Category: Funding

Teenager shoes

Police and Crime Commissioner teams up with Catch22 to prevent child exploitation in Surrey

Posted on | by Surrey PCC

The Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office for Surrey has awarded £100,000 to charity Catch22 to launch a new service for young people at risk of or affected by criminal exploitation in Surrey.

Examples of criminal exploitation include the use of children by ‘county lines’ networks, leading individuals into a cycle of offending that can include homelessness, substance misuse and ill mental health.

The Commissioner’s Community Safety Fund will enable the new development of Catch22’s successful ‘Music To My Ears’ service, using music, film and photography as a way to engage and work with individuals for their safer future.

The service has been commissioned by Guildford and Waverley Clinical Commissioning Group since 2016 focusing on mental health and substance misuse. In this time, the service has supported more than 400 young people and children to improve their wellbeing and reduce their contact with the Criminal Justice System. Over 70% of young people engaged said it helped them to improve their mental health, build their self-esteem and look forward.

Launching in January, the new service will offer a combination of creative workshops and tailored one-to-one support from a named advisor to help individuals to address the root causes of their vulnerability. Focussing on early intervention that recognises the family, health and social factors that can lead to exploitation, the three-year project will increase the number of young people supported away from exploitation by 2025.

Working with the Surrey Safeguarding Children Partnership that includes the PCC’s Office, aims of the service delivered by Catch22 include entry or re-entry into education or training, improved access to physical and mental health care and reduced contact with the police and other agencies.

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Ellie Vesey-Thompson, who is leading the Office’s focus on children and young people, said: “Myself and the team are thrilled to be working with Catch22 to further enhance the support we offer for young people in Surrey to feel safe, and to be safe.

“Both the Commissioner and I are passionate about ensuring our Plan for Surrey enables a focus on the safety of young people, including recognising the enormous impact that exploitation can have on an individual’s future.

“I am pleased that the new service will build on such extensive work by Catch22 over the last five years, opening up routes for more young people to avoid or leave a situation in which they are being exploited.”

Emma Norman, Assistant Director for Catch22 in the South said: “We’ve seen the success of Music to My Ears again and again and I’m thrilled that commissioner Lisa Townsend recognises the impact of the team’s work on local young people at particular risk of exploitation.

“The last two years have presented a more urgent need for practical, creative interventions for young people. Poor school attendance and online risks have further aggravated much of the risk factors we were seeing pre-pandemic.

“Projects like this enable us to re-engage young people – by boosting their self-esteem and their confidence, young people are encouraged to express themselves and their experiences, all while supported by professionals in a one-to-one setting.

“The Catch22 team address the risk factors – be it the young person’s home, social or health factors – while unlocking the impressive talent we know young people have.”

In the year to February 2021, Surrey Police and partners identified 206 young people at risk of exploitation, of which 14% were already being exploited. It’s important to note that the majority of young people will grow up happy and healthy with no need for intervention from services including Surrey Police.

Signs that a young person might be at risk of exploitation include absence from education, going missing from home, becoming withdrawn or uninterested in usual activities, or new relationships with ‘friends’ who are older.

Anyone who is concerned about a young person or child is encouraged to contact the Surrey Children’s Single Point of Access on 0300 470 9100 (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday) or at cspa@surreycc.gov.uk. The service is available out of hours on 01483 517898.

You can contact Surrey Police using 101, Surrey Police social media pages or www.surrey.police.uk. Always dial 999 in an emergency.

PCC Lisa Townsend welcomes new Probation Service

Posted on | by Surrey PCC

Probation services delivered by private businesses across England and Wales have been merged with the National Probation Service this week to provide a new unified public Probation Service.

The Service will provide closer supervision of offenders and home visits to better protect children and partners, with Regional Directors responsible for making probation more effective and consistent across England and Wales.

Probation services manage individuals on a community order or licence following their release from prison, and provide unpaid work or behaviour change programmes that take place in the community.

The change forms part of the Government’s commitment to grow greater public confidence in the Criminal Justice System.

It comes after Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation concluded that the previous model of delivering Probation through a mix of public and private organisations was ‘fundamentally flawed’.

In Surrey, partnership between the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Community Rehabilitation Company has played a key role in reducing reoffending since 2016.

Craig Jones, OPCC Policy and Commissioning Lead for Criminal Justice said KSSCRC were “a true vision of what a Community Rehabilitative Company should be” but recognised that this was not the case for all services provided across the country.

PCC Lisa Townsend welcomed the change, that will support the existing work of the PCC’s Office and partners to continue to drive down reoffending in Surrey:

“These changes to the Probation Service will strengthen our partnership work to reduce reoffending, supporting real change by individuals who experience the Criminal Justice System in Surrey.

“It’s really important that this retains a focus on the value of community sentences that we’ve championed over the last five years, including our Checkpoint and Checkpoint Plus schemes that have a tangible impact on an individual’s likelihood of reoffending.

“I welcome new measures that will ensure that high risk offenders will be monitored more closely, as well as providing a greater control over the impact that probation has on the victims of crime.”

Surrey Police said it will continue to work closely with the Office of the PCC, the National Probation Service and the Surrey Probation Service to manage offenders released into the local community.

New Safer Streets funding set to boost crime prevention in Surrey

Posted on | by Surrey PCC

Over £300,000 in funding from the Home Office has been secured by Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend to help tackle burglary and neighbourhood crime in East Surrey.

The ‘Safer Streets’ funding will be awarded to Surrey Police and partners after a bid was submitted in March for the Godstone and Bletchingley areas of Tandridge to support a reduction in incidents of burglary, particularly from sheds and outhouses, where bikes and other equipment have been targeted.

Lisa Townsend has also today welcomed the announcement of a further round of funding that will focus on projects to make women and girls feel safer over the next year, a key priority for the new PCC.

Plans for the Tandridge project, starting in June, include the use of cameras to deter and catch thieves, and extra resources such as locks, secure cabling for bikes and shed alarms to help local people prevent the loss of their valuables.

The initiative will receive £310,227 in Safer Street funding which will be backed by a further £83,000 from the PCCs own budget and from Surrey Police.

It is part of the second round of the Home Office’s Safer Streets funding which has seen £18m shared across 40 areas of England and Wales for projects in local communities.

It follows the completion of an original Safer Streets project in Spelthorne, that provided over half a million pounds to improve security and reduce anti-social behaviour at properties in Stanwell during 2020 and early 2021.

The third round of the Safer Streets Fund, which opens today, provides another opportunity to bid from a fund of £25 million for the year‚ÄØ2021/22 for projects designed to improve the safety of women and girls.‚ÄØThe PCC’s office will be working with partners in the county to prepare its bid in the coming weeks.

Commissioner Lisa Townsend said: “Burglary and shed break-ins cause misery in our local communities so I am delighted that the proposed project in Tandridge has been awarded substantial funds to tackle this issue.

“This funding will not only improve the safety and security of residents living in that area but will also act as a real deterrent to criminals who have been targeting properties and boost the prevention work our police teams are already carrying out.

“The Safer Streets Fund is an excellent initiative by the Home Office and I was particularly pleased to see the third round of funding open today with a focus on enhancing the safety of women and girls in our neighbourhoods.

“This is a really important issue to me as your PCC and I look forward to working with Surrey Police and our partners to make sure we put forward a bid that can make a real difference to our communities in Surrey.”

Borough Commander for Tandridge Inspector Karen Hughes said: “I’m really excited to bring this project for Tandridge to life in partnership with our colleagues in Tandridge District Council and the Office of the PCC.

“We’re committed to a safer Tandridge for everyone and the Safer Streets funding will help Surrey Police to go even further in preventing burglaries and ensuring local people feel safe, as well as enabling local officers to spend more time listening and providing advice in our communities.”

More PCC funding to tackle burglaries and catalytic converter thefts in Surrey

Posted on | by Surrey PCC

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey David Munro has provided additional funding to help Surrey Police prevent burglaries and catalytic converter thefts.

£14,000 from the PCC’s Community Safety Fund has been provided to enable local Surrey Police teams to develop targeted operations with the new Surrey Police Prevention and Problem Solving Team across six boroughs.

An additional £13,000 has been allocated to the Serious and Organised Crime Unit to work with the team to tackle a steep rise in catalytic converter thefts from vehicles in the county.

The problem solving team was paid for by the PCC’s increase to the policing element of local council tax in 2019-2020, alongside more police officers and staff in Surrey’s communities.

The county saw the fourth largest increase in catalytic converter thefts in the country in 2020, rising to over 1,100 incidents since April. Surrey Police records an average of eight domestic burglaries a day.

Working closely with the Prevention and Problem Solving Team enables officers to identify new trends and inform a bespoke approach based on the analysis of multiple incidents.

This involves a new way of thinking about crime prevention that is data led, and leads to a longer term reduction in crime.

Embedding a problem solving approach in the planning of operations saves time and money later on; with fewer but more targeted actions.

Analysis for new operations to prevent burglaries included actions such as reviewing every single crime committed in a target area in winter 2019.

Responses informed by the team and funded by the PCC include increased patrols and deterrents in specific locations where it is believed they will have the most impact. The distribution of catalytic converter marking kits and greater awareness of this crime will be carried out by local police.

PCC David Munro said: “Burglary is a devastating crime that has a long lasting impact on individuals, and is one of the main concerns expressed by local residents. Catalytic converter thefts have also increased in recent months.

“I know from our recent community events that this is a key concern of residents.

“As the problem solving team heads into its second year, I’m continuing to increase the resources available to Surrey Police to build on the improvements being made. This includes more analysts and investigators to lead problem solving across the Force, and more police officers in local teams to drive crime down.”

Chief Inspector and Prevention and Problem Solving Lead Mark Offord said: “Surrey Police are fully committed to ensuring that our residents feel safe in their communities. We understand that the harm caused to victims of burglary goes far beyond the material loss of property, and can have far-reaching financial and emotional consequences.

“As well as proactively targeting the individuals committing these offences, our problem solving approach seeks to understand how and why crimes are committed, with the intention of employing crime prevention techniques that will make offending a riskier prospect for potential offenders.”

Individual operations funded by the PCC will form part of Force’s dedicated response to burglary county-wide.

“A step in the right direction for Surrey residents” – PCC’s verdict on potential location for the county’s first transit site

Posted on | by Surrey PCC

The Police and Crime Commissioner David Munro has said news that a potential transit site has been identified to direct travellers to in Surrey is a ‘step in the right direction’ for the county’s residents.

An area of Surrey County Council managed land in Tandridge has been earmarked as the first site in the county that could provide a temporary stopping place which could be used by the travelling community.

The PCC has long been pressing for such a site with proper facilities which have proved successful in other areas of the country. Following continued collaboration involving all borough and district councils and the county council, a location has now been identified although no planning application has been submitted. The PCC has committed £100,000 from his office to help set the transit site up.

The Commissioner said he is also eagerly awaiting the results of a government consultation after reports that the Home Office are planning to change the law to make setting up unauthorised encampments a criminal offence.

The PCC responded to the consultation last year saying he supported the criminalising the act of trespass in relation to encampments which would give police tougher and more effective powers to deal with them when they appear.

PCC David Munro said: “During my term of office I have long been saying that there is an urgent need for transit sites for travellers in Surrey so I am pleased there is hopefully some good news on the horizon with a potential location identified in the Tandridge area.

“A lot of work has been going on behind the scenes involving all local agencies to address the need for transit sites. There is obviously still a long way to go and any site will have to go through the relevant planning processes but it is a step in the right direction for Surrey residents.

“We are approaching the time of year when the county begins to see an increase in unauthorised encampments and we have already seen a few in Surrey over recent weeks.

“The majority of travellers are law-abiding but I’m afraid there are a minority that cause disruption and concern to local communities and increase the strain on police and local authority resources.

“I have visited a number of communities where unauthorised encampments have been set up over the last four years and I have great sympathy with the plight of the residents whom I’ve met whose lives have been adversely affected.”

The legislation around unauthorised encampments is complex and there are requirements that must be met in order for local authorities and police to take action to move them on.

The act of trespass in relation to encampments currently remains a civil matter. When an unauthorised encampment is set up in Surrey, the occupiers are often served with orders by the police or local authority and then move on to another location nearby where the process begins again.

The PCC added: “There have been reports that the government will be seeking a change in law to make trespass in relation to unauthorised encampments a criminal offence. I would fully support this and submitted in my response to the government consultation that the legislation should be as simple and comprehensive as possible.

“I believe this change in law, coupled with the introduction of transit sites, is urgently needed to break the cycle of repeated unauthorised traveller encampments that continue to affect our local communities.”

Fearless for three more years! – PCC extends funding for Crimestoppers youth service in Surrey

Posted on | by Surrey PCC

The independent charity Crimestoppers youth service ‘Fearless.org’ will continue in Surrey for at least another three years after Police and Crime Commissioner David Munro agreed to extend the funding for its dedicated outreach worker.

Fearless.org offers young people non-judgemental advice so they can make informed decisions about reporting crime and allows them to give information 100% anonymously, using a secure form on the charity’s website.

The Fearless outreach worker Emily Drew actively engages with young people across Surrey and provides education about the consequences of their choices around crime.

That message is reinforced through campaigns that encourage safe and anonymous reporting of issues such as knife and drug crime and those involved with County Lines – including speaking up about those who regularly carry weapons.

Since its launch in Surrey in 2018, Emily has spoken to over 7,000 local young people and provided training for over 1,000 professionals including GPs, social workers and teachers.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been carrying out online Fearless.org education sessions, which have been attended by more than 500 people from across the county.

There has also been a big focus on reaching young people through social media with a recent campaign focused on spotting the warning signs of exploitation from drug gangs.

PCC David Munro has agreed to continue funding Emily’s Fearless role through a grant from his Community Safety Fund, which helps projects large and small improve community safety across the county.

He said: “For our young people in particular, the last year has been an extremely testing period with disruption to their schooling and exams at such an important stage in their lives.

“Sadly there will be criminals trying to exploit the situation and target our young people during these uncertain times.”

“Violent crime and the threats posed by ‘County Lines’ gangs recruiting teenagers to become part of their drug supply operation, are very real issues that police here in Surrey are tackling right now.

“The role Emily is doing through Fearless is invaluable in helping empower our young people to make their communities safer, which is why I was delighted to extend the funding so she can continue the important work she is doing across the county over the next three years.”

Surrey’s Fearless Outreach Worker Emily Drew, said: “Since launching Fearless.org in Surrey two years ago, we have been reaching out to thousands of young people and professionals across the county to spread the Fearless message.

“The response has been amazing but we want to go even further so I’m delighted this funding will enable us to continue the work we’ve started over the next three years.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has presented us with a number of challenges but now that children are back in school, we will be looking to provide more of those inputs direct into the classroom. If any schools or organisations in Surrey would like a free session, then please get in touch!”

Chair of Surrey Crimestoppers Lynne Hack, said: “Young people can often understandably be very reluctant to report crime, so the education Fearless can provide to them is really critical to us, particularly during these difficult times.

“Emily as a youth worker is completely non-judgemental and can spread the message that young people can speak up about crime to us with the 100% guarantee that it will be completely anonymous and no one will know they have contacted us.”

If your organisation works with young children and you would like to arrange a Fearless training session, or you want to learn more about the work that Emily is doing in Surrey – please visit www.fearless.org/campaigns/fearless-surrey