Neil Thurlow, Safer Merton Manager, introduced his colleague Temitayo Oketunji, newly appointed Victims Champion. Neil Thurlow summarised the main points from the report to provide an update on work undertaken by Safer Merton and the Community Safety Partnership over the past 12 months.

Neil Thurlow and Temitayo Oketunji proved additional information in response to questions:

·         The majority of anti-social behaviour cases are received via email or from the contact centre and require low level involvement and/or signposting to other agencies

·         Ask Angela numbers are not recorded centrally as they are dealt with by the licensed premises that receives the request

·         The Victims Champion post has been funded for 3 years by the Mayor of London

·         The restorative justice officer works to explain the concept of restorative justice to victims and to engage them in the process to achieve an outcome. The level of uptake has been low locally, in London and nationally. Neil Thurlow advised that this work sits with Roberta Evans, the Youth Offending Team Manager in CSF, and undertook an action to request information on how the work is analysed. ACTION: Safer Merton Manager and Youth Offending Team Manager

In response to a question about problems experienced with the 101 phone number, the BCU Borough Commander, Detective Superintendent Sally Benatar, said that some improvements have been made to the menu of options that have reduced waiting time to an average of 85 seconds this week and that a recruitment campaign for 101 phone line staff would start soon.

Councillor Edith Macauley, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Engagement and Equalities drew the Commission’s attention to the work of the One Stop Shop, which has helped around 2500 people since its inception 8 years ago. She added that a presentation on hate crime work had been well received by the Joint Consultative Committee With Ethnic Minority Organisations.

The Chair thanked Neil Thurlow for his comprehensive report and asked if a short email could be sent to all councillors to set out key messages about phoning the police which could be passed on to residents. ACTION: Safer Merton Manager