Local partnerships work together to keep Hastings and Rother safe

The Joint Safer Hastings and Safer Rother Partnerships are continuing to work together to combat crime and disorder in Hastings and Rother.

A recent meeting saw the partnerships, which are made up of key local organisations from across Hastings and Rother, agree their priorities for 2022/23. These include tackling street related crime and Anti-Social Behaviour, modern slavery, human trafficking, Violence Against Women and Girls and domestic abuse experienced by all genders, while also ensuring that those with substance misuse issues are fully supported.

Partners working together to combat these issues include Hastings Borough Council, Rother District Council, East Sussex County Council, East Sussex Fire and Rescue, Sussex Police, the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, Hastings Community Network, Optivo, Change Grow Live, Love Hastings, Kent Surrey and Sussex Probation Service, and Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group.

The organisations also discussed their continued support for Project Discovery, that began in Hastings and Rother and has grown to cover the majority of East Sussex, helping to rescue and support victims of modern slavery, and see perpetrators brought to justice.

Cllr Judy Rogers, lead councillor for Community Safety at Hastings Borough Council, said,

"The Safer Hastings and Safer Rother Partnerships enable us to have a multi-agency approach to tackling safety issues in the local area, by utilising knowledge from a range of fields working together to create a safer place for people to live, work and visit.

"Recent partnership work with Discovery, saw a number of shops inspected in Hastings. The inspection of one shop uncovered people sleeping in a makeshift sleeping area in the basement of the premises and resulted in a Fire Prohibition Notice being served. This will prevent any further sleeping on site, helping to ensure individuals are not put at risk through inadequate conditions.

"We have also been involved in Discovery's latest work in Hastings, which led to the identification of hotspot areas in Hastings where exploitation has been confirmed. By using each partner's powers, the project has decreased and displaced the organised crime groups and enabled Sex Workers' Outreach Project support officers from Streetlight UK and the Oasis Project to provide support to potential victims with health advice and personal care kits.

"If you have a non-emergency community safety issue that concerns Hastings, please report this at www.hastings.gov.uk/community-safety."

Cllr Brian Drayson, Chair of the Safer Rother Partnership at Rother District Council, added,

"The positives offered by partnership working are clearly visible with the results from a recent push to legitimise the carwash industry by Rother District Council and other key Discovery partners, including Immigration Enforcement, the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, and Sussex Police.

"Through conducting a number of surprise visits to various carwashes, we found poor wages, health and safety equipment missing, and no relevant training provided. This resulted in a community protection warning notice being served on one business, which led to the owner giving up the company. Poor accommodation was also found at another site which was then served with a fire prohibition notice by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service preventing any sleeping at the location.

"If you have any non-emergency safety issues you are concerned about in Rother, please report this at www.rother.gov.uk/community-safety-and-emergencies."

There is a review of the partnership scheduled to take place later this year.