The Safer Communities Partnership Board met to discuss community safety performance, updates on family services, hate crime, and public space protection orders (PSPOs). The board noted positive trends in reducing key crimes, welcomed a new project supporting young adults in the criminal justice system, and reviewed the results of a consultation on PSPOs.

Community Safety Performance

The board reviewed the Community Safety Partnership Performance Update Q2, which compares Barnet's crime statistics with those of the tri-borough area (Brent and Harrow) and the average for all 32 London boroughs.

Katie Harbour, Chief Inspector of Neighbourhood Policing for Barnet, presented the police update, highlighting positive trends in domestic burglary, business burglary, and robbery. She noted that Barnet has the highest volume of burglary offences in London, but when adjusted for population, it ranks in the middle. Shoplifting is on the rise, which is attributed to increased reporting and proactive policing using technology like retrospective facial recognition¹. The report also highlighted a concerning increase in theft of motor vehicles, with Barnet ranking high in London for this crime type, due to the borough's fast-access roads. However, the recovery rate for stolen vehicles is 30%. Knife crime with injury has decreased, and possession of weapons is up due to increased stop and search activity. Drug trafficking saw a spike related to a specific incident involving the post office. Domestic abuse figures are stable, with a good prosecution rate for rape cases. Hate crime reporting remains high, but the nature of the reporting is changing, with an increase in racial hate crime.

Maggie Highton-Brown, Head of Community Safety, Enforcement, CCTV and Intelligence, discussed the community safety team's caseloads, noting that the team is managing around 2,500 cases at any one time. She explained the reasons for case closures, including cases failing the public interest test and cases being resolved through advice and guidance. She also clarified that a fixed penalty notice² is a prosecution action. Maggie Highton-Brown also presented the CCTV update, reporting an increase in recorded incidents compared to last year. The most frequent categories were begging, fly-tipping, and obstruction of pathways. Katie Harbour noted that the Metropolitan Police is reducing its specialist resources for managing anti-social behaviour, and that this responsibility will now fall on ward teams.

Jasper Perryn provided an update on Prevent, noting that referrals to the Prevent program are the highest they have ever been. He reminded the board that Prevent is a safeguarding measure.

Family Services Update

Karen Popely, Interim Assistant Director of Children's Safeguarding, presented the Family Services update, which included reports on domestic abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG), reducing offending, and youth justice.

The report highlighted the progress in delivering the 2022-2025 DA and VAWG strategy, and the approval of the refreshed 2025-2029 strategy. Key achievements included the Step in Barnet campaign, expansion of Safe and Together training³, and strong survivor engagement. Support for victims remains robust, with increased refuge provision and specialist IDVA support. Chris Kelly, Strategic Lead for Tackling Violence and Exploitation, presented the reducing offending report, highlighting the close coordination between partners in relation to safer neighbourhoods teams. He noted that there had been six incidents of young people under the age of 25 being involved in an incident of violence, all of whom were victims of knife-related injuries.

The Youth Justice Service reported positive trends across key indicators, with first-time entrant rates and re-offending rates lower than London and national averages.

Hate Crime and Community Cohesion

Jasper Perryn and Rumi Octavio presented an update on hate crime and community cohesion in Barnet. Jasper Perryn noted a large rise in all hate crime since October 2023, but that the figures were now returning to lower levels. He noted that racial hate crime reports were high, and that some of the low reports of Islamophobia may be mixed up in those numbers.

Rumi Octavio discussed the community roundtables project, which aims to listen to communities and work with them to address key issues. She also highlighted the Connecting Communities campaign, which features videos showcasing different communities in the borough.

Change for You (C4U) Project

Jeff Tracy and Audrey presented an introduction to the Change for You (C4U) project, a new initiative funded by MOPAC to support 18-30 year olds in the criminal justice system. The project will provide tailored support plans to help participants improve their health and well-being and live a crime-free lifestyle.

Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs)

Matt Leng and Jeff DeCosta presented a summary of the consultation on proposed new Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs). The consultation aimed to understand residents' experiences of anti-social behaviour and gather their views on the proposed new PSPO conditions.

The proposed new PSPO conditions included:

• Prohibition 12: Stopping people from feeding pigeons in public areas.
• Prohibition 13A: Preventing people from entering a gated-off area in Burnt Oak.
• Prohibition 13B: Applying to another gated-off area near the old market and Barfield car park.
• Prohibition 14: Dealing with loitering when it causes nuisance, intimidation, or distress in Burnt Oak, Colindale North, Colindale South, Edgware, Finchley Church End, West Finchley, and East Finchley wards.

The consultation found that the majority of respondents supported the use of PSPOs and the introduction of new rules.

Barnet Homes Update

Greg Terefenko provided an update on Barnet Homes' ASB service, noting that the service has been transformed following an internal review. He reported an increase in ASB cases being reported and highlighted the use of closure orders and proactive work on tackling noise nuisance.

Forward Work Programme

The board noted the forward work programme and confirmed that the next meeting would be on Friday 13th March.