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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, Muriel Matters House, Breeds Place, Hastings. East Sussex, TN34 3UY
Contact: Chantal Lass tel: 01424 451483 email: class@hastings.gov.uk
Items No. Item Declarations of Interest
Minutes:
1. Welcome and Apologies
Attendance:
Clive Galbraith (Chair)
Chantal Lass – HBC
Susan Vaughn – CGL
Caroline Evans – ESCC
Sarah Godley - ESPS
Councillor Peter Chowney - HBC
Julie King -
Teresa Flower - ESCC
Carole Dixon- EFT
Steve Manwaring - HVA
Teresa Andrews- HARC
Simon Hubbard - HBC
Councillor Rob Lee - HBC
Tracy Dighton – Citizens Advice
Teresa Andrews – HARC
Annie Whelan – Seaview
Chris Gibbs (minutes) - HBC
Apologies for absence from:
Sean Dennis
Richard Watson
Catherine Orbach
Vanessa Biddiss
Dr John Smith
Tracey Rose
Cllr Bennett
Mark Turczanski
2. Notification of urgent items
Chantal Lass: Prof Chris Witty research
Steve Manwaring: Locality meeting in July
3. Declarations of Interest
None
Minutes and Matters Arising (Chair) PDF 490 KB
Minutes:
RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 28th January 2019 be approved as a true record
The chair asked that LSP members respond to the Future of the LSP question, which was sent round, as soon as possible.
Sussex Police - Drugs harm in Hastings PDF 601 KB
(Sarah Godley, Chief Inspector District Commander, Sussex Police)
Presentation and discussion
Minutes:
(Sarah Godley, Chief Inspector District Commander, Sussex Police)
Presentation attached
Sarah Godley presented an overview of drugs harm in Hastings including an overview of how Sussex Police operate locally to nationally, highlighting the ability to draw on national policing resources.
She explained the difference between County Lines and Organised Crime Group, locally known as ‘OCG Jarrow’. The biggest difference between county lines and OCG Jarrow is the commodity supplied. County lines supply crack and heroin, OCG focus on the supply of cocaine and cannabis. The business model is different between the two but both result in the exploitation of vulnerable people especially local young people.
County lines exploit vulnerable households by taking homes ‘cuckooing’ for short periods of time and deal from these temporary locations. OCG Jarrow have safe houses but don’t deal from these they just keep illegal items here.
Sarah further explained the established and Organised Crime Group operating in Hastings, advising it was sophisticated and organised and involved the importation and supply of cocaine and cannabis into the UK. The criminal activity includes the wholesale supply of drugs to other OCGs as well as street supply within Hastings and the surrounding area.
. OCG Jarrow has no competition at this time so there is little violence in Hastings however the potential for violence is high. Demand for drugs is high in Hastings so there is enough space for everyone to operate. . There was a successful campaign at the end of last year where 250 wraps of cocaine were seized from the night time economy. OCG Jarrow is operating internationally as well as locally, the imprisonment of a principal member last year has resulted in 50% of the ‘business’ being owned by a third person not based in the UK.
A local concern is that vulnerable young people are being used by the gangs who are being attracted by the financial rewards. However, once they are involved it is very hard to get out of, with gang members becoming ‘debt bonded’ to deal and supply for the group. Behind the scenes, OCGJ – exhibit a significant high level of violence to control, coerce and enforce the market share.
Sarah advised that locally, Sussex Police led by the Hastings and Rother Prevention Team are working to identify and disrupt the supply chain involved in the supply of illegal drugs.
Often cocaine users ignore what’s going on behind the scenes that results in their personal usage, increasingly ‘middle class’ users in their 20s and 30s. Sarah advised that recreational cocaine use is a huge issue for Hastings. The police have recently taken swabs of most pubs in Hastings, most tested positive for cocaine.
Sarah asked the LSP how can we collectively work together to help tackle organised crime? How can we better work together?
· How can you help?
· What intelligence gaps can you fill and how?
· What educational gaps can you fill and how?
· Are we working together as effectively as possible to protect vulnerable people?
· How can we ... view the full minutes text for item 63.
East Sussex Drug and Alcohol Service - update and opportunities for partnership working
(Caroline Evans, Strategic Commissioning Manager -Substance Misuse ESCC AND
Susan Vaughan, Implementation Manager for East Sussex, Change Grow Live)
Presentation and discussion
Minutes:
(Caroline Evans, Strategic Commissioning Manager –Substance Misuse ESCC AND Susan Vaughan, Implementation Manager for East Sussex, Change Grow Live)
Caroline Evans presented an update, the re-tendering process for the drug and alcohol service in East Sussex finished at the end of January and was awarded to Change Grow Live (CGL). She stressed that it would not be a continuation of the services from before but all new services. She then introduced Susan Vaughan the manager for CGL.
Susan Vaughan presented an update on the drug and alcohol service. She started by saying that it was day 1 of week 4 in the role so it is still very new. However she commented that she has a long history of working in East Sussex especially in Hastings and is not new to the problems. A fixed term contact for 4 months the first weeks were familiarisation with the team and their challenges. It is an adult treatment service that treats from alcohol through to opiates. Services are across East Sussex and it is a treatment service. One of the main problems is that they cannot treat people who don’t want to be treated so they must think of ways to engage with people.
On the subject of cocaine she said that when she spoke to one of the the recovery workers about a cocaine group that he ran and how successful it was he said that he would like to run more. Although lack of engagement is a problem he went to their place of work, with their permission, and engaged with them at work this was part of its success. She commented that a mixture of people come to the building, from people referred by their GP for alcohol use to heavy opiate users, and they need the service to be welcoming to all.
She commented that they are running a number of launches which everyone is invited too. They will be an opportunity to see what CGL do, talk to them and invite them to areas where they might be helpful. They have had a high turnover of staff in management level recently and it has been difficult to recruit these positions. They are now recruiting a locality lead as although there are similarities between Hastings and Eastbourne, there are some specific Hastings issues. This means they need to have someone who knows these issues and can focus on them.
Members commented that people in Hastings have been very challenged in and there has been a lot of work in the area. They are happy to hear of someone to focus on this area. Hastings has low property values and high levels of deprivation and places like this do need high levels of focus. It was asked that given that the services are given in different ways, what are we all doing working together joined up in a simple way the people can see. It was also commented that Seaview would like to have a conversation with CGL around ... view the full minutes text for item 64.
Future of Hastings Town Centre - creating a new vision for Hastings town centre PDF 750 KB
(Simon Hubbard Director, Hastings Borough Council)
Presentation and discussion
Minutes:
(Simon Hubbard Director, Hastings Borough Council)
Simon Hubbard gave a presentation on a bid submitted by HBC for up to £25m from a budget of £675m that is focused on town centres struggling to transform. It is a two stage competitive process against other towns. He commented that the town centre has done really well, Hastings operates three town centres and its level of empties is at or below national averages. Queen’s Road is doing better than ever before, but since the closure of the university, Hastings has to change its brand from a university town and needs a new unique selling point and vision
The town is at an interesting phase and there is lots of office space which is more or less full. There needs to be an answer with what to do next with the university building following public investment. Queensbury house has an uncertain future but has had an approved planning application for change of use to a hotel. There is an absence of accommodation in the town centre which affects potential tourism.
Members commented that if everyone competing for the money asks for £25m then it will fund a total of 27 towns and this would make it an extremely competitive process taking into consideration the amount of towns that will need this. Local towns will also be in direct completion with Hastings and perhaps it should have been considered to make joint applications. Simon Hubbard commented that Bexhill have already applied separately and did not wish to do a joint application.
Members commented that one of the issues is that it is not just about Hastings town centre as central St Leonards could have had a bid all of its own as it needs regeneration. Why are we not applying for these other town centres?
Simon Hubbard answered that a town the size of Hastings can only apply for one town centre, but the way around this is looking at how this is connected to those other areas. If the bid is successful then we must show how all these areas are linked, Bohemia is looking like it is struggling and when we come to do the more detailed work then we can include these linkages
Members commented that as this fund is targeted at failing town centres and compared to other town centres Hastings in not failing as much. Coastal towns have had to fund themselves through competitive bidding for a while now and these are short term in nature. This is forcing the poorest towns in the country to compete amongst themselves for funding. Looking at all the projects that the council could work on they will continue to apply for any funding available.
Simon Hubbard added that he is optimistic about the future of the town and the council will continue to try and fight on every front to acquire funding for the improvement of the town. If this bid doesn’t work then we need to continue to look forward.
Regeneration Update(s) PDF 61 KB
Written update provided
Minutes:
See appendix 1
Executive Delivery Group Notes (11th March 2019) PDF 88 KB
Minutes:
None see appendix 2
East Sussex Strategic Partnership notes (20th March 2019) PDF 206 KB
**Reminder** All Partners are invited to make nominations for the ESSP chair by Friday 3rd May 2019
Minutes:
None see appendix 3
Urgent Items
Minutes:
Professor Chris Whitty is the Lead for the National Institute for Health Research and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care. He will be visiting Hastings on the 21st June as part of a national tour to better understand the public health challenges different areas face and how research could help.
Throughout the day, Prof Whitty hopes to see or visit places to get a good sense of what’s happening in Hastings. We hope to end the day with some kind of small event which will celebrate the work that is going on in the area.
Peter Aston Health Improvement Principal, ESCC is asking LSP members would like to see achieved through the visit and also if any of them would like to be involved in it.
Please contact Peter Aston directly with your thoughts
Email: Peter.Aston@eastsussex.gov.uk Tel: 01273 337207 / 078 2408 5359
Steve Manwaring added that there is a further Locality Network event in July these are attended on average by 70 people representing a broad spectrum of local organisations. Contact HVA for further information
https://hastingsvoluntaryaction.org.uk/hcn/hcn-information
Steve Manwaring also advised that Hastings Voluntary Action have secured ‘Inclusive and Active Volunteering funding’ (£50k) and are one of five national projects following a very competitive process where 200 organisations bid for funding.
LSP members are reminded that their PSPO commentary must be in by the 10th of May.
Next Meeting Date 15th July 2019
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