Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from County Borough Councillors M Forey, L Walker and W Jones.

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct

Note:

1.     Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest: and

2.   Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, there were no declarations made pertaining to the agenda.

The Chair extended a welcome to everyone present including Inspector Michael Rudall and Inspector Benjamin Rowe from South Wales Police.

Keeping Women and Girls Safe in RCT- An Overview of Current Arrangements for Public Spaces.

The Director of Public Health, Protection and Community Services presented her report which provided Committee with the opportunity to receive an update on the current arrangements in place in Rhondda Cynon Taf to keep women and girls safe in public places which is a key priority for the Council.

The Director advised that in addition to the report, Officers of South Wales Police would provide an overview of current National and UK activity to strengthen strategic policy in this area and to present the local data for crimes such as stalking, harassment and violence against women and girls in the South Wales Police area.

Through their Power Point presentation, South Wales Police outlined the key headlines as follows:

Ø  Headline Findings – Covid

Ø  Concern at the Heart of Government

Ø  Stalking - What is it?

Ø  Stalking/Harassment Data

Ø  Stalking & Harassment Offences – Strand Breakdown (Mid Glamorgan)

Ø  National Trends – Stalking & Harassment

Ø  Violence with Injury – Data

Ø  Establishment RCT

Ø  Crime Recording Vs Evidential Test

Ø  CPS Violence against Women and Girls Strategy

Ø  What’s Next – More Broadly

Ø  Initiatives

Ø  Summary

In conclusion Committee was advised that South Wales Police are working in partnership with RCT on a number of initiatives to keep residents safe and build on measures already in place.

The Director of Public Health, Protection and Community Services presented a number of key headings within her report all of which support the Police in keeping residents and communities safe such as the extensive CCTV network across RCT and the number of initiatives on the ground such as StoreNet and Pubwatch which involve the collaboration of a number of partners, the licensing trade, local businesses and the hospitality trade.

Committee was advised of the wider community initiatives which have been developed to tackle issues such as alcohol related anti-social behaviour through the Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) and prevention of alcohol harm to young people.

In conclusion, the Director of Public Health, Protection and Community Services acknowledged the importance of the whole education approach to promoting healthy relationships within schools to break cycles of behaviours and cultures in families and outlined how such sessions are delivered to schools. The Youth Engagement and Participation Service (YEPS) has also been instrumental in delivering activities to young people over the past few years to understand how safe they feel in their communities by means of youth forums and surveys. As a result, street-based youth work teams started being deployed across RCT from October 2020 in response to the needs of young people.

Following the presentations, members of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee raised questions and concerns for the attention of the Council Officers and South Wales Police.

Members made comments and sought assurance on some issues that:

• There is enough CCTV in operation and coverage for 24hrs, given that 40% of young people want to see more CCTV cameras in place;

·There is consistency across all schools in respect of how the issues raised are  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.