Agenda item

Invitees:

-        Rhys Cornwall – Strategic Director – Transformation and Corporate

-        Janice Dent – Policy and Partnership Manager

-        Helen Gordon – Senior Policy and Partnership Officer

-        Rhian Tilley – Partnership Officer

-        Dr Carl Williams – Local Policing Area Commander, Chief Superintendent – Gwent Police (Co-Chair)

The Strategic Director for Transformation and Corporate gave an overview of the report. The Policy and Partnership Manager presented the report to the Committee. The Senior Policy and Partnership Officer highlighted the important points within the report.

The following was discussed:

• The Committee appreciated the positive aspect of the draft report regarding Community Cohesion, acknowledging that it is a work in progress.

• The Committee expressed concern about the omission of rural areas, particularly Newport East and Newport West, in the report. The Policy and Partnership Manager assured the Committee that efforts had been made to engage with residents in rural areas and gather relevant information. They also mentioned meeting with the Community Council Liaison Committee. The Strategic Director emphasised the significance of the report reaching the Scrutiny Committee, highlighting that it is important to consider the impact on residents rather than solely comparing crime levels between the city centre and rural areas.
• The Committee commended the report's comprehensiveness and the use of graphs to present feedback in a more visual and understandable format. The Policy and Partnership Manager explained that extensive research was conducted on other Strategic Needs Reports to determine the best way to present data.
• The Committee enquired about whether the issues raised by residents in their feedback have been addressed. The Strategic Director explained that there are currently six priority areas in the ongoing work, and responsiveness to emerging themes is crucial. Feedback will be incorporated into the current work being undertaken, and there is a close working relationship between Gwent Police and Newport City Council.
• The Committee noted that residents have expressed concerns about the time it takes to resolve issues. The Strategic Director clarified that the time required to address issues depends on the nature of the problem. Legal processes must be followed for issues related to premises. The Committee acknowledged the difficulty in conveying this to residents. The Policy and Partnership Manager mentioned the contextual safeguarding approach, which involved considering wider determinants and risk factors and exploring alternative interventions beyond making arrests to change behaviours.
• The Committee suggested that ward councillors provide feedback and solutions to address problem areas specific to their wards. The Strategic Director agreed that engagement with ward councillors is a good idea, and the data can be analysed to create an action plan.
• The Committee discussed the increase in modern-day slavery shown in the report and its possible causes. The Strategic Director explained that several factors contribute to this issue, including Newport's transient population, location as an asylum dispersal area, additional resources dedicated to combating modern-day slavery, and an increase in reporting. Understanding the reasons behind the increase is important, rather than focusing solely on figures.
• The Committee noted that Newport is a unique city in Wales and proposed finding other cities in the UK with similar characteristics to assess whether the issues faced by Newport were unique or common. The Strategic Director informed the Committee that such comparisons had been made, and Newport is not experiencing anything that is not a national issue. Strategies had been shared with cities of similar size and facing similar challenges. The Local Policing Area Commander mentioned the work done to promote the importance of reporting and the analysis of demographics and strategies of other forces with a similar makeup. They cited Cleveland as an example of an area that has been examined for comparable crime types and effective interventions.
• The Committee highlighted the presence of anti-social behaviour in both the city centre and estates and expressed the view that engagement, particularly through social media, was crucial. The Strategic Director assured the Committee that addressing anti-social behaviour was a top priority, and cost analysis was being conducted to determine the most effective approach. Efforts were being made to minimise the loss of police officers from the city centre through triaging measures during peak nighttime hours.
• The Committee raised concerns about reaching communities with language barriers during consultations. The Senior Policy and Partnership Officer explained that bilingual surveys had been conducted, but there has been limited outreach in languages other than English and Welsh. However, the consultation process could be adapted to include other languages as well.
• The Committee discussed the emerging theme of e-bikes and e-scooters being misused on active travel routes and the challenges faced by the Police and Newport City Council in addressing this issue. The Chair informed the Committee that there was currently no imminent legislation specifically addressing this issue. The Local Policing Area Commander highlighted the difficulty of dealing with this issue, not only in Newport but in other areas as well. The Police had seized over 100 e-bikes and scooters in Gwent this year and worked with various partners to prevent misuse. The Committee suggested that clear legislation and education on the legality and purchase of e-bikes and scooters would be helpful. The Policy and Partnership Manager noted ongoing efforts to educate the public on the legality of these vehicles and to provide guidance to parents regarding their purchase.
• The Committee emphasised that not all users of e-bikes and scooters were criminals. They mentioned that as 70% of Newport is rural, it is important to provide areas for young people to use these bikes. The Committee suggested that proceeds of crime could be used for this purpose.
• The Committee proposed using empty properties in the city centre as triage centres on busy days. The Strategic Director mentioned the existence of a Safer City Centre Group, which was considering this idea. Funding from the Home Office has facilitated the establishment of staff and resources for this purpose, and information wouldl be circulated. However, some preparatory work needed to be done before setting up the triage centre. The Policy and Partnership Manager offered to attend ward meetings if required.

The Committee thanked officers for attending.

Conclusions

• Members praised the comprehensive report, particularly the helpfulness of the feedback graphs included in the draft. They appreciated the use of graphs over figures, as it improved visibility and ease of understanding.

• Members highlighted the absence of mention of rural areas within the draft report and noted that the types of antisocial behaviour in rural communities can differ from what is observed within the city centre. Members would like to see more inclusion of rural areas in the final version of the report.

• The Committee requested to receive the Police report that was conducted about the Cleveland-area city, which offers a comparison to Newport.

• The Committee requested to receive the latest version of the Safer Newport report.

• The Committee observed that the consultation was currently available only in English and Welsh. Members requested the translation of the consultation into additional languages, such as Urdu and Arabic. They also enquired about the plans to engage with harder-to-reach populations in Newport and requested that further consideration be given to meaningful engagement with those communities.

• Members discussed the anonymous reporting of anti-social behaviour by residents and expressed interest in receiving figures on the number of anonymous reports received by Police.