County Council role in keeping county safe comes under the spotlight

Added: 26/06/2008
Category: Norfolk County Council

Norfolk is one of the safest parts of the country with levels of crime and disorder in most places well below the national average, Members will hear next week.

Public concern about the overall level of crime in Norfolk is falling with fewer people saying it is something that needs improving in their local area*.

Despite this, issues such as violent crime, antisocial behaviour and criminal damage are still a matter of concern for Norfolk people, a report to Norfolk County Council's Cabinet Scrutiny Committee will say.

The committee meets at County Hall on Monday (June 30) and Norfolk County Council's role in reducing crime and disorder will be the main focus for Members.

Sue Whitaker, who chairs the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee, said: "The committee wants to look at the particular part the County Council plays in helping reduce crime and disorder. As part of this we also want to look at how the Norfolk Youth Offending Team is helping prevent young offenders entering the criminal justice system in the first place.

It is right to say that our county is one of the safest in the country and that we all want to keep it that way, so we want to be sure that we are doing all we can to help.

I know people have strong opinions on this subject and I would be interested to hear people's views or questions via scrutiny@norfolk.gov.uk."

Peter Burnham, Head of Community Safety at Norfolk County Council, said: "Since 1998 the County Council has been working with partners to both understand and tackle crime and disorder. Crime itself in Norfolk is at a comparatively low level and even trends which were rising, such as criminal damage are starting to fall.

In Norfolk our Local Area Agreement sets a number of key priorities around 'safer communities' and this provides us with a real opportunity to work with key partners to tackle some difficult the crime and disorder issues."

Members of the public are welcome to attend the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee which meets in the Edwards Room, County Hall, Norwich at 10.30am on Monday June 30.