Caerphilly C

Caerphilly C. B. Multi Agency Forum,
For Equality, Against Harassment - Minutes
Meeting on 10th June 2009
Present: Chair:- Superintendent Jon Burley (Gwent Police) Inspector Alan Webber
(Gwent Police), John Elliott(CCBC - Policy Unit), Sgt. Robert J. Davies (Gwent Police),
Alan Royle (Coleg Gwent Crosskeys),Howard Rees (CCBC- Community Safety) ,
Jaci Rankmore (YOS), Ron Davies,(Director of Valrec), Samar Nawaz, Rez Jamal,
Wayne Lee, Micro Cordeiro, Darren Ralph and Sobia Iqbal(VALREC),
Steve Mason (CCBC – Education), Jackie Garland (CCBC- Education ), Judith Morgans
(Social Services, CCBC) on behalf of Adrian Williams and Catrin Lotwick (CCBC – Policy
Unit)
Agenda
Item
1. Apologies:- Phil Evans, Nigel Barnett, Bleddyn Hopkins, Adrian
Williams, Liz Lucas, Mark S Williams, Mark Jennings.
2. Minutes of the last meeting & matters arising:
It was noted that Heads of Service had been invited to the
meeting, but several apologies had been received.
Action By
/ Date
The Case Review Panel Terms of Reference were circulated
and it was agreed that members come back with any
comments. If these are agreed, future meeting dates would be
set in order that the minutes of the Panel could be reported to
the MAF.
ALL
3. Gwent Police CCBC Monitoring of Racial / Religious & Hate
Crime Data:
1. Data was circulated for hate crimes. It was reported that
numbers were low and that ‘hot spots’ may only refer to
2 incidents and not necessarily 10’s or 20’s as expected.
There appears to be more reported incidents in Upper
Rhymney Valley. Data sets would supply more
information.
VALREC collect other data e.g. school bullying etc. and the
location of those incidents. They also have access to ethnic
minority information and could compare with the Police data.
Ron Davies said that this data appeared to be contradictory to
VALREC’s as their most reported incidents were in the St
Martin’s Ward and not in the Darran Valley (which has the lowest
number of ethnic minorities). It may be that the same victim is
reporting on a regular basis and that also numbers are relatively
low. There may be a need to focus on individuals and not
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communities.
It was also noted that over 2,500 people had voted for the BNP in
the European Elections on the 4th of June which may be another
indicator of racial unrest within the County Borough.
Action – It was agreed that it may be feasible that under
‘restorative justice’, supporters / perpetrators of racial incidents
should interact with victims and families in order to prevent a
reoccurrence.
It was noted that there is a reluctance to report racial crime and
only 20% of cases are reported.
Many racial incidents are carried out when individuals are
working in the late night refreshment sector. VALREC should be
informed of these but many individuals do not want to give a
statement to the Police for fear of recrimination.
Action –Case Review Panel could identify numbers and ‘hot
spots’, profiling of victims and offenders and identify any
preventative measures.
It was mentioned that good work was currently being done across
many agencies but that it wasn’t all being ‘joined up’.
Action – Each attendee to pick up relevant work and report back
to the next meeting.
All
4. VALREC presentations
(Copy of VALREC Discussion Paper circulated).
1. Ron Davies (Director of Valrec) gave a short introduction
on the work of VALREC and explained that it is a non profit
making, registered charity with over 400 members and 15
full time professional staff. It has an elected Board and all
meetings are open to the public. He introduced a number
of staff from the organisation and explained that they
would be giving a short presentation on their work.
The organisation would focus its work on individuals as it
is recognised that there appears to be no BME
communities, as such in the county borough .
There is also a need for Police and other statutory
agencies to have far greater engagement and
consultation.
A presentation was given by Wayne Lee on Increasing BME
Employment and Tackling BME Economic Inactivity.
A presentation was given by Samar Nawaz (Diversity Initiatives
Officer) on her work with schools and young people.
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During discussion it was agreed that there seemed to be very
little support to 18 –21 year olds and also over 25 year olds.
Action – Write to probation services to see what support is
provided for over 25’s or if there is some form of directory of
services to ‘sign’ people to.
A presentation was given by Rez Jamal on the new project ‘A
Voice in the Valleys’ which is designed to strengthen the capacity
of people and communities across 5 boroughs (Bridgend,
Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Torfaen)
and to access their equalities and human rights entitlements.
A presentation was given by Micro Cordeiro on working with
ethnic minority young people.
It was agreed that good work is being done by VALREC and
members could consider how it could be communicated more
widely within their organisations. There is a real opportunity for
this Forum to identify a number of key targets from the Action
Plan – to give the Forum a clarity of purpose.
JB/HR/RD
Action – Review draft charter and bring back to next meeting.
5. Prevent Strategy
A Powerpoint presentation on the ‘Prevent Strategy’ was given by
Superintendent Jon Burley. He explained the responsibility of the
MAF in the Strategy – the Plan is proportioned to risk and risk
can be sources of hate. The Plan will sit within the MAF – Details
have yet to be agreed on how it will be resourced and
commissioned.
6. MAF Charter (Terms of Reference) – Noted. Any comments to
be brought to the next meeting.
7. MAF Draft Action Plan – Noted. Any comments to be brought to
the next meeting.
8. Verbal update from any Forum Member on any issues, or
projects, which have been completed (since the last
meeting), undertaken, or proposed.
No further updates reported.
9. A.O.B. None.
10. Date of next meeting. See below
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be at 2.00pm in the Ebbw Room, Penallta House, Tredomen Park,
CF82 7PG (Please follow the signs for visitors car parking – except council officers who
should park in the staff parking spaces)
Wednesday 8 th July 2009
Ebbw Room (First Floor)
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