Safer communities at the heart of new plan
CUMBERLAND Council and its partners have set out a plan to improve safety in their communities.
The Cumberland Community Safety Partnership includes Cumberland Council, Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, Cumbria Constabulary, the NHS Integrated Care Board, and the Probation Service. It also has representatives from the voluntary and third sectors.
This week it launches a three year strategy around crime, community safety and harm reduction.
Cllr Denise Rollo, Cumberland’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places, said:
“Cumberland is one of the UK’s safest areas in terms of crime and disorder. However, we still all have a role to play in keeping it that way, and tackling issues when they arise.
"These complex community issues need an integrated response, which is what the partnership is all about. Collaboration is at the heart of how we work, with partners sharing knowledge, experience, skills, and resources to achieve our shared aims."
The partnership's priorities, informed by in-depth analysis of a range of data, are:
- Domestic abuse
- Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG)
- Antisocial behaviour
- Community cohesion
Cllr Rollo added: “Community Safety Partnerships focus on prevention and early intervention. They bring together all the agencies who can influence the safety of our residents. Cumberland’s is led by the council, but working together is intrinsic to its success.”
The partnership plans to achieve its aims with measures including:
- A clear domestic abuse strategy focusing on perpetrators, and babies, children and young people
- Improved access to support for victims of domestic abuse and sexual offences
- More confidence in reporting VAWG offences, achieved through education and awareness.
- Safer spaces for women and girls, with a focus on VAWG hotspots and the night-time economy
- Using restorative interventions and effective enforcement to reduce the number of repeat victims of antisocial behaviour
- An improved antisocial behaviour case review process, standardised across Cumberland
- An improved response to incidents of high tension, including how the partnership responds to conspiracy theories and disinformation
- A robust hate crime reporting system that increases the community’s trust and confidence in reporting
Cllr Rollo continued: "Together, we can see all the sides of a community safety issue, and we can tackle it from several different angles. Acting in isolation can only get us so far - the partnership approach gives us a far wider understanding of what the issues are and how they might be solved.”
The Community Safety Partnership focuses on prevention and early intervention, whilst also meeting statutory responsibilities, such as the management of Domestic Homicide Reviews, and the co-ordination of the Prevent duty to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
Find out more at www.cumberlandcsp.org.uk