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Resolved: subject to the above observations to – (i) acknowledge the Community Safety Partnership’s performance and statistical report (Appendix 1) for the period April 2024 to March 2025; (ii) support the Community Safety Partnership’s focus of activity for the 2025 to 2026 reporting year as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report; and (iii) recommend that a request be made via the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group for a report on the ‘Build’ element of the ‘Clear-Hold-Build Programme’ be presented to the Committee for examination in due course.
Resolved: subject to the above observations and the answers provided during the discussion - (i) to acknowledge North Wales Economic Ambition Board’s activities and performance during Quarter 4 of 2024/25 (Appendix I); and (ii) acknowledging the obstacles faced with progressing certain projects, to endorse the Board’s overall performance and achievements during the 2024/25 reporting year as detailed in its Annual Report (Appendix II).
Resolved: to defer a discussion on its contents until a future meeting.
Resolved: to confirm its programme of future work as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jeanette Chamberlain-Jones and Merfyn Parry.
No interests of a personal, or a personal and prejudicial nature, in any of the Committee’s business were declared.
No items of an urgent nature had been drawn to the Chair’s attention prior to the commencement of the meeting.
The minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 10 July 2025 were submitted. The Committee: Resolved: that the minutes of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 10 July 2025 be approved as a true and accurate record of the proceedings.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
Resolved: subject to the above observations to – (i) acknowledge the Community Safety Partnership’s performance and statistical report (Appendix 1) for the period April 2024 to March 2025; (ii) support the Community Safety Partnership’s focus of activity for the 2025 to 2026 reporting year as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report; and (iii) recommend that a request be made via the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group for a report on the ‘Build’ element of the ‘Clear-Hold-Build Programme’ be presented to the Committee for examination in due course.
The Chair welcomed the Lead Member along with Officers and Superintendent Lee Boycott from North Wales Police to the meeting. The Lead Member for Housing and Communities, introduced the report (previously circulated) and explained that the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) was a statutory body and as such was required to report to Scrutiny on at least an annual basis. The Lead Member extended his gratitude to the Community Safety Partnership’s Manager, for the production of the report as well as being so attentive to the Partnership’s objectives. The Lead Member also welcomed Inspector, Lee Boycott from North Wales Police to the meeting. The Lead Member advised the Committee that the report circulated was a statutory report and stressed the importance of the Partnership along with the significance and benefits of all partners working together. Several meetings took place throughout the year with all partners invited. The Lead Member sought the feedback and comments for the priorities detailed in the report. It was noted the data included in the papers was easier to digest and make comparisons as they were full years following the Covid-19 and times of lockdown. Members were informed the data had been collected and presented over the 3 years in the same way. Members were guided to the data that was presented in appendix 1 to the report. The Lead Member suggested any questions on the data be resolved before the Officers continued through the report. The Chair thanked the Lead Member for his introduction and opened the debate for questions on the data provided in the papers. Members noted the increasing rate of reoffending in adults and enquired whether any trends had been identified and what agencies or third parties were being used to help reduce the numbers. In response the Lead Member reminded members a few years prior the number of youth reoffending was increasing whilst adult reoffending was stable. In addition, the Community Safety Manager stated a great deal of effort had been put into prevention specifically around young people and preventing the exploitation of young people also. Funding into this area of work had been received from the Home Office, it was no surprise to officers the rate of youth reoffending had dropped. The figures reflected the work and effort that had been undertaken in this area. Adult reoffending was something that the probation service and North Wales Police were involved with. Superintendent Lee Boycott also noted the increase, he felt there were several aspects that may have contributed to this. It included early release from prisons. When an offender was released early there was conditions. If any of those conditions were breached that would be classed as a reoffending offence. Also, it was dependant on the type of reoffending, in certain cases conditions were breached which resulted in a further arrest and statistic in the reoffending rate. In his opinion North Wales Police had a good relationship with the Probation Service, monthly discussions took place to identify and look at offenders who may potentially reoffend. The Corporate Director: Communities added that the authority worked closely with the Probation Service at a strategic and operational level. Well established relationships had been formed. Close working also took place between officers and the Youth Justice Service (YJS) across Conwy and Denbighshire. It was stressed that close strong relationships existed with a number of services such as adult services and homelessness, all of whom were invited to discussions when looking at offenders and the aim to reduce the potential of them reoffending. Members were encouraged to hear of the number of services on offer to support individuals and reduce the adult reoffending statistic. Concern was raised on the slight increase on the number of stalking and harassment incidents. Members asked whether there was enough funding and support in this area. The Community Safety Manager highlighted that a great deal of time and investment had been provided by a number of agencies on awareness raising of online crime, stalking and harassment. The figures had increased due to the increase in confidence from the public to report any concerns of stalking or harassment online. It was one of the CSP’s priorities, and as a result a lot of information had been made available for individuals to know who and how to report. There were school programmes where visits to schools were undertaken to explain the severity of such cases and educate young people. The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) was responsible for the control of funds in this area. The Superintendent endorsed the CSP’s Manager’s views and stated that additional training and guidance had been provided to officers. He also felt that an increase in reporting such crimes had contributed to the increase in the statistics. The Police took very seriously all the cases and the safeguarding of the victims. In relation to the concerns on e-bikes and scooters the Superintendent confirmed the use of such motorised vehicles had increased over recent years. He informed the Committee that about two months ago Councillor Barry Mellor had approached the Police with several reports and incidents of concern in the Rhyl area. Members heard the Police conducted some research to see how other areas across the UK work were dealing with such incidents of anti-social behaviour. The force had found that neighbourhood policing teams were being issued with a spray to seize bikes and scooters. If a bike/scooter user was warned for his/her behaviour the vehicle would be tagged with the smart water spray and if the individual was apprehended again for a similar incident the vehicle would be seized. The scheme had recently started in Rhyl. Media reports on the scheme both on the news and radio to help promote the scheme had been arranged. The first week of the scheme had seen the seizure of 8 bikes. The message the force wanted to communicate was one of ‘if you ride e-bikes or scooters illegally they would be stopped and seized’. The law clearly stated that you cannot legally ride an e-bike on a pedestrian footpath or on the highway, under the current scheme any seized vehicles would not be returned. It was also stressed officers would prosecute those committing road traffic offences. It was hoped by next summer the message would have reached the community and surrounding areas. The Community Safety Manager guided Members through appendix 3 which provided details of the funding sources for the CSP. The partnership received no direct grant funding, some funding was provided from the Police and Crime Commissioner for delivering specific projects, with the occasional small pot of funding being made available. Members stressed the importance of the partnership working and the need for funding for it to continue. The Chair asked for further information on the illegal drug problem in the County. In response the Superintendent stated the ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ programme in west Rhyl had helped identify some key areas of concerns especially a drug problem relating to heroin and cocaine. From that information the Police were able to map from where the drugs originated. Several operations took place with a number of arrests and searches. He stressed the force were aware of county lines and the operations that took place in Rhyl, it was stressed the force were now in a far better, more informed position than before the Clear, Hold, Build programme. As a result of the ‘Clear’ element of the programme a 14% drop in crime in Rhyl had been recorded. It was also pleasing that the 14% reduction in crime rates in Rhyl had not resulted in an increase in crime levels elsewhere in the local area. Work to identify the drug problem in Rhyl continued with work with the victim also taking place. All victims were offered support from the Victim Support Help Centre and had a choice of whether or not to access the services on offer. The team at the Centre were committed to supporting victims. The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Manager briefly went through the remainder of the report and went on to explain the highlights. Three priorities were highlighted when discussing the overall Community Safety Partnership Activity Performance summary. Last year the partnership was successful in gaining £101k funding for youth prevention projects with a further £74k this year. The funding was crucial for intervention work and the prevention of offending with youths. Promotion of the ‘We don’t buy crime’ North Wales Police initiative and the and the ‘Don’t Steal My Future’ programme continued. The Team continued to promote the partnership, and prevention being the vital element to reducing crime. Events were organised by the CSP and its partners throughout the year in order to maintain engagement. These were advertised widely through social media. In addition, specific events that focussed on issues such as modern-slavery, anti-terrorism, White Ribbon Day to raise awareness of Domestic Abuse to the communities were also held and advertised widely. Crime prevention advice was also offered to contribute and support these campaigns. Members heard that with regards to youth reoffending a collective approach was adopted to share information amongst the numerous groups and services that met on a regular basis. The Serious and Organised Crime Group, a Local Authority led group met on a regular basis to share knowledge, intelligence and support services to address concerns in an area of work which had grown in recent years. Members heard that CSP officers attended and supported numerous meetings throughout the year in the hope to make a real impact on the community. Information was provided for members on the Yellow Card initiative that was operated by the YJS with a view to managing and educating young people on the effects of anti-social behaviour and prevent them from having criminal records from the outset. It was stressed to the Committee a lot of time and resources was being targeted in schools in the hope of preventing youth offending by offering the knowledge and support at the earliest opportunity. Members were reminded that the Clear, Hold, Build programme was a Home Office backed initiative to reduce organised crime, improve the local environment and consequently reduce crime levels. As a result of this project lots of resources had been put into the west end of Rhyl which included various programmes to support residents to build their vision of the community they wanted to live in, supporting social media messaging of community events and measures taken to reduce anti-social behaviour in the west of Rhyl. The CSP team had been included from the start. The CCTV partnership had been successful. The new monitoring contract with Conwy was proving beneficial to the CSP team and to North Wales Police as they covered both local authorities and they could easily access the footage. The Police and Crime Commissioner was holding a review of CCTV across the region, so officers were awaiting the results of that review, officers welcomed the review. The Chair thanked the CSP Manager and her team for the dedication to making communities a safer for all. The discussion was then opened for questions. In response to members’ questions the Lead Members and officers: • advised that the decision to ban mobile phones on school property was a decision for each individual school to make. There had been discussion and debate on this subject and as a local authority support was provided for school leadership teams and their governing bodies to make an informed decision. • Reminded members the CCTV partnership was owned by four Town Councils- Rhyl, Prestatyn, Rhuddlan and Denbigh. They funded the partnership and were the decision makers. The contract for the monitoring had recently been awarded to Conwy. New cameras installed had the ability to pan and zoom in if required to do so. The ‘Safer Streets’ scheme had provided the funding for the new cameras and in addition for two deployable cameras. To request a deployment of one of the cameras a request to the CCTV Officer was required. Further evidence would be required to authorise the use of those cameras. The Lead Member suggested it was something the Member Area Groups (MAGs) could discuss and if agreed a request be made. Each of the town councils had representatives who served on the CCTV Board. • Informed Members the CCTV Board received a list of cameras not currently functioning. The list was monitored by officers, a contract was in place for repair and replacement. Members were encouraged to contact the Lead Member with any concerns over specific cameras so that he would check the list and complete and necessary actions required. • the contribution levels requested from the Town Councils and the Police and Crime Commissioner for the CCTV Partnership had not increased since 2017. The Board had taken the decision to impose an increase in line with inflation. Consequently, the current budget for the monitoring and repair of cameras was sufficient. • The Lead Member agreed to share the findings of the Police and Crime Commissioners review of CCTV with all MAGs when available. • Cheshire West and Chester had cooperated well with the handover of the monitoring contract to Conwy • with respect to response times, North Wales Police monitor them. The new CCTV cameras and monitoring contract would enable response times to be quicker. Communication with Conwy monitoring team was more enhanced which enabled a fast response to incidents. The Corporate Director: Governance and Business, provided some further information on the Clear, Hold, Build programme. The aim of the programme was to get the public sector and other agencies to effectively address the problem of serious organised crime. It was a collective approach and required all partners’ engagement and contributions. He offered his gratitude to the work of the North Wales Police in the ‘Clear and Hold’ phase of the programme. The work carried out made a significant impact on the community and not only did it help stop crime but provided further confidence that work was being done to tackle the root issues. It was the responsibility of the Local Authority to coordinate the ‘Build’ phase and rebuild and establish links and support in the community. Workshops had taken place in May and July 2025 with public and voluntary sector agencies. These workshops mapped out the involvement of the agencies and any areas that needed further work. The workshops allowed relationships to form between the public sector and third-party agencies. The workshops were well received. Following the workshops an action plan was formed looking at key areas: • Health, addiction and support services • Prevention efforts in schools • Community engagement and narrative change • Coordination, intelligence and data sharing • Economic development, planning and regulation It was stressed that the objective was to have numerous groups and organisations working together to enhance the community. Members raised concerns on the perceived complexity of the ‘Build’ element of the programme and the numerous organisations involved in leading the scheme forward. The Lead Member agreed the ‘Build’ section of the programme was very complex and suggested a separate report on the ‘Build’ aspect be brought to scrutiny for discussion. Members were in agreement to complete a Scrutiny proposal form to request that the ‘Build’ section of the programme be considered as a future topic for scrutiny. Prior to bringing the discussion to a close the Chair thanked the Lead Member, North Wales Police representative and the CSP Manager for presenting the report and providing members with comprehensive answers to all the questions raised. Following an extensive and wide-ranging discussion the Committee: Resolved: subject to the above observations to – (i) acknowledge the Community Safety Partnership’s performance and statistical report (Appendix 1) for the period April 2024 to March 2025; (ii) support the Community Safety Partnership’s focus of activity for the 2025 to 2026 reporting year as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report; and (iii) recommend that a request be made via the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group for a report on the ‘Build’ element of the ‘Clear-Hold-Build Programme’ be presented to the Committee for examination in due course.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
Resolved: subject to the above observations and the answers provided during the discussion - (i) to acknowledge North Wales Economic Ambition Board’s activities and performance during Quarter 4 of 2024/25 (Appendix I); and (ii) acknowledging the obstacles faced with progressing certain projects, to endorse the Board’s overall performance and achievements during the 2024/25 reporting year as detailed in its Annual Report (Appendix II).
The Chair welcomed the Leader, Corporate Director: Economy and Environment and representatives from the Ambition North Wales Board to the meeting. The Leader, Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tackling Deprivation introduced the report (previously circulated) and explained that this was an annual report brought before the Committee. The deal was important for the region and aimed to generate investment of over £1billion across North Wales, generate over 4,200 new jobs and increase Gross Value Added (GVA) in the region by £2.4 billion. Details of the various projects had been included in the report, he stated these projects were all large and very complex and took time to flourish and be delivered. It was important that more projects moved forward to the delivery stage to keep momentum of development in the region. The Digital Programme Manager along with the Land and Property Programme Manager gave a PowerPoint presentation which illustrated all the work that the Ambition Board had conducted to date. This presentation emphasised that the aim of Ambition North Wales (AMB) was to realise a confident and cohesive region by focussing on improving economic, social and environmental factors across North Wales. Projects that the Board had facilitated focussed on several varied themes. There were five programme areas within the Growth Deal. The year 2024/25 had been categorised as a business case approval, a key stage for the programmes prior to delivery. Members were provided with further detail of each project during the presentation. By the end of the 2024/25 financial year four projects were in the delivery stage, four projects approved moving towards delivery and ten which were in the production of business cases stage. Details were also provided of the future programme of work for the first quarter of 2025/26. The meeting opened to members and questions around the mobile survey kits. Members were interested to know more about the project including when any results would be available. In response the representatives confirmed the area had emerged as an area of interest over the last 12 months due to reports from Ofcom suggesting that information on mobile coverage at a local level were not always accurate. As a result of this work the team were now able to independently assess mobile coverage in specific areas and could access real-time data on coverage as and when required. Members asked questions surrounding the connecting the Last few % project and any definite timescales attached to that project. In rural areas in Denbighshire there were residents that were experiencing connection issues. Members asked if there was a programme of work planned to connect properties to full fibre broadband. In response members heard the Last few % project intended to bring a minimum of superfast broadband to residents. There had been two interventions around residential and business broadband and the full fibre project which provided connectivity to premises across the region. The project had been complex, looking at UK Government, Welsh Government and commercial investment. At the start of this year the project had been under review and a decision was taken to withdraw the Last Few % Project and the Full fibre project. They would stay under review for potential future projects. Currently the UK Government was in discussions with Openreach to deliver full fibre under the Project Gigabit initiative to improve connectivity. This project would exceed the original intentions of the Ambition North Wales Last Few % project. Welsh Government (WG) was also in the process of procuring another programme of work, funded through the reinvestment of BT profits, with the objective of improving connectivity across Wales. Close working and communication with Openreach continued to ensure support and completion of projects. It was stressed these projects were in their infancy stages. In addition, Members raised concern that the number of jobs created to date was extremely low. In response Members heard the delivery of new jobs would increase as projects moved through the delivery stages to completion. It was anticipated that from 2027 there would be a considerable increase in job creation. If the strategic objectives were not met, there was clawback provisions in the funding agreements in place. However, they tended to be more focussed on the private sector. Any projects that did not reach completion in theory the funding would be returned to the Treasury. The Regional Skills Partnership attended schools to promote potential skills and career pathways. It was felt extremely important to show young individuals different options. Members heard there was a number of training opportunities on offer to hopefully upskill, retain and attract skilled and educated young people to North Wales. Links with schools and colleges was vital and would continue as more projects progressed. The Growth Deal would hopefully look at gaps in the region to develop and increase development and opportunities in those areas. Members heard that the Economic Ambition Board now formed part of the Corporate Joint Committee (CJC) for North Wales. It was still accountable and had to produce reports to both the UK and Welsh Governments. The Membership of the CJC’s Economic Ambition Board sub-committee remained the same members as those for the former North Wales Economic Ambition Board (NWEAB) made up of the 6 Local Authorities, 2 colleges, 2 Universities, national park representative along with public and private sector representatives. The membership allowed an integrated approach to deliver projects and employment across the region. The CJC was a legal entity, established under the Local Government Act. It was accountable to the six Local Authorities. The last budget that was approved was approximately £2.8m. Members raised questions surrounding the former North Wales Hospital site. Officers stressed the project had been challenging. Progress was being made, regular meetings with Jones Brothers continued and works on site had commenced. In the coming months more visual changes and developments to the site would be seen. The Leader confirmed that the full business case had been approved along with planning permission granted. Safeguarding work would be conducted to try and maintain and protect as much of the original buildings, including the Chapel building, as possible. It was thought the building and roof was in a fairly robust and reasonable structural condition. The Chair thanked the Leader, officers, and Ambition North Wales Programme Managers for attending the meeting to present the report and for answering members’ questions on their specialist areas. The Committee: Resolved: subject to the above observations and the answers provided during the discussion - (i) to acknowledge North Wales Economic Ambition Board’s activities and performance during Quarter 4 of 2024/25 (Appendix I); and (ii) acknowledging the obstacles faced with progressing certain projects, to endorse the Board’s overall performance and achievements during the 2024/25 reporting year as detailed in its Annual Report (Appendix II).
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
Resolved: to defer a discussion on its contents until a future meeting.
Due to time constraints, and the non-urgent need to consider this report, the Committee: Resolved: to defer a discussion on its contents until a future meeting.
Y penderfyniad fel y'i cofnodwyd
Resolved: to confirm its programme of future work as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.
The Scrutiny The Scrutiny Co-ordinator introduced the report and its appendices (previously circulated), which sought the Committee to review its programme of future work. The next meeting of the Partnerships Scrutiny Committee was to be held on the 23rd October 2025. It currently had one agenda item on ‘Communication and support to community and Voluntary organisations within Denbighshire’. The Chief Officer of Denbighshire Voluntary Services Council (DVSC) had confirmed his willingness to attend the meeting for the discussion on this item. The item deferred from the current meeting, the North Wales Regional Partnership Board Annual Report 2024/25, would be rescheduled for the December meeting. A proposal form to receive a report on the ‘Clear, Hold and Build’, project would be presented to the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs Group (SCVCG) meeting scheduled for Monday 15th September 2025. Members were reminded that several information reports had been circulated to them earlier in the week in the ‘Information Brief’ document. If any of the information contained in these reports were a cause of concern to them, they should complete a Member Proposal Form (Appendix2) seeking the SCVCG to refer the matter to a Scrutiny Committee. The Committee: Resolved: to confirm its programme of future work as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.
None. Meeting concluded at 1.10pm.
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