Lancashire County Council and Community Safety
The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 places a duty
on the County Council, the Chief Constable and District Councils to formulate
and implement a strategy to reduce crime and disorder for each respective
District area with the co-operation of a range of other prescribed bodies.
In practice these duties are fulfilled through local crime and disorder reduction partnerships (sometimes known as community safety partnerships).
These strategies are for three years, the first round having been in from April 1999 - March 2002. The County Council has for its part agreed new strategies in each of the 12 Lancashire Districts for 2002-5.
The role of the County Council varies between Districts since each local strategy contains local priority objectives and performance measures. The County Council's input into local partnerships has been the form of a lead officer which is the Youth and Community Service District Team Managers, supported by officers from local services. There are also local elected Member representatives on each partnership.
Overall responsibility lies with the Cabinet Member for Community and Partnerships supported by Directorate based Officers.
The County Council's role in promoting community safety is very broad and is reflected in a number of relevant plans.
Tackling social inclusion and promoting prosperity
The underlying causes of much crime relate to social and economic conditions and in the long term, measures to tackle such conditions will provide sustainable solutions. Amongst the relevant measures promoted by the County Council to tackle social inclusion include and promote long term social and economic conditions are:
Tackling underlying causes and risk factors for offending
- Tackling underlying causes and risk factors for offending
- Children's Fund
- Working with the Connexions Partnership
- Raising educational achievement
- Participation in Neighbourhood Renewal programmes
- Promoting attendance at schools including truancy sweep operations
- Provision of tuition and support for those excluded from schools
- Tackling behavioural problems in schools and community settings
- Promoting citizenship, drug and alcohol advice in school and community settings
- Addressing under-age sales of alcohol, fireworks, cigarettes and butane.
- Supporting early intervention initiatives eg the Group Intervention Panel (GRIP)
- Provision of residential and day care substance misuse services
- Provision of youth and community services including outreach services, diversionary schemes and facilities.
- Supporting the Arrest Referral Schemes in Lancashire which help drug dependent offenders into treatment
The County Council is the lead partner in the multi-agency Lancashire Youth Offending Team (LYOT) contributing around £1.9m to the core budget. The three year Plan for LYOT was agreed by the County Council on the 28th February, 2002. That Plan provides for local LYOT Area Teams to contribute to the preparation and delivery of respective local crime and disorder strategies as appropriate. The plan provides for the provision of a wide range of services within the revised youth justice services framework including measures to prevent offending and re-offending, to design and provide services for offenders referred or on court orders, to promote restorative justice and reparation to victims, to promote parental responsibility and to provide timely reports services to court, helping to speed up the criminal justice process. Access the Lancashire Youth Offending Team web pages
The LYOT services link closely with mainstream County Council service provision for example in tackling the educational needs of offenders, ensuring appropriate provision for young offenders remanded to the care of the local authority including secure accommodation.
The County Council also contributes towards some rehabilitation projects and services in Lancashire's penal establishments.
Prevention through Design and Management
- Security through the design and management of sites and premises including schools
- Maintenance of street lighting and initiatives to promote street lighting which contributes specifically to community safety.
- Development of the use of schools and their facilities in a community context
- Systems designed to prevent and identify fraud.
Encouraging safer use of Roads and Transport
- A wide range of road safety education and engineering programmes, including participation in the Lancashire Project for Road Safety.
- Promotion of safe travel on public and school transport
- Consumer protection through the Trading Standards Services and campaigns
- Child protection procedures
- Protection of children in need
- Multi-Agency Public Protection Panels
- Procedures to protect vulnerable adults
- Support for victims of domestic violence
- Promotion of racial harmony and cultural diversity in school and community settings
- Measures to tackle bullying.
- Contribution to the development of Children and Adolescent Mental health Services
- Supporting People Strategy
- Leaving Care scheme
Information
The County Council has worked with Lancashire Constabulary, Government Office NW and a range of other agencies to develop a Multi-Agency Data Exchange (M.A.D.E.) product which has assisted all partnerships in conducting local community safety audits upon which they have based their community safety strategies.
Funding
As community safety is a cross-cutting issue for the County Council, funding
is contained within mainstream service budgets. However, there is budget
provision for 2002/3 of £266,000 for funding towards crime and disorder
initiatives within the Miscellaneous Corporate expenditure budget. These
funds are used to help support projects delivered through local community
safety partnerships. The County Council has also contributed £60,000 per
annum towards the jointly financed Arrest Referrals Schemes in Lancashire.