NCSP brochure 11/13/05 4:22 pm Page A

HM Government

National
Community
Safety Plan
2006-2009
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A Government plan for community safety led by the Home Office.

Published by the Community Safety and Local Government Unit,

Home Office.
Crown copyright 2005.

The Community Safety and Local Government Unit is part of the

Home Office’s Crime Reduction and Community Safety Group.

The Government Departments contributing to the National

Community Safety Plan are:

Department for Constitutional Affairs

Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Education and Skills
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department of Health
Department of Trade and Industry
Department for Transport
Department for Work and Pensions
HM Treasury
Home Office
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

The National Community Safety Plan complements the

Government’s Together We Can Action Plan for civil renewal.
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Contents

Foreword
Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP, Minister of State 2

Introduction 4

Priorities 6

Developing the delivery framework 15

The role of key partners:

The Police 16
Local authorities 17
Local Strategic Partnerships 18
Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships 18
Drug Action Teams 19
Primary Care Trusts 20
Children’s trusts 21
Jobcentre Plus 22
Local Criminal Justice Boards 22
The Fire and Rescue Service 23

How we will take this plan forward 25

Annex A: The National Policing Plan 2006-2009 26

NCSP contacts 34

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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
Foreword by Hazel Blears
Britain is a more prosperous, better educated and healthier
country than ever before. But this progress has also been
accompanied by a loosening of traditional ties and less respect
within and between communities. Like other countries in the
developed world, we face new threats and are confronted by
the challenges of tackling crime, anti-social behaviour, drug
addiction and terrorism.
The Government has already done much to tackle these issues,
as we set out in the pages which follow. We are making a
difference to how people feel about the areas in which they live.
But we have to do more. Crime has fallen by 35% since 1997
and the fear of crime is falling too. But they both remain too
high. Too many of our neighbourhoods and the lives of too
many of our citizens and their businesses are blighted by the
anti-social behaviour of a minority, while the events of July
2005 have demonstrated all too clearly that the threat of
terrorism has not abated.
If we are to make our communities still safer, everyone – from
the heart of national government, through regional and local
partners, right through to neighbourhoods and the people who
live in them – must play their part. We need to create a new
relationship between public services and the communities they
serve which will encourage accountability, trust and co-
operation – a mutual respect. And we need to work together to
tackle extremism and racism in all its forms.
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This Plan will help us do that. It sets out central government’s
community safety priorities for the next three years as an aid
to better local delivery. It defines our minimum expectations
of each of the key partners involved and draws together the
contributions that each can make, emphasising the very
broadly-based nature of successful community safety
work. We will support it by an action plan to take forward
the cross-Government ‘Respect’ agenda, and a new
Strategy to Reduce Re-offending, and will publish both
shortly.
The National Community Safety Plan is not limited to the work
of the police. Crucial as their role is, they alone cannot provide
for all our safety and security. That is why, shortly after taking
office, we legislated to introduce Crime and Disorder Reduction
Partnerships across England and Wales. We brought together,
for the first time ever, all the chief players at local level – the
police, police authorities, local government, primary care trusts,
children’s trusts, fire services and other public sector bodies –
to prevent and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.
Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act laid a responsibility
on local government to do everything it reasonably could to
prevent crime and disorder as it exercised all its functions.
We are committed to delivering similar outcomes at central
government level. That is why Government departments are
committing themselves here for the first time to the concept of
a National Community Safety Plan.
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We recognise that strong local government and active voluntary

and community groups make a vital contribution to our quality
of life, providing a reinvigorated civic purpose and addressing
deep-rooted social needs, disadvantage, discrimination and
exclusion. They too have a crucial role to play in keeping the
community safe.

But it is communities themselves which lie at the heart of the

Plan. We need them to identify the community safety priorities
for their neighbourhoods, work with the key agencies at local
level to make sure they are tackled responsibly and effectively
and then hold them to account for what they have promised to
do. We must remember that the public will only feel safe if they
have confidence that the agencies on whom they rely are
responsive to their concerns and are providing high quality
services to them.

This Plan is the first of its kind and we welcome views on what
it contains. We shall examine and refine it over the next 12
months, discuss it with our partners and adjust its content in
the light of the comments we receive. We shall then produce a
revised version next year.

It represents a new way of working on community safety which

is nothing short of major cultural change. It will require a
deeper and more mature relationship than we have ever
enjoyed before, but only by working together can we make life
better for us all.

We have already achieved much in partnership to improve the

quality and safety of people’s lives. This Plan gives all of us the
opportunity to do more.

Rt Hon Hazel Blears MP

Minister of State
Home Office
November 2005

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Introduction
1. We have made significant progress since this Government
came to office:

■ Crime1 has fallen by 35% since 1997 and is at its lowest in

a generation.

■ Drug-related crime is going down. Class A drug use by

young people is stable and the use of other illegal drugs
has fallen. Cannabis use is down by 16% among 16-24
year olds in 2004-05 compared to 1998.

■ Since 1998 we have created 80,000 more drug treatment

places meaning that most drug users can get into
treatment in less than three weeks.

■ The number of police officers in England and Wales has

reached a record 141,230, and the police are employing an
additional 6,300 community support officers. There are
over 12,000 special constables and a large body of non-
uniformed volunteers.

■ We have established the Security Industry Authority which

has issued over 48,000 licences to people working in the
private security industry.

■ Partnerships have targeted over 10,000 prolific offenders,

to ensure their efforts are focussed on those most
responsible for crime in their own locality, as well as
youngsters on the point of offending.

■ We have reformed the licensing of alcohol, entertainment

and late night refreshment to give local people a more
effective voice in licensing decisions, and the police and
others stronger powers to control problem premises.

■ The TOGETHER campaign has ensured that anti-social

behaviour is dealt with swiftly and effectively by local
services, leading to:
➤ over 5,500 Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs);
➤ over 150 crack house closure orders; and
➤ over 400 dispersal orders.

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Household crime against adults, as measured by the British Crime Survey

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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
■ We have created over 500 neighbourhood warden
schemes, with over 3,000 wardens. Crime in warden
areas fell by 28% in an 18 month period during 2003 and
2004.
■ Offenders under supervision in the community deliver
five million hours of unpaid work to improve the
environment.
■ The Living Spaces scheme has given people the
opportunity to transform open spaces in their
neighbourhood with over 600 projects finished.
Satisfaction with parks and open spaces has risen from
62% in 2000-01 to 71% in 2003-04.
■ We have empowered practitioners at the sharp end to
take action against anti-social behaviour, and against
litter, graffiti, fly posting, fly tipping and abandoned
vehicles.
■ The Decent Homes Programme supports good estate
and housing management. Many schemes have included
security improvements, such as re-modelling estates to
reduce crime.
■ Deaths and serious injuries in road accidents are 28%
below the 1994-98 level, and child deaths and serious
injuries in road accidents are 43% lower.
■ We are introducing Sure Start Children’s Centres to
bring together care and education, health services,
family support, and affordable childcare.
■ We are committed to ensuring that by 2010, all schools
will provide access to a range of extended services for
children, young people and families.
■ We have brought in new powers to achieve the biggest
overhaul of domestic violence legislation in 30 years and
published a National Delivery Plan.
■ We have created 42 Local Criminal Justice Boards
across the country, bringing together the core Criminal
Justice System agencies. 15% more offences were
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brought to justice in 2004-05 compared with 2001-02
as a result. We have also opened the flagship
Community Justice Centre in Liverpool, bringing
together agencies to tackle quality of life, crime and
anti-social behaviour issues that the community have
identified as priorities.
Underpinning all this is the Government’s ongoing
commitment, reflected in the Together We Can Action Plan, to
enable people to be more active and to empower them to
work together to improve where they live.
2. But encouraging as this is, we need a further step
change. Crime remains too high and too many people’s lives
continue to be blighted by anti-social behaviour. A reduction
in crime is also the key to attracting the business and
investment necessary for economic development. Through
the reforms in Every Child Matters: Change for Children, we
will provide more effective help for vulnerable children and
young people and so tackle future offending and anti-social
behaviour at their root. By reducing the harm caused by drug
and alcohol misuse, violence and fear, and fostering safe
communities, we improve health.
3. This Plan sets out the Government’s key priorities over
the next three years for creating the safe and secure
environment in which individuals, families and communities
can realise their potential. It also sets out our expectations of
the key public partners involved in improving community
safety. The Plan includes the Home Secretary’s priorities for
the police and thus also forms the National Policing Plan for
2006 -09.
4. The Plan mainly applies to England. It applies to Wales
where it relates to non-devolved policing issues. The Plan
does not extend to Scotland, since both policing and
community safety have been devolved to the Scottish
Executive. Nor does it apply to Northern Ireland where the
Criminal Justice Directorate of the Northern Ireland Office is
responsible for the implementation of Northern Ireland's
Community Safety Strategy launched in 2003.
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Priorities
5. The Government’s priorities for community safety over the
next three years are built around five themes:
I. MAKING COMMUNITIES STRONGER AND MORE
EFFECTIVE by enabling individuals and the wider
community to take greater responsibility for their own, and
their communities’, safety. As we tackle disadvantage and
inequalities and create sustainable, cohesive communities,
reassurance and confidence will increase. We want to
encourage and empower citizens to play their part in
building active, cohesive and sustainable communities and
to be able to exert pressure for improved performance
and greater accountability in local services. Businesses
and service providers form the back bone of any
successful community and allowing them to trade, and
their employees to work, free from the fear of crime is
essential to making communities stronger and more
effective. We want to foster a vibrant voluntary and
community sector. We want local people to connect to
organisations and groups which can act as their advocate
and exert pressure for improved performance and greater
accountability in public services. We aim to build a culture
of respect between citizens which embraces diversity, spans
generations, races and faiths and supports the vulnerable.
II. FURTHER REDUCING CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL
BEHAVIOUR so there are fewer victims of both and
people have greater confidence not only in their own safety
but in that of the communities in which they live and work.
Reducing crime will by definition make communities safer
places to live in, and reducing the fear of crime will make
people feel safer, more confident, and able to play a full
part. But it is not only crimes like burglary, robbery,
domestic violence and assault that we need to tackle. As
Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) have
discovered when they consult their local residents, the
public feel threatened by joyriders, alcohol-fuelled disorder
and noisy neighbours too. So it is as important to us to deal
with anti-social behaviour as with the traditional forms of
neighbourhood crime. We must provide high quality and
responsive services to the public, resting on the bedrock of
effective neighbourhood policing.
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III. CREATING SAFER ENVIRONMENTS in which
people can live, work and relax. We want to create places
where people like to be because they feel safe and secure
and where the neighbourhood and those who live in it are
shown respect. So we will improve living, working and
community spaces and provide public transport networks
and streets which give people the confidence to travel for
both work and pleasure.
IV. PROTECTING THE PUBLIC AND BUILDING
CONFIDENCE by countering crime wherever it occurs
from the neighbourhood right up to international level,
bringing more offences to justice, and providing high
quality and responsive services. People need both to be
safe and to feel safe. We must not only offer them
protection against organised crime, domestic extremism
and terrorism but also the assurance that we are tackling
the alcohol-fuelled violence that blights too many of our
city centres at night, and the risk of being robbed on our
streets. We need to act on the ‘hidden’ crimes of domestic
violence and rape, and the hate crime to which too many
of our citizens are still subject. The public must also have
the confidence that where crimes are committed, the
perpetrators will be brought to justice, that effective
sentences and penalties will be imposed and rigorously
enforced, and that the needs of victims and witnesses will
be a priority.
V. IMPROVING PEOPLE’S LIVES SO THEY ARE LESS
LIKELY TO COMMIT OFFENCES OR RE-OFFEND. This
Plan is about improving the lives of all our citizens. But
unless we can deal with the drug and alcohol misuse
which so often leads to criminal activity, and improve
housing outcomes and employment opportunities for ex-
offenders, we will not be able to break the vicious circle of
re-offending. We must work together to educate people
against the danger of drug and alcohol misuse, enforce
the law to protect the vulnerable, and treat those who do
misuse drugs through intervention programmes. We must
also intervene early to deter youngsters from starting to
engage in anti-social behaviour or criminal activity, and
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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
we must regenerate those neighbourhoods associated
with the social exclusion which so frequently poses a threat
to community safety. Bad behaviour and absence from
school also contribute to educational underachievement
and poor outcomes for individuals. We have introduced a
comprehensive national strategy to improve behaviour
and attendance at school which includes: national truancy
sweeps; support and sanctions for parents; more training
for staff; more learning mentors; and improved alternative
provision. Higher Standards, Better Schools For All
published on 25 October 2005 heralded further
developments in this area, such as a renewed focus on
persistent truancy, widening the use of parenting contracts
and orders, reinforcing teachers’ right to discipline, and
streamlining the exclusions process. Low crime levels will
attract more businesses, create more jobs and improve
the lives of the people who live nearby, by increasing their
employment and recreational opportunities, making them
less likely to commit offences or re-offend.
Underpinning all this, we need to deliver high quality services
which are responsive to the needs of all our communities.
Making communities stronger and
more effective
6. The Government’s key priorities for 2006-09 are to:
■ enable local people to ensure action from key service
providers to tackle acute or persistent problems of crime
and anti-social behaviour and other risks to community
safety;
■ give communities more of a say and influence by offering a
range of new options from which they can choose. These
could include neighbourhood charters, delegated budgets,
community ownership, parish arrangements and
neighbourhood management;
■ provide more opportunities for communities to help shape
their future through sustainable community strategies, local
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
development frameworks and parish plans;
■ strengthen voluntary and community sector organisations
to act as a focus for collaborative action, and improve the
long term capacity and infrastructure of voluntary and
community sector groups through programmes such as
ChangeUp and Futurebuilders;
■ increase the level of volunteering and community
engagement by 5%, particularly amongst groups at risk of
social exclusion, including implementing the Russell
Commission’s recommendations on youth action and
engagement;
■ reduce race inequalities and build community cohesion by
working with local partners to deliver the objectives of the
Government’s strategy, Improving Opportunity,
Strengthening Society, including work with local
communities on tackling extremism and maintaining
interfaith dialogue; and
■ implement a range of actions in the cross-Government
Together We Can Action Plan for community
empowerment under the themes of safety and justice,
regeneration and cohesion, citizens and democracy, and
health and sustainability.
7. Specifically in 2006-07, the Government will:
■ propose a new power to enable local people to secure a
response from the police and their partners to a
community safety issue that they believe has not been
adequately addressed;
■ support the further development of the Neighbourhood
Watch movement together with the police and other
partners;
■ support residents in community-led estate regeneration
through the Guide Neighbourhoods programme; and
■ provide a Together We Can support package for citizens
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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
strengthening their communities to help them acquire
skills and confidence, and to expand their capacity to
organise, to secure change and develop sustainable
resources beyond grant aid.
Further reducing crime and anti-social
behaviour
8. The Government’s key priorities for 2006-09 are to:
■ reduce crime by 15%, and further in high crime areas, by
2007-08. To achieve this we continue to support
improvements in local delivery by CDRPs, and we will
need to focus on individual crime types such as criminal
damage and domestic burglary. We will target the
offending behaviour of individuals who cause the most
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crime and harm through the Prolific and Other Priority
Offenders Strategy;
■ establish neighbourhood policing teams in every
community by 2008;
■ deal with violent crime through new measures to ensure
that the police and local authorities have the powers they
need to tackle violence related to guns and knives;
■ continue to treat domestic violence as a serious crime and
encourage local partnerships to develop strategies to
combat it. Continue to encourage victims, families, friends
and neighbours to report incidents of domestic violence
and sexual assault to the police and other agencies;
■ combat alcohol-related violence and disorder through the
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introduction of Alcohol Disorder Zones, Drinking Banning
Orders, Fixed Penalty Notices, conditional cautions and
tougher enforcement of licensing requirements;
■ continue the drive to tackle anti-social behaviour by
working more closely with communities to build on the
success already achieved across England and Wales;
of all crime, and ensure there is inter-departmental
co-operation at all levels of the delivery chain. Expand the
specialist domestic violence court programme to many
more areas across the country;
■ ensure that everyone in Britain has access to an effective
racist incident helpline;

■ direct around 1,000 drug-misusing offenders into ■ support the police in implementing the joint Roads
treatment each week via the Criminal Justice System by Policing Strategy to help deny criminals the use of the
2008; and roads;

■ continue to develop, evaluate and disseminate good

■ continue to work in partnership with business to tackle
practice on reducing crime and the fear of crime wherever
business-related crime problems faced by small
it occurs in the transport system through such initiatives
businesses and retailers.
as the Secure Stations Scheme and the Safer Travel on
Buses and Coaches Panel;

9. Specifically in 2006 -07, the Government will:

■ encourage police forces to adopt a model for improving
the quality and accuracy of statistics around business
■ take the Violent Crime Reduction Bill through its
crime and ensure businesses have access to key crime
remaining Parliamentary stages and introduce the powers
prevention advice in order to better protect themselves
relating to guns, knives and alcohol related violence;
and their staff from crime;

■ work with our stakeholders to continue to design out

■ continue to seize more assets from those engaged in
crime by making products more difficult to steal and
criminal conduct. Assets can be recovered from those
reducing the markets for dealing in stolen goods;
involved in benefit fraud, counterfeiting, sales of illicit
items (such as cigarettes, alcohol etc) as well as
■ as part of our new ‘Respect’ agenda, ensure that
mainstream and organised criminality; and
communities are supported and encouraged to stand up
for acceptable standards of behaviour, challenge bad
■ develop the Community Justice model to encourage the
behaviour and know what they can expect from local
adoption of problem-solving approaches and stronger
services;
community engagement within the Criminal Justice
■ launch a new service to deal with non-emergency police System to tackle anti-social behaviour and other crime
and anti-social behaviour issues in a ‘first wave’ of areas affecting quality of life.
in 2006. The service will be accessed by the public via a
triple digit number, subject to consultation, and delivered
by police forces and local authorities working in
partnership. National coverage will be achieved by 2008;

■ further develop and implement the National Delivery Plan

for domestic violence, which currently accounts for 25%

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Creating safer environments

10. The Government’s key priorities for 2006 -09 are to:

■ improve public spaces and the quality of people’s homes

and communities through the Cleaner, Safer, Greener
Communities initiative and then to support and sustain
good practice and innovation in keeping them clean, safe
and attractive;

■ reduce the supply of illegal drugs, particularly Class A

drugs, in local communities in order to protect them
against drug dealing and its consequences in their
neighbourhoods; and

■ by 2010 reduce deaths and serious injuries on Britain's

roads by 40% (50% for children) compared with the
average for 1994-98, tackling the significantly higher
incidence in disadvantaged communities.

11. Specifically in 2006 -07, the Government will:

■ ensure that appropriate policy and guidance is in place to

help local authorities to make places safer by designing
out crime in all new residential, industrial, retail and
commercial development as well as in parks, open spaces
and car parks;

■ work together in promoting Cleaner Safer Greener

Communities, demonstrating, documenting and
disseminating learning from good practice in town centre
management, residential areas, parks and open spaces;

■ promote the take up of new enforcement powers to create

safer environments, such as gating off alleyways affected
by crime and anti-social behaviour, and review the
enforcement of environmental regulations;

■ give local authorities improved powers to clean up graffiti

and fly posting, tackle litter and enforce environmental

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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
crime reduction through the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003
and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005;
■ spread the learning from the 19 areas participating in the
Tackling Violent Crime Programme to other parts of the
country with particular alcohol-fuelled or domestic
violence problems; and
■ apply an intelligence-led model of action to take out
entire drug supply networks and seize the assets that are
the lifeblood of drug dealers.
Protecting the public and building
confidence
12. The Government’s key priorities for 2006 -09 are to:
■ bring 1.25 million offences to justice by 2007-08;
■ increase victims’ and witnesses’ satisfaction with the
Criminal Justice System;
■ deliver the Government’s strategies to counter terrorism
and illegal intimidation by animal rights and other
extremists;
■ reduce the harm caused by organised crime;
■ as a contributory step to achieving the overall priority of
reducing the total number of rapes committed, increase
the number of rapes that are reported to the police and
the proportion of those that result in a conviction;
■ make children and vulnerable adults safer through
improved information sharing, employment vetting,
protection strategies and responses to abuse;
■ ensure the effective implementation of section 11 of the
Children Act 2004 which requires a wide range of
agencies including the police, local authorities, health
services, and prison and offender management services to
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
carry out their functions having regard to the need to
safeguard and promote children’s welfare;
■ legislate to bring in an offence of incitement to religious
hatred. The new offence will close the unacceptable
loophole as a result of which faith groups associated with
a single race are protected from incited hatred whereas
multi-ethnic faith groups are not; and
■ improve the enforcement of sentences and penalties of
the court.
13. Specifically in 2006 -07, the Government will:
■ implement new measures to improve protective security
arrangements for:
➤ crowded places and soft targets;
➤ the transport system;
➤ border security; and
➤ UK interests overseas;
■ introduce legislation to Parliament in the spring of 2006.
The Terrorism Bill is designed to ensure that the police,
intelligence agencies and courts have all the tools they
require to tackle terrorism and bring perpetrators to
justice;
■ relentlessly target animal rights extremists using every
lawful means, both nationally and internationally, to bring
them to justice and to protect their intended victims;
■ formally establish the Serious Organised Crime Agency,
and increase the effort directed against organised
immigration crime. Powerful new tools for them to do
their job will be provided by powers in the Serious
Organised Crime and Police Act 2005, providing new
Financial Reporting Orders, extending Serious Fraud
Office–style questioning powers in organised crime cases,
and putting Queen’s Evidence on a statutory footing;
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■ drive up performance on the enforcement of sentences

and penalties by meeting Local Criminal Justice Board
targets to improve the enforcement of fines, community
penalties, defendant attendance and asset recovery;

■ as an interim step to bringing more sexual offenders to

justice, increase the number of rapes and other sexual
offences (but excluding exposure) reported to the police
so that fewer victims suffer in silence;

■ from 1 April 2006, give victims and witnesses a statutory

right to high standards of treatment from criminal justice
agencies, spelt out in a code of practice. Criminal justice
agencies will be held to account for delivering these;

■ improve the confidence of people from black and minority

ethnic backgrounds that they will be treated fairly by the
Criminal Justice System, in particular by identifying and
tackling inequalities of treatment;

■ implement a national framework setting out guaranteed

levels of service the public can expect from police forces
and police authorities;

■ establish Local Safeguarding Children Boards to co-

ordinate and monitor the effectiveness of the work of their
member agencies to safeguard and promote the welfare
of children, including the implementation by agencies of
their duties under section 11 of the Children Act 2004;

■ increase sanction detection rates to at least 25% by

2007-08;

■ improve public understanding of the work of community

safety and criminal justice agencies; and

■ increase confidence in the Criminal Justice System by

ensuring that local agencies work effectively together in
engaging with communities and responding to their
concerns and priorities.

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14. We will also continue to work to improve protective
security arrangements in the transport system taking particular
account of the lessons learned following the London bombings
on 7 July.
Improving people’s lives so they are less
likely to commit offences or re-offend.
15. The Government’s key priorities for 2006-09 are to:
■ tackle re-offending by implementing end-to-end offender
management in the National Offender Management
Service and the Reducing Re-offending Strategy, with the
aim of reducing re-offending by 5% by 2008 and 10% by
the end of the decade;
■ reduce the proportion of young people not in education,
employment or training;
■ implement actions arising from the Green Paper on youth
to increase activities for young people and their take-up;
■ reduce drug use by young people, particularly the most
vulnerable, and reduce the harms caused by alcohol
misuse;
■ increase the participation of problem drug users in drug
treatment by 100% by 2008 and increase the year-on-year
proportion of users successfully sustaining or completing
treatment programmes;
■ implement all the recommendations of the Practitioner
Group on Behaviour and Discipline published on 21
October 2005, legislating where necessary. The
Government’s response was set out in Higher Standards,
Better Schools For All published on 25 October 2005;
■ reduce absence from school by 8% by 2008 compared to
the 2003 level of 6.83% as part of the work to drive up
attainment in schools and improve children’s and young
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
people’s life chances – the equivalent of 36,000 pupils
back in school every day.
■ scale up and strengthen the support (in the form of
information, advice and signposting) available to all
parents so they can access good quality, integrated
services when they need them;
■ provide safe, healthy, stimulating and enriching
environments for children and families at the heart of
their communities by increasing the number of Sure Start
Children’s Centres to 3,500 by 2010 and ensuring that all
pupils have access to a range of well organised, out of
hours extended services (before and after school) by that
date;
■ enhance the resources available to staff in all early years
providers to help resolve conflicts and challenging
behaviour and promote the social and emotional
development of young children; and
■ halve the number of people living in insecure temporary
accommodation by 2010.
16. Specifically in 2006-07, the Government will:
■ continue to implement the drug treatment effectiveness
strategy, launched in June 2005 by the Department of
Health and the National Treatment Agency, to improve the
quality and effectiveness of drug treatment programmes;
■ continue the Department for Education and Skills, Home
Office and Department of Health joint approach to the
development of universal, targeted and specialist services
to prevent drug harm and to ensure that all children and
young people are able to reach their full potential;
■ continue to increase the number of drug misusing
offenders entering treatment in line with the 2008 drug
treatment target;
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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9

■ introduce the new measures contained within the Drugs
Act 2005 to make it even more difficult for dealers to
evade conviction and to:
➤ give police powers to test for drugs on arrest rather
than charge, so that more people who commit crime
to finance their drug habit can be directed into
treatment earlier; and
➤ require those testing positive for specified Class A
drugs to undergo an assessment followed up, as
appropriate, with a sanction for those who fail to
comply;
■ continue to support the Prolific and Other Priority
Offenders Strategy throughout England and Wales by:
➤ evaluating the programme to assess the impact on
offending rates;
➤ embedding the Performance Management Framework
into key agencies’ performance management
arrangements; and
■ implement regional, cross-agency, plans to reduce re-
offending.

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Developing the delivery framework

17. Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 placed a
statutory duty on local authorities, police authorities and fire
and rescue authorities to take account of the need to prevent
crime and disorder when exercising all of their functions. In
formulating this National Community Safety Plan we are
intending to achieve similar outcomes at central government
level. This will mark a step change in our current ways of
working. Many Government departments have already written
community safety objectives into the Public Service Agreements
(PSAs) which this plan is based upon, ranging from social
exclusion and delivering neighbourhood renewal to balancing
the need to travel with the need to improve quality of life,
safety and respect for the environment. But we can and should
go further. So in future Ministers will:
■ consider collectively under the umbrella of the Plan,
whether we need to develop new policies with a
community safety dimension or adjust existing ones;
■ use the opportunity the Comprehensive Spending Review
offers to consider the challenges facing the Government in
delivering further improvements to community safety;
■ consider how best to reflect this in their departmental
PSAs;
■ prioritise community safety policies clearly, taking account
of the view of our partners, and reflect this in our
expectations of what can be done by when.
18. The following diagram illustrates broadly how we see the
relationship between local, regional and national priorities and
how this Plan will help bring them all together 2.

PUBLIC SERVICE
AGREEMENTS

S U S TA I N A B L E
CO M M U N I T I E S
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
Local priority setting and planning by
COMMUNITY SAFETY OFFICES FOR THE
Local Strategic Partnerships
PLAN REGIONS
incorporating thematic partnerships and
organisations working with communities

LOCAL AREA
AGREEMENTS
(ENGLAND)

2
In considering the implications of the Plan for children and young people, it should be viewed alongside the Outcomes Framework given in Every Child Matters: Change
for Children (DfES, December 2004).

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The role of key partners

19. Although this is a national plan, it is not confined to action 22. The Government’s key priorities for the police for
by central government. Indeed, it signals the beginning of a 2006-09 are to:
new way of working on community safety, with much closer
collaboration between central and local government and our ■ reduce overall crime by 15% by 2007-08 and more in high
other partners at local level in the setting of priorities and the crime areas;
development of new policies and initiatives. In particular, while
■ bring more offences to justice in line with the
the police and police authorities clearly have a key role to play
Government’s PSA;
in delivering community safety, this is a task they share with
many others, as the earlier sections of the Plan have
■ provide every area in England and Wales with dedicated,
demonstrated. Partnership working between local authorities
visible, accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing
and other key agencies with responsibility for policing, offender
teams, and reduce public perception of anti-social
management, health, education and other services is especially
behaviour;
important. The Local Government Association’s Going Straight
report stressed the need for local collaboration to reduce re- ■ tackle serious and organised crime including through
offending. We are developing a Civic Society Alliance to engage improved intelligence and information sharing between
local agencies in this work. Local Area Agreements (LAAs), via partners; and
Local Strategic Partnerships, strongly reinforce this approach by
encouraging joined-up thinking around agreed priorities and ■ protect the country from both terrorism and domestic
how these might be delivered. LAAs and the Safer and Stronger extremism.
Communities Fund bring related funding streams together for
use on agreed priorities, and harness the energies of the
voluntary and community sector and other local partners. 23. Specifically, in 2006-07 the Government will:
Developing capable partnerships at the local level is also vital
in ensuring the sustainability of neighbourhood policing. ■ implement new measures in the Violent Crime Reduction
Bill to tackle guns, knives and alcohol-related violence;

20. The Government Offices for the Regions are the key brokers
between central government policy and delivery on the ground.
They help local partners to understand, implement and influence
central government policies and initiatives, have a lead role in
encouraging better performance by local partnerships, and help
central government to understand local issues.
■ implement substantial reform of police forces to
strengthen the capability of the police service in tackling
serious and organised crime;
■ take forward the establishment of the National Policing
Improvement Agency;

■ create neighbourhood policing pathfinder Basic Command

The Police
21. The Home Secretary has a statutory obligation to publish
a National Policing Plan which sets out his strategic priorities
and performance indicators for the police service for the next
three years. The full National Policing Plan for 2006-09 is at
Annex A to this Plan.
Units (BCUs) in every force area;
■ step up the response to both terrorism and domestic
extremism;
■ bring more offences to justice; and
■ begin implementation of the new guidance and Code of
Practice for the police on information management.

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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
Local authorities
24. Local authorities in England and Wales are responsible for
many key local services which have a significant impact on
community safety, including education, social services, planning,
roads, fire and rescue, housing, trading standards, and
environmental health. They work with primary care trusts to
co-deliver health improvement and tackle the health inequalities
that are at the heart of many of the social and economic
regeneration programmes that reduce the incidence of criminal
behaviour. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 requires local
authorities and the police, with other key agencies in the
community, to work together at unitary and district council level
to develop and implement strategies for reducing crime and
disorder in their areas. Local authorities are also responsible for
developing Children’s trust arrangements which bring together
all services for children and young people in an area,
underpinned by the Children Act 2004 duty to co-operate and
focus on improving outcomes for all children and young people.
25. The Government’s key priorities for local authorities, for
2006-09, in respect of their community safety responsibilities,
are for them to:
■ play an overall leadership role in their communities in line
with the Government’s 10 year vision for local government,
specifically:
➤ within Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships
(CDRPs), Children’s Strategic Partnerships, Local
Safeguarding Children Boards, Children’s trusts, Youth
Offending Teams and Local Strategic Partnerships
(LSPs), ensuring community safety;
➤ taking responsibility, within Local Strategic Partnerships,
for ensuring community safety is reflected in the Local
Area Agreements now being rolled out across England;
■ help the resettlement of offenders, particularly through
the provision of housing advice in prisons and links with
employment services;
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
■ focus on those at risk of offending or re-offending by
offering early intervention, prevention and diversionary
activities;
■ enforce action against those responsible for anti-social
behaviour and assaults on staff;
■ reduce the risk of crime through producing development
plans that deliver safe places to live in accordance with
Government policy and guidance;
■ support neighbourhood policing, by further joining up with
other public service providers at the neighbourhood level;
■ ensure local people and the voluntary and community
sector have a voice and are empowered to influence local
services;
■ build cohesion and tackle inequalities.
Local highway authorities (LHAs) are key partners in delivering
the Government’s casualty reduction targets. Many authorities
have integrated road safety work into CDRPs.
26. The Government’s specific priorities for local authorities
for 2006-07, in respect of their community safety
responsibilities, are to:
■ ensure community safety is reflected in the Local Area
Agreements which will be negotiated throughout the
remainder of England and oversee subsequent
performance, particularly through CDRPs and LSPs;
■ play their part in keeping their CDRPs’ crime reduction
trajectories on track and supporting all elements of the
Prolific and Other Priority Offenders Strategy; and
■ manage the night time economy effectively in town and
city centres to reduce alcohol-related violence.
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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs)
27. Local Strategic Partnerships are multi-agency partnerships,
led by local government and sited at local authority level, with
the objective of working together to identify common objectives
for their local communities. They bring together at local level
different parts of the public, private, community and voluntary
sectors and are responsible for producing the local area’s
Sustainable Community Strategy. Alongside their other roles,
LSPs contribute to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.
28. The Government’s key priorities for LSPs for 2006-09
which relate to community safety are to:
■ develop the local Sustainable Community Strategy and
manage its delivery; and
■ take the lead role in negotiating and refreshing Local Area
Agreements (LAA) across all top tier local authorities in
England.
18
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
29. The Government’s specific priorities in community safety
for LSPs for 2006-07 are to:
■ take the lead role in negotiating Local Area Agreements
across England, ensuring that community safety is
reflected across all four LAA blocks; and
■ manage performance of the community safety element of
the LAAs which have already been negotiated.
Crime and Disorder Reduction
Partnerships (CDRPs)
30. Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships were created
following the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. They are the key
local vehicle for community safety strategic planning and
delivery, bringing together all the main players at local level
under the leadership of the police, local authority, police
authority, fire & rescue authority and primary care trust as the
responsible authorities under the Act. There are many lessons
to be learnt from partnerships which have adopted a process of
self-improvement and we are keen to look further at what
capabilities need to be in place for CDRPs to act effectively on
the issues which affect communities most.
31. The Government’s key priorities for CDRPs for 2006-09 are
to:
■ deliver their agreed crime reduction targets by March 2008;
■ play a leading role in the development of the Safer and
Stronger Communities block of Local Area Agreements
and manage subsequent delivery, ensuring targets set by
the CDRP are reflected in the LAA;
■ encourage collaboration between agencies, including joint
planning, problem analysis and performance management.
■ ensure that sufficient arrangements are in place to deliver
NCSP brochure 11/13/05 4:22 pm Page 19
N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
a range of engagement opportunities for local
communities, and to respond to their concerns; and
■ ensure arrangements are in place for a joint intelligence-
led approach to solving local problems.
32. The Government’s specific priorities for CDRPs for
2006-07 are to:
■ manage their performance against crime reduction targets,
ensuring that delivery remains in line with trajectory;
■ develop more effective ways of working with Local
Criminal Justice Boards, building on guidance to be issued
by the end of 2005 by the Home Office and the Office of
Criminal Justice Reform;
■ in unitary local authority areas, complete integration with
local Drug Action Teams. In two tier areas, complete
arrangements for closer working to ensure an appropriate
input to delivery of the National Drugs Strategy;
■ continue to lead the Prolific and Other Priority Offenders
Strategy; and
■ work in partnership with other key agencies nationally,
regionally and locally to identify, generate and share good
practice in tackling volume violent crime, in particular
alcohol-related and domestic violence.
Drug Action Teams (DATs)
33. Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Drug Action
Teams are responsible for identifying local needs and
commissioning drug treatment and other interventions to meet
them. There are 149 DATs in England (one for every upper tier
or unitary local authority area). They are consortia of local
partners involved in the delivery of the Government’s Drug
Strategy, including responsible authorities under the Act –
primary care trusts, police, probation, prisons and local
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
authorities. They are required to review the level and pattern of
drug misuse in their area. These audits inform decisions on the
partnership’s strategic priorities and commissioning of services,
and enable progress to be tracked. Most DATs are expected to
be a part of CDRPs. Many also take responsibility for local
strategies on alcohol misuse.
34. The Government’s key priorities for DATs for 2006-09
are to:
■ take strategic decisions on expenditure and service
delivery, and develop local plans within the 4 strands of
the Drug Strategy;
■ commission effective services appropriate to local needs;
■ monitor and report on performance to regional
management;
■ communicate plans, activities and performance to
stakeholders; and
■ engage local communities and ensure that delivery is
linked to supporting strategies, such as the Alcohol Harm
Reduction Programme, the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy
and the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy.
35. The Government’s specific priorities for DATs for 2006-07
are to:
■ ensure that the objectives of the Drug Interventions
Programme (DIP), which aims to direct drug misusing
offenders out of crime and into treatment, are delivered
as agreed in local compacts in the DIP intensive areas and
in line with the expectations of both intensive and non-
intensive areas which form part of the funding terms and
conditions;
■ implement the measures contained within the Young
People and Drugs Delivery Plan which links the response
to children, young people and drugs with the Every Child
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Matters: Change for Children programme locally. Ensure that

provision is built around the needs of vulnerable children and
young people, as set out in Every Child Matters: Change for
Children, Young People and Drugs;

■ develop a local treatment plan to ensure that effective and

prompt treatment is available and meets the needs of the
local drug-misusing population including young people
and offenders referred from the police, courts and prisons;

■ in unitary local authority areas, complete DAT integration

with CDRPs. In two-tier areas, agree arrangements for
collaborative working; and

■ ensure that provision is made for the drug treatment, harm

reduction and support measures set out in the Prolific and
Other Priority Offenders Strategy.

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)

36. Following the Police Reform Act 2002, PCTs have had a
statutory responsibility to work in partnership with other
responsible authorities to tackle crime, disorder and the misuse
of drugs. PCTs have a duty to:

■ participate in an audit of crime and disorder, anti-social

behaviour and drug misuse for the CDRP area or areas in
which they fall; and

■ contribute to the development of local strategies that

effectively deal with the issues which are identified.

37. PCTs’ contribution to the delivery of local strategies will be

determined through local negotiation and will depend on the
extent to which action on drugs, alcohol or crime and disorder
makes a significant contribution to the PCT’s own national or
local priorities. Local NHS organisations can play a role in
developing Local Area Agreements as part of Local Strategic
Partnerships.

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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
38. There are no national targets for NHS action to reduce
crime and disorder but in line with the devolved planning and
performance system for health and social care as set out in
National Standards, Local Action: Health and Social Care
Standards and Planning framework 2005-06 – 2007-08, PCTs
can commit to the delivery of local targets and Local Area
Agreements in consultation with local partnerships.
39. Areas for joint delivery can include:
■ reducing pressures on emergency services as a result of
violence or alcohol-related injury;
■ reducing the demand on NHS services from crime, alcohol
or drug-related ill health;
■ improving the working lives and conditions for NHS staff
by reducing the risks of violent or alcohol-related attacks
and abuse;
■ improving the health and life chances of children and
young people;
■ commissioning services for the identification, referral and
treatment of individuals with drug problems;
■ identifying individuals with alcohol misuse disorders and
the provision of brief health interventions to encourage
them to address their behaviour;
■ developing integrated services to support victims of crime,
particularly victims of domestic violence, young offenders
or offenders with mental health problems and those
experiencing drug and alcohol dependence;
■ developing more effective prison health care and links
with community provision for primary care and the
treatment of mental health problems, drug and alcohol
dependence, and other chronic ill health problems
prevalent among prisoners; and
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
■ working to reduce the health inequalities that prevent
people from developing economically independent and
socially engaged lives.
40. Effective partnership delivery also depends upon robust
information exchange between all the agencies involved. Whilst
there is no statutory requirement for PCTs to disclose data they
do have the power to do so subject to the usual restrictions on
patient confidentiality. Local information sharing protocols are
the best way of ensuring that disclosure of data is properly
handled and used to greatest effect in supporting partnership
delivery.
Children’s trusts
41. Children’s trusts will bring together all services for
children and young people in an area, underpinned by the
Children Act 2004 duty to co-operate, to focus on improving
outcomes for all children and young people. They will support
those who work every day with children, young people and
their families to deliver better outcomes – with children and
young people experiencing more integrated and responsive
services and specialist support embedded in, and accessed
through, universal services.
42. Children’s trusts will focus on preventative work through
multi-agency teams, whereby police, youth offending teams,
youth services, drug action teams, health, social service and
education professionals work together with young people and
their families to intervene at an early stage, before the young
people turn to crime and anti-social behaviour. Children’s trusts
will also play a role in developing Local Area Agreements with
Local Strategic Partnerships.
43. In areas where Children’s trust arrangements have been
fully established, there is emerging anecdotal evidence that the
preventative focus has led to:
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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
■ fewer young people engaging in criminal activity, reducing
the need for ASBOs;
■ fewer young people engaged in drug taking;
■ a reduced need for parenting orders;
There is also an array of wider preventative work, for example
alcohol patrols, life skills courses, sports initiatives, including
urban sports activities, and work experience or student
placements.
44. Children’s trust priorities are to improve across all 5 of the
Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes:
■ Being healthy;
■ Staying safe;
■ Enjoying and achieving;
■ Making a positive contribution;
■ Achieving economic well-being.
45. The five ECM outcomes are supported by 25 sub-outcomes
for all children which include:
■ supporting the community and environment;
■ choosing not to offend and engage in anti-social behaviour;
■ choosing not to bully and discriminate;
■ choosing not to take illegal drugs;
■ attending and enjoying school;
■ being safe from exposure to violence;
■ being safe from crime and anti-social behaviour.
22
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
46. Specific priorities in each local area will be influenced by:
■ the ECM outcomes;
■ outcomes negotiated with Government Offices for the
Regions to support Local Area Agreements;
■ local priorities agreed as part of the Children’s and Young
People’s Plan, drawn up after rigorous needs assessment
based on existing data from all partners, national priorities
and the views of children, young people, their families
and communities and front-line professionals. This is set
out in the guidance issued jointly by the Department for
Education and Skills, the Home Office and the Department
of Health, Every Child Matters: Change for the Children,
Young People and Drugs.
Jobcentre Plus
47. Jobcentre Plus increases the number of those in
employment by assisting those who can to find work, and by
providing security through the benefit system for those who
cannot. Through employment and benefit surgeries in prisons,
and arranging Jobseeker’s Allowance interviews as soon as
possible on release, Jobcentre Plus contributes to reducing re-
offending.
48. As well as supporting offenders via a network of regional
and district partnerships, Jobcentre Plus also offers enhanced
support through programmes, such as progress2work and
LinkUP, helping those with a range of disadvantages, including
drug misusers, to find and keep employment. Jobcentre Plus
also plays a key role in developing Local Area Agreements as
part of Local Strategic Partnerships.
Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs)
49. Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) exist in each of the
42 criminal justice areas in England and Wales. LCJBs are the
principal vehicles for delivering the improvements in criminal
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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
justice services set out in this plan. They are responsible and
accountable for:
■ local delivery of Criminal Justice System (CJS) objectives;
■ improvement in the delivery of justice;
■ the service provided to victims and witnesses;
■ securing public confidence.
50. Delivery agreements formalise the local Boards’ direct
responsibility to a National Criminal Justice Board for the
achievement of local targets. Membership of LCJBs is deliberately
kept narrow to focus attention on delivery and to promote joint
working but, at a minimum, they include Chief Officers of
Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, Her Majesty’s Court
Service, Youth Offending Teams, Probation and the Prison
Service. They secure the views of other Criminal Justice System
stakeholders through consultation.
51. The Government’s key priorities for LCJBs for 2006-09 in
tackling crime and anti-social behaviour are to deliver the
vision for the CJS set out in the CJS Strategic Plan to:
■ ensure that the public has confidence that the CJS is
effective and that it serves all communities fairly;
■ deliver a consistently high standard of service to victims
and witnesses;
■ bring more offences to justice through a more modern
and efficient justice process;
■ rigorously enforce sentences and orders of the court; and
■ ensure that criminal justice is a joined up, modern and
well run service and an excellent place to work for people
from all backgrounds.
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
52. The Government’s specific priorities for LCJBs for 2006-07
are to:
■ meet their specific targets for the year, as set out in the CJS
Business Plan 2006-07 (to be published in January 2006);
■ roll out the Premium Service, as part of the “Catch and
Convict” strand of the Prolific and Other Priority Offenders
Strategy;
■ implement the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime;
■ implement the victim and witness delivery plan,
embedding the 7 priorities for victims and witnesses;
■ facilitate the expansion of specialist domestic violence courts;
■ foster good working relations with CDRPs; and
■ lead a range of activities designed to open up the CJS to
the public during the annual Inside Justice week (October).
The Fire and Rescue Service
53. Until recently, the Fire and Rescue Service in the UK has
chiefly been concerned with firefighting, but it is now
developing in other directions to fulfil its significant potential to
promote community safety. The Police Reform Act 2002 made
Fire and Rescue Authorities full partners of the CDRPs
established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
54. Over the last several years, the Fire and Rescue Service
has developed a much greater focus on prevention under the
generic term Community Fire Safety. This:
■ embodies a wide range of activities including the Home
Fire Risk Check initiative funded by ODPM; work in
schools; work with those most at risk from fire; forming
multi-agency partnerships to reduce fire risk, and a range
of publicity and campaign efforts;
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■ has been particularly focused on dangers in the home
where 75% of fire deaths take place – but also now
encompasses efforts to prevent juvenile firesetting and
hoax calls work with disaffected youths.
55. In the past 10 years, the Fire and Rescue Service, although
traditionally a reactive service, has also become far more involved
in proactive, community-based work, in two main strands:
57. The National Framework for the Fire and Rescue Service
sets out the strategy for meeting these objectives and delivering
an improved service that achieves better value for money for
the communities it serves. In essence the Framework is a
contract with the Fire and Rescue Service; a contract for a new
relationship where we are clear on what we expect the Service
to achieve, and Fire Authorities are clear what support we will
give them.

■ first, programmes to reduce the incidence of accidental

fires and casualties through education and publicity work
in the community, for example in schools and old people’s
homes; and

■ second, wider community and youth work, specifically

targeting youths at risk from social exclusion and those
from deprived areas.

56. The Fire and Rescue Service has a major role to play in
meeting the targets of reducing by 31 March 2010, the number
of accidental fire-related deaths in the home by 20% and
achieving a 10% reduction in deliberate fires. From 2010, no
local fire and rescue authority should have a fatality rate, from
accidental fires in the home, more than 1.25 times the national
average by 2010.

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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
How we will take this plan forward
58. This Plan is not set in concrete. It is the first time the
Government has sought to produce a document of this kind.
It represents a considerable change in the way in which we will
conduct our business in future. We are not only fully
committed to much closer working on community safety issues
across Government but to closer working with our local
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
partners too in a shared and joint endeavour. So over the
coming months, at both Ministerial and official level, we want
to discuss the content of the Plan fully with all those who
have a part to play in implementing it. We will reflect their
views in a revised version which we intend to publish in a
year’s time.
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N A T I O N A L C O M M U N I T Y
Annex A: The National Policing
Plan 2006-2009
1. This annex has been incorporated into the National
Community Safety Plan 2006-09 to meet the statutory requirement
for the Home Secretary to publish a National Policing Plan
which sets out his strategic priorities and performance
indicators for the police service for the next three years.
2. Following the publication of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Constabulary’s report Closing the Gap, the Home Secretary wrote
to chief constables and chairs of police authorities on 22
September launching a process of local discussion and analysis of
the options for force restructuring. Restructuring is not an end
itself. It is part of the process of reconfiguring the way in which
the police service delivers protective services to safeguard the
public from the threats posed by terrorism and domestic
extremism, serious and organised crime, public disorder and civil
emergencies.3 The process of restructuring will inevitably require
significant engagement by police authorities and the senior
management teams in forces over the period covered by this
plan. During this period all forces and authorities need to ensure
that the resources devoted to the work on structural change
complement the delivery of the priorities set out below.
Priorities
3. The Home Secretary’s key priorities for the police service
for 2006-09 have taken account of the Association of Chief
Police Officers’ (ACPO) National Strategic Assessment and
individual force assessments. They are also closely tied to the
Government’s Public Service Agreements (PSAs). The
Government expects that these national priorities will be
reflected by police forces and authorities in developing their
local policing plans. Local priorities based on community
consultation and engagement should be identified within this
national framework.
4. The Government’s five key priorities for the police service
for 2006-09 are to:
■ reduce overall crime by 15% by 2007-08 and more in high
crime areas;
3
The Closing the Gap report examined current capacity and capability to deliver seven protective services; Major Crime (homicide); Serious Organised and Cross
Border Crime; Counter Terrorism and Extremism; Civil Contingencies; Critical Incidents; Public Order; and Strategic Roads Policing.
26
S A F E T Y P L A N 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 9
■ bring more offences to justice in line with the
Government’s PSA;
■ provide every area in England and Wales with dedicated,
visible, accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing
teams; and reduce public perception of anti-social
behaviour;
■ tackle serious and organised crime including through
improved intelligence and information sharing between
partners; and
■ protect the country from both terrorism and domestic
extremism.
Delivering the key priorities in 2006-07
Reduce overall crime by 15% by 2007-08 and more in high
crime areas
5. Continuing to drive down burglary, vehicle crime, robbery
and other forms of acquisitive crime is crucial to delivering the
target. All of these volume crimes are linked to the supply and
misuse of drugs, so dealing with the issues of drugs through
education, enforcement and treatment will play an integral role
in the reduction of volume crime overall. Tackling criminal
damage, which makes up nearly a quarter of the British Crime
Survey (BCS) crime and around a third of BCS comparator
recorded crime, is essential to delivering the target.
6. The Violent Crime Reduction Bill will introduce new
measures to ensure that the police and local authorities have
stronger powers to tackle guns, knives and alcohol-related
violence. The Tackling Violent Crime Programme will be
developed to deal with violent crime in selected high-crime
areas, particularly alcohol-related and domestic violence, but
targeted on areas of local concern. The Government will build
on the work and emerging success of the first tranches of areas
through a second tier which will capture experience and spread
good practice to all areas.
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Actions for the Police Service in 2006-07:

■ to work in conjunction with Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships to deliver the locally agreed
crime reduction goals which will contribute to the national 15% crime reduction target by 2007-08;

■ all forces and Basic Command Units (BCUs) to reflect the principles of the Government’s Tackling
Violent Crime Programme in their respective endeavours to drive down violent crime; and

■ to continue to apply and embed an intelligence-led and National Intelligence Model compliant
approach to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

Bring more offences to justice in line with the Government’s PSA
7. Bringing more offences to justice is an important part of
reducing crime through deterrence, removing offenders from
the streets and treatment. The Public Service Agreement aims
to increase the number of offences for which an offender is
brought to justice to 1.25 million by 2008. The Government’s
vision for the Criminal Justice System is set out in the Criminal
Justice Strategic Plan 4. The police as members of Local Criminal
Justice Boards are important contributors to the delivery of this
goal. The Government estimates that to achieve the goal of
bringing 1.25 million offences to justice a national sanction
detection rate of at least 25% will be required, with an interim
national rate of 22.3% required to achieve the 2005-06
offences brought to justice target. Specific targets for 2006-07
will be confirmed in the Criminal Justice System Business Plan
2006-07.
8. Police forces, as key members of Local Criminal Justice
Boards will need to be clear on the implications of Local
Criminal Justice Board targets on bringing offences to justice
for required sanction detection rates.

Actions for the Police Service in 2006-07:

■ to work in tandem with Local Criminal Justice Boards to deliver the locally agreed offences brought to
justice targets for 2006-07 and the implied sanction detection rates which underpin them;

■ to make best use of the opportunities afforded by alternative sanction detection disposal means (such as
Fixed Penalty Notices) whilst also, in conjunction with the Crown Prosecution Service, continuing to focus
on increasing the proportion of offences which result in prosecution; and

■ to improve the frontline investigation skills of all officers and staff by the national roll out of the
Professionalising the Investigative Programme at Level 1.

4
Cutting Crime, Delivering Justice: A Strategic Plan for Criminal Justice 2004-08, Cm 6288, July 2004.

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Provide every area in England and Wales with dedicated, visible,
accessible and responsive neighbourhood policing teams; and
reduce public perception of anti-social behaviour
9. The Government has undertaken to ensure that there is a
neighbourhood policing team in every area in England and
Wales by 2008 and to provide funding to support an increase
in the number of community support officers to 24,000 by the
end of March 2008. As an initial step 43 pathfinder BCUs have
been established, one for each force in England and Wales,
with the aim of providing communities with:
■ access to policing services through a named point of contact;
■ influence over policing priorities in their neighbourhood;
■ interventions through joint action with partners and
communities; and
■ answers through sustainable solutions and feedback.
10. During 2006-07, the learning from the pathfinders will
be shared to support the expansion of neighbourhood
policing teams to other areas. Police forces and authorities
should take the development of neighbourhood policing
across their force area into account in drawing up their local
policing plans.
11. Neighbourhood policing is one part of a broader
programme to deliver more responsive, citizen focussed
policing, aimed at improving public confidence in the wider
police service and increasing satisfaction with the services it
provides. The Public Service Agreement contains targets to
improve confidence in the local police and to increase victim
and witness satisfaction across the whole of the Criminal
Justice System. The police service’s responsibility for improving
confidence and satisfaction remains central to improving the
responsiveness and citizen focus of the police service over the
next three years.

Actions for the Police Service in 2006-07:

■ to roll out and develop neighbourhood policing pathfinder BCUs in every force area;

■ for all forces to be compliant with the national minimum standards set out in the Quality of Service
Commitment (including achieving national call handling standards) by November 2006;

■ to implement (in partnership with local authorities) in designated ‘first wave’ areas a new single non-
emergency number service to deal with non-emergency police and anti-social behaviour issues accessed
via a three digit telephone number; and

■ to work alongside local agencies and local communities to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Tackle serious and organised crime including improved
intelligence and information sharing between partners
12. Tackling organised crime is as much a priority for police
forces as it is for the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Organised crime may often be national or international in
dimension and origin but its impact extends into
neighbourhoods of every kind and its harmful consequences
manifest themselves in local communities. Police forces will
need to work closely with the new Serious Organised Crime
Agency to identify threats and use those assessments to inform
local actions. They also need to work closely with other
national agencies such as the Serious Fraud Office, HM
Revenue and Customs, HM Immigration Service and the Assets
Recovery Agency.
Statutory Performance Indicators

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In particular, forces and authorities need to support the new
powers on international corruption in Part 12 of the Anti-
Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 and are encouraged to
take on any investigations not falling within the Serious Fraud
Office’s remit.
13. Improving intelligence and information sharing between
forces is crucial to the fight against crime. There is also a need
to share information effectively between the police and the
other delivery agencies with which they are increasingly acting
in partnership. Serious deficiencies were highlighted by the
Bichard Inquiry into the Soham murders and a substantial
programme of work is underway to address them. A new Code
of Practice setting out a clear framework for police information
management came into force on 14 November 2005. This will
be supported by underpinning guidance which is currently
being developed and is likely to be published by March 2006.
Support will be provided to forces by the National Centre for
Policing Excellence in ensuring effective implementation of the
Code and guidance. Through the IMPACT programme, new
systems and technical facilities to support information sharing
across policing and between policing and other services will
continue to become available throughout the period of this
Plan.

Actions for the Police Service in 2006-07:

■ through police force restructuring, to increase capacity and resilience in the provision of protective services;

■ to establish and maintain effective partnership working with the newly created Serious Organised
Crime Agency;

■ continue work towards an information and intelligence infrastructure across all forces via the IMPACT
programme;

■ to support the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition, integrated with the National Data Centre, to
enhance intelligence sharing in the fight against serious and organised crime and terrorism;

■ to begin implementing the new Code of Practice on information management; and

■ to implement the Roads Policing Strategy.

Counter terrorism
14. The threat of terrorism is not new. The considerable
expertise which the UK has developed in fighting terrorism over
the past 30 years provides a strong basis on which to build. The
events of July 2005 nevertheless require all forces and
authorities to review and reinforce their current work in co-
operation with the national agencies, including the Metropolitan
Police Service.
15. Since 9/11, a cross-government counter-terrorism strategy
has been put in place with the objectives of preventing young
people being drawn into extremism and violence; pursuing the
existing generation of terrorists and disrupting their networks;
protecting our citizens and national infrastructure from attack;
and preparing to deal with the consequences of an attack should
that occur. This strategy is based on an assessment of the threat,
the risk and the UK’s vulnerabilities. The Home Office has
specific responsibility for delivering key elements of the strategy
through effective legislation, the national counter terrorism
exercise programme, using science and technology effectively
and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Resilience
Programme. Police forces and authorities are vital partners in the
delivery of all elements of the strategy; in building community

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links and confidence which help develop intelligence and isolate
extremism; in investigating and disrupting terrorist networks
active in the UK; in prosecuting terrorists and protecting our
citizens and infrastructure from attack; in responding to attacks
by catching and prosecuting the perpetrators; and supporting a
prompt return to business as usual. The role of the National Co-
ordinator of Special Branch is also key. As terrorists can operate
anywhere, all police forces must have specialised capabilities in
place which will enable them to work with communities and
national agencies to deliver this strategy.
Domestic Extremism
16. The Government is determined to eradicate the illegal
activities of animal rights extremists, who threaten and
intimidate law abiding citizens and businesses. They
undermine democracy; they harass, attack and threaten law
abiding individuals and businesses; and their activities
threaten the development of new life saving drugs and
investment in lawful business and research. A National Co-
ordinator for Domestic Extremism now has a central team, to
lead the regional and national police response to animal rights
extremism. They will work within the framework of the
National Intelligence Model and under the Association of Chief
Police Officers’ arrangements. Police forces need to cooperate
fully both with the National Co-ordinator and with each other
in taking action that will disrupt illegal activity and bring an
early end to this threat.

Actions for the Police Service in 2006-07:

■ to allocate appropriate resources to force Special Branches and Regional Intelligence Cells to support
intelligence gathering requirements at a local, regional and national level;

■ to make the most effective use of counter-terrorism exercises, both real and ‘table-top’, to develop and
maintain resilience; and

■ to target the illegal activities of extremists who intimidate those involved in legitimate animal research
and testing.

Reform to deliver the priorities
17. The priorities listed in the Plan will help to reduce crime,
bring more offences to justice and increase confidence at all
levels:
■ critically at the neighbourhood level, which is the
foundation of modern policing, through the establishment
of neighbourhood policing teams;
■ at Basic Command Unit level, through working closely with
local authorities and other CDRP agencies to ensure crime
and anti-social behaviour are tackled at partnership level. To
reinforce this partnership working there is a very strong
expectation that the boundaries of CDRPs and BCUs should
be co-terminous;
■ at force level through restructuring into strategic forces, as
recommended by HMIC, to deliver better protective
services; and
■ at national level through the establishment of the Serious
Organised Crime Agency and the National Policing
Improvement Agency and through greater international
co-operation. The National Policing Improvement Agency
will support police forces in delivering the three mission
critical priorities – implementing the recommendations of
the Bichard Inquiry especially the IMPACT programme;
cross-border crime; and neighbourhood policing – and in
working to deliver performance improvement at a time of
structural change.

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18. The Government will continue to work with the police
service to develop the police workforce so that it has the skills,
flexibilities and incentives which are essential if this Plan is to
be delivered successfully. It remains a key imperative to recruit,
retain and support the progression of black and minority ethnic
and female staff so that the composition of the police
workforce is representative of the communities which it serves.
Under the Association of Chief Police Officers’ and the
Association of Police Authorities’ leadership, the Government is
clear that the Service must be wholly committed to driving
forward the implementation of the Race Equality Programme.
19. The provisional funding settlement covering the two years
of this Plan will be published in early December 2005. Funding
beyond 2007-08 will be addressed through the Comprehensive
Spending Review 2007. The Government will re-examine the
funding system in the light of force restructuring. The
Government is also considering making changes for 2006-07 to
specific grant arrangements to mainstream some specific grants
and relax ring-fencing. New arrangements are being considered
for:
20. The new arrangements being considered would ensure
that each police authority received the same level of funding
from these grants in 2006-07 and 2007-08 that they receive
currently.
21. The Service is on track to meet its existing 3% efficiency
target (including 1.5% which is cashable) in each of the three
years up to 31 March 2008. HMIC’s final assessment of Force
Efficiency Plans for 2004-05 reports that the service has
exceeded the 2% efficiency target for that year by delivering
efficiency gains of £315.9m (3.24%) of net revenue
expenditure. The scope for longer term enhanced efficiency
gains – particularly in the light of the National Policing
Improvement’s Agency’s role and restructuring – will be
addressed as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review
2007.

■ the Rural Policing Fund;

■ the BCU Fund;

■ DNA funding;

■ Special Priority Payments; and

■ London/South East allowances.

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Statutory Performance Indicators SPI Crime level

4. a) Using the British Crime Survey, the risk of personal

Statutory Performance Indicators are set under ‘best value’ crime.
legislation and those intended for 2006-07 are listed below5. b) Using the British Crime Survey, the risk of household
Technical guidance explaining the indicators in detail will be crime.
published in 2006. The guidance will also set out changes to
5. b) Violent crime per 1,000 population.*
statutory indicators compared to 2005-06.
e) Life threatening crime and gun crime per 1,000
population.
SPI User satisfaction f) Acquisitive crime per 1,000 population.

1. Satisfaction of victims of domestic burglary, violent crime, *Also intended as a community safety indicator shared with local authorities.

vehicle crime and road traffic collisions with respect to:

a) making contact with the police; SPI Offences brought to justice
b) action taken by the police; 6. b) Percentage of offences brought to justice.
c) being kept informed of progress;
d) their treatment by staff; SPI Sanction detections
e) the overall service provided.
7. a) Percentage of notifiable offences resulting in a
SPI Confidence sanction detection.

2. a) Using the British Crime Survey, the percentage of SPI Enforcement

people who think their local police do a good job.
8. a) Percentage of domestic violence incidents with a
SPI Fairness, equality and diversity
power of arrest where an arrest was made related to
SPI Fairness, equality and diversity
the incident.
3. a) Satisfaction of victims of racist incidents with respect c) Value of cash forfeiture orders and confiscation
to the overall service provided. orders per 1,000 population.
b) Comparison of satisfaction for white users and users
from minority ethnic groups with respect to the
SPI Traffic
overall service provided.
c) Percentage of PACE searches which lead to arrest by 9. a) (i) Number of people killed in under 30 days or
ethnicity of the person searched. seriously injured in road traffic collisions*
d) Comparison of sanction detection rates for violence (ii) per 100 million vehicle km travelled.
*Also intended as a community safety indicator shared with local authorities.
against the person offences by ethnicity of the victim.
e) Proportion of police recruits from minority ethnic
groups compared to the proportion of people from SPI Quality of life
minority ethnic groups in the economically active 10. a) Using the British Crime Survey, fear of crime.
population. b) Using the British Crime Survey, perceptions of anti-
g) Percentage of female police officers compared to the social behaviour.
overall force strength. c) Using the British Crime Survey, perceptions of local
drug use/drug dealing.

5
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SPI Frontline policing

Local Policing Domain
11. a) Percentage of police offer time spent on frontline
duties.
Each police authority, following consultation with its force can
SPI Resource use set local performance indicators which reflect local priorities.
The suite of local indicators is therefore, unique to each force
12. a) Delivery of cashable and non-cashable efficiency
and delivery against local priorities plus targets will be a critical
targets.
component of performance assessments.
13. a) Average number of working hours lost per annum
due to sickness per police officer.
b) Average number of working hours lost per annum
due to sickness per police staff.

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NCSP Contacts
Departmental contact points for further information are:

Department for Constitutional Affairs Department for Transport

Harjit Athwal Lesley Stark
harjit.athwal@hmcourts-service.gsi.gov.uk lesley.stark@dft.gsi.gov.uk

Department for Culture Media and Sport Department for Work and Pensions
Anne Marie Andreoli Del Jenkins
annemarie.andreoli@culture.gsi.gov.uk del.jenkins@dwp.gsi.gov.uk

Department for Education and Skills HM Treasury

Nick Brooker Ian Shepherd
nick.brooker@dfes.gsi.gov.uk ian.shepherd@hm-treasury.x.gsi.gov.uk

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Home Office

Rory Wallace Steve Trimmins
rory.wallace@defra.gsi.gov.uk ncsp@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

Department of Health Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Sarah Donnelly Kenneth Cameron
sarah.donnelly@dh.gsi.gov.uk kenneth.cameron@odpm.gsi.gov.uk

Department of Trade and Industry

Small Business Service: Policy & Change Directorate
regulation@sbs.gsi.gov.uk

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Further printed copies of the National Community Safety Plan

are available from:

Home Office
Community Safety and Local Government Unit
4th Floor, Peel Building
2, Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Email: ncsp@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

The document can be downloaded from:

www.crimereduction.gov.uk/ncsp

Alternative formats are available on request.

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HM Government