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Safer Newport

What is Safer Newport?

Safer Newport is the city’s community safety partnership, delivering on emerging local community safety issues including anti-social behaviour (ASB), serious and organised crime (SOC) and local neighbourhood issues, with a particular focus on the city centre.  Safer Newport reports to the Public Services Board (PSB).  Meetings are currently held on a six weekly basis or as and when required.

Community Safety Partnerships (CSP) were formed across Wales by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (C&DA).  Statutory partners on Safer Newport are the local authority, police, fire and rescue service, probation, local health board and the police authority.

Membership of Safer Newport

Membership of Safer Newport includes Gwent Police, Newport City Council, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS), Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) and the National Probation Service.

Priorities

A series of task and finish sub groups are in place to deliver the work of Safer Newport:

    • Safer City centre
    • Anti-social Behaviour (ASB)
    • Serious and Organised Crime (SOC)

As part of the governance arrangements, Safer Newport delivers on tactical and operational issues, supported by relevant task and finish groups, and ensures delivery of priorities and immediate problem solving outside of the well-being plan.

Current key issues for Safer Newport

    • Focus on tackling ASB through community engagement including action days, community assist days and neighbourhood walkabouts.
    • Action plans in place for some communities in Newport following a recent review of the area that focused on crime, ASB and environmental issues.
    • Working group and action plan being developed to tackle the issue of car cruising in key hotspot areas across the city.
    • Outcomes of the recent WAO review of ASB will be monitored by Safer Newport and the recommendations delivered through the ASB sub group.
    • Extensive programmes with communities through organised crime funding, including work with schools, community engagement and direct prevention work with families and young people.
    • Focus on reducing crime and ASB in the city centre through various partnership initiatives, including vehicle mitigation to reduce vehicle access in the city centre during the night time, enforcement of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), increased police and community safety warden patrols, youth work sessions and other diversionary activity for young people.

Links to Well-being Plan

Key community safety priorities within the well-being plan include:

    • Green and Safe Spaces intervention – apply a preventative approach to targeting crime and ASB that deter people from using open spaces, which links to the work of the ASB sub group and safer city centre sub group.  Looking at options for greening the city centre, and progressing community initiatives that prevent ASB and encourage people to better use parks and green spaces including community gardens and improved equipment and resources.
    • Newport Offer – adopt preventative approaches to ensure effective city centre management, which links to the work of the Safer City Centre sub group.
    • Strong Resilient Communities – take a community place based approach to identify resources and need within that community, which links to the work of the ASB sub group and the SOC stakeholder group.  Cohesion and engagement activity taking place which includes community action and assist days, community walkabouts, and participatory budgeting / World Café events as part of the SOC work.

National and Regional work

Safer Newport works with Safer Gwent on regional issues including funding, data and intelligence and ASB support.  Safer Gwent is a network of community safety officers and those with an interest in community safety issues across the five local authorities, Gwent Police, OPCC, Fire service, probation and other relevant agencies.

Acting as the community safety partnership Safer Newport also has the responsibility to make sure Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR) are carried out within the city, which are required by law. Click on the above link for further information.

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