Agenda item

For item six, the Chair invited members to update the Board on the areas of work they lead on. 

The Member Champion for Water Safety updated members on the latest developments of the MCA Review.  The Member Champion also updated members on his recent speech at the LGA’s Costal Special Interest Group, which fed in to the MCA review.  Finally, the Member Champion discussed the fringe meeting for drowning prevention with the NFCC at the LGA’s Fire Conference in Brighton. 

Members then brought the discussion to the recent rise in knife crime and if the Board should give more focus to address the dramatic increase of knife crime incidents.  Members discussed the cuts in funding to local government and youth services and the direct link this has had to the rise of knife crime.  The Chair agreed with this, and fed-back on a recent visit to the Ben Kinsella Trust, and the amazing work they are undertaking to tackle knife crime.  The Chair went further to state that the government’s response so far has been heavily focused on preventative measures (such as stop and search), rather than holistic, early intervention measures.  The Chair concluded that he believed the Board could provide a great deal of input on this area and it was agreed this would be discussed at the next meeting.

The Member Champion for Licensing updated the Board on a recent licensing event at city hall to tackle gambling addiction. He had met the Gordon Moody Association and Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Tust. 

Member Champion to tackle scams – the “Scambassador” – updated members on a new email for reporting scams, which can be forwarded by officers after the board.

Members discussed the appointment of the new Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Sara Thornton.  Members requested an invite be extended to a future board meeting. 

Following the discussion, the following actions were identified. 

-       Representative from the Ben Kinsella Trust to be invited to the next Board. 

-       Scam reporting email to be sent to members by officers. 

-       Sara Thornton to be invited to a future meeting of the SSCB.