Agenda item

To receive the Strategic Safer North Hampshire Community Safety Partnership Report (copy attached) and associated appendices (attached).

 

The Committee considered the report of the Chair of the Community Safety Partnership (Cllr Christine Guinness) which provided an overview of the performance of the Safer North Hampshire Strategic Community Safety Partnership (CSP) during 2025/26.

 

The Report, accompanying presentation and appendices, provided an update on the Safer North Hampshire Community Safety Partnership’s work during 2025/26, covering community safety, serious violence, domestic abuse, antisocial behaviour and town-centre crime. Members noted progress including improved feelings of safety, school and youth engagement, partnership working, domestic abuse accreditation, targeted patrols, CCTV improvements and business engagement.

 

The Committee also noted continuing challenges, particularly gaps in health and partner data-sharing, limited local detail in serious-violence assessments, resource pressures arising from domestic abuse-related death reviews, funding constraints and the need for improved antisocial-behaviour case-management systems. Further work would continue to address these challenges through future strategic assessments and relevant partnership meetings.

 

The Committee discussed the information provided and raised a number of comments and questions, as set out:

 

• Parental/carer discipline of young people – understanding what parents/carers can and can’t do – utilise the parent/carer forums in schools to reach out and inform/engage

 

• Schools engagement – currently provide for younger children, what if anything could be offered to secondary school children? – In response, it was noted that in Rushmoor (RBC) engagement was targeted at Yr 6 pupils in the transition stage of moving up to secondary school. Hart (HDC) did more engagement with their young people in secondary schools and Basingstoke (BDBC) ran a Choices Programme in their secondary school. The Police also attended all secondary schools across the area carrying out local engagement. The programme varied across the area due to resources and finance.

 

• Mediation Service Update – it was noted that Rushmoor Citizens Advice had recently established a mediation service, it was currently too early to provide any data on the uptake of this service, but it was agreed that a discussion would take place with the RBC’s communications team to see how the service could be promoted more.

 

Other mediation services had been funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner, but it was acknowledged that getting agreement from both parties was challenging. VIVID representatives advised of their mediation offer for residents in social housing which offered access to tools to support neighbour conflicts – there had been a successful uptake of this service.

 

It was felt that more information could be provided to residents across the area explaining what mediation was and how it could help. Early offers of mediation often resulted in more positive outcomes.

 

• Shoplifting – what are young people stealing, is it hunger related through issues at home? – In response it was noted that there had been an increase in incidents of shoplifting and an increase in reporting. Most were serious offences not ad hoc, and there had been recent success with the issuing of a criminal behaviour order (CBO) which stopped the offender visiting particular shops.

 

Regarding young people shoplifting, it was noted that incidents were usually adolescent risk taking, where children were challenging the status quo, all part of the normal development process, that most young people grew out of.

 

• Significant increases in Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) (+19%), are there any trends or geographical difference causing this increase? – it was advised that incidents of ASB had gone down during 2025/26. Areas where the increase could be attributed were nuisance motorcycle incidents and residential cannabis use – difficult to tackle from an evidence and resources position.

 

• Have there been any changes in the Partnership’s priorities since 2024/25? – it was advised that the main CSP priorities would remain the same for 2026/27.

 

• Where does the data come from? – it was reported that data came primarily from police reporting. Another source of data came for the local housing associations.

 

• Urban ‘v’ rural crime - these areas were very different, and separate data was gathered for each different area

 

• Was the crime data averaging out in each area or varying widely? – it was noted that each area had its own Partnership Action Group to look at issues in their specific area. There was some correlation between the areas, but some differences did occur.

 

• Data provided by areas of deprivation, mental health and drug related crime would help understanding. – It was noted that more in depth data could be found in the Strategic Assessment, this document would be included in the report pack going forward. However, deprivation had not been considered in this year’s assessment, as there were no substantial areas of deprivation across the whole area. The team would take this away and consider how it could be included in the future.

 

• What help are officers getting to ensure their safety? – It was advised that officers were impacted by the work they undertook on a daily basis. Each agency had its own way of dealing with these issues and also used partners to train each other through joint training days. For example, the fire service took a partnership approach through safety in numbers, by working together with the Partnership as a collective and the housing associations had reporting mechanisms in place to support their staff.

 

It was also important to understand the drivers behind people’s behaviours, understand that not all situations were not combative, be trauma informed before entering a situation, where possible, and stay curious about why - allowing partners to respond in the most appropriate way.

 

• Online crime – it was noted that this was missing from the report and would be picked up outside the meeting.

 

• What is DISC? – it was noted that DISC was a crime reporting platform for retailers.

 

The Committee were satisfied that the Strategic Community Safety Partnership continued to discharge its statutory functions as defined by Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.