Issue - meetings

Purpose of Report

To seek approval for the allocation of a maximum of £61,000 for a twelve month period for the purposes of commissioning a City Centre Intervention Team to build on the co-location of the Public Protection and Anti-Social Behaviour Team and City Centre Policing Team within City Hall.

Decision

That the Executive approves the creation of a multi-agency team and the allocation from the Business Rates retention pilot 2018/19 monies of:

(1)          a maximum of £45,000 for an additional outreach worker for a period of twelve months;

(2)          a maximum of £5,000 as a contribution to the administrative support and general worker for the project, in partnership with Lincoln BIG;

(3)          a maximum of £11,000 for the research project delivered by Development Plus which will form the evidence base for a longer term intervention through the City Centre Strategy Group.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Reason for Decision

Evidence indicated that incidents of anti-social behaviour related to addiction to drugs and/or alcohol were increasing in the city centre area. A city-wide Strategy Group had defined a framework for intervention designed to offer support to those in need, with the objectives of the Strategy Group and the strands of activity detailed in Appendix A of the report.

The intervention framework consisted of the following three key strands of action:

·         managing the demand for services;

·         opening up the supply of support services;

·         effective outreach and enforcement.

This report focussed on the third strand of effective outreach and enforcement with the primary objective being to encourage vulnerable clients into support, but acknowledging that intervention may be necessary for those who rejected support and continued to aggressively present in the city centre. All enforcement would be appropriate to the situation and would focus on behaviour that demonstrated criminality and harm to the community. It was emphasised that this was not a project about tackling rough sleepers, although there was some cross over in the cohort. The project was about tackling those individuals who were aggressively presenting in the city centre or causing intimidation by their behaviour.

To maximise impact, a multi-disciplinary team was required to address the multiple issues likely to be encountered as part of outreach and enforcement work within the city centre Public Space Protection Order area. The proposed concept was to locate the team in City Hall, drawn from a range of agencies including:

·         the Public Protection and Anti-Social Behaviour Team;

·         the City Centre Policing Team;

·         an Addiction Outreach Worker;

·         a General Support Outreach Worker;

·         a Befriending Service;

·         administrative support.

There was also an aspiration for this team to include a Mental Health Worker, with it acknowledged that the team would grow as the project progressed. It was highlighted that, at this stage, the multi-disciplinary team would be working on the basis of a pilot for twelve months.

Councillor Ric Metcalfe was pleased that this Council had provided leadership in dealing with this issue and that progress was being made with partners committing to become involved. It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31