Agenda and minutes

Members resolved to act as the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee noted the Minutes.

Members were informed of a workshop that had been arranged on the 10^th May for the Committee to discuss items for inclusion on the scrutiny forward work programme for the civic year 2018/19.

Members were also informed of a training session for the Committee on the 15^th May with Ian Botterill.

The Committee noted the Forward Work Programme.

The Committee noted the Cabinet Board Forward Work Programme.

The Committee received a presentation in relation to Substance Misuse.

Officers informed Members that the current Substance Misuse Strategy was set by the Welsh Government (WG) and covered the years 2008 to 2018. Officers reported that it was not clear when a new strategy would be published. Officers explained that the current strategy focused on four action areas which included preventing harm, support for substance misuse to improve their health aid and maintain recovery, supporting and protecting families, and tackling availability and protecting individuals and communities via enforcement activities.
 

Officers reported that the Community Safety Partnership had the statutory responsibility for the local substance misuse strategy, but the Western Bay Area Planning Board (APB) had been created to fulfil these responsibilities at a regional level. Officers stated that as such the APB was created in 2010 by the WG, and was responsible for delivering the “Working Together to Reduce Harm” strategy, and worked at a regional level across Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea local authority areas. Officers informed Members that partners of the APB included Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board (ABMU), the three local authorities, Public Health Wales, South Wales Police and the Probation Trust.  Officers explained that the APB did not have any decision making powers and could only make recommendations. Officers stated that the APB was Local Authority and Health Board led, and governance arrangements were due to be reviewed.

Officers informed Members that the APB received £3.6 million Substance Misuse Action Funding (SMAF) from WG, and a £721,000 joint contribution from the three local authorities and ABMU, resulting in an annual revenue budget of £4.3 million.  Officers reported that the SMAF had been protected but had not been increased.

Officers commented on the statistics surrounding substance misuse, and stated that the age bracket which experienced the highest number of referrals were those aged between 31 and 50 years old. Officers explained that further work would be required to attempt to understand the reason behind the statistics for this age category.

Officers reported that the highest referral source was now self-referrals, and that there had been a large decline in GP referrals. Officers commented that the majority of service users in the Neath Port Talbot area were male, but in recent years the number of female service users had increased. Officers mentioned that alcohol was the primary dependency in Neath Port Talbot followed by heroin and then cannabis. Officers reported that there were 296 drug recorded crimes in Neath and Port Talbot in 2016-17, and 251 in 2017-18. Officers informed Members that work was currently being undertaken by the Community Safety Team to identify hot spots for instances of substance misuse in the county borough.

Officers informed Members that there were a number of services in Neath Port Talbot that provided support to individuals such as the Welsh Centre for Action on Dependency & Addiction (WGCADA), Community Drug and Alcohol Team in Tonna Hospital, Detox Ward Calon Lan in Neath Port Talbot Hospital, and NPT Forum. Officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5a

The Committee received information in relation to the Quarter 3 Performance Monitoring of 2017/18 as contained within the circulated report.

Officers reported that the figure for indicator PPN/008ii (Local) regarding the number of new businesses requiring a risk assessment or returned a self-assessment questionnaire was slightly lower than in 2016/17, due to instruction from the Food Standards Agency requiring the authority to prioritise low risk category businesses.

Officers informed Members that a systems review was currently taking place in the Environmental Health and Trading Standards teams and that the findings would be reported back to the Committee. Officers also stated that a Japanese knotweed treatment service was being launched for residential properties within the county borough as part of our income generation aspirations. It would be appreciated if Members could spread the word within their constituencies about this new service

Officers informed Members that anti-social behaviour in the borough was generally under reported and did not match the public’s perception. Officers offered to circulate monthly statistics to Members regarding anti-social behaviour instances broken down to ward level.

Officers reported that the Community Safety Team had noticed an increase in the number of referrals to the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) and were now only able to deal with high risk cases due to the increase in demand. Officers stated that lower risk cases were no referred to other services. Officer added that case loads for the IDVAs were expected to reduce as a result and become more manageable in future.

Members queried whether the Community Safety Fund was still in existence. Officers reported that the Community Safety Fund was still available, but informed Members that securing grant funding each year was becoming more difficult. Officers explained that the funding was means tested and prioritised for citizens who were considered vulnerable, and had experienced incidents such as domestic abuse or burglary. Officers continued by informing Members that the fund could pay for items such as locks and chains for doors and security lights. Officers added that the renewal area teams were also offering a similar service. 

Following scrutiny, it was agreed that the report be noted.