Minutes of Area Panel 22 November 2008

BURNGREAVE AREA PANEL

 

 

PRESENT:    Councillors Jackie Drayton (Chair), Ibrar Hussain and Steve Jones.

                     

Representatives of Panel Partners:-

Chief  Inspector Jon Ekwubiri )

Inspector Adrian McWalter     ) -             South Yorkshire Police

Alan Hancock    )                                            

John Evans       )

David Gault       )

Vernon Collymore)  -        Sheffield Futures

Courtney Sterling)                           

 

Sarah Banks - Safer Communities Partnership

Ronny Tucker - Youth Offending Service

                                                                     

John Clarke            )

Ben Morris              )

Jon Cowley             )

Rose Ardron            )

Mohammed Younis  )

Ronnie Lewin           ) -    Burngreave New Deal for Communities

                                                                     

Paul Howard -    Parkwood High School

                                                                     

City Council Officers:-                             

Andy Shallice -       Area Co-ordinator

Marilyn King -   Area Action Officer

Sara Bradley -  Street Force

Amanda James - East Sheffield Regeneration Team

Paul Billington   )

Di Hardiman      ) -       Activity Sheffield

Paul Makin - Children and Young People's Directorate

Julie Tasker - Shiregreen/Burngreave Service District

Lisa Moran   - Community Safety Team

John Turner  - Committee Secretariat

                                                                     

There were approximately 60 local residents and representatives from local community groups in attendance.

                     

……………..

                                   Action

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE FROM MEMBERS OF THE PANEL        

No apologies for absence were received.     

                                             

2.   IMPLICATIONS OF THE FATAL SHOOTING IN BURNGREAVE               

The Area Panel received a number of presentations from the following people on (a) the implications for their Service/agency/area of responsibility with the matters relating to the recent fatal shooting in Burngreave and (b) the action being taken to prevent a reoccurrence and to respond to local circumstances:-                 

                                             

Children/Young People's Services      

Children and Young People's Directorate 

Paul Makin, Director of Local Delivery, reported on his Service’s role, which was to work with the Council's partner agencies to ensure that all young people reached their full potential.  He worked closely with the Youth Services and schools and ensured that the work was undertaken on a City-wide basis. 

Mr. Makin focused on the work undertaken following the shooting, which involved the Council working with the Youth Services and the Police in providing more activities for young people and the implementation of prevention activity.  His Directorate was also looking at school attendance, specifically targeting those young people who had a track record of poor attendance, and making attempts to ensure that the education they received was specifically tailored to meet their needs.  Particular attention was being given to assessing the education provided for excluded pupils in an attempt to keep them in mainstream education. He stressed the importance of listening to the views of young people, particularly those in Burngreave, following the shooting incident.  The Directorate was also leading on the creation of a gang prevention strategy with the Police and the Youth Offending Service.       

Mr. Makin concluded by commending the work of the Youth Services and the Police, together with the commitment of local Councillors, as part of the reaction to the shooting, and also stressed the need to celebrate the many good things that young people were doing in the Burngreave area.            

                                             

Sheffield Futures        

John Evans reported that Sheffield Futures delivered a number of services in the Burngreave area, and that the victim attended many of these sessions.  As part of Sheffield Futures' work, and particularly after the shooting, there was a need to focus work on the small number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) in Burngreave, adding that whilst there were problems in the area, the number of NEETs in Burngreave was lower than the City average.  Sheffield Futures were in the process of putting together a three-month learning and job experience programme, in partnership with Burngreave New Deal, targeting the NEETs in the area.            

Mr. Evans stated that there were tensions in the area, which may have been heightened following the shooting, and it was important that the agencies managed this sensitively.  He referred to a number of events and activities which had been organised following the shooting and stated that in addition to the excellent work being undertaken by Streetworx, Sheffield Futures would increase its provision at youth centres in the area.  

                                             

Activity Sheffield      

Paul Billington reported on the services provided by Activity Sheffield in Burngreave, indicating that his Service focused generally on 8 to 13 year olds on the basis that it was important to engage with the children at a young age in an attempt to get them involved in positive activities at an early age.  In Burngreave, his Service provided activities at Pitsmoor Adventure Playground and Verdon Street Recreation Centre and was also involved in the Active Burngreave Programme, Firs Hill/Fir Vale Activity Project and the Summer programme of activity and training.  Four full-time equivalent staff worked in the area and approximately £150,000 was allocated from the Service's core budget in the area.  

Mr. Billington referred to the benefits of sporting activity, indicating that it was not only healthy, but helped to bring people together and increased people's confidence. 

In terms of future action, particularly in the light of the shooting, Activity Sheffield aimed to evaluate its service provision in Burngreave, assess what more could be done if it obtained additional resources, continue to focus activity on 8 to 13 year olds, continue investigating sources of additional funding and to work more closely with its partner agencies.    

                                             

Members of the public raised questions, and the following responses were provided:-   

                                             

·     Whilst the number of pupil exclusions from schools in Burngreave had been higher than the City average over the last few years, there had been a dramatic reduction in temporary exclusions this term.  If there were higher than average numbers of exclusions from schools, the Children and Young People's Directorate would talk to the schools in an attempt to find out why this was happening. 

·     Work was undertaken to support the families of excluded pupils,  which included putting more Family Support Workers in those areas where there were higher pupil exclusion numbers.     

·  The Council was looking at providing a more tailored approach for pupils in Exclusion Centres, which would involve providing education and activities tailored specifically to meet their needs.  This involved working with voluntary agencies in Burngreave to ensure that there were more varied activities available for them, which were not just academic.   

·  Activity Sheffield appreciated the importance of open spaces, parks and playgrounds in providing activity for young people.  The Council  accepted that there was a need for the prioritisation of resources in terms of activities for young people in the Burngreave area.            

·  Any decisions regarding pupil exclusions would be made by school governors, regardless of whether they were City Academies or schools under Local Authority control.        

·  The Council was doing all it could to attempt to make sure that young people's needs were met to ensure that they met their full potential.     

·  Whilst Activity Sheffield focused their activities on 8 to 13 year olds, due to resourcing issues, it accepted that there was a lack of facilities for 14 to 17 year olds.  Recent discussions had been held between Activity Sheffield and Sheffield Futures regarding how provision for this age group could be improved.  Sheffield Futures focused its work on 13 to 19 year olds and were looking at how these older children could use the facilities at Pitsmoor Adventure Playground.

· It had always been Council policy that children aged eight and over could use Pitsmoor Adventure Playground unaccompanied and that children aged five and under could use the playground, only if accompanied by someone aged 12 or over.            

· Whilst it was accepted that more funding was required for the provision of activities for young people in Burngreave, there were, however, no cuts to Activity Sheffield's core budget for 2007/08, which would allow the Service to continue providing a similar level of activity as previous years.          

                                             

The following comments were also made:-         

                                             

·  The high number of pupil exclusions from schools in Burngreave was unacceptable, with two schools in Burngreave in the City's top three schools regarding temporary exclusions.  Also, approximately one third of pupils living in the New Deal area had received temporary exclusions.

· A number of young people were complaining that they were not receiving satisfactory levels of provision in the area.      

·  It appeared that schools were discriminating against BME pupils on the grounds that the numbers of such pupils receiving temporary exclusions was higher than other groups of pupils.          

· The numbers of temporary exclusions regarding BME pupils had traditionally been high and there was a need for more work to look into why this was the case.     

·  Nottingham Street Recreation Area, the scene of the recent shooting, was in a very poor condition, which added to the troubles in the area in terms of lack of suitable provision.    

· Problems of drug dealing and gun crime in the Melrose Road area had been raised by local residents in that area some years ago and it appeared that nothing had been done to address the problems.    

· More funding was required to put proper, sustainable strategies in place in terms of youth provision in the area.      

                                             

Crime and Safety          

South Yorkshire Police          

Chief Inspector Jon Ekwubiri reported that there had been three fatalities in the West Safer Neighbourhood Area (SNA) in the last 18 months and that only 6% of gun crime in the City over the past 12 months occurred in Burngreave.  He referred to the action taken by the Police, following the recent shooting, in line with standard procedures following such incidents, indicating that several officers had been deployed in the area, a mobile station had been set up and leaflets had been distributed to all households in the immediate area, containing information and contact details for Victim Support and Crimestoppers.  Several officers had been working on the case and the Police were mindful to ensure that all relevant parties were kept informed of any developments regarding their investigations.                    

Chief Inspector Ekwubiri stressed that the incident was not only a problem for the Police, but involved other agencies, such as the Youth Service and Council Services.     

                                             

Safer Communities Partnership 

Sarah Banks reported that the Safer Communities Partnership was an organisation which aimed to ensure that all the relevant agencies involved in crime and community safety worked together as one partnership.  One of the Partnership's key roles was to assist in communication, and as part of this work, it had distributed leaflets relating to its work to every household in Burngreave.

Members of the public raised questions, and the following responses were provided:-   

                                             

·  Whilst there had been no decision at a local level regarding the continuation of the 101 Helpline, the Home Office had confirmed that it would not be continuing to fund the Helpline nationally.    

·    The Police always provided extra patrols in areas following serious incidents such as the recent shooting, but they did not have the capacity to cover every eventuality.  They could only respond to incidents as and when they occurred unless they had the relevant intelligence.  It was made more difficult by the fact that the West Safer Neighbourhood Area (SNA) covered such a wide area.  The PCSOs would help to reassure residents by providing visual patrols on the streets.        

·     Whilst the Police were making every possible effort to find out where the guns were coming from, it was very difficult, particularly following the recent national changes to border controls.  The Police wanted to assure local residents that there were not as many guns as people envisaged and that 90% of fire arms in the Country were fake.   

·The PCSOs were patrolling the streets in Burngreave every day.   

· As a means of building better relationships in the local community, the Police had a Community Relations Officer who visited the secondary schools in the area to talk to pupils about all aspects of crime and community safety.  The PCSOs did a similar job by visiting the primary schools.       

· Whilst the Police appreciated the fact that if arrests were made for drug dealing in a certain area, the problems could move elsewhere. There had been two major seizures with regard to large amounts of drugs in the area, which had helped to break up the cycle.           

· Chief Inspector Ekwubiri suggested putting an article in the Burngreave Messenger about the ABC (A Better Community) Fund, to which local residents or community organisations could make applications.

· As part of Police raids on properties where there was suspicion of drug activity, if any evidence was found, the Police were not obliged to pay for any damages to the property, but if it was a case of mistaken identity, the property owners would be advised to make a claim for damages.

· Whilst PCSOs had limited powers, they were advised to contact a Police Officer immediately if they experienced any problems or required assistance. 

·  If the Police could demonstrate that road traffic systems had an adverse effect on community safety and crime, there was the possibility of Home Office funding for the implementation of necessary traffic-calming measures.   

                                             

The following comments were also made:-         

                                             

· There was a need for the Police to target its resources to those long-term strategies that were more likely to have an effect.          

· There was a need to change the law regarding drugs as the present laws were not having much of an effect on reducing the problems.                       

· There was a need for tougher action by Magistrates and Judges in order to tackle the problems of gun crime.   

· The Police need to give more consideration to protecting the anonymity of those people providing evidence.    

                                             

Reducing Gang Activity in Sheffield  

Ronnie Tucker gave a presentation on the work being undertaken by the Youth Offending Service, in partnership with other relevant agencies, in producing a strategy to help deal with the reduction of gang activity in the City.             

Mr. Tucker reported on the establishment of a multi-agency Gang Reduction Team, which aimed to identify and develop effective multi-agency responses in terms of intelligence, prevention, enforcement and community reassurance.  The Team was working with the Police to look at establishing a process where it could identify those young people suspected of gang activity, and were also liaising with Street Force to arrange for gang-related graffiti to be removed as soon as practicable.  The initiative aimed to use the present Gun Crime Programme delivered by the Police, and which informed young people of the dangers of carrying guns.  The Team were involved in visiting local schools to warn pupils of the dangers of gang activity and arranged visits for existing or potential gang members to Doncaster Prison, to enable them to talk to prisoners in an attempt to deter them from engaging in gang activity.  The Team also aimed to support local faith groups with the aim of developing Street Pastors who would engage with young people in the Burngreave area, and were also working with the Police to create an education package that informed young people and their local community how they could report gang activity in their area.

Other work involved supporting parents of young people in gangs or suspected of being in gangs, with the aim of educating them to enable them to identify early signs of gang activity.  Mr. Tucker concluded by referring to what the Team required to enable the Initiative to succeed.     

                                             

Members of the public raised questions and made comments, and the following responses were provided:-   

                                             

· It was accepted that many of the pupils in schools in the area who either received temporary exclusions or had poor attendance levels were part of or linked to families with criminal lifestyles and that Attendance Officers targeted and visited such families to talk to the parents.       

· It was considered that there was a need to define groups of young people as gangs as a high proportion of anti-social behaviour was committed by groups of young people.        

· It was accepted that there was a disproportionate number of pupils from BME groups involved in crime or excluded from schools in the City.  All policy, including that relating to school exclusions, was influenced by BME groups.  There were some pupils from some BME groups making good academic progress, but on the other hand, some groups were not progressing as well.        

                                             

The Area Panel (a) noted the information reported as part of the presentations, together with the questions raised, comments made and responses to the questions and comments;  

(b) in the light of the recent shooting incident, and the concerns and issues raised at this meeting, the relevant Council Services and its partner agencies be requested to investigate the following issues and take action where necessary:- 

                                             

·Increase provision for young people in the area.  

·Strict monitoring of pupil exclusions, particularly relating to BME pupils, including provision of support for excluded pupils and their parents.

·Need for more joint working and collaboration between Activity Sheffield and Sheffield Futures and other youth providers.    

· Need to build on the work that Streetworx were undertaking in the area.  

· Need to counteract the adverse publicity following this and other incidents in the area, by highlighting the positive things young people were doing in Burngreave.

·Improve play facilities for young people in the area.  

·Increase Police presence in the area, particularly the PCSOs;    All relevant Council Services and partner agencies

                                             

(c) thanked all the Council Officers and representatives from its partner agencies for attending the meeting; and

(d) requested that a special Area Panel meeting be held in two to three months' time to consider the progress made on the issues raised.   Area Co-ordinator

                                             

3.  MINUTES OF LAST MEETING   

The minutes of the meeting of the Area Panel held on 4th October, 2007, were approved as a correct record.         

                                             

4.   ROLLING ACTION CHECKLIST

The Area Panel received the Rolling Action Checklist from meetings held up to 4th October, 2007, and it was noted that, in connection with Item 3 on the list, Street Force were to contact Firs Hill Infant Junior School to arrange for the graffiti on the wall at the rear of the school to be removed and that Street Force were working with Virgin Media, who owned the utility cabinets in the area, with the aim of helping with the maintenance of all cabinets across the City, with a plan to target harden them with anti-graffiti coatings.     

                                             

5.   PUBLIC QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS 

Petitions      

The Area Panel received petitions containing (a) 88 signatures from local residents, requesting the upgrading of the Nottingham Street Recreation Area and for funding to be made available for the creation of posts of Park Keepers or Wardens to ensure that the area is kept safe and (b) 101 signatures from local residents of Melrose Road, Coupe Road and Burngreave Street, requesting the Council to implement traffic-calming measures in the area, particularly surrounding the Pitsmoor Adventure Playground.

The Area Panel noted the receipt of the petitions and referred (i) both petitions to the meeting of the City Council to be held on 5th December, 2007, and (ii) (A) the petition regarding Nottingham Street recreation area to the Burngreave New Deal Environment Group and (B) the petition regarding Traffic Calming to the Burngreave and Fir Vale Transport Strategy Group.    Committee Secretary/Area Co-ordinator

                                             

Questions   

Following a question from a local resident regarding what action would be taken following this meeting, it was reported that arrangements would be made for updates to be provided at future meetings of the Area Panel.          

                                             

6.    DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS        

It was noted that (a) the Area Panel New Year's Honours event would be held on Friday, 25th January, 2008, at 6.00 p.m., in the Town Hall and (b) the next Area Panel meeting would be held on Wednesday, 20th February, 2008, from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m., at St. James Church, Abbeyfield Road and Scott Road.