Community safety partnership

Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) were established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which set out a statutory requirement for specified public service authorities to meet regularly to discuss ways of reducing crime and disorder, address incidences of anti-social behaviour, and minimise re-offending in their local area.

Key members of the Eastbourne and Lewes Community Safety Partnership include; Sussex Police; East Sussex Fire and Rescue Authority; the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner; The Probation Service; NHS clinical commissioning groups; and East Sussex County Council. Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough Councils play a key role in supporting the work of the CSP, by administering the partnership, co-ordinating agreed strategic plans, and reporting performance.

The local community safety priorities are updated each year and those set out for 2023/24 are listed below:

• Promoting safe and welcoming spaces to help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour
• Tackling the incidence of hate crime, domestic and sexual abuse
• Reducing the incidence of serious violence and knife crime
• Addressing the impact of organised crime on local communities
• Lowering levels of anti-social driving on the Borough's roads.

In Eastbourne there is an additional priority which sets out to support the street community and addressing any related ASB.

The partnership meets regularly throughout the year and undertakes a range of strategic and operational activities to help deliver these priorities, which include supporting local organisations with grant funding. Reports summarising the 2022/23 activities of the Community Safety Partnership can be downloaded using the links below.

Community Safety Partnership Annual Report - Lewes (PDF, 278 KB)

Community Safety Partnership Annual Report - Eastbourne (PDF, 284 KB)

Community safety grants

If you have an interesting or innovative idea about how crime, disorder or antisocial behaviour could be tackled in your local area, you may be eligible to apply for a grant from the Community Safety Partnership. For example, grants have been used to support activity groups for young people, fund local clear up campaigns and provide wellbeing services to help support victims of domestic abuse. Indeed, funding can be used for activities that help address any of the priorities listed above.

To apply you can download the application form below and return it by email to communitysafety@lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk. You can also get in touch by e-mail if you want to discuss or talk about any ideas you have.

Community safety partnership grant application form (Word doc, 85 KB)

Prevent

Prevent is a key part of the Government's counter terrorism strategy. It aims to divert vulnerable people away from supporting or being drawn into terrorist activity. The councils work closely with Sussex police and the Safer East Sussex Team and East Sussex County Council to support local work to raise awareness of terror related issues and reduce the risk of individuals becoming radicalised.

This work seeks to engage communities and includes safeguarding, staff training and community and partnership work. More detail about the work going on across the County can be found on the East Sussex Safer Communities Partnership website.

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Case Reviews

What is an ASB Case Review, how to start one and what happens next?

If you've reported anti-social behaviour (ASB) but feel that no action has been taken you can escalate your complaint by starting an ASB Case Review (formerly known as 'community trigger'). The case review process means that the handling of the case will be looked at again by the agencies involved, such as the council, Sussex Police, and social housing providers.

You can only apply under the ASB case review process if:

• You have reported three separate instances of the same problem over the last six months, or
• At least five people have reported the same problem in the same location over the last six months.

Each incident of ASB must have been reported within one month of it happening.

Case reviews are not able to start if these conditions are not met, but you can report fresh incidents to the Council, Sussex Police, or your landlord tenant of Homes First or a local housing association.

Starting an ASB case review:

• Fill out the Sussex Police ASB case review referral form
• Complete the ASB Case Review online form on this website

You'll need to provide the following information:

• Dates you made each of your complaints
• Person or organisation that registered your complaint and any reference number
• Details of the ASB incidents

What happens after I complete the form?

After you've started an ASB Case Review, we will:

• Send you a letter of acknowledgment within 10 days
• Gather information from partner agencies such as the police, or social landlords
• Review information with partner agencies and look at the actions already taken
• Decide on next steps
• Keep in touch with you to let you know what's happening with your case

Once the case review has been assessed we will:

• Confirm that your request is valid, tell partner agencies and decide on the next steps within 20 working days
• Decide the request is not valid and tell you why

The whole process can take up to 30 working days. You only need to start an ASB Case Review once and we will keep a log of all community trigger cases.

My case didn't meet the ASB Case Review criteria - what can I do now?

You can make a fresh report of the incident by:

• Filling out our online ASB and hate crime report form
• Contacting Sussex Police online or by calling 101
• reporting directly to your landlord, if you are a tenant of Homes First or a local housing association