Agenda and minutes

Consider Minute of Meeting held on 2 September 2022. (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting held on 2 September 2022. 

DECISION

APPROVED the Minute

2.1         There had been circulated copies of reports by Police Scotland as a supplement to the agenda.  The Chair thanked Police Scotland for their report and expressed her condolences to the families’ of police officers who had sadly lost their lives in a shooting incident in Australia. The dangers posed by frozen lakes and ponds in the winter was highlighted, and the Chair encouraged parents to educate their children about the dangers that playing on such hazards posed.  Chief Superintendent Catriona Paton explained that a considerable amount of Police Scotland resources had been diverted to Edinburgh following the passing of the Queen.  Operation Unicorn had been undergone considerable planning over the years, and Police Scotland officers had displayed their dignity and professionalism to the world.  The publication of the UK Government’s autumn financial statement was of considerable relevance for policing, with an expectation that Police Scotland should plan for a flat-cash settlement.  That would result in considerable savings required to be made by Police Scotland.  Whilst overall crime levels continued to fall, demands on Police Scotland continued to increase.  A considerable amount of police resources were now directed to protecting the vulnerable in society in some way, as opposed to responding to criminality directly. 

2.2       Chief Inspector Fisher presented the Quarter 2 Police Scotland Report, and outlined that the long term trends in crime rates continued to be broadly similar.   Protecting vulnerable people continued to be a policing priority.  It was highlighted that one missing person enquiry conducted in Quarter 2 was complex and protected, and had required a team dedicated solely to that case.  Chief Inspector Fisher acknowledged that there had been a rise in cases of looked after children whom had gone missing, and explained that the rise could be attributed to a small number of children who had gone missing on multiple occasions.  Work was ongoing to ensure that care arrangements in those cases were appropriate, and all reasonable steps were taken to reduce the likelihood that they would go missing again.  The number of reported domestic abuse incidents had risen, which could be attributed to increased confidence amongst victims to report crime.  Police Scotland viewed every report of domestic abuse as an opportunity to intervene, support and protect victims from harm.  The Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit continued to review all domestic incidents reported to the police, and would actively seek to investigate non recent criminality that had previously been unreported.  The number of domestic bail offences in quarter 2 was 27, compared to the 5 year average of 24.  The cases in question were often protracted in nature, and represented efforts to ensure that perpetrators were kept away from their victims whilst on bail. There had been 71 hate crimes reported in quarter 2, compared to the 5 year average of 40.2     Chief Inspector Fisher explained that the reporting of hate crime was similar to domestic incidents, in that the number of incidents had been historically underreported.  It had been encouraging to see that more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

(i) Update on Service and Operation Matters

(ii) Performance Report. (To follow.)

(iii) Local Plan Performance Report. (To follow.).)

(iv) Prevention & Protection Activities, Quarter 2. (To follow.)

Area Commander Hilary Sangster, Local Senior Officer (LSO)

3.1         There had been circulated copies of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service performance report 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022. Area Commander Hilary Sangster was present at the meeting and presented the report.  Scottish Fire and Rescue Service had responded to 929 incidents in the Scottish Borders.  That included 27 accidental dwelling fires, 140 accidental fires and 164 special service incidents.  False alarms accounted for 57% of the emergency calls.  The change to the unwanted fire alarm response, planned for 2023, was expected to derive down the number of false alarms that crews attended.  That would allow more training and community safety initiatives to be undertaken.  SFRS measured how well its priorities were met using 7 key indicators: all accidental dwelling fires, all accidental dwelling fire casualties, all deliberate fires, non domestic fires, special service – road traffic collision casualties, special service- non RTC casualties and false alarms. The report indicated that all deliberate fires and non-domestic fires were rated as red on the Red, Amber, Green rating scale.   Operational staff continued to undertake routine and risk specific skill acquisition and maintenance training.  All firefights in the Scottish Borders would participate in the Training for Operational Competence programme in 2022/23.  RTC and incident command continued to be practiced and assessed on a quarterly basis. SFRS had set a national target of a 10% reduction in accidental dwelling fires over a three year rolling period.  There had been 27 dwelling fires recovered compared to 38 over the same period in the previous year.  There were no deliberate dwelling fires reported, down from three in the last four year reporting period.  Cooking appliances accounted for 13 dwelling fires, with 3 due to negligent use of equipment and 2 due to faulty fuel supplies.  Analysis highlighted that 11 of the incidents involved adults 18 to 64 years old, and 9 were 65+.  Following all domestic fires, the Post Domestic Incident Response would be carried out, and work was ongoing with partners to identify persons at risk. 

3.2         The report highlighted that fire SFRS aimed to reduce fire casualties in the Scottish Borders year on year by 5% over a three year rolling period.  There had been one casualty in the reporting period, a reduction from 6 in the previous year’s equivalent period.  SFRS continued to carry out seasonal action plans to educate the public regarding dangers, risk and safety measures. Where trends were identified work would take place with partners to mitigate risks. There had been 90 incidents of all deliberate fires in the reporting period.  A large increase from the previous year, but average compared to pre-covid numbers.  Secondary fires involving refuse, grass or derelict buildings accounted for 51% of all deliberate fires.  There were no trends or specific areas to identify, other than small clusters in short time periods.  In order to address the risk of climate change, SFRS had identified that Coldstream and Lauder would become tier 2 wildfire stations.  That would bring greater skill, knowledge, equipment to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Consider Report by Group Manager – Safer Communities and Homelessness, (Copy attached).

3.1         There had been circulated copies of a Report by the Group Manager- Safer Communities and Homelessness.  The VAW co-ordinator/DAAS Service Manager, Ms Andrea Beavon, was present at the meeting to present the report.  The report outlined that in 2022/23 to date there had been decrease in group 1-5 crime of 5.9% compared to 2021/22 for the same period, which represented 114 fewer victims.  There had been a 17.3% decrease in antisocial behaviour incidents.  In 2022/23 to date there had been a decrease of 28.8% in the number of people monitored for antisocial behaviour compared to the previous year.  The number of early interventions undertaken by Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) partners increased by 20.5% compared to 2021/22, which was positive news for the service.  All ASB officers had been trained and accredited in mediation, and had established a local network called Scottish Borders Mediation Network. That network involved Scottish Borders Council, Scottish Borders Housing Association and Waverly Housing.  System development   for a new database to support the work of the Antisocial Behaviour Unit was making good progress. There would be a phased go live date with the core group on 30 November 2022.  The ASB website had been updated and the public could download diary sheets for reporting ASB directly from the website.   Working arrangements for the officer dealing with the east of the region had been increased to balance service demand. Further multi-agency ASB training would take place on 16 November 2022.

3.2         Ms Beavon highlighted that the number of referrals to the Domestic Abuse Advocacy Support (DAAS) service in 2022/23 to date was 186. This was 69 referrals lower than 2021/22 for the same period.  Repeat referrals to date stood at 25%, better than the target of 30%.  The number of clients contacted within agreed timescales was significantly higher than the 80% baseline, and stood at 95.9%.  Court delays continued to mean that some cases continued to be open for longer than normal.  A meeting had been held with the Procurator Fiscal team to enable DAAS to relay the impact on their clients of court delays.  In response to a question regarding delays to court proceedings, Ms Beavon explained that the Procurator Fiscal’s office had outlined their recovery programme and that had set out how they would deal with their backlog of cases.  Cases were now being called, and it was hoped that the programme would ease delays.

DECISION

AGREED to note the update.

Future meeting dates:

Wednesday, 8 February 2023

Wednesday, 7 June 2023

Chief Inspector Fisher highlighted that due to reporting date deadlines, the date of the next meeting was not well placed.  The Chair agreed that it would be prudent to reschedule the next meeting to allow the Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service reports time to be fully prepared.