[Laura Latham]

Thomas - my first point of call would be guidance issued by the Authority to officers to cover lone working arrangements etc to extract what may be relevant for Councillors.

I would guess that in many cases, the situations eg home visits, evening activity etc would be the same and then you'd be protecting both officers and members jointly within the same policy.

You could look to offer personal safety training for Councillors but as with all Member training, attendance can be hit and miss, particularly when it is not compulsory.

Thanks

Laura

thancock7 Wrote:Currently we(Bournemouth Council) are having a think around security arrangements surrouding councillors out and about (e.g at surgeries, home visits and general safety). There seems to be very limited guidance and advice as to what steps to take to ensure safety of councillors in these situations.

Does anyone have any advice on this issue, or are there any reports or guidance from other local authoritites or national bodies surrounding this issue?

Thanks

Thomas Hancock

(Intern - Bournemouth Borough Council)

[Jo Toomey]

Hi Thomas,

If it's something your keen to get out to all Councillors and you can't guarantee attendance at training, would there be scope for you to take a presentation at a full Council briefing. Perhaps something from a local police crime reduction officer; that could include more general information on crime prevention. Another tack would be trying to examine issues through a Council debate on lone working policies. Of course, you would need to be able to request/suggest items for Council agenda, but if you have an amenable chairman it may be a way forward.

Altevernatively it sounds like an ideal opportunity for your relevant scrutiny committee to do some awareness raising. They could even gather the info and look at running the programme themselves.

Good luck!

Jo