements that will be used to develop the Safer Neighbourhood programme.

79. The MPS has engaged a partnership manager to undertake a one year project to map what we have, how we interact with our partners and to make recommendations as regards making improvements that will have a positive impact on Borough partnership managers and the way we effectively engage. The project is in its early stages of consultation but already there are encouraging signs that the MPS recognises that there are areas where we could improve individually, collectively and as an organisation. The project manager will be seeking views internally from senior partnership managers and practitioners as well as externally with Community Safety Partnership Managers; MPA and County Force partnership strategic leads.

80. We are currently conducting a review of the consultation arrangements in place for each Borough in order to share best practice of the most effective arrangements. This will include how joint working on community consultation between police and boroughs might be better undertaken and how existing structures and arrangements could be better utilised. This piece of work should be completed within the next 3 to 4 months.

A number of Successful Pan-London Partnerships worthy of mention

81. Safer Transport Teams - Although reassuring the public was one of the main driving forces behind the Safer Transport teams, their role has developed and expanded into other areas over the past 12 months. For example, a number of the Safer Transport PCSOs are now trained to support Transport for London (TfL) staff when they go into schools and deliver a package around safety and citizenship on public transport. The Bromley team has recently got involved in this sort of activity. This included a number of STT officers talking to school children on how to keep mobile phones and MP3 players safe when travelling on buses and when waiting at bus stops.

82. London Week of Peace - In 2006 and again in 2007, with strong support from the Commissioner, every London borough engaged in some level of activity during the Week of Peace. The usual channel for this activity being through the SNTs. MPS funded leaflets and other publicity material (contributing £5000 in this way) as well as participating fully in the planning discussions for the series of central events. Our vision is to see all Londoners engaged in creating a more cohesive society and in celebrating our rich diversity, with the goal of promoting justice, equality and respect.

83. Community Payback is now operating in 32 London boroughs, with over 265 projects taking place each week. It is a joint scheme between the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), London Probation and local authorities. The scheme sees convicted offenders, serving Community Orders, doing unpaid work to bring derelict areas and buildings back into public use, making their community safer. The average hours worked each month by offenders is 35,869, which is equivalent to 430,000 hours a year. Based on the minimum wage this means that London will benefit from over £1.8 million worth of additional work in 2008 to make it a cleaner, safer & greener.

84. The Halloween and fireworks initiative 2007, coordinated by the London ASB Board and Joint Action Group (JAG) was launched on 31st October 2007 to crack down on the ASB associated with the Halloween and firework period and to raise awareness of firework safety. Every London borough engaged in the initiative with a wide variety of action taking place on a local level across the capital. This included a requirement and commitment from every SNT in London to extend their regular working hours to cover peak periods and engage with young people to deter unwanted behaviour and provide crime prevention and safety advice.

Performance and building public confidence

85. The evidence that Safer Neighbourhoods has made significant inroads within London’s communities is clear. The introduction of dedicated local community policing teams have enhanced public confidence and had a real impact on peoples’ day-to-day lives. The latest MPS Public Attitude Survey reveals Londoners' satisfaction and confidence in policing in London has improved.

• Results for the 2007/08 financial year show that the introduction of dedicated local community policing teams is providing reassurance and helping to bridge the gap between falling crime and fear of crime whilst also having an impact on crime levels. In 2007/08, public confidence in local police at 56% is 4% higher than recorded in 2004/05.
• The research reveals that the majority of people feel safe and are satisfied with the way local officers are serving their community. In 2007/08 there was a significant increase (compared to the previous year) in the numbers of Londoners who agree that local police both understand and are dealing with local community issues.
• The public's confidence in policing is also driven by factors such as police reliability and helpfulness, the perception of community relations, high visibility policing and how informed they feel about police work.
• The survey shows the drive to put Safer Neighbourhoods teams at the heart of communities is having a real effect with 55% of people seeing a uniformed presence on the streets at least once a week this year compared with 41% in the 2005/06 financial year.
• Satisfaction, a more personal assessment than confidence and driven by feelings of security and trust, has increased to 64 % from 59 % in 2006/07.
• Factors affecting satisfaction include feeling safe walking the streets and a positive view of community relations.
• Levels of feeling safe have remained fairly consistent with the majority of people happy to walk alone in their local area both during the day and at night.
• And the percentage of people feeling that the relationship between the police and Londoners is good has risen 8 per cent (from 2006/07) to 69% in 2007/08.

Abbreviations

ASB

Anti-Social Behaviour

BCU

Borough Command Unit

BM

Borough Manager

CEP

Community Engagement Project

CDRP

Crime Disorder and Reduction Partnerships

DPA

Directorate of Public Affairs

ECM

Every Child Matters

EPIC

Enforcement, Prevention, Intelligence and Communication

HR

Human Resources

MSC

Metropolitan Special Constabulary

MVP

Metropolitan Volunteer Programme

NH

Neighbourhood

NSY

New Scotland Yard

PCSOs

Police Community Support Officers

PRDLDP

Police Race

& Diversity Learning & Development

PC

Police Constable

SGT

Sergeant

SN

Safer Neighbourhoods

SNT

Safer Neighbourhoods Teams

SSP

Safer Schools Partnership

STT

Safer Transport Teams

C. Race and equality impact

1. This report deals with the equality and diversity issues in delivering the Safer Neighbourhoods Programme.

2. The challenge in making our Neighbourhood Panels fully representative of the community remains. The work conducted with all 630 SNTs in determining the current make up of the NH panels has highlighted a number of issues that we need to resolve, such as a less bureaucratic process of collecting information, communication with the panels to explain the rationale of such monitoring and roll out of Neighbourhood Panel training

D. Financial implications

There are no additional financial implications arising from this report

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Acting Superintendent Gary Fryer

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1: Police Officer SNT Religion Profile

Appendix 2: PCSO SNT Religion Profile

Appendix 3: Youth Panels

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