London Criminal Justice Board - 13 December 2023 Minutes

Chair

• Sophie Linden, Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime

MOPAC

• Diana Luchford, CEO
• Kenny Bowie, Director of Strategy and MPS Oversight
• Will Balakrishnan, Director of Commissioning and Partnerships
• Tamara Barnett, Head of Partnerships
• Fiona Murphy, Head of Operational Oversight
• Tom Burnham, Head of Policy and Commissioning
• Connie Stygall, Partnerships Officer

External

• AC Matt Twist, MPS
• Cmdr. Paul Trevers, MPS
• Lionel Idan, CPS South
• Jaswant Narwal, CPS North
• Sarah Coccia, HMPPS
• Ian Blakeman, HMPPS London Prisons Group
• Kilvinder Vigurs, HMPPS Probation
• Clare Ansdell, HMPPS Probation
• Jo Towens, HMCTS
• Stephen McAllister, HMCTS
• Henry Smithers, YJB
• Andrea Simon, EVAW
• Amy Hudspith, BTP
• Althea Loderick, London Councils
• Sinead Dervin, NHS London
• Lib Peck, VRU
• Alison Keating, OHID
• Ben Bryne, ALDCS

Apologies

• Claire Waxman, Independent Victims’ Commissioner for London
• Stephanie Roberts-Bibby, YJB
• Helen Isaac, CoLP
• Fiona Taylor, LBBD Council
• Charlie Doyle, BTP
• Pinaki Ghoshal, ALDCS
• Claire Solley, ADASS
• Fiona Taylor, London Councils
• Debbie Weekes-Bernard, GLA

There was agreement on the previous minutes and the DMPC advised that a copy has been uploaded on the MOPAC website.

MOPAC Head of Partnerships went through the LCJB outstanding actions and advised that the completed actions will be circulated to the board.

OHID presented the paper on Continuity of Care circulated to the board ahead of the meeting. It was acknowledged that agencies are working hard across the system but there is a pathway issue and one of the biggest challenges is the high number of remand prisoners released from Magistrates courts immediately. There was an agreement for a meeting between OHID and HMCTS to discuss how the courts can help Continuity of Care to access people in the courts/being released who might have had drug treatment in prison

HMPPS presented the paper on Strengthening Partnership Working with London Prisons circulated to the board ahead of the meeting, highlighting the challenges prisons face around capacity, staffing and attrition problems, violence in prisons and delays in getting defendants/prisoners to court on time. There was an agreement for a prison led partnership group, bringing all partners together to make sure the right structures and ISAs are in place, as a sub-group that reports to LCJB.  

MOPAC presented the paper on Gangs/Serious Group Offending and the CJS circulated to the board ahead of the meeting, exploring statutory responses to gangs (otherwise known as ‘serious group offending’) and, in particular, the challenges partners have in effectively safeguarding children and young adults who experience violence, harm or are exploited as a result of gangs, alongside managing responses across the CJS. It was agreed for LCJB partners to meet to discuss and agree what actions are required to strengthen arrangements and information sharing in managing gangs/serious group offender for 18+ as well focusing in on 25+, identified as a gap.

5a. LCJB Diversion Strategy

MOPAC presented the Diversion Strategy paper circulated to the board ahead of the meeting, in addition to the draft Diversion Strategy, commissioned by the LCJB which sets the vision for a pan London approach to pre-court diversion. The strategy was agreed by the board, however concerns were raised regarding the delay to the two-tier framework launch which has been put back to a go live date of October 2024 which is being considered by the Out of Court Disposal Partnership Board.

5b. LCJB Hate Crime Task and Finish Group update

London Probation presented the paper on the work of the LCJB Hate Crime Task and Finish Group circulated to the board ahead of the meeting. Victim satisfaction is signficantly lower for hate crime victims and the group has reviewed what each CJ organisation is doing to address hate crime. It has been identified that hate crime work is driven by passionate individuals, but there is a need for a more strategic, multi-agency, zero-tolerance approach. The board agreed to set up a sub-group, creating space for lessons to be learnt for protective characteristics of all hate crimes through multi-agency scrutiny panels, noting the recent activities in the Middle east and impact on hate crime in London.

HMCTS noted that work on the crown court backlogs is ongoing and thanked partners for their contributions. At the beginning of the financial year there were over 15,000 cases outstanding, which has been reduced to 14,460, as of the end of October.

The date of the next meeting is 11^th March 2024.