The Committee received and noted a presentation from Debbie Jones (Corporate Director – Children’s Services) and Adam Salmon (Children's Social Care) on a report that outlined the findings and recommendations from the Gangs and Youth Violence Scrutiny Review, which had been was part of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s work programme for the 2017/18 municipal year.

It was noted that the Gangs and Serious Youth Violence Scrutiny Review was chaired by Councillor Danny Hassell in his role as Scrutiny Lead for Children’s Services in order to obtain an overview of the scale and impact of Gangs and Serious Youth Violence in the Borough and the work currently being planned and delivered by the Council and its partners.

It was noted that in 2017 the London Borough of Tower Hamlets underwent an Ofsted review of its Children’s Services and one of the recommendations that arose was that the Council should “Urgently improve the quality and timeliness of services for children who are at risk of becoming involved in gangs and serious youth violence. Ensure the alignment of those services with those for children who go missing and those who are vulnerable to sexual exploitation and radicalisation. Ensure that comprehensive and accurate intelligence and data inform service developments.”

The two sessions the Committee was advised had been held in January and February 2018. The first session had been at the Town Hall and looked at current approach and practices, existing research and findings and examples of good practice being delivered in other areas. The second session was held at a local youth facility called ‘Spotlight’ looked at real-life case studies, feedback and findings from reviews and the work of key partners in the borough.  The review had been underpinned by three core questions:

• What is the true scale and impact of Gangs and Youth Violence issues in Tower Hamlets?
• What are common factors that lead to involvement in gangs?
• How can the Council and its partners work together more effectively to reduce the impact of gangs?

The questions and comments from Members on the presentation may be summarised as follows:

The Committee:

·         Noted that whilst gang involvement is predominantly male dominated the impact on women and girls through direct involvement or families had been an area of specific focus;

·         Noted many young people who are at risk of becoming a gang member need to be diverted.  In addition, whilst the Trident Matrix rates these people as to the degree of risk there are many who need to be worked with early on so as to prevent them from becoming a gang member;

·         Noted that this year has seen a significant shift in numbers in gangs with a large reduction not just because in detention but through the work being done to address offending;

·         Noted with regard to work within local schools a pilot has been running for a year with an allocated worker looking at the needs of schools and giving them schools the support they need; and

·         Noted that there is at present a common police command to address these issues that manages the Gangs Team; YOT and Schools Team and local schools can feed in any comments/concerns to these teams so that a good flow of information is maintained.

The Chair Moved and it was:-

RESOLVED

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

1.    Agreed the report and the recommendations; and

2.    Authorised the Divisional Director Strategy, Policy and Partnership to amend the draft report before submission to Cabinet, after consultation with the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.