Agenda item

To receive any written and verbal updates from representatives, including:

·       Wiltshire Police.

·       Town and Parish Councils Nominated Representatives.

Updates were received from the following partners:

·       Wiltshire Police

The Area Board noted written updates attached to the agenda. In addition, Inspector Lou Oakley provided a verbal update which covered the following points:

·       An overview of the local Neighbourhood Policing Team was provided.

Business Crime

·       It was noted that Inspector Oakley had been given Operation Lead in the county for business crime and that a delivery plan was currently being worked on.

·       An Offender Intervention Panel had been set up in order to manage prolific offenders in order to identify the root cause of shoplifting.

·       In Warminster PC Hamel had met with every retailer and had produced packs for them, with this work set to be replicated in Westbury.

·       Further detail was provided on the work being conducted with Tesco and that a problem-solving plan was set to be put into place.

·       A day of action was set to take place involving an operation relating to crime in the run up to Christmas with extra response officers provided to the team in order to provide extra support for foot patrols in Westbury and rural areas.

·       There had been a “Shop kind” campaign which has been promoted due to an increase in violence against shopkeepers.

·       Inspector Oakley was set to meet with Sainsburys to discuss shoplifting with it hoped that there would be learning points to be taken away and implemented.

Anti-Social Behaviour

·       There had been a significant increase in ASB in the Westbury area involving shoplifting and arson. The team were currently increasing patrols and conducting investigations on the matter with three suspected youths.

National Operations

·       Op Sceptre took place on 11 November as a dedicated national week of action tackling knife crime.

·       Last week “Blunt Truth” was delivered to Year 9 Students at Matravers school, which was an hour-long knife crime education session to educate on impact of knife crime, what they should do if someone they know is carrying a knife, and how to report it.

Further Local Work

·       It was outlined that there was covert work taking place in the background in relation to serious crime groups and that work had recently taken please in relation to exploitation, county lines and cuckooing, with positive work taking place with Turning Point.

·       Upcoming dates of events for the Neighbourhood Policing team were outlined in the agenda pack as well as future community drop-in sessions.

After the update, there was time for the following questions and points to be raised:

·       The shoplifting taking place in the Tesco shops in Westbury was discussed, with it stressed that this was a decreasing spiral which needed to be corrected. It was suggested that in the shops there wasn’t many shopkeepers, and that the ones working were often too busy to report issues; therefore, work was being done to improve the reporting system. Reference was also made to Crime Outlook Officers who would consider the design of stores and provide a report as to how improvements could be made.

·       Positive feedback was provided to the Neighbourhood policing team on how an issue had been escalated on behalf of a resident and that the service received had led to a positive outcome.

·       A discussion took place regarding the current criminal justice system and whether Wiltshire Police were inhibited by this, to which it was noted that the Wiltshire Police was working to the sentencing guidelines provided and that the Chief Constable had stated that the Force would not be inhibited from charging criminals. The discussion also included consideration of a national level, with it noted that the Police would do anything that they could to enact justice as fast as possible and that the PCC was lobbying as much as he could.

·       Town and Parish Council Nominated Representatives

The Area Board received the following verbal update from Cllr Jeff Ligo on behalf of Bratton Parish Council. The update covered the following matters:

·       At the last meeting of the Parish Council, the Neighbourhood Plan was approved for submission to Wiltshire Council with it hoped that a referendum would take place on the date of the local elections in May. Cllr Ligo emphasised this had been a terrific achievement by the team of volunteers involved.

·       Over the last 4-5 years the Parish Council had worked with voluntary organisations in the community which had enable them to grow bigger and stronger. The example of the Tidy Bratton Group was cited, which had now taken over from Wiltshire Council in removing leaves.

The Area Board received the following verbal update from Cllr Suzanne Wickham on behalf of Dilton Marsh Parish Council, who noted that there had been great volunteer work taking place in Dilton Marsh including regular litter picks and tidy ups.

Councillor Gordon King noted that it would be very much appreciated if Parish Councils would be able to send details of their local volunteer groups over to Graeme Morrison, Strategic Engagement Partnerships Manager in relation to the neighbourhood collaborative work taking place.