Safer Suffolk Terms of Reference

Introduction

The Safer Suffolk Partnership Board is the strategic partnership responsible for working together to deliver the safety outcomes within Suffolk Strategic Partnership Community Strategy and the relevant Local Area Agreement Targets. It also is the County wide steering group for the locality Community Safety Partnerships.

It is intended that the SSPB will eventually encompass the responsibilities of the Drug and Alcohol Action Board at which time this Terms of Reference will be amended to reflect these new responsibilities.

Specific functions

To be responsible for delivery of safer LAA indicators, and outcomes from Transforming Suffolk and for approving and monitoring the action plans developed to do this which must be SMART and reflect needs of different localities with a named lead partner for each action or activity.
To be responsible for the use of all delegated financial resources and identifying any potential to pool or align resources.
To manage and support the delivery of LAA outcomes and targets including taking an overview of current spend against LAA outcomes and target and identify where this could be spent more effectively or where additional resources are needed to achieve the outcomes.
To directly commission work where appropriate to deliver LAA2 outcomes and targets.
To be outcome focussed and be responsible for managing the performance against allocated LAA targets and indicators and for addressing areas of poor performance with activity leads and lead organisations.
Understand and articulate the partnership contribution towards LAA targets managed by other Delivery Partnership and cross cutting issues from Transforming Suffolk.
To ensure that the work of partners including service providers is actively coordinated and supported across the County avoiding duplication, ensuring excellence and delivering value for money.
To ensure that Locality Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) work in accordance with guidance from national Government and the Office for the East of England.
To support the delivery of the CSP Community Safety Plans
To be responsible for monitoring the National Indicators in respect of Safety and to monitor performance against the APACS (Assessment of Policing and Community Safety) performance Indicators.
To receive performance reports from the CSPs and their respective commissioned services through agreed reporting mechanisms both to the Board and to partnership management structures.
To ensure that partner agencies share information at the appropriate level of seniority, so that related strategies, policies and operations of individual agencies are joined up.
Work in collaboration with other Delivery Partnerships as required.
Undertake work on behalf of the SSP as required.

Membership and chair

Members of the SSPB should be of a sufficiently senior level within their own organisations to make relevant decisions on behalf of their organisation, partnership or interest group where appropriate or to be able to refer these decisions to their respective management structures to ensure prompt decisions can be made.

Core membership of the Delivery Partnership should be from the following table Members are there to represent their organisation or partnership, not to put forward personal views or opinions. Members are also responsible for feeding back information to the partnership or organisation they represent.

It is acknowledged that on some occasions members may have to refer a decision back to their organisation before a final commitment can be made.

SCC Portfolio Holder for Community Safety
Chair of DAAT
ACC Suffolk Constabulary
Head of Suffolk Youth Offending Service
Chair of Western CSP plus representatives from Forest Heath and Mid Suffolk
Chair of Babergh CSP
Chair of Ipswich CSP
Chair of Waveney CSP
Chair of Suffolk Coastal CSP
Deputy Director Public Health, Suffolk PCT
Great Yarmouth & Waveney PCT
Director of Fire and Rescue
SCC Head of Trading Standards
2 No Voluntary Sector Representatives
Chair of Police Authority
Head of Suffolk Probation
Chair of Suffolk Criminal Justice Board
Ambulance Trust

Individuals should be nominated to the SSPB by the organisations listed in the above table. The Chair of the SSPB will be formally elected by the standing Board members, and be responsible for making all approaches for membership nominations.

If a board member cannot attend then they must nominate an appropriate person to take their place. This is to be agreed with the Chair. If members miss four consecutive meetings then the Board may consider requesting that the organisation or partnership provide another representative.

An individual may stand down from the board at any time but their respective organisation must nominate a replacement.

The Chair and Vice Chair are nominated and elected by the board members.

The chair should be chair for a period of three years. The Vice Chair can be any member nominated by the board and will remain Vice Chair for not longer than three years.

Community safety agreement

In 2007 a review of the Crime and Disorder Act called “Delivering Safer Communities” put forward recommendations for change.

Significantly in a two tier structure, the recommendations included the need for the County Strategy Group (the Safer Suffolk Partnership Board) to operate to a Community Safety Agreement. – This agreement is detailed in Appendix 1 and is required to be signed by all members of the SSPB.

Governance arrangement

The board will be quorate when 50% of the membership is in attendance. Decisions of the Board when quorate will be binding, should decision be made when the board is not quorate then the decisions will be agreed in principle only.

The Chair reserves the right to call exceptional meetings should the circumstances arise.

The Chair shall be responsible for the operation of the meetings and in conducting any voting. Decisions will generally be taken on the basis of consensus and agreement, however failing that a simple majority vote will be used should issues require it. Each member has a vote on the Board which should be made on behalf of the organisation or partnership that they are there to represent. (This could mean that members who are representing a partnership may vote differently to the organisation that they are employed by).

Any voting cannot compel a partner organisation to undertake an action they do not agree to, but should be persuasive upon that organisation.

Minutes and papers from all board meetings will be made available to the public. However in exceptional circumstances some elements of the papers may be withheld and would be decided by the board members.

The Board will link with the Suffolk Strategic Partnership and work with them to delivery the LAA outcomes and Transforming Suffolk.

Organisation of meetings

The Delivery Partnership will meet four times per year and meeting dates will be set at the start of the year.

The Agenda will be prepared by the Community Safety Manager in consultation with the Board members. Members will be asked for agenda items at least 10 working days before the meeting being held. All papers will be sent out at least 5 working days before the meeting date and posted on the appropriate web site.

Tabling of items will be limited and agreed by the Chair or Vice Chair in advance of the meeting.

The Board will be supported by an Executive Group of officers who will meet quarterly and take direction from the Board.

Equality and diversity

The SSDP and any group established under its auspices will strive to deliver all of its strategic aims and objectives with equality and without discrimination, recognising the diversity of the county and within national legislation. This will include following the legal duties as set out in the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, the Equality Act 2006, the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and any other relevant emerging legislation.

We value all of the different people within Suffolk and we are committed to tackling inequality and exclusion. We recognise that some people can be disadvantaged and discriminated against and we will promote action to eliminate inequalities. The partnership will promote fair and equitable services and opportunities for the people of Suffolk irrespective of their age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or disability.

The Partnership supports the following definition from the national Equalities Review in 2007: "An equal society protects and promotes equal, real freedom and substantive opportunity to live in the ways people value and would choose, so that everyone can flourish. An equal society recognises people’s different needs, situations and goals, and removes the barriers that limit what people can do and can be".

Protocol for dispute resolution

To be developed across all Delivery Partnerships

Policy for dealing with complaints

To be developed across all Delivery Partnerships

Amendments to the Terms of Reference

These terms of reference may be amended the members by consensus or by simple majority. These terms of reference will remain in effect until March 2011 when they will be replaced by new terms of reference to take into account any necessary changes.

Download

Suffolk Community Safety Agreement (28.50 KB)

Get in touch

Alan Keely
01473 265157
alan.keely@suffolk.gov.uk

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