Cheshire Community Safety Partnerships

Working in partnership with agencies across Cheshire for the benefit of our communities is a cornerstone of my approach as your Police & Crime Commissioner. Part of this work includes working alongside the Constabulary, local authorities, Fire & Rescue Service, probation and health within Community Safety Partnerships. We have four in Cheshire, one in each local authority area.

These partnerships serve as a valuable tool in identifying the risks and needs that affect our local communities and how we can reduce reoffending and tackle matters such as anti-social behaviour through a multi-agency approach.

Under legislation, I am able to award grants to organisations or groups that will support the achievement of community safety priorities in Cheshire. In each of the last two years, I have provided funding to each of the Community Safety Partnerships in Cheshire and in doing so I have set clear outcomes to be achieved from this funding. Examples are to:

• Reduce crime
• Reduce anti-social behaviour
• Reduce alcohol related assaults
• Provide schemes to divert young people away from problem behaviour

Arrangements have been developed with partners to monitor and ensure that the outcomes I have set are achieved and that victims are placed at the heart of the service provision.

Whilst I have representation on each of the local Community Safety Partnerships, it is also essential that I am able to address matters that are priorities for the whole of our county, especially as the police operate as one agency across Cheshire. To do this to I am formally able to call together a meeting of the Community Safety Partnership Chairs. I held the latest of these meetings just this week.

As well as the meetings giving me the ability to hold a single meeting to discuss Cheshire's community safety priorities it also allows me to monitor and review the progress of the partnerships. In addition, it provides me with an avenue to pursue activity across a Cheshire wide geography. One example is the development of a joint strategic needs assessment for community safety in Cheshire to make sure all agencies have up to date and current understanding of community safety needs of our communities.

Community safety is paramount if the numbers of victims in our communities are to be reduced. I am clear that we must work together across Cheshire to achieve this.