Agenda item

Report attached

The Sub-Committee received an update report on Serious Group Violence and Knife Crime.

The report informed Members that:

·         The highest proportion and volume of youth violence takes place within the ward Romford Town. The second most notable ward scoring high with knife crime related offences is Gooshays.

·         The ‘Perception’ of Knife Crime being a problem have increased, it was stated that 27% of residents in Havering (1 in 4 people) now believe the issue was a problem.

·         County Lines awareness was being raised with all of Havering’s secondary schools and pupil referral units.

·         Young people going missing through County Lines have been found in 11 different counties with Essex (Chelmsford) and Worcestershire (Evesham) being the most common.

·         Whilst Havering had the highest proportion of successful referrals into Rescue & Response out of all 32 London Boroughs, there was still a considerable room for improvement.

·         No access to the local Police gangs list makes work around prevention of those involved in gangs and knife crime very difficult, and potentially avoidable. The issue had been raised with MOPAC and the MPS.

It was stated that tackling serious violence was a key priority for both MOPAC and the council. 

The report detailed the following progresses that have been made:

On County Lines Exploitation - a major, cross-cutting issue involving drugs, violence, gangs, safeguarding, criminal and sexual exploitation, modern slavery and missing persons.  The response to tackle county lines involves the Police, the National Crime Agency, a wide range of Government departments, Local government agencies and voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations.

The Sub-Committee was informed that Community Safety and Children’s Services have been working very closely over the last few years in order to make sure this form of exploitation is both recognised and address. 

The following key teams are fully alert to the issues of county lines:

·         MASH Team

·         Social Services

·         Youth Offending Team

·         Community Safety Team

·         Child Sexual and Criminal Exploitation & Missing Team

·         Admissions and Inclusions Team

·         Police – Safety Schools Officers, Intelligence Team, Gangs Unit etc.

It was also stated that further work have been undertaken with Schools, between April 2019 – July 2019, all 18 Secondary Schools & Olive Academy received a presentation directed at Teachers and Parents of School Pupils from the Metropolitan Police Trident Unit with regards to County Lines.

The council regularly refers to the MOPAC funded Pan-London service; Rescue and Response (R+R). The service specifically focuses on county lines, both identifying young people and providing a service for boroughs in need of assistance. 

It was noted that 48 Individuals were identified as having links to County Lines, placing Havering in the 2th position out of 32 Local Authorities.  Havering completed 23 referrals to Rescue and Response between June 2018 and June 2019, this was the 9th highest amount of referrals completed out of 32 Local Authorities.

It was stated that Havering had the highest proportion out of all 32 London boroughs in referrals to Rescue and Response service at 48%.

The Gangs and Serious Group Violence Panel; a Tri-Borough Gangs Panel takes place every four weeks with hosting alternated across the tri-borough. In addition the Panel organises a weekly telephone-conferences to discuss the movements of gang nominals or escalating concerns.

The borough was hosting the final summit in a series of Tri-Borough Summits on Violent Crime Summit on the 27th November. Key Speakers would include the Children’s Commissioner and the Lead for London’s Violent Reduction Unit. The summit aims to try and capture the voices of young people and demonstrate the good work Havering has been doing over the last year.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report, be noted.