2008-2011 Partnership Plan
THE SAFER HARLOW PARTNERSHIP
2008-2011 PARTNERSHIP PLAN SUMMARY
“Working Together for a Safer Harlow.”
The Safer Harlow Partnership is a partnership of organisations and groups working together to reduce crime, disorder and the misuse of drugs in the town. It is led by Harlow Council, Essex Police, Essex County Council, West Essex Primary Care Trust, Essex Fire & Rescue Service and the Essex Police Authority, but includes many other local bodies such as Essex Probation, Victim Support, the Youth Offending Team, Essex Youth Service, Neighbourhood Watch and residents groups. It is a sub-group of the Harlow 2020 Local Strategic Partnership.
The partnership is required by law to carry out an annual Strategic Assessment of crime and disorder in the town, leading to the production of a three year Partnership Plan. The following is a brief summary of the Plan for 2008. The full Partnership Plan can be obtained from our website www.saferharlow.info or by telephoning (01279) 446433.
Crime in Harlow is falling
In 2004, the Safer Harlow Partnership was set the task of working together with the Police and Community to reduce certain levels of crime in Harlow by 18.5% over a 4-year period. At the end of this agreement, crime has been reduced by an impressive 25%. Harlow’s major reductions in crime began in Spring/Summer 2006 and have been falling ever since. For the month of February 2008, Harlow had the lowest volume of crime since records begun 4 years ago.
In order to assess just how well Harlow is performing against others in reducing crime, the Home Office compare Harlow to fourteen other areas in the Country which are thought to be similar. Compared to these, Harlow is the second best performing District for its successes in crime reduction.
To date, the most impressive reductions have been in Domestic Burglary (39% reduction), criminal damage (34% reduction), and wounding (32% reduction). The partnership has also performed well in reducing other crimes such as the theft or taking of vehicles, theft from vehicles, theft from person (stealing of personal property), and the theft of bicycles.
Despite the fact that Harlow is comparatively a safe place to live, and these significant reductions in crime, people’s perception of crime being a problem is actually increasing. In late 2007, only 29% of residents stated that they felt safe in Harlow after dark, against an average of 48% in neighbouring Epping.
The Partnership is keen to assure the public that Harlow is a safe place to live, and also realises that it needs to do more to address areas where it has not performed so well, such as common assaults (more minor violent crimes), and the interference of vehicles.
Crime, Disorder and Substance Misuse Priorities for Harlow
The priorities set in the Strategic Assessment were reached through research, data analysis,
and community consultation.
| Priorities |
| 1. Alcohol-related crime and disorder (principally Town Centre) |
| 2. Children and young people as victims |
| 3. Fear and perceptions of crime |
| 4. Anti-social behaviour |
| 5. Business related crime |
| 6. Offender management |
| 7. Drugs and alcohol (substance misuse) |
| 8. Vehicle crime |
Objectives
(Key: LAA – Local Area Agreement, NI – National Indicator, LI – Local Indicator, PSA – Public Service Agreements)
1. Alcohol related crime and disorder (principally Town Centre)
a. To reduce Assault causing Injury crime rate by 10% over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (NI 20, LAA)
b. To reduce Assault without Injury crime rate by 10% over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (LI 1.01)
c. To reduce repeat incidents of domestic violence by 10% over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (NI 32, LAA)
d. To reduce public’s perception of anti-social behaviour over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (NI 17, LAA)
e. To reduce the failure rate to 15% for underage alcohol test purchases.
f. To reduce Accident and Emergency alcohol-related attendances for assault or injury. (baseline data to be established 2008/09 and target set thereafter). (LI 1.02)
2. Children and young people as victims (0-19 yrs)
a. To reduce the number of young victims of crime by 9% over the period April 2008 - March 2011.
b. To reduce the Town centre as a hotspot for young people as victims of crime by 10% over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (LI 2.01)
c. To reduce the number of young people as victims of robberies by 9% over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (LI 2.02)
d. To reduce the number of young people as victims of violent crime by 9% over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (LI 2.03)
3. Fear and perceptions of crime
a. To reduce the public’s perception of anti-social behaviour by 10% (2.7% points over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (NI 17, LAA)
b. To increase the perception of feeling safe by 5.6% (points) over the period April 2008 -March 2011. (LAA 6.2)
c. To improve perceptions of parents taking responsibility for the behaviour of their children by 6% (points) over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (NI 22)
d. To improve perceptions that people in Harlow treat each other with respect and consideration by 6% (points) over the period April 2008 – March 2011. (NI 23)
4. Anti-social behaviour
a. To reduce Criminal Damage by 15% over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (LI 4.01)
(Further performance measures to be determined).
5. Business related crime
a. To increase the numbers of businesses (town wide) who join the Harlow Business
against Crime Partnership (HarBAC), working more closely with the Chamber of
Commerce.
6. Offender management
a. To reduce the re-offending rate of prolific and priority offenders.** (NI 30, LAA)
b. To reduce Adult re-offending rates for those under probation supervision.** (NI 18, LAA)
c. To reduce rate of proven re-offending by young offenders by 15% over the period April 2008 - March 2011.** (NI 19)
d. To reduce first time entrants to the Youth Justice System aged 10-17 by 15% over the period April 2008 – March 2011. (NI 111, LAA)
7. Drugs and alcohol (substance misuse)
a. To reduce substance misuse by young people by 0.6%* over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (NI 115, LAA)
b. To increase drug users in and remaining in effective treatment **. (NI 40)
8. Vehicle crime
a. To reduce vehicle related acquisitive crime, including vehicle interference, by 6% over the period April 2008 - March 2011. (LI 8.01)
* County figure as District breakdown not available.
** Awaiting measure from relevant authority.
Public Consultation
A town-wide consultation and survey was carried out as part of the Strategic Assessment and identified the following as the key crime and disorder issues for residents of the town:
Perceptions of Safety
• Most people feel safe in the town during the day. The numbers feeling unsafe rise markedly after dark, particularly for the town Centre.
• Priority concerns are the risk of becoming a victim of Assault, Vandalism, Robbery (Mugging), and Burglary.
Key priorities from public meetings
• The top priority raised is for more facilities for youths to be provided in the town. More youth clubs and other diversionary activities were requested, which importantly must be affordable to ensure high usage.
• Increased community consultation and engagement in community safety was requested, including greater feedback of actions resulting from reports made by the public. This will increase community involvement and raise community pride.
• Enviro-crime (littering, fouling, fly-tips etc.)
• Alcohol and street drinking related nuisance
• Lack of parental responsibility and disrespect to other residents
These public priorities align closely with the findings from the actual crime and disorder data assessment. The Partnership will ensure that measures are built into its action plans to address these community concerns, and in particular will maintain and further develop community consultation and dialogue, including the holding of an annual “Face the People” meeting.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Performance measures will be set up to be readily available and usable. Crime statistics will be provided to the priority groups to ensure that ongoing monitoring is possible. This data source will be used to assess the overall performance of the Partnership against the targets at the end of this plan period.
Priority group chairs will decide how often monitoring and evaluation will need to take place, details of who will be responsible for collecting and analysing the information, the format the data will be presented and to whom.
The Chair of the Safer Harlow Partnership via the Responsible Authorities Group will have overall responsibility to monitor progress against the Plan and evaluate whether the Partnership’s key aims are being achieved. Annual reports from each priority group chair will be provided to the Safer Harlow Partnership to evaluate overall performance of the Partnership.
If you have any enquiries or require further information regarding the work of the Partnership and this Partnership Plan, please contact the Partnership Co-ordinator on 01279 446433.