Local Action Team

I would like to ask the following for clarification

* Will the existing LAT/NAG’s etc get official recognition if they are not set up by the Police/Council team.

* If the Police/council instigated LAT formations are funded from a central government pot, then is an existing LAT/NAG entitled to such expenses or budget?

* Some Police/Council formed,  and sometimes steered, LAT are apparently not disclosing the making their minutes or meeting notes available for viewing for people outside its area or even within its area who are not ‘proper’ members of its LAT. Is this suitable, and a transparent use of public resources, time and money.

* How many of the various LAT’s or groups have actually got involved in this thing?

* Will the police/council undertake to check what is happening (and wanted) in the area before they decide to set up a new LAT?

* Has the LAT forum finished their map of the existing LAT’s (et al), if (or if not) when will it be published?

* If a group (LAT/NAG) decides NOT to be part of the ‘LAT forum’ what are the chances they will be ’shunned’?

The purpose of a LAT is to identify, plan and deliver activities to reduce crime and disorder at a very local level. The size of the area covered by a LAT will depend on factors such as the size of the community or the specific problems of the particular area. LATs may take on long-term issues for an area or they may be set up on a short-term, single-issue basis. They should be problem solving focused, utilising established problem solving processes

The British Standards Institute is inviting comments on its new draft standard on the management of personal information. The finalised standard will assist organizations in complying with the Data Protection Act, is applicable to any organization which holds the personal information of living individuals.

The proposed standards are called DPC BS 10012 and should help organizations to create an infrastructure for maintaining and improving compliance with the Data Protection Act. It is expected to be published in June 2009.

Instead of prescribing exactly how operations should be run, it provides a framework which should help organizations to manage personal information within the law. For example, the standard focuses on ensuring that an organization provides sufficient guidance and resources (e.g. staffing), and creates a positive culture within which data processing can occur.

It seems that the latest initiative of the police is to set up LAT’s everywhere.

What is a LAT? Well it is a Local Action Team, but what is a Local Action Team?

First we need to look at what happens at your local neighbourhood level. There is commonly a combination of street residents. Mainly there are friends of groups or residents associations who are concerned with a particular area. This can be made up of people who either live in a street, a number of streets or are involved with the upkeep of a certain area.

Looking at the resident’s group approach, this could also include Neighbourhood Watch (NHW), but that may also cover several streets. The simplest form of a RA groups is within a block of flats. A FOG may cover the area around a square, park or other notable building. At these FOG, RA or NHW meetings the local police or council may be invited to look at certain issues, concerns over refuse collection or developments, or ASB in general.

Sorting the confusion amongst the different groups.

The Neighbourhood Watch scheme in the United Kingdom is a partnership where people come together to make their communities safer. It involves the Police, Community Safety departments of local authorities, other voluntary organisations and, above all, individuals and families who want to make their neighbourhoods better places to live. It aims to help people protect themselves and their properties and to reduce the fear of crime by means of improved home security, greater vigilance, accurate reporting of suspicious incidents to the police and by fostering a community spirit.

The UK's first Neighbourhood Watch was set up in Mollington in Cheshire in 1982 There are 10 million people are now claimed to be members.The neighbourhood watch schemes covers many aspects of criminal behaviour.

Objectives of Neighbourhood Watch
*      To prevent crime by improving security, increasing vigilance, creating and maintaining a caring community and reducing opportunities for crime by increasing crime prevention awareness.
*      To assist the police in detecting crime by promoting effective communication and the prompt reporting of suspicious and criminal activity.
*      To reduce undue fear of crime by providing accurate information about risks and by promoting a sense of security and community spirit, particularly amongst the more vulnerable members of the community.
*      To improve police/community liaison by providing effective communications through Neighbourhood Watch messaging systems which warn Co-ordinators of local crime trends which they can disseminate to their scheme members, and by members informing the police of incidents when they occur.

The government's new Vetting and Barring scheme will begin operating from October 2009. Critics have branded the new rules as "insulting" and say they could deter volunteers.

What is it?

The Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland was a recommendation of the inquiry into the murders of two schoolgirls by school caretaker Ian Huntley in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002.


The system replaces the three current barring lists in England and Wales (Protection of Children Act (PoCA) List, List 99 -the list of those prohibited from working with children in education- and the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (PoVA) List) with two new barred lists administered by the ISA rather than several government departments.

In Northern Ireland it replaces the Disqualification from Working with Children (DWC) List, the Unsuitable Persons List (UP List) and the Disqualification from Working with Vulnerable Adults (DWVA) List

A separate but aligned scheme will be introduced in Scotland next year and anyone barred in any part of the UK will also be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults anywhere else.

The Scottish scheme places the onus on the employer or organisation to make sure vetting is carried out - individuals will not be held responsible.

The scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland launches on 12 October 2009 and will be phased in. Individuals will be able to apply to register from July 2010. Registration and the checking of people's status will be mandatory from November 2010.

Who will run it?

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