Since week-ending 1^st of June overall crime in Moortown Ward has shown a further decrease of 17% 

 

An analysis of reports to the police of anti social behaviour identifies a hot spot in Meanwood around Parkside Crescent, Stainbeck Road and Stonegate Road.  This is an area that the police with continue to target because the area has also suffered 11 burglaries.  In almost all cased entry was gained by snapping of the Euro Profile Lock.  Property targeted was mainly electrical items such as IPods and laptop computers. 

 

In the six weeks from week-ending 1^st June 104 crimes were reported compared to 125 in the previous six week.  Recently Moortown residents surveyed has registered the highest satisfaction score in all the divisions of the West Yorkshire Force.

 

Cllr Richard Harker

“The neighbourhood policing team are doing a fantastic job.

 

As I go round the ward many residents have told me that the police and the PSCOs [paid for by the council] are doing a great job.

 

In most cases resident appear to be on first name terms with the police and PCSOs.”

The Government has scrapped plans to build a national database of all internet browsing, emails, phone calls and social networking activity.

 

Instead, the Government proposes to store such information with individual communications companies - which would cost the tax payer a staggering £2 billion over ten years.

 

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne said: 

“I am pleased that the Government has climbed down from the Big Brother plan for a centralised database of all our emails and phone calls. However, any legislation that requires individual communications providers to keep data on who called whom and when will need strong safeguards on access.

 

           “There has to be a careful balance between investigative powers and the right to privacy.”

 

You can read the full story on the Freedom Bill website: http://tr.im/k2kM

 

Thanks for signing up to back the Liberal Democrats’ Freedom Bill. Please do encourage other people you know to sign up to back our campaign at http://freedom.libdems.org.uk/petition/

The council’s Health & Environmental Action Service is staging a week long Litter Free Leeds campaign in the run up to Christmas from Wednesday 10 th. December to Wednesday 17 th. December

“Leeds City Council spends £10.2 million a year on keeping Leeds a clean and attractive place for its residents and visitors.  

“Most people use the bins provided or take their litter home with them and the council will not tolerate those who wilfully drop litter and spoil the environment for everyone else.”  

Christmas may be the biggest time of the year for discarded wrapping paper and packaging, but Leeds City Council is warning people that a similar attitude on the streets won’t be tolerated.  

Up to 80 officers will be patrolling the city centre and district centres around the city. They will be providing advice to the public on how to dispose of their litter responsibly.  

Dog Wardens will also be patrolling parks and beauty spots during the week to ensure dog owners are cleaning up after their pets. 

People seen disposing of their litter responsibly will be given Litter Free Leeds key rings as a thank you for helping to keep Leeds clean and tidy. Smokers will be given pocket ashtrays to use – cigarette butts make up a significant proportion of the litter dropped on our streets.  

People who are seen dropping litter or allowing their dogs to foul public areas can be issued Fixed Penalty Notices for £75, reduced to £50 if paid within seven days. There were 78 Fixed Penalty Notices issued to litter bugs last month by council officers and those who refuse to pay can end up in court.  

Young people with criminal convictions have been helping to create safer and greener communities across Leeds.

 

A joint programme of action between the Leeds Youth Offending Service and the Leeds Groundwork Trust has been judge a major success.  The programme can also involves members of local community groups and has been involved in a number of very worth while projects, graffiti removal, community clean ups, horticultural and allotment work, countryside and landscaping projects.

 

For more information contact glenduckett@groundwork.org.uk

 

I whole heartedly support the Howard League for Penal Reform’s campaign, ‘Growing up, Shut up’.  

The government’s policy of criminalizing and incarcerating young children is scandalous. Not only is it inhumane and unacceptable, but an increasing body of evidence demonstrates that it is also ineffective as a policy intervention to reduce re-offending. 

Instead of pouring scarce resources into plans for ever-larger and more dehumanizing ‘Titan’ prisons, public money should be directed towards what works. Measures like restorative justice and early intervention to tackle the underlying problems that cause children to become offenders, including child social skills training and extra support for parents, have been shown to be more effective than incarceration at stopping young people from committing crime. Unlike prison, such measures treat children as human beings with the right to participate in society, rather than as criminals who must be isolated from it. 

It is unacceptable that England and Wales does not meet UN standards on the minimum age for criminal responsibility. This should be remedied as soon as possible. 

The Howard League is also right to demand that the focus of responsibility for children in trouble with the law should rest with local authorities, and that Children’s Panels should be established as a first point of contact for such children. These accords with the idea of ‘justice reinvestment’, whereby money is diverted away from the wasteful and ineffective prison system and into projects which tackle the causes of offending within the communities from which offenders come. Local responsibility removes the perverse incentives which exist under the current system, in which social services must be funded by local authorities but the cost of incarceration is borne by central government. This approach should extend also to national level, with responsibility for children involved in the criminal justice system integrated into a single Department. 

It is crucial that where offenders do have to be incarcerated, they are given the support they need on their release to reintegrate into the community. A person’s experience during this critical period can be pivotal in determining their subsequent chances of re-offending. As you rightly point out, this is particularly true for children and young people. The Howard League’s demand that children must be housed in suitable accommodation on leaving custody therefore also has my full support. 

The present government’s reform of legal aid has been a disaster. The new fixed-fees regime gives solicitors an incentive to refuse to take on the most complex and time-consuming cases, including those involving children and other vulnerable groups. The ultimate effect of this is to deny legal aid to those who most need it. 

The Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Minister, David Howarth, regularly presses the government on the question of reform of the youth justice system. He has recently raised various specific issues regarding the conditions experience by young people in custody, including inappropriate use of restraint in juvenile secure centers and unacceptably late arrivals at young offenders’ institutes. The Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign for a criminal justice policy which treats young offenders as human beings and deals effectively with the root causes of offending behavior, and will continue to support the excellent work of the Howard League. 

Interested in volunteering and want to find out more?

Leeds Youth Offending Service are currently looking for new volunteers in each of our four volunteering roles: Appropriate Adult, Mentor, Panel Member and ISSP. Training is provided for all roles and expenses are reimbursed.

For more information on what these roles involve, or for a general chat about volunteering at the Youth Offending Service, please come along to our OPEN DAY, where members of staff will be available to answer any questions you have!

West Yorkshire Playhouse (Priestley Room)

21st October, 12.30 – 8pm.

Tea and coffee will be provided!

For further information please look at our website:www.leeds-yot.org.uk/volunteers.htmor contact the volunteer team on 0113 214 4989 (Karl), 214 4655 (Hannah) and 214 1516 (Claire)

 BELOW IS A LETTER I HAVE RECEIVED FROM WEST YORKSHIRE TRADING STANDARDS SERVICE THAT RELATES TO THE WORK THEY WILL BE UNDERTAKING TO ENFORCE FIREWORK LEGISLATION AND THE UNDERAGE SALES OF FIREWORKS

My Reference: DL/PHB                                           Date: 26th September 2008                                     

This matter is being dealt with by: David Lovell                   Tel: 0113 289 8233            E mail: dlovell@wyjs.org.uk

 

Dear Councillor RE: FIREWORKS LEGISLATION   In view of public concerns surrounding the use and misuse of fireworks at this time of the year, I am writing to inform you of the current legal restrictions on the supply, possession and use of these products and to clarify areas of enforcement responsibility. West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service is the enforcement authority for the following offences;

§         Supplying adult fireworks and sparklers to any person under the age of 18 years.

§         Failure by a supplier to display the prescribed firework notice (stating the offences committed if fireworks are supplied to or in possession of under 18’s). §         Supplying aerial shells, aerial maroons, shells in mortar, maroons in mortar, jumping crackers, mini rockets, air bombs, bangers, Chinese crackers or professional display fireworks.*

§         Supplying of Category 3 (display) fireworks with a noise level greater than 120 decibels.

§         Supply of Category 1, 2 or 3 fireworks which do not comply with BS 7114.West Yorkshire Police Force is the enforcement authority for the following offences;

§         Possession of an adult firework in a public place by a person under the age of eighteen.

§         Possession by any non professional of a category 4 (professional display) firework.

§         Throwing, casting or firing a firework in a highway, street, thoroughfare or public place.

§         Using a firework during the night hours of 11pm and 7am. Exceptions exist for the following designated fireworks nights. 

	Curfew Operates Between
5 November	Midnight and 7am the following day
First Day of Chinese New Year	1am and 7am following day
Diwali	1am and 7am following day
31 December	1am and 7am following day

The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcement authority for the following offences;

§         Unlawful storage of fireworks without licence or registration.

§         Failure by supplier to inform local licensing authority of single transactions over 50kg.

§         Unlicensed supply of fireworks by ‘all year round suppliers.’ ‘All year round suppliers’ are traders who supply fireworks outside the following periods: 15th October to 10th November inclusive, 26th December to 31st December inclusive and the first day of the Chinese New Year, Diwali and the three days immediately preceding both. Such suppliers must operate under a licence to supply granted by the Fire Service.Please be aware that it is permitted for persons to keep the following quantities of Hazard Type 4 explosives without registration or licence for a limited period, for their own use.  

Quantity	Limited Period	Condition
Up to 250kg  (NEQ)*	For up to 3 days	At place of intended use
Up to 100kg (NEQ)	For up to 3 days	At place of intended use (for a combination of HT3 and HT4 fireworks)
Up to 50kg    (NEQ)	For up to 21 days	Not for sale or use at work
Up to 5kg      (NEQ)	Indefinitely
*Net Explosive Quantity

 I trust that the above information will assist you in advising members of the public who have concerns about fireworks. Complainants may telephone Consumer Direct Yorkshire and the

Humber (08454 04 05 06) on any firework issue (referrals to other agencies will be made where appropriate).

 Yours sincerely 

David LovellPrincipal Trading Standards Officer 

 

 

PLANS to free local police forces from the grip of central government bureaucracy and targets have been welcomed by Liberal Democrats in Moortown & Meanwood. The proposals have been launched by Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne and will be debated at the party’s conference in Bournemouth in September. Cllr Richard Harker said that police officers would be freed to spend more time policing communities rather than chasing government targets. “The police have to be free to police our local communities,” said Richard. “Constant interference and targets from Whitehall do little to catch criminals and deter crime. Moortown & Meanwood police are far better placed than a government minister in Whitehall to decide what the local priorities are. “The proposals also call for police authorities to be elected by local people, rather than appointed by ministers. That will mean policing priorities are under the control of local people.”  Other proposals to be debated by the Liberal Democrats include appointing 10,000 extra police officers, paid for by scrapping the expensive and bureaucratic National Identity Card scheme. 

  

 

Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Learning, Cllr Richard Harker, welcomed the new Liberal Democrat proposals to tackle youth crime today.  “There are some radical proposals in this paper which need to be  linked to early intervention with families.”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne, has accused both Labour and the Conservatives of ‘falling over each other to be tough on crime’ as he promoted his party’s new plans for stopping young people from committing crimes.

The ideas outlined in the document A Life Away From Crime also highlight how to stop children who have been found guilty of minor offences from committing more serious crimes.

The main proposals include:

• Making young people pay back the damage caused to communities without involving the criminal justice system
• The formation of a Youth Volunteer Force to engage young people in activities that benefit local people
• Running nationwide restorative justice programmes, with a particular emphasis on early intervention in schools and care homes
• Creating a dedicated PCSO youth officer in every area to work with teenagers most at risk of offending
• Targeting guns and knives through intelligence-led stop and search, hot-spot policing and action in schools

Chris Huhne said:

“If we want to tackle the problem of youth crime, we need to take action early to stop kids from embarking on a life of crime before it’s too late.

“The old parties are falling over each other trying to be tough on crime, but nothing is being done do stop young people getting sucked in to a cycle of crime.

“Ministers know that programmes to divert kids away from crime work, and are even happy to promote such projects. However, they have failed to fund them properly in favour of punitive policies that grab headlines but achieve little.

“It is time for a new approach to youth justice which both prevents crime and confronts young people with their actions if they do break the law.”

Cllr Richard Harker to day welcomed the Liberal Democrats plans to tackle youth crime. In a dual approach the plan aims to stop young people committing crimes in the first place by enabling them to play a full role in society through increased training and volunteering, as well as stopping criminal behaviour early by making young offenders face up to their crimes.

The main proposals contained in the paper A Life Away From Crime include:· The creation of a Youth Volunteer Force, to engage with young people, involve them in community projects and give them skills to benefit them in later life

· Establish Community Justice Panels across the country, where offenders admit their guilt to the community and agree on a Positive Behaviour Order as a course of action

· Create a dedicated PCSO youth officer within every Safer Neighbourhood Team to identify and work with teenagers most at risk of offending

· 10,000 more police on the streets by scrapping the ID cards scheme

· Intelligence-led stop and search and ‘hot spot policing’ targeted at gun and knife crime

· Restorative justice programs to be run in every community, specifically targeted at early intervention with widespread use in schools and care homes

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Affairs Secretary, Chris Huhne said:“This Government has spent 10 years trying to sound tough while failing to cut youth crime.

“In fact, ministers have embarked on the mass criminalisation of a generation of young people. By dragging more and more young people through the criminal justice system, they have reduced the fear of a criminal record and contributed to the problem.

“Instead of shock tactics to grab headlines, we need practical measures that are proven to work.

“Only the Liberal Democrats propose a dual approach to stop kids from getting involved in crime in the first place, and measures to make them face up to the consequences of their actions if they do.”