Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Neil Richards and Superintendent David Walker to their first meeting of the Board.  The Chairman thanked Councillor McAteer, the outgoing Chairman, for his valuable contribution to the Board.

Consider Minute of Meeting held on 22 June 2018.  (Copy attached).

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the meeting held on 22 June 2018. 

DECISION

APPROVED the Minute.

Matters Arising from the Minute        

3.1       With reference to paragraph 5.13(b) and (c) of the Minute, it was noted that a briefing on the armed response deployment model and an update on CCTV would be presented to a future meeting of the Board.

3.2       With reference to paragraph 5.12 of the Minute, it was noted that the Borders General Hospital (BGH) would continue to provide statistics on persons presenting at A&E as a result of a violent incident.   With reference to paragraph 8 of the Minute, Group Manager Jaffray advised that the collaboration with the BGH on the Falls Strategic Group had been successful and would continue. 

            DECISION

            (a)        That a briefing on the armed response deployment model be presented to a           future   meeting of the Board; and

            (b)        That an update on CCTV be presented to a future meeting of the Board.

Superintendent Walker, representing Chief Superintendent Clark, advised that Iain  Livingstone had been appointed as the next Chief Constable of Police Scotland.  Mr Livingston was well respected within the police service and officers were delighted at his appointment.    Superintendent Walker then gave a brief overview of service matters explaining that road safety continued to be a challenge in the Scottish Borders, particularly with regard to motorcyclists.    He then discussed the work of the Community Action Team (CAT) successfully tackling rural crime.   He concluded by advising that Mental health issues continued to be a challenge with 80% of incidents requiring police attendance, not being crime related.  Police Scotland continued to work with the NHS, Scottish Ambulance Service and local councils to try to improve mental health provision in rural areas.  

 4.2      Chief Inspector McLean then presented Police Scotland’s Scrutiny Report for the period 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018, copies of which had been circulated with the Agenda. 

 4.3      Domestic Abuse – During the period there had been a reduction in domestic abuse incidents which positively reflected the work being carried out by police and partner agencies.  The introduction of TecSOS technology had also contributed to this reduction.

 4.4      Road safety – The report showed that during the period there had been two motorcyclist fatalities, both motorcyclists were from outwith the area.   The report advised that motorcyclists were encouraged to attend the Drivewise Borders programme which had been introduced to enhance safer driving practices for motorcyclists.   Police Scotland also supported the National Motorcycle Safety Plan engaging with local and visiting motorcyclists to provide advice and guidance on their driving behaviour.  Chief Inspector McLean advised that although there had been a decrease in under 25s and over 65s involved in collisions, education and enforcement needed to be expanded.  Chief Inspector McLean referred to the deployment of ‘Pop up Bob’ which was still being well received and it was intended to introduce further life size images of police officers in the future.   In response to a question, he advised that he would request monitoring the speed of farm vehicles at Westruther

 4.5      Violent Crime – There had been a 14% reduction in violent crime which reflected the work           being carried out by police and partners in the Scottish Borders.   Chief Inspector McLean          referred to the importance of the Best Bar None scheme, Challenge 25 and weekend high      visibility patrols in certain areas.  However, these initiatives could not influence excessive         alcohol consumption in the home

4.6       Antisocial Behaviour – Incidents were down by 5.1%.  Chief Inspector McLean explained that this figure also included social media incidents.   There were regular meetings with the Antisocial Behaviour Core Group and work with landlords to influence behaviour.  There had been an increase of 33.3% (2 additional) racially aggravated incidents, both of which had been at the lower end of the scale.  Chief Inspector McLean praised the work of the Street Pastors which freed up police time to allow for the continuation of their high visible patrols.

4.7       Drugs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Update on Service Matters

Newbridge Training Project (report attached)

Performance Report (copy attached)

LSO Stephen Gourlay

There had been circulated copies of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Services (SFRS) Local Plan Performance Report.  Local Senior Officer (LSO) Gourlay began his report by advising that Ash Denham MSP had recently been appointed Minster for Community Safety.   He further advised that the SFRS Chief Officer would be retiring in March 2019; recruitment to the post was underway and was at the short list stage.  Regarding the SFRS transformation programme, national negotiations were ongoing and it was hoped would allow for the reinstatement of the Out of Hour’s Cardiac Arrest scheme and the expansion of the Falls in the Home project - successfully piloted in the Cheviot area.   As part of the transformation, he had bid for two rural full time Watch Managers posts.  These posts would be based in Duns and Peebles and would cover a cluster of fire stations.   

5.2       Newbridge Training Project

            With reference to paragraph 7.10(d) of the minute of the 22 June, there had been circulated a report on the Newbridge Training Project. The report detailed the planned facilities, including road traffic collision, urban search and rescue and petrochemical training areas.    LSO Gourlay advised that the project was scheduled for completion and handover in March 2019.  He extended an invitation to the Board for a tour of the facility, following the partial handover in December.  In response to a question he advised that it would be possible for collaboration with other agencies for joint training, when appropriate.

5.3       Group Manager Jaffray then presented the SFRS Local Plan Performance Report for the period 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018, copies of which had been circulated with the Agenda.  In summary, Group Manager Jaffray explained:-

5.4       Reduction of ‘Dwelling Fires’- There had been an increase from 19 to 24 dwelling fires recorded for the same period last year.  All, apart from one were minor.   The causes were smoking, cooking and electrical faults, with two deliberate.

5.5       Reduction of ‘All Fire Casualties’ – There had been five casualties all of which had suffered slight smoke inhalation to varying degrees.

5.6       Reduction of ‘All Deliberate Fires Excluding Dwellings’ – There were 45 deliberate fires, a reduction of 23 from the same period last year. This trend was well below the rest of Scotland highlighting the importance of prevention activities and the positive work being carried out by local area liaison officers

5.7       Reduction of ‘Special Service – RTCs’ – There had been 16 RTCs, five less than last year.  Four occasions required the use of hydraulic rescue equipment. 

5.8       Reduction of ‘Special Service Casualties’ – There had been 19 casualties a reduction of four from last year.  Group Manager Jaffray highlighted that four of the incidents were affecting entry for emergency medical response and persons who had fallen in the home. 

5.9       Reduction of ‘False Alarm – Equipment Failure’ – There had been 235 false alarm signals (UFAS) 64 were of good intent with 11 of a malicious nature.

5.10     In response to a question Group Manager  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider report by Safer Communities Team (Copy attached)

Andrea Beavon, Violence Against Women Coordinator

There had been circulated copies of the Safer Communities Performance report covering the period   Ms Andrea Beavon, Violence Against Women Coordinator, presented the report and highlighted the key points:-

6.1       Priority 1 – Reduce the level and Impact of Gender Based Violence through effective partnership working - Referrals to specialist domestic abuse services had increased compared to last year.    Ms Beavon advised that a new Domestic Abuse Act would come into force in 2019.  The Act would mean changes to the classification of certain actions deemed to be an offence.   Ms Beavon also advised that following a recent positive ITV media piece on the work of the Domestic Abuse Service in rural areas, they had received a number of referrals.

6.2       Priority 2 – Reduce the level and impact of Substance Misuse through effective partnership working.  Analysis had been undertaken of police demand during various festivals and had shown a general reduction in incidents compared to last year.

6.3       Priority 3 – Reduce the level and impact of crime and antisocial behaviour through effective partnership working – There had been improvement compared to the same period last year.  This was likely to have been the result of a range of activities with partner agencies, for example, Safety Advisory Group, multi-agency Core Group and Community Action Team

6.4       Priority 4 – Reduce the level and impact of poor driver behaviour through effective partnership working - Successful initiatives such as the Drivewise Borders 2018/19 and the relaunch of the 17-25 advance driving training continued to have a positive impact.

6.5       Priority 5 – Reduce the level and impact of incidents in the home through effective partnership work - Adult and child protection referrals from RSLs had increased by 70 referrals since the previous quarter.  Ms Beavon highlighted the work of the Early Years Subgroup campaign being delivered through nurseries and schools to try to reduce the number of under 5s admitted to hospital with accidental poisoning caused by household chemicals such as dishwasher tablets. 

6.6       In response to a question regarding the multidisciplinary visits to individual properties where there was a disproportional level of antisocial behaviour. Ms Marsden explained that the Antisocial Behaviour Team automatically worked in partnership for a multidisciplinary response to individual cases.  Inspector McLean added that no one agency should have to tackle these issues and that partnership working was the nucleus to success.   Ms Simpson added that the third sector also had a part to play and they were looking at opening more centres within the Scottish Borders to encourage dialogue.

6.7       Ms Beavon then clarified that the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) did not undermine existing protection levels that were in place, when there was a certain level of risk or threat GDPR did not apply.  It was suggested that a briefing paper on GDPR be circulated to the Board for further clarification.

DECISION

NOTED the report.

The next meeting is scheduled to be held on Friday, 9 November 2018 at 9.30 am in the Council Chamber, Council Headquarters, Newtown St Boswells.

The Chairman thanked everyone for attending and advised that the next meeting was scheduled to take place on Friday 9 November 2018 at 9.30 am. 

DECISION

NOTED.