Agenda and minutes

Consider Minute of meeting held on 4 February 2022. (Copy attached).

1.            Minutes and Matters Arising

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting held on 4 February 2022. 

DECISION

APPROVED the Minute

(i)            Update on Service and Operational Matters.

(ii)           Performance Report.  (Copy attached.)

Superintendent Vincent Fisher

2.            Progress Reports/Updates on Service Matters - Police Scotland

    2.1        There had been circulated copies of a report by the Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent Catriona Paton for Quarter 4 – 2021/22. 

    2.2       Chief Inspector Vincent Fisher presented the Quarter 4 Police Scotland Report and explained that the return to normality, post pandemic, had continued throughout quarter four, although it had been a difficult start with the hangover of the Omicron variant.  While that had abated for the time being, there was a new challenge in the form of the ‘McLeod Remedy.’  The recent press articles, in which the Chief Constable described the impact of Police pension changes that allowed officers who were over the age of fifty and had 25 years’ service or more to retire sooner than they might have otherwise done were highlighted.  The numbers retiring from policing were higher than normal year on year averages, the implications of which continued to be assessed by the organisation on an ongoing basis.   Supporting frontline policing (in all its forms) and ensuring those who required police assistance receive, not just a response, but a quality service, was, and always would be, the priority. As a single national service, Police Scotland were able to identify resources and manage recruitment to provide support and stability where it was needed most.  Likewise, local resources were managed on a daily basis, to ensure that the demands of local communities were being met, although maybe not always expectations. The Chief Constable had undertaken to recruit around 300 new recruits each quarter in the year ahead to support the return to overall policing numbers and the Borders would receive a share.  This would build on the work already done more locally in recent years to target recruitment specifically at those already living in the Borders, which  improved staff retention and reduced the likelihood of officers moving to other divisions, or areas of the division  as soon as their probationary period ended.  Notwithstanding, it may take some time to build back full strength and therefore locally there would be ongoing assessment of what was needed most and how the police could work with partners and communities to achieve the best possible outcomes and keep the people, places and communities within the Scottish Borders safe.  

  2.3     Chief Inspector Vincent Fisher went on to report on the impact Covid had had on year-on-year comparisons, or even five year averages, rendering such comparisons fairly meaningless. ASB for instance rocketed during the pandemic as households reported other households for breaches of restrictions. Road traffic collisions on the other hand absolutely plummeted as traffic on roads all but dried up. These events skewed performance figures, and it would be unfair to make comparisons between any pre-covid, covid and post covid years. 

2.4       In terms of under reported crime, it had been regarded that a number of types of criminal behaviour were underreported and great efforts had been made to encourage more victims to report particularly domestic crime, sexual crime and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

(i)            Update on Service and Operation Matters

(ii)           Performance Report.  (Copy attached.)

(iii)          Local Plan Performance Report.  (Copy attached.)

(iv)          Prevention & Protection Activities, Quarter 4.  (Copy attached.)

(v)           Strategic Plan Consultation

https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/consultations/

https://firescotland.citizenspace.com/planning-and-performance/draft-strategic-plan-2022-25/

LSO Hilary Sangster

3.            Progress Reports/Updates on Service Matters - Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

3.1         There had been circulated copies of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service performance report 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022. Area Commander Hilary Sangster explained that in terms of staff resources, Firefighters who were over the age of 50 years and had 25 years service could retire.  This was being managed through national recruitment, changing shift patterns, transferring staff and streamlining promotion pathways.  The ongoing consultation was highlighted and those present were encouraged to complete it.

3.2         Group Commander Girritty advised that the priorities contained within the Local Fire and Rescue Plan and the strategies for service delivery were clearly aligned to the Community Planning Structure, which supported the delivery of Community Planning Partnership priorities and activities in the Scottish Borders.  The priorities in the Local Fire and Rescue Plan also contributed towards Scottish Government National Outcomes.

3.3         Group Commander David Girritty presented the report and provided context to the key figures contained within. SFRS had responded to 1636 incidents in the Scottish Borders during the reporting period, an increase of 140 incidents compared to the same period in the previous year.  59% of emergency call outs were for false alarms.  There had been 75 dwelling fires recorded, compared to 80 for the same period last year.  Deliberate fire setting continued to be a priority for the SFRS in the Scottish Borders. 92 deliberate fire incidents had been recorded, a decrease of 26 in comparison to the same reporting period of the previous year. Road traffic collisions attended had seen an increase of 17 on the previous year to 69, although this should be considered in the context that last year, due to Covid related lockdowns, there was far less activity on local roads.  Two people died within the reporting period, a total of 4 in the reporting year.  There had been 86 special service casualties during the reporting period, an increase from 2020/1, during the Pandemic and associated lockdowns.  24 casualties injuries appeared to be serious and required hospital treatment, 34 casualties injuries were slight but attended hospital and on 6 occasions first aid provided by Ffs was sufficient to deal with the injury.    Prevention and Protection activities were below target, attributed to Covid impacts and retirements, however, visits were increasing each quarter. The Community Action Team were now resuming partnership work to restart fire skills programmes. In terms of Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS), the SFRS were committed to working with partners and other stakeholders to reduce UFAS and the introduction of new procedures and mobilisation to UFAS was planned for April 2023 which would reduce the burden on SFRS crews and create capacity for community safety and training opportunities.

3.4         In response to a question with regards to new fire regulations, Mr Girritty advised that there had not been an increase in calls since the implementation of the new legislation in February 2022 and an increase was not anticipated.  The Fire Service had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Consider Report by Safer Communities and Community Justice Manager. (Copy attached).

4.            Safer Communities Update and Key Activities

4.1       There had been circulated copies of a Report by the Safer Communities and Community Justice Manager.  In 2021/22 there was an increase in group 1-5 crime of 6.7% when compared to 2020/21. However in 2020/21 the country was still recovering from pandemic restrictions and recorded crimes were lower than would normally have been expected.  In 2021/22 there was a decrease in antisocial behaviour incidents of 25.8% when compared to 2020/21.  The increase in antisocial behaviour incidents in 2020/21 was in large due to the increased number of calls to Police Scotland during lockdown where breaches of government guidelines were being regularly reported. The 2021/22 were more closely aligned to those recorded 2019/20, pre-pandemic.   In 2021/22 there was a 1.5% decrease in people being monitored for antisocial behaviour and the number of early interventions undertaken by ASB partners decreased by 7.6% when compared to 2020/21.  Mediation referrals were 69.4% lower in 2021/22 when compared to 2020/21. There had also been a drop in the percentage of mediation cases that had a successful outcome.  The downturn in performance was due to the continued impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and the vacancy in the mediation officer post from quarter 3 of 2021/22.    In terms of key successes, three of the four ASB Officers had been trained and accredited in Mediation, the remaining officer would undertake and complete training in June.  Antisocial Behaviour Officers now had Areas of Responsibility (AOR), broadly in line with Police areas and this would greatly enhance the exchange of information between all partners as well as foster good working relationships. System development for a new database to support the work of the Antisocial Behaviour Unit was making good progress although it may take a little longer to transition than initially expected.  Multi-Agency Face-to-Face warnings were now back in place Database development in MOSIAC continued and changes to the web pages, leaflets and referral forms had been completed.

4.2       Mr Jones went on to provide some insight into the key highlights, explaining that the number of domestic abuse incidents reported to police in 2021/22 was 1284, an increase of one since 2020/21.  The number of referrals to the Domestic Abuse Advocacy Support (DAAS) service in 2021/22 was 462, which was 9 referrals higher than 2020/21 and the repeat referrals to the DAAS service in 2021/22 stood at 33%, slightly higher than the target of 30%.  The number of clients contacted within agreed timescales was significantly higher than the 80% baseline and stood at 92.8%.  In terms of successes, an appointment had been made for the 21hr advocate post and induction was progressing well.  Leading Lights accreditation was progressing and the assessment of standards was planned for December 2022.  DAAS continued to pursue available funding to alleviate hardship, poverty and costs of safety and a successful partnership bid by DAAS to the Hardship fund on behalf of Border Women’s Aid, Children1st and Scottish Border Rape Crisis Service saw all specialist services receive over  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To note the next scheduled meeting is due to take place on Friday, 2 September 2022 at 9.30 am.

Date of Future Meeting

The next meeting was scheduled for 2 September 2022.