London Development Agency Community Safety and Crime Reduction Policy Statement

Background

The London Development Agency (LDA) is the Mayor’s Agency for business and jobs.  Together with the Greater London Authority (GLA); the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA); Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA); and Transport for London (TfL), we form the GLA Group, which reports to the Mayor of London.

Introduction

Our Community Safety and Crime Reduction Policy Statement sets out:

• Our role and that of other Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)
• Our understanding of our role in relation to promoting community safety and reducing crime and disorder.

The Role of England’s Regional Development Agencies

Each RDA has five statutory purposes listed in section 4 of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 (c.45).

• To further economic development and regeneration
• To promote business efficiency, investment and competitiveness
• To promote employment
• To enhance development and application of skill relevant to employment
• To contribute to sustainable development

These were amended under the London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006 at section 36. "The purposes of a regional development agency (listed in section 4 of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 (c. 45) shall include the purpose of preparing for the London Olympics" following a request to do so by the Olympic Delivery Authority.

In addition, under section 5(1) of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 an RDA can "do anything which it considers expedient for its purposes, or for purposes incidental thereto". (It is under this provision that the LDA has adopted Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 as amended by the Police and Justice Act 2006.)

RDAs have limited human and financial resources with which to deliver to their five statutory purposes.  Each RDA therefore works with a broad range of stakeholders within their region and in partnership with the private, public and voluntary and community sectors within their region in order to develop and deliver the Economic Strategy for the region.

Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 requires those bodies to which it applies to exercise their various functions with due regard to both the likely effect of the exercise of those functions on crime and disorder in their area and the need to do all they reasonably can to prevent crime and disorder in their area.

The Role of the LDA in relation to Community Safety and Crime Reduction

Together with Equalities, Health and Sustainability, Community Safety is one of the LDA’s four cross-cutting themes.  A degraded and unsafe physical environment; high levels of anti-social behaviour; lack of social capital and cohesion; and crime and fear of crime all act as inhibitors to sustainable social, economic and environmental development.  Our regional strategic role, working with partners from the public, private and third sectors, helps to tackle economic and social disadvantage, which is a major contributory factor to the incidence of crime and disorder, has broad and positive impacts on community safety.

In March 2006 the LDA, at the invitation of the Mayor, voluntarily adopted S.17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. In July 2006, following the review of the Mayor’s powers a recommendation was made and endorsed that the GLA Group members not currently having statutory duties with respect to S.17 (Greater London Authority, LDA, Transport for London) should statutorily adopt an enhanced S.17 as amended by the Police and Justice Act 2006.

This confers on us a statutory duty to observe "the need to do all that it reasonably can to prevent, (a) crime and disorder in its area (including anti-social and other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment); and (b) the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances in its area". The Mayor's priority is to promote Community Safety and reduce crime and disorder.  There is a symbiotic relationship between safer, stronger and more cohesive communities. A range of agencies, including the central role played by the third sector, as well as the private and public sectors, have a major role to play in building economic capital as well as social capital and cohesion.

In order to maximise promotion of community safety, and stronger and more cohesive communities as part of sustainable social, economic and environmental development we aim to:

• Embed community safety and the promotion of stronger and more cohesive communities in the mainstream of all our activity in line with the Mayor’s Economic Development Strategy four investment themes: Places and Infrastructure; Supporting People; Enterprise; Marketing and Promoting London.
• Promote examples of best practice, particularly with regard to physical regeneration and the use of tools such as Secured By Design and the value added that can be achieved from promoting models of community asset-based regeneration.
• Work closely in key areas of activity with our partners and stakeholders, particularly fellow members of the GLA Group (for example, Transport for London where infrastructure projects include transport routes and infrastructure; Metropolitan Police local borough command in order to link Safer Neighbourhoods teams with area regeneration projects).

In addition, we have the lead role for Community Safety and Crime Reduction with the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice; and for the Third Sector with the Cabinet Office, Office of the Third Sector; for England’s RDAs.

Some Examples of our approach to mainstreaming community safety and reduce crime and disorder into our interventions

Investing in Supporting People

We are members of the London Resettlement Board.  The Board is convened by Government Office for London.  Board members work together to achieve the objectives in the London Resettlement Strategy. The objectives of the strategy are to:

• Establish a multi-agency, coordinated and integrated response to meeting the resettlement and rehabilitation needs of offenders in London.
• Contribute to the building of safer communities through the provision of effective programmes and interventions for offenders, before, during and post custody
• Place end-to-end offender management and evidence based practice at the heart of rehabilitation, ensuring and offender-centered service response.
• Reduce the risk of harm to victims, communities and vulnerable groups
• Contribute to the overall aim of the criminal and Youth Justice System to prevent re-offending and protect the public; and
• Enable the Prison service, the Probation Service and the Youth Justice Board to achieve the shared target of reducing re-offending by 5%.

These objectives are delivered through the London Reducing Re-offending Action Plan.

We have a planning and strategic role in the development of the Mayor's Adult Skills Strategy, which is determined by the London Skills and Employment Board, chaired by the Mayor. In addition, the LDA has a number of projects that are targeted at enhancing skills, employability and workforce development. We work with a range of delivery partners to address worklessness. We often particularly target our strategic investments towards people who experience multiple disadvantage and who are furthest from the labour market. We recognise also that low skills or educational attainment; lack of employment, together with lack of access to safe, quality housing provision can often be a contributory factor in re-offending; as well as being major contributory factors to economic and social disadvantage and poor community safety.

Investing in Enterprise

We are the leading RDA in England in developing support to facilitate the development of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). LDA support through our investment in the regional BIDs programme includes: supporting information (website, events etc.); consultancy advice; the London BIDs Advisory Board which was set up and is chaired by the LDA; and policy development to provide advice.

In London, BIDs are private sector led and it is the local authorities who, as the billing authority, have direct relationships in the development of BIDs.  The LDA has however taken a proactive approach to facilitating the support through a London-wide BIDs programme.   BIDs can be developed within any recognised geographically bound area (e.g. a town centre, or industrial estate).

The statistics relating to crime reduction on industrial estates in London are currently not being captured, however approximately 38 industrial estates per year receive some intervention with regard to overall improvements in their operating environment.  At present, crime reduction and the introduction of security systems by way of CCTV and security patrols feature highly in addressing crime and vandalism which has been identified on estates.

BIDs are one of a range of tools that can be used to improve an area’s competitiveness, along with City Growth Strategies; planning frameworks; informal partnerships; formal Town Centre Management partnerships; Industrial Estates management etc.

In addition, we are responsible for the delivery of the Business Support Simplification Programme through Business Link for London.  We are working closely with our Business Link provider to ensure that businesses in London, particularly Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are aware of and are able to access information on how to integrate business crime reduction into their operations.  Sources of available support include our colleagues at the Metropolitan Police Service, who have a range of advice available to prevent and reduce business crime, including different types of business crime.

Investing in Places and Infrastructure

The Mayor’s Economic Development Strategy and the LDA's Corporate Plan have the objective of delivering healthy, sustainable, high quality communities and urban environments.  Designing or sponsoring development that creates safe, comfortable and secure places to live and work is central to the our commitment to 'Investing in Places and Infrastructure'. Our urban design initiatives embrace the principles of Secured By Design at a strategic and development site level.

The key design principles of quality sustainable housing and 'designing out crime' are being incorporated throughout our investments in places and infrastructure.

At the site development level, secure by design principles are incorporated into LDA developments through negotiation with the London Boroughs on major planning applications and proposals. In these instances, we work closely with Boroughs who will undertake consultation and liaison with Crime Prevention Advisors and/or Police as part of the planning process. Issues of housing and neighbourhood SBD will be discussed with the Borough during pre-negotiations meetings and during the determination of a planning application or urban design framework. This may include consultation with the local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership as well as with colleagues from the Metropolitan Police Service and Safer Neighbourhoods Teams.

Investing in Marketing and Promotion of London

We seek to ensure that, where appropriate and relevant, strong and consistent messages are affirmed and reinforced which promote London as a safe place in which to live, study, work in or visit the capital. This may include, for example, cross-promotion and referral to messages espoused by our colleagues in the GLA Group (for example, Transport for London messages on keeping safe whilst using different forms of (including public) transport).

Policy

We are members of the Greater London Authority (GLA) Community Safety Plus Steering Group, which is convened by the GLA, and with associated working groups as required.

Impacts on Equality Groups

Data from the British Crime Survey and other crime reduction studies undertaken by the Home Office illustrate that crime, fear of crime and deficits in community safety have significant detrimental impacts on equality groups.  For example, evidence shows that young people are more likely to be victims of crime than to be offenders; Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people are over-represented in the criminal justice system and secure estate; there is a significant level of 'hate crime' that some equality groups face (e.g. Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people). Our interventions in skills, employment and more generally through our contribution to tackling economic and social disadvantage experienced by equality groups means that integrating community safety thoroughly in our processes and activities will have a positive impact on equality groups.

Impacts on Sustainability

Evidence shows that degradation of the physical environment also contributes to the prevalence of crime, fear of crime (e.g. poor street lighting, poor design of the public space) and deficits in community safety (e.g. anti-social behaviour).  As well as being unsustainable, unhealthy and inaccessible, a poor physical environment is also unsafe.  Our interventions through places and infrastructure, regeneration and more broadly in tackling climate change; promoting excellence in urban design; means that integrating community safety to a high standard and consistently in our processes and activities will have a positive impact on sustainability.

Impacts on Health, Well-Being and Health Inequalities

Evidence shows that those who offend and who make up the prison population have a very high incidence of mental health illness (e.g. 70% of offenders have two or more mental health disorders) and/or have issues with problematic substance misuse (60-70% of prisoners were using drugs before their imprisonment); prisoners are fifteen times more likely than the general population to test positive for HIV [Social Exclusion Unit Report, Reducing Re-offending by Ex-Prisoners, 2002]. Our interventions with ex-offenders and those at risk of offending, as well as health inequalities interventions more broadly, will have a positive impact on health and well-being, and tackling health inequalities.