Agenda item

The Chair introduced the report which provided a summary of the announcements of relevance to the Safer and Stronger Communities Board in the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday 11 May.

Mark highlighted the following key points in the Queen’s speech that related specifically to the Board which were:

·       Building Safety Bill

·       Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill

·       Animal Welfare Bills

·       Online Safety Bill

·       Victims Bill

·       Criminal Justice catch up and recovery plan (including coroners)

·       Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy

·       Immigration Plan (including recommendations on modern slavery)

·       Regulatory Reform

·       Integrated Review

Mark continued that in relation to the legislation around the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, three Bills were expected, of which the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill and Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill had already been introduced to Parliament. The plan included a range of proposals in which councils were likely to have a role in enforcing, which was relevant to the discussion members had just had about pressures on regulatory services. 

Following the discussion, Members made the following comments:

·       Members raised concerns around unlicensed dog breeders and the ability for regulatory services to keep on top of demand. During the COVID lockdown there was an increase in unlicensed breeders and there was a strong link between serious organised crime gangs using puppy sales and theft of animals to fund organised crime.

·       Members commented on the increased sentencing power for assaults on emergency workers and agreed this was a positive step in protecting emergency staff. However, the sentencing guideline council should be asked to look at the sentencing policy as the disposal of these case were usually community penalties or suspended prison sentences, not deterring people to commit such crimes. Mark responded that this particular point has been raised in a number of other areas and that there were increased sentences available to courts but, the sentences were not reflecting the severity of the crime with little account taken into time taken to investigate the case.

·       Members welcomed the proposed plans for modern slavery and in particular the proposal for the commitment for Government to clarify its obligations to victims of modern slavery within UK law as soon as possible.

·       Members welcomed the Victims Bill but asked how this would be funded, noting that this mustn’t be at the expense of detection r. The Chair agreed and replied that there was no clear commitment around additional resources for local government or other public sector organisations that may need the resources to fulfil the legislation and this point had been raised in LGA submissions for various parliamentary committees.

Decision:

Members of the Safer and Stronger Communities Board noted the report.

Action:       

·       Officers to consider comments made by members.