Correspondence

Crime and policing newsletter: December 2012

Published 30 April 2013

0.1 National Crime Agency (NCA) update

The Crime and Courts Bill, which will provide the legal basis for the NCA, is progressing through parliamentary process. The bill completed report stage in the House of Lords on 12 December and was introduced in the House of Commons last week. Commons second reading and committee stages will follow in the New Year. Subject to the will of Parliament, the bill is on track to receive Royal Assent in spring 2013 which would enable the NCA to become operational by the end of the year.

The NCA programme also continues to make significant headway on the build of the agency, in collaboration with precursor agencies and partners. Joint operational teams made up of staff from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) Cyber Unit and Police Central eCrime Unit (PceU) have been carrying out operational activity in advance of the formal launch of the shadow National Cyber Crime Unit in March 2013. This is an important part of the shadow functions and operations that will test how the NCA will operate in the run up to it becoming fully operational in October 2013.

0.2 Provisional police funding settlement 2013/14

On 19 December, the provisional police grant report 2013/14 was laid in Parliament; this will be followed by a consultation period. The provisional Police Grant Report is accompanied by a written ministerial statement which sets out the allocations to police of other specific funding streams to the police including the community safety fund and capital grant.

The final police grant report will be laid in Parliament in February 2013 and will be followed by a debate and vote in the House of Commons.

0.3 2013 National Awards for Special Constables and Volunteers in Policing

On 10 December, the nominee process for the Lord Ferrers Awards was announced. The Ferrers Awards recognise the substantial contribution that volunteer police officers and police support volunteers (PSVs) bring to policing. There are over 20,000 special constables across England and Wales (representing 13 per cent of the total police strength) and over 10,000 PSVs, the latter providing extra capacity to free up police staff to focus on policing priorities.

Prospective nominees, who can be special constables, PSVs, regular officers or police staff (dependent on category) have until 14 March 2013 to submit applications for any of the seven categories of award. Nominations forms and guidance notes are available on the Home Office website. The awards previously known as the Special Constable and Police Support Volunteer Awards have been renamed in honour of their patron Lord Ferrers who died on 13 November 2012.

0.4 Draft anti-social behaviour bill and consultation the community remedy

On 13 December the Home Office published a Draft Anti-Social Behaviour Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny by the Home Affairs Select Committee. It is important that those who are affected by these changes, from the professionals who will use the new powers, to victims seeking protection from targeted abuse, help to continue to shape the reforms.

Everyone has the right to feel safe in their own homes and neighbourhoods, but for too many people anti-social behaviour remains a fact of life. The consequences can be devastating, by taking forward measures in the anti-social behaviour white paper the Home Office will help to put victims first by supporting local areas to:

• Focus the response to anti-social behaviour on the needs of victims.
• Empower communities to get involved in tackling anti-social behaviour.
• Ensure professionals are able to protect the public quickly through the introduction of faster, more effective powers and proposals to speed up the eviction of the most anti-social tenants.
• Focus on long-term solutions.

In addition to the both powers, the bill also includes two important new measures to help focus the response to anti-social behaviour on the needs of victims:

• The Community Trigger will give victims and communities the right to require agencies to deal with persistent anti-social behaviour that has previously been ignored. The trigger could be activated by a member of the public, a community or a business if repeated complaints about anti-social behaviour have been ignored.

• The Community Remedy will give victims of low-level crime and anti-social behaviour a say in the punishment of offenders out of court. This means victims will get justice quickly, and the offender has to face immediate and meaningful consequences for their actions.

To find out more about the community remedy and to respond to the consultation, visit the antisocial behaviour pages on the Home Office website.

0.5 Ending Gang and Youth Violence Programme Update

The Home Office committed to having peer-led reviews of local approaches to preventing and cutting gang and youth violence in 29 areas through the Ending Gang and Youth Violence (EGYV) programme. These reviews have now been completed and the EGYV team is working with local leaders to implement recommendations from the reports,

The New Year will see a further programme of workshops for practitioners in the 29 areas including:

• 30 January - Health (rescheduled from November)
• 20 February - What works well
• 27 February - Breaking the cycle

To register interest in a workshop, please email the serious youth violence team. The Gang and Youth Violence special interest group on the LGA Knowledge Hub, now have 200 members who share their good practice and would encourage more practitioners to join. To register, please visit the Knowledge Hub.

The National Community Safety Network are also holding a workshop on gang violence on 5 February in Birmingham for community safety practitioners from outside the 29 EGYV areas.

0.6 2012 Tilley awards winners announced

The Minister for Crime Prevention, Jeremy Browne announced the winners of the 2012 national Tilley Awards at an award ceremony in the Houses of Parliament on 6 December 2012.

The awards, now in their fourteenth year, recognise innovative crime fighting projects where local councils, police, community groups and the public successfully work together to deal with local issues using a problem oriented approach.

This year’s first prize which was £2,000 to help towards future plans was awarded to a team from Enfield, London who set out to tackle gang and serious violence in the area. The scheme contributed towards a 50 per cent reduction in serious violence and antisocial behaviour in the area.

A South Nottinghamshire scheme called Making Cotgrave Smile received second prize. It was designed to tackle antisocial behaviour and youth offending in Cotgrave, making it a safer and more enjoyable place to live.

Third prize went to Project Schoolbike which helped reduce bus related crime on school routes in Bromley by 50 per cent.

The Tilley Awards were set up in 1999 and are named after Professor Nick Tilley, who has considerable expertise in problem-oriented approaches. The awards are funded by the Home Office to encourage and spread effective practice in crime fighting approaches across England and Wales.

More information on the 2012 Tilley Award winners can be found on the Home Office Tilley Page.

0.7 Alcohol Strategy Consultation

On 28 November a public consultation was launched on key issues in the government’s Alcohol Strategy which was published in March 2012. This consultation puts forward proposals and questions on five key issues within the strategy:

• A ban on multi-buy promotions in shops and off-licences to reduce excessive alcohol consumption.
• A review of the mandatory licensing conditions to ensure that they are sufficiently targeting problems such as irresponsible promotions in pubs and clubs.
• Health as a licensing objective for cumulative impacts so that licensing authorities can consider alcohol-related health harms when managing the problems relating to the number of premises in their area.
• Cutting red tape for responsible businesses to reduce the burden of regulation while maintaining the integrity of the licensing system.
• Minimum unit pricing, ensuring for the first time that alcohol can only be sold at a sensible and appropriate price.

You have until 6 February 2012 to submit your responses to the consultation.

0.8 Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) Drug Inquiry Report

On 10 December, the HASC published its report “Drugs: Breaking the Cycle”. The Committee has made 48 recommendations across the drug strategy themes on reducing demand, restricting supply and building recovery. The government has 60 days to respond. You can read the report on the parliament website.

0.9 Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme

The Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP) is a cross department and agency programme hosted in the Home Office.

The main objective for the ESMCP is to deliver mobile voice and data communications for the three emergency services and potentially other public sector bodies. It will do this by leading the procurement process to replace the current Airwave contracts which form the core of current emergency service voice and data provision. To ensure effective future service provision the programme will review: anticipated operational needs of the emergency services, technical capabilities of modern technologies and commercial opportunities that are expected to be available from 2016 onwards.

Given the complex nature of the work; the ESMCP has a three tier governance model comprised of representatives from: the three emergency services; their associated Government departments; the Cabinet Office; Welsh government and Scottish government.

0.10 Update from partners

Ministry of Justice invite you to ‘Be the Judge’

You be the Judge is an interactive website which launched in March 2010, with a view to improving public understanding of sentencing through the use of case studies. Research has consistently shown a positive correlation between confidence in the criminal justice system and information about it. The site places users in the judge’s chair – it allows them to view a case based on a real-life scenario, pick a sentence and compare it to the sentence actually given. On 30 November, four new scenarios – all based on real-life cases – were added to the site:

• A murder case
• A manslaughter case
• A drug dealing case (possession with intent)
• A teen crime case (juvenile robbery)

Take part in these cases on the You be the Judge website

0.11 Sentencing Council announces sexual offences guideline consultation

The Sentencing Council launched a 14 week public consultation on 6 December on proposals for how guidance for courts on sexual offences should be brought up to date. It aims to give more focus to the impact on victims and reflect advances in technology, while making sure offenders are dealt with effectively. Some of the key changes in the proposed approach to sentencing are:

• a broader approach to assessing what victims have been through so that psychological and longer term effects on the victim are reflected, as well as physical harm;
• consideration of the full context of an offender’s behaviour and motivation in committing any offence, including aspects such as grooming and abuse of trust
• acknowledgement of the increased use of technology in offences involving indecent images of children - and a proposed change in how images are categorised - and the facilitation of sexual exploitation and grooming of children.

You can respond online by visiting the Sentencing Councils’ websiteor request a hard copy by emailing the sentencing council.

Try your hand at sentencing a range of offences from criminal damage to murder by visiting You be the Judge.

0.12 Update from the Gambling Commission - Suspected illegal poker tackled in Reigate

An investigation into alleged illegal poker has resulted in a club premises certificate being withdrawn from a Reigate social club. It follows a joint operation with the local authority and the Gambling Commission. The Commission through its Local Authority Liaison Unit provides advice and assistance to a number of local authorities faced with cases where clubs appear to be misusing their club premises certificate and associated gaming permit in order to offer high stakes poker to the public.