North Yorkshire Council

 

Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee

 

6 June 2025

 

Community Safety & CCTV Service Annual Update

 

 

1.0       PURPOSE OF REPORT

 

1.1       To provide Members with an annual update on the work of the Community Safety & CCTV Service in the Scarborough and Whitby area. This will include a focus on Community Safety Hubs, CCTV and the wider strategic Community Safety Partnership   

 

 

2.0       SUMMARY

The report provides an overview of Community Safety & CCTV delivery and the priorities for the year ahead. 

 

 

3.0       SCARBOROUGH COMMUNITY SAFETY HUB

           

3.1       Local Issues

·        Public Spaces Protection Order – Scarborough Town Centre

·        Youth Anti-Social Behaviour – Operation BEAT

·        Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Use of tools and powers – Operation Culture – Civil enforcement on individuals – Community Protection Warning letter, Community Protection Notices, Criminal Behaviour Orders, Closure Orders. 

·        Unauthorised encampments –Lead agency NYC Environmental Protection with support from both the Community Safety Hub and the housing rough sleeping team

·        Supported living properties – ASB – Resident concerns

 

3.2       Ongoing Work to Tackle Local Issues

 

·        Local engagement and building better relationships with partners and colleagues to use a joined-up approach to tackle shared problems and improve outcomes for individuals/businesses and communities.

·        Raising awareness to partners/businesses and communities, through supporting weeks of actions and organising targeted events and drop in sessions.

·        Target hardening support through Project Community visits.

Partnership working through MAPS (multi-agency problem solving) meetings.

Community engagement.

 

3.3       Community Safety Hub Tools & Powers

 

The Community Safety & CCTV Service, as part of Service development, is committed to the continuous professional development of the staff team. Our aim is to ensure effective use of all tools and powers available to the Community Safety Hubs within the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and consistent use in the application of these across North Yorkshire.

 

During this period, the Community Safety Safety Hub have dealt with 156 Case Referrals,           117 Enquiry Referrals, 14 Youth Case Referrals and 36 Youth Case Enquiries. These are       all reviewed and managed through the Multi Agency Partnership Meetings (MAPS),                         facilitated by the Community Safety Team. This has resulted in 4 Community Protection                  Warnings, 5 Community Protection Notices, 1 Criminal Behaviour Order and 3 Partial                      Premises Closure Orders.

 

Following public consultation, a PSPO was reinstated in Scarborough on 14h October                  2024. The purpose of the PSPO is to assist in tackling issues of antisocial behaviour linked                     to the consumption of alcohol in the street, public urination and defecation. The PSPO has          a two-tier approach, with a defined ‘Hotspot’ area in Scarborough town centre that where    there is a total prohibition on the street drinking of alcohol, and a wider PSPO area, where           the street drinking of alcohol is only prohibited where it is causing, or likely to cause,                   antisocial behaviour.

 

From 14.10.24 to 31.03.25 14 Fixed Penalty Notices were served for breaches of the Order. Since the implementation of the Public Spaces Protection Order, there has been a    decrease in alcohol related ASB in the Town Centre. The Community Safety Team and partners continue to engage with the community, businesses, raise awareness and signpost people to support services.

 

3.4       Project / Thematic Work

 

In July 2024 Crucial Crew hosted over 1200, year 6 school children where they attended several safeguarding and community safety interactive workshops.

 

Clear Hold Build (Barrowcliff) focusses on eradicating the grip of Serious Organised Crime resulting in intensive multi agency focus including police warrants for drugs, dealing with drug misuse and money laundering. A full Closure Order has also been secured aimed to safeguard the tenant and wider community.

 

Themed engagements to support weeks of actions such as ASB Week, Safeguarding                  Week, Knife Crime Awareness Week, Hate Crime Awareness Week, County Lines                       Intensification Weeks, Operation Tornados (supporting NYP), Stalking Awareness Week.

 

Nighttime economy campaigns have included the focus on getting home safely and                      personal safety with a business and community focus.  

 

           Operation BEAT – This operation focuses on youth ASB and Community Safety Officers are pulling partners together to consider gaps in provision for youths and opportunities for the future.

 

        Operation Exile – The use of a Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Order to safeguard the exploitation of vulnerable individuals is currently being explored demonstrating how the tools and powers available can be effective.

 

Supporting business who are being impacted by youth anti-social behaviour. The Community Safety Hub are restarting monthly meetings for the businesses to come together to discuss current concerns and issues, as this worked really well in 2022 and led to a decrease in youth ASB.

 

3.5       Community Safety Hub Activity as per Performance Framework

 

The Community Safety & CCTV Service is currently developing a Performance Framework to enable the Service to evidence performance against identifiable outcome measures. This will demonstrate the effectiveness of the Community Safety Hubs against our Key Performance Indicators.

 

4.0       COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP     

 

The Scarborough Community Safety Hub undertakes work that supports the strategic priorities of the North Yorkshire Community Safety Partnership. This work is driven by the Partnership team within Community Safety and supported by staff members of the Scarborough Community Safety Hub.   

 

4.1       A link to the North Yorkshire Community Safety Partnership Strategic Plan 2024 – 2028 can be found here.

 

4.2       Domestic Abuse

16 Days of Action – 25th November to 10th December 2024

 

To support the international campaign at a local level, community engagement events were held across the County, a total of seven events were arranged.  Partner agencies were invited to join the Community Safety Officers at the events and those able to attend included IDAS, Foundation, North Yorkshire Police, NYC Health & Adult Services, St. Giles Trust.  Events were held in locations that generated a good footfall: Supermarkets, a stall on Market Day.  At all the events there was a comprehensive range of leaflets the officers were able to handout.  All the events generated good engagement with the public and it was noted that on four separate occasions domestic abuse was disclosed to an officer and appropriate actions were taken to support the victims with advice and signposting.  Comms for the events included posts on social media and internal NYC platforms: Viva Engage, Intranet.

 

Safeguarding and Domestic Abuse - Supported stalking awareness week – Organised multi agency event to promote awareness, including information, advice and a fact related quiz.

           

4.3       Preventing and Reducing Serious Violence

 

            Knife bins have been installed at key locations in Scarborough to encourage members of the community to dispose of any bladed article. Positive press release to support knife crime awareness week from 19th – 23rd May. Also, positive engagement visits in Scarborough with Community Safety Officers and NYP, NPT Officers – Speaking to businesses that sell sharp objects and offering advice and posters regarding not selling these items to under 25-year-olds.

           

Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls was a key message of the Christmas Campaign involving education and Ask Angela poster provision to all licensed premises within Scarborough.  This was followed up by “Test Purchasing” where an officer attended key premises and “Ask for Angela”.

 

           MARAC Attendance where appropriate.

 

Implementation of Bleed Kits – Looking to install 11 in Scarborough/Eastfield/Filey & 3 in Whitby – In progress.

 

4.4       Night-time Economy

 

The Community Safety & CCTV Service is working in partnership with North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Council colleagues and additional partner agencies to support the North Yorkshire Police night-time economy strategy.

 

There are a number of upcoming pieces of work that Scarborough Community Safety Hub are leading on – This includes a number of visits planned in the nighttime economy to pubs/clubs and hotels to raise awareness of safeguarding, reporting, signs to look out for and to signpost to the recorded briefing from IDAS regarding the Safer Streets Initiative.

 

          The Hub facilitated a Christmas campaign whereby joint CSO/Police visits were conducted to all licensed premises within the town centre and Falsgrave & Stepney Ward, posters relating to Safe Route Home & Clare’s Law were given to all licensed premises.

 

 

4.5       Standing Together to Tackle Hate Crime, Radicalisation and Extremism

           

North Yorkshire Local Prevent Groups and Protect & Prepare Groups

 

Local multi-agency groups have been set up to focus and deliver on ‘Protect and Prepare’ and ‘Prevent’ strands of the CONTEST Strategy.  These groups are chaired by senior managers from the Community Safety & CCTV Team and are supported by a Senior Development Officer.  A local group covers the following areas:

 

·         West (Ripon, Richmond, Skipton, including the outer areas of Northallerton)

·         Central (Harrogate, Selby, Knaresborough, Ainsty)

·         East (Scarborough, Whitby, Thirsk, Malton, Easingwol

 

 

The aim of the local ‘Protect and Prepare Groups’ and local ‘Prevent Groups’ is to work together with partners, communities and businesses to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism, and to identify risk and vulnerability in relation to a potential terrorist attack in North Yorkshire.

 

This includes the development of short-, medium- and long-term strategies and action plans to mitigate such risks. Activities can include local community engagement events, supporting national campaigns, support events (Businesses) and multi-agency training opportunities, as well as building on local intelligence to help inform plans, such as the Counter Terrorism Local Profile (CTLP).      

 

Each of these local groups report on their local activity directly into the York and North Yorkshire Prevent Partnership Board, the North Yorkshire Council Strategic Protect & Prepare Group, North Yorkshire Community Safety Partnership and the York and North Yorkshire CONTEST Board.

 

4.6       Martyn’s Law

 

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, known as Martyn’s Law, gained Royal Assent on 3rd April 2025, after more than five years of campaigning by Figen Murray OBE, the mother of Martyn Hett, one of 22 victims brutally murdered in the Manchester Arena terror attack, 22 May 2017. Martyn’s Law essentially mandates that public premises with a capacity greater than 200 are better prepared for terrorist attacks and ready to respond. Each local Protect and Prepare Groups will help to support the implementation of Martyn’s Laws over the next 24 months within their locality.

 

5.0       CCTV

 

5.1       There are currently CCTV Control Rooms in Harrogate, Scarborough and Northallerton, with provision in Selby being provided by a third party. Harrogate and Scarborough provide a 24 hour / 365-day service.

 

5.2       The future of CCTV across North Yorkshire is subject to further strategic review and transformation. The aim is to review our existing infrastructure, identify opportunities, maximising technology and working alongside our key partners.

 

5.3       The CCTV Control Room in Scarborough continues to work alongside North Yorkshire                 Police and local crime prevention and safety initiatives, such as Scarborough Antitheft                  Group and Scarborough / Whitby Pubwatch.

 

5.4       In the period 01/04/2024 to 31/03/2025, the CCTV Control Room in Scarborough monitored        a total of 7904 incidents (+ 2317 on 22/23 data), 997 arrests, undertaken 1050 (+ 184 on    22/23) reviews of footage and provided 866 (+ 214 on 22/23) copies of evidence to               potentially be utilised for court proceedings.

 

6.0

RECOMMENDATION

 

 

 

i)      As part of annual reporting arrangements to the Area Committees, it is recommended that Members note the content of this report, outlining progress of the Scarborough Community Safety Hub and the Community Safety and CCTV Service.

 

 

 

Report Author – Rhian Buglass Senior Community Safety Officer

 

Presenter of Report – Rhian Buglass Senior Community Safety Officer / Paul Romans Community Safety & CCTV Manager