Agenda item

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 clear that there was a need for effective specialist support for people out on the streets to address the issue and open up access to services. This situation presented a very challenging and complex set of problems which were not unique to Lincoln and he was keen to put this team in place in order that it could do its upmost to actively deal with the issue. This was a hugely important piece of work with this starting point being significant, which he felt could be built on with further participation from partners. 

Councillor Neil Murray was impressed with the amount of work that had been undertaken to date and hoped it would have an impact.

Councillor Donald Nannestad highlighted that the people requiring intervention were highly likely to be suffering from very complex mental health issues and substance misuse. He therefore asked whether adequate resources would be in place from a mental health practitioner perspective to deal with the additional clients this project may place into the system and whether the Council should be lobbying those services to ensure that they could cope. It was noted that discussions with the Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust were currently taking place. A suggested approach was to allocate a Mental Health Worker to work with these people on a case-by-case basis in order that they received timely one-to-one support. This was being explored and discussions on that basis were continuing.

Councillor Jackie Kirk requested further information in respect of the allocation of just under £377,000 via the Rough Sleeping Grant. It was reported that this needed to be spent before the end of March 2019 and that the Council had been invited to bid for further funding for 2019/20. In relation to instances of aggressive begging and drug/alcohol fuelled anti-social behaviour, a large number of people committing those offences were not necessarily rough sleepers. This funding would be used to deal solely with the issue of rough sleepers in the city, working with a range of partners. Organisations such as hospitals and the prison were also involved in this project to ensure that people were not being discharged into a homelessness situation.

Councillor Metcalfe thanked Simon Walters, Strategic Director of Communities and Environment, for the significant amount of work he had undertaken on this project.