The Leicestershire and Rutland Safer Communities Strategy Board met on Thursday 25 June 2026 to discuss a range of community safety initiatives and performance updates. Key decisions included the approval of revised terms of reference for the board and a commitment to continue supporting the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Action Plan. The meeting also covered updates on youth justice, gambling-related harms, probation reforms, and the Prevent duty.

Terms of Reference Review

The Board reviewed and approved proposed changes to its Terms of Reference. These amendments were primarily driven by a departmental restructure within Leicestershire County Council, which saw community safety functions move to the Department of Public Health, Communities, Law and Governance. Consequently, the Cabinet portfolio for Communities, including Safer Communities, now dictates the Chair of the Board. The membership was also updated to reflect these structural changes, with the Assistant Director of Education and Early Help being replaced by the Assistant Chief Executive for Public Health, Law and Governance. The name of the National Probation Service was also updated to The Probation Service within the terms of reference.

Youth Justice Service Annual Update

Carly Turner, Youth and Justice Service Manager, presented the annual update for the Youth Justice Service. A snapshot of data revealed that 49% of children in the Youth Justice caseload were assessed as having a neurodevelopmental need. Data on disproportionality in the criminal justice system was only available for Leicestershire, preventing national comparisons. The service reported strong performance with low rates of First Time Entrants (FTEs) into the Criminal Justice System (CJS) and a continued low use of custody for children. Violence against the person remained the most common offence type, with the peak age for involvement in youth justice being 16-17. The Youth Justice Plan for 2026-2027 focuses on preventing children from entering the CJS and improving outcomes for those already involved. Key areas of focus for the coming year include improving education, training, and employment outcomes, strengthening health and wellbeing support, enhancing victim services, ensuring appropriate pathways for children at risk of entering the CJS, and coordinating responses for children at highest risk of harm and exploitation.

Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Update

Sajan Devshi, Performance and Assurance Officer for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), provided an update on the OPCC's activities. The report detailed CSP expenditure to date, with significant allocations made to Leicester (£271,818.47) and Charnwood (£89,530.24). The Commissioner had undertaken 17 engagements between January and March 2026, with a total of 413 engagements since May 2024 across the city and two counties. The Community Action Fund, which offers grants up to £10,000 for prevention initiatives, has upcoming rounds for Neighbourhood Crime and Business Crime. The OPCC is also investing approximately £70,000 across Charnwood, Hinckley and Bosworth, and Leicester City in a Protect and Prevent initiative aimed at preventing and protecting residents against burglary, which includes distributing home security items.

Probation and Independent Sentencing Review Update

Bob Bearne, Head of the LLR Probation Delivery Unit, gave a verbal update on the significant changes resulting from the Independent Sentencing Review and the Sentencing Act 2026. These changes aim to increase the number of people serving sentences in the community, which will create additional workload for the probation service. Key changes being implemented include early termination of community orders and suspended sentence orders, a new progression model for standard determinate sentences, and new probation requirements and restrictive measures. A new seven-tier model for sentence packages will determine the level of probation supervision based on risk. The changes are being applied retrospectively, requiring the Prison Service to recalculate approximately 40,000 release dates.

LLR Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Action Plan

Gurjit Samra-Rai, Strategic Lead – Safer Communities at Leicestershire County Council, presented an update on the LLR ASB Action Plan. The plan, developed collaboratively with multiple agencies, was approved for publication in March 2026 and is now in its implementation phase. Key opportunities identified include improving public awareness and confidence in reporting ASB, strengthening partnership data-driven problem-solving approaches, and enhancing data sharing and performance monitoring. The plan's objectives focus on strengthening evidence-based approaches, ensuring staff have the knowledge and skills for quality case management, prioritising victims and communities, maintaining robust partnership procedures, and improving data quality and performance monitoring.

Gambling Related Harms

Jo Hewitt, Strategic Lead for Public Health, presented on gambling-related harms. The Gambling Statutory Levy, introduced in April 2025, mandates contributions from licensed gambling operators to fund research, prevention, and treatment. Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council will receive £121,110 and £6,157 respectively for prevention activity. A Health Needs Assessment for Leicestershire identified that 16-24-year-olds, males, ethnic minority communities, veterans, and unemployed individuals are particularly vulnerable to gambling harms. The report recommended that the Board note the contents of the report, support and encourage participation in the training delivered by Chapter One, and implement screening for gambling harms where opportunities arise.

Anti-social Behaviour System - ECINS

Gurjit Samra-Rai also provided an update on the ECINS (Early Case Information Notification System) anti-social behaviour case management system. After a year of implementation, challenges with embedding the system have been addressed, including resolving issues with legacy data migration and the Police Input form. User training has improved, and custom developments such as address search filters have been implemented. A new officer has been recruited to replace the ECINS Co-ordinator who left in March 2026. Future developments include a custom data-export specification, a Power BI dashboard for data visualisation and hotspot mapping, and a review of the Information Sharing Agreement.

Offender to Recovery Scheme

David Walker, Strategic Lead Safer Communities at Melton Borough Council, gave a verbal update on the Offender to Recovery scheme. This initiative aims to address the cycle of substance misuse and shop theft by providing a healthcare-based approach to known offenders. The scheme, inspired by a similar initiative in the West Midlands, has secured £10,000 in funding from the CSP and an additional £2,000. The scheme employs an individual with lived experience of substance misuse and criminality to engage with offenders and bridge the gap between services. Early indications show four offenders are interested in going into rehabilitation.

Prevent Benchmarking Update

Anita Chavda, from the Community Safety Team at Leicestershire County Council, presented an update on the Prevent Duty Assurance process. The report highlighted a strong Prevent partnership across Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland, with solid governance and effective delivery processes. Key actions and recommendations include ensuring district and borough partners keep their risk logs up to date and adopting a dip-sampling exercise of the referral process to Channel Chairs and Counter Terrorism Police as a regular practice. The report also noted the need to ensure a robust venue hire policy is in place to safeguard LCC properties from radicalising influences. The delivery outcomes against the eight local authority benchmarks were all rated as Exceeded or Met.

Safer Communities Performance - Quarter 4

Anita Chavda also presented the Safer Communities performance for Quarter 4 of 2025/26. The MARAC repeat referral rate continues to decrease, now at 30.4%, which is within the recommended range. Domestic crime and incidents have increased compared to the previous year, but domestic violence with injury has fallen. ASB totals have risen, with a significant increase in personal ASB. Total crime and violence with injury have improved over the last two years, with reductions in burglary and vehicle offences. Hate crime and racially or religiously aggravated crime have both risen compared to the previous year, and the percentage of residents agreeing that people from different backgrounds get on well together has slightly decreased.

Other Business

Wendy Hope raised concerns about escalating anti-social behaviour issues at Pinfold Medical Practice in Loughborough, which have included threats to patients and staff, racial abuse, blocked access due to rough sleeping, waste disposal, and congregating groups. Lee Mansfield from Charnwood Borough Council assured the Board that this issue is being taken seriously, with operational agencies including the police and borough council meeting to discuss the problem and develop an action plan. Zafar Saleem clarified that the issues are linked to individuals waiting for services at the Vulcan Centre, a homeless hostel, and are part of a broader problem of rough sleepers moving through the town centre. Gurjit Samra-Rai added that the issue has been escalated to MP Jeevan Sander and that local community members are understanding of the challenges faced by service users.

The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for Friday, 25 September 2026, at 10:00 am.