Agenda and minutes
Venue: via Microsoft Teams
Contact: William Mohieddeen Tel: 01835 826504; Email: william.mohieddeen@scotborders.gov.uk
Link: Live Stream Link
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To follow. Minutes: There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting held on 27 August 2021. With reference to the list of attendees, Mr Ayling advised that Malcolm Dickson was not present at the Meeting and that Mr Ayling should be listed as a Member of the Board.
DECISION APPROVED the Minute, subject to the above amendment.
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Progress Reports/Updates on Service Matters - Police Scotland PDF 1 MB (i)
Update on Service and Operational Matters. (ii) Performance Report. (Copy attached.)
Chief Superintendent John McKenzie Minutes: 1.1
Chief Superintendent McKenzie announced that he was
retiring after the Meeting. Superintendent Stephen Hazlett would be
joining the division from COP26 planning. The new Divisional Commander Catriona Paton was
installed in November. 1.2
Chief Superintendent McKenzie presented the Quarter
2 Police Scotland Report. Operations
for COP26 took place over a three-week period towards the end of
October 2021 and two weeks into November 2021. This went well from, a policing perspective which
Borders officers contributed to. COP26
entailed two years of preparation for Police Scotland which ensured
that normal service provision could continue. Less than 100 people were arrested. Lessons learnt included the value of mobile
technicians to service vehicles. 1.3
A major incident was declared for the flood event in
Hawick in October 2021. The policing
perspective was that a positive police response took place with 70
officers from four divisions attending to assist
evacuation. Police Scotland were
undertaking a review to identify points of learning. 1.4 Chief Superintendent McKenzie advised that a year-to-year comparison was not useful due to the 2020 pandemic period. Domestic abuse had been a priority for Borders operations and it had been noticed that there had been an increase in reporting of domestic abuse alongside an increase in detections. There was nearly a 25% decrease in antisocial behaviour however, there were still areas of antisocial behaviour that required further attention. Drugs supply, production and cultivation crime was down 15% however, this did not reflect the amount of drugs that had been recovered where one incident resulted in 1.2kg of cocaine being recovered. Stephen Irvine, an officer in the Borders, had won national wildlife crime enforcement officer of the year in relation to rural crime activity and wildlife enforcement work. Missing persons remained a challenge for policing where there had been a significant decrease in missing persons reports which had been attributed to work undertaken with NHS partners of Police Scotland. The Herbert Protocol for adults living with dementia, the missing persons with autism protocol and missing looked after children were in effect. Domestic abuse continued to increase with a 16.42% increase compared to the 5-year average of reported incidents. The increase was attributed to a greater confidence in reporting incidents as domestic abuse had been considered an underreported crime. Chief Superintendent McKenzie advised that there would be proactive policing on domestic abuse perpetrators throughout the year. Hate crime figures were concerning with an increase in of 36 incidences in quarter two compared to the five-year average. Chief Superintendent McKenzie stated that 15% of reported hate crimes referred to Police officers as victims. Sexual crime had increased which might be attributed to confidence in reporting. The Borders policing team had been undertaking operations to tackle organised crime with national support. There was a 67% increase in violent crime which was linked to a number of areas including a 342% increase, or 17.8 crimes of threats and extortion known as “sextortion” which includes the threat of sharing sexual information, images or clips to extort money ... view the full minutes text for item 2. |
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Progress Reports/Updates on Service Matters - Scottish Fire and Rescue Service PDF 222 KB (i)
Update on Service and Operation Matters (ii)
Performance Report. (Copy
attached.) (iii)
Local Plan Performance Report. (Copy
attached.) (iv)
Prevention & Protection Activities, Quarter 2. (Copy attached.) LSO Stephen Gourlay Additional documents:
Minutes: 3.1
There had been circulated copies of the Scottish
Fire and Rescue Service performance report 1 April to 30 September
2021. Stephen Gourlay advised members
of changes to the SFS Midlothian East Lothian and Scottish Borders
management team. Area Commander Hilary
Sangster was introduced as the new Local Senior Officer for Mid and
East Lothian and Borders. Group
Commander Tony Collins was moving to a new training role and would
be replaced by Group Commander Keith Langley who was formerly
station commander of Galashiels Community Fire Station. 3.2
Local Senior Officer Gourlay presented the report
highlighting that domestic smoke detection legislation would be
live from February 2022. Senior Officer
Gourlay advised that a briefing paper would be circulated to
Members following the meeting. 3.3
Key Performance Indicators outlined in the Local
Performance Report had mix levels of results and it was advised
that a year-on-year comparison on indicators was difficult due to
the impact of the pandemic. Tony
Collins advised that as restriction ease, there would be an
increase in operational activity. There
had been an increase in dwelling fires while fire casualties were
down. Deliberate fires had decreased
from 79 to 57 and special service – road traffic collisions
had increased from 12 to 29. False
alarms were reported to have been equal to 2021-22. Special service casualties had had increased by 24
to 38. 3.4
In response to a question from Councillor Moffat
with regards to an increase in dwelling fires from one to eight in
Mid Berwickshire, Local Senior Officer Gourlay advised that there
were sometime peaks and troughs in incidents over a reporting
year. It was advised that community
safety engagement teams release messaging on fire safety and
alcohol and that low-level incidents including fumes affecting
sheltered housing alarms were treated as a fire incident and that
it was important to reflect on reduction in casualty
rates. DECISION AGREED to note the Report.
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Safer Communities Update and Key Activities PDF 927 KB Consider Report by Safer Communities and Community Justice Manager. (Copy attached.) Minutes: 3.1
There had been circulated copies of the Report by
the Safer Communities and Community Justice Manager. The Mediation Officer had moved to a new post
which resulted in Safer Communities without a mediation
service. Plans were in place to
cross-skill all Antisocial Behaviour Unit officers to give
additional flexibility in service provision. The Mediation officer provided the gypsy/traveller
liaison which was regarded a crucial function. All Antisocial Behaviour Officers will undertake
accredited mediation training. The Community Safety Officer would
also take responsibility for gypsy/traveller liaison from the
Antisocial Behaviour Officer/Mediation function. 3.2
In response to a question from Councillor Robson, Mr
Jones outlined the refugee arrivals process, this differed between
Syrian and Afghan schemes. Syrian families are flown to Edinburgh
from abroad while Afghan families have already been in the UK and
transferred from bridging accommodation. 3.3
There had been recorded a decrease in antisocial
behaviour incidents of 24.9% when compared to 2020-21 and there had
been a 14.9% increase of people monitored for antisocial
behaviour. The rate of antisocial
behaviour was reaching levels seen before the Covid-19
pandemic. The number of domestic abuse
referrals was 17% higher than at the same point in the year as
2020-21. Repeat deferrals to the
Domestic Abuse Advocacy Service was 28.3% below the targeted
threshold of 30%. 92.6% of referrals
were contacted in agreed timescales. DECISION AGREED to note the update.
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Workshop - Audit and Scrutiny Committee recommendation Discuss recommendation by Audit and Scrutiny Committee that a workshop be held for members of the Police, Fire & Rescue, and Safer Communities Board to explain the process of tasking for the Police Community Action Teams. Minutes: Members discussed the recommendation by Audit and Scrutiny Committee that a workshop be held for members of the Police, Fire & Rescue, and Safer Communities Board to explain the process of tasking for the Police Community Action Teams (CAT). Mr Jones suggested that a session be organised for the Police, Fire and Rescue and Safer Communities Board and/or to Elected Members. It was agreed that a briefing to Elected Members’ take place in the first instance.
DECISION AGREED that the Safer Communities and Community Justice Manager would work with the Clerk of the Council and the Partnership Intelligence Analyst to deliver a session on the functions of the CAT at a Members’ Briefing.
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