Agenda item

(i)                  That the report be received and the outcomes for 2025-2026 and the work of the Community Safety Partnership in continuing to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, as well as the work in progress to continue to tackle identified priority issues, be noted.

(ii)                 That the Service Director - Neighbourhood Delivery be authorised to formally accept project funding for the Night Time Economy Pilot Town status, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Residents Services and Neighbourhoods, if the bid is successful, and to implement the project.

The Service Director – Neighbourhood Delivery presented a report which provided an update on the performance of the Community Safety Partnership for 2025/26 and the Night Time Economy Strategy.

Members’ attention was drawn to paragraph 2.2 of the report which  outlined the findings of the Community Safety Strategic Assessment.

The Community Safety Partnership worked to deploy resources into areas where there were localised issues – particularly in Newcastle town centre.

The report set out a detailed review of data along with a comprehensive list of the Partnership’s activities and operations in progress to identify priorities.  Those identifies for 2026/27 were listed at paragraph 2.3 of the report.

Issues local to Newcastle that were being addressed were business crime, shoplifting, domestic abuse and drugs and County Lines.

The Local Police and Crime Plan was appended to the report which set out the response to the issues.

The Deputy Leader asked if there were any rotas for visible policing in Newcastle town centre.

The Service Director stated that, for obvious reasons, the focus was on the night time economy.  There was a rota for safer policing at weekends.  The police did have a presence in the town centre during the day time but it was dependent upon what came in during the course of the day.

The Deputy Leader stated that a zero tolerance policy was needed in respect of anti-social behaviour (ASB), especially in the town centre.  He had not seen many police visible and suggested that crime rates may be dropping because they were not always being recorded.

The Service Director stated that he could ask the police for information on rotas for day time policing, which was then agreed.

The Leader stated that traders and the Business Improvement District (BID) had raised this, particularly regarding early mornings with rough sleepers or street drinkers and something needed to be done.    The Leader referred to Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) and asked how successful they had been.  Reference was made to Stafford, which had included face coverings in their PSPO and it would be good to include that in Newcastle’s Order.

The Service Director advised that the PSPO for Newcastle town centre had been successful in terms of hotspot activity times in the night time economy, which was when the bulk of the breaches occurred.  The current PSPO would need to be checked in respect of face coverings to see if there was any interpretation and if that was not the case, to see if it could be included in the next scheduled review in three years.  Regarding the early morning issues, a lot of the people had complex needs and a lot of work went into engaging with people and trying to support them.  However, for individuals who refused to engage, the Council did have powers to start looking at moving them on.

The Leader had concerns about those who were persistent and refused any assistance which endangered the wider public and a good strategy on communication was needed to get reporting levels up.

The Cabinet Member for Legal, Governance and Organisational Performance stated that, if there were not any rotas, would it be possible to look at whether there was a presence in the town centre.  He had found it quite intimidating walking in the town at lunchtime and there had been a visible odour of drug smoke in the air.  A police presence would pick up on that and check and search. People could be asked to be more responsive in reporting the matters.

The Leader suggested that it would be profitable to meet with the Local Policing Commander, looking at the strategy and seeing where the Council could work in corroboration with them.  There  needed to be a clear partnership update in terms of demands on the officers and what was expected in terms of the Council working with them to provide things such as CCTV coverage, Rangers and reporting systems.  It was hoped that the Night Time Economy Pilot Town status bid would be awarded for up to three areas.

The Service Director stated that, in terms of the bid, the Council should hear very soon if it had been successful.  It would include a ‘twilight zone’ in the town between schools and colleges finishing until the pubs became busy – which was when ASB was experienced.  Having legitimate activities occurring during that time would help with natural surveillance.

Resolved:    (i)       That the report be received and the outcomes for 2025-

2026 and the work of the Community Safety Partnership in continuing to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, as well as the work in progress to continue to tackle identified priority issues, be noted.

(ii)             That the Service Director - Neighbourhood Delivery be authorised to formally accept project funding for the Night Time Economy Pilot Town status, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Residents Services and Neighbourhoods, if the bid is successful, and to implement the project.

Watch the debate here