Agenda and draft minutes

There were no items on the agenda where the public and press were to be excluded from the meeting.

RESOLVED That Councillor Cobby declared that she worked as a volunteer in a community organisation that supported women and girls against violence.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 16^th February and 5^th October 2023, be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

(A period not exceeding 20 minutes for statements from up to 5 members of the public on matters within the Panel’s remit, proposing action(s) which may be considered or contribute towards the future development of the Panel’s work programme).

There were no public statements made.

The Crime and Disorder Committee was provided with a detailed presentation to accompany the report, addressing the following themes:

·       City Centre specific work;

·       Reducing anti-social behaviour;

·       Tackling domestic and sexual abuse;

·       Tackling serious and organised crime;

·       Reducing violence and violent crime;

·       Reducing substance and alcohol misuse;  and

·       Reducing crime and re-offending.

The Chair and Members of the panel thanked the officers and South Yorkshire Police for the informative presentation and focused their questions and discussion on the following areas:

Decrease in overall and retail crime – the Chair commenced debate by highlighting it was good to see the overall decrease in crime figures.  She continued by referring to the Panel meeting in 2023 when it specifically addressed retail crime and it was reported that there had been a reduction in figures since the peak in August 2023.  The Panel was of the opinion that the increase in retail crime was due to the cost of living crisis.  In response, it was reported that the City Centre had received an increase in resources including plain clothed police officers placed in hot spot areas and the sharing of CCTV, when appropriate, to assist with reducing this area of crime.  It was explained that when a repeat offender served a prison sentence for this crime they tended to be released after a short period of time and there was then high dependency on partnership working to support the person and avoid reoffending. 

With regard to crimes against retail personnel it was noted that the Safer Doncaster Partnership was pushing for legislation to suitably address these crimes.

Total recorded crime – it was confirmed to the Panel that Doncaster was only exceeded by Sheffield, to which Members expressed concern due to Sheffield having a much larger population.  It was stressed that in the last year Doncaster had seen a decrease in almost all crime types and that partnership working was exceptionally strong which was relied upon when addressing particular areas of reported crime.

Under reporting in retail crime – a Member with experience of working in retail expressed concern that there was a myth that a theft was not worth reporting if it was below a certain value.  It was stressed that this could be the retailer’s policies but confirmed that the Police did not have a value or limit to report crime.  It was stressed that some retail workers did not have the confidence to report crime as it could be, for example, someone they knew and lived near in the same community.

The Panel noted that a conference for local retailers had been provided in 2023 to specifically address reporting crime, close partnership work and information and sharing CCTV through a designated portal.  To allay the Members’ fears, it was noted that there was a strong appetite amongst retailers to report offences, to support cases for arrest and possible prosecution.

Frenchgate “Rights of Way” system – the Panel questioned the benefit and impact this would have on anti-social behaviour in the City’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

The Senior Governance Officer presented the Scrutiny Work Plan and Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions to the Panel for it’s consideration.  She also requested that if Members were aware of any areas they wished to give consideration to in the new Civic Year to inform both herself and the Chair.

RESOLVED:  That the report, be noted.

Chair:  ________________________________

Dated:  ___________