Safer Kingston Partnership Plan 2024-2029

Community safety is a high public priority, it is about the issues that make people safe or unsafe in their communities. Everyone has the right to feel and be safe, whether at home, at work or in education or enjoying the many things our borough has to offer. It determines how people see their neighbourhood, helps to reduce fear of crime and is essential to improving peoples quality of life. Local prosperity is also driven by a feeling of safety and reinforces the boroughs reputation as a place to invest, supporting economic regeneration as businesses are supported to thrive in safe and secure places.

We are proud that the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames continues to be a safe and inclusive borough. We are pleased to welcome you to our new Safer Kingston Partnership Plan which sets out how agencies will work together to keep Kingston safe and achieve our shared vision:

Our borough is a safe and healthy place where communities and businesses thrive and where residents, students and visitors feel safe and welcomed.

Together with our communities, we all have a part to play in achieving this vision, where crime and antisocial behaviour remains low, people feel safe and supported and perceptions of crime and safety better reflect reality. However, with some crime types we will aim to increase the number of people reporting to us, particularly where victims have told us they do not always feel confident to do this. By increasing reporting, we will be able to offer appropriate support to victims, reduce repeat victimisation, bring more perpetrators to justice and reduce reoffending.

By working together and improving the services we provide we can really make a difference.

Who are we and what do we do?

The Safer Kingston Partnership (SKP) is the local community safety partnership, which is mandated under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It brings partner agencies (responsible authorities) together to coordinate community safety activity at a strategic level and formulate and deliver strategies to tackle crime and disorder, substance misuse, prevent and reduce serious violence and reduce reoffending in their area. The partnership approach is built on the premise that no single agency can deal with, or be responsible for dealing with, complex community safety issues, and that these issues can be addressed more effectively and efficiently through working in partnership. The ‘responsible authorities’ are:

• Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK) Council.
• Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Kingston.
• London Fire Brigade (LFB).
• Probation Service (PS).
• South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Collectively we work with a wide range of partner agencies, local businesses, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations and the local community to keep the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames one of the safest London boroughs. We have strong buy-in from partners across all sectors and we ensure that we make the most of each and every opportunity that comes our way.

What are our Statutory responsibilities?

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and subsequent legislation place statutory responsibilities on Community Safety Partnerships to:

1. Set up a strategic group to direct the work of the ‘responsible authorities
2. Engage and consult with the community about their priorities and experiences
3. Set up protocols and systems for sharing information
4. Share data and intelligence and produce an annual strategic assessment (SA) and a serious violence strategic needs assessmentto inform local priorities
5. Hold the local responsibility for the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty
6. To set out a partnership plan to:
   • Reduce crime and disorder (including anti-social and other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment)
   • Combat the misuse of drugs, alcohol and other substances
   • Reduce re-offending
   • Prevent and reduce serious violence
7. Commission domestic abuse homicide reviews

There is a mutual duty for the Safer Kingston Partnership and the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to cooperate with each other and have due regard to the police and crime objectives set out in London’s Police and Crime Plan.