The Camden Safer Neighbourhood Board (CSNB) was first established in 1988 as the Camden Community and Police Consultative Group (CCPCG). This was in response to the recommendations made by Lord Scarman in his report that looked into the inner-city disturbances in London and other major urban centres that took place in the early 1980s. From its beginnings the CCPCG was a vigorous advocate of partnership working and constantly pushed for closer relations between police, council, other statutory organisations and the community and voluntary sector.
More recently, partnership working between the police and other agencies has evolved under a new set of initiatives by MOPAC (the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime), originally outlined in 2013.
Accordingly, in 2014 we changed to become the first Safer Neighbourhood Board in London. With the backing of MOPAC the Board sits at the apex of the engagement structure that builds up from Safer Neighbourhood ward panels to neighbourhood cluster panels and on to the Board, bringing all the different local community priorities around crime together to inform borough-wide priorities as a whole. At every level, the engagement structure depends entirely on volunteer members of the community.
MOPAC have tasked the CSNB with the following ten functions:
- Establish policing priorities in the borough;
- Monitor crime performance and community confidence;
- Monitor complaints against borough officers;
- Hear and monitor complaints from victims of crime
- Provide assurance that a system of independent custody visiting is delivered;
- Play a significant role in Community Payback, whereby young people with minor convictions mitigate their sentences by supervised work in the community;
- Ensure all wards have a ward panel;
- Oversee the borough Independent Advisory Group;
- Support Neighbourhood Watch;
- Ensure the stop and search community monitoring function is delivered.
The CSNB works closely with Camden’s Community Safety Partnership. We are involved at all levels of the Partnership:
- Our members attend the monthly operational ‘Partnership Afternoons’ alongside,
- We are members of the Partnership’s Performance Management Group, and
- The Chair of the SNB is a member of the Community Safety Management Board Executive.
Trustees
We have a panel of trustees that oversee the work of the CSNB. They usually meet six times a year. There are two types of trustees; those appointed each year at our AGM, (known as ‘Community Representatives’) and others because of the position they hold:
| Name | Position | Representing |
|---|---|---|
| Roy Walker | Chair | Community Representative |
| Chris Fagg | Vice Chair | Community Representative |
| Leon Ellenport | Vice Chair & Treasurer | Community Representative |
| Ch Supt Penny Banham | Borough Commander | Camden Police |
| Cllr Jonathan Simpson | Cabinet Member for Community Safety | Camden Council |
| Tom Preest | Head of Community Safety | Camden Council |
| Miles Seaman | Lead for Performance | Community Representative |
| Alison McWhinnie | Lead for Safer Neighbourhoods Panels | Chair of the borough SNP Chairs meeting |
| Gareth Linington | Link Officer | Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime |
| Andrew Francalanza | Lead for Victims | Victim Support |
| Margaret Haines | Lead for ICVs | Camden Independent Custody Visitors |
| John Kilvington | Lead for London-wide Stop & Search | Community Representative |
| Pamela Mansi | Lead for British Transport Police | Community Representative |
| Vacant | IAG Link | Camden Independent Advisory Group |
| Peter Ward | Company Secretary | Employee |
The CSNB is a registered charity (No: 1111175) and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales (No: 5348915).
The governing documents of the CSNB have been lodged with Companies House and the Charity Commission. A copy can be downloaded HERE.