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Planning & Developing a Community Safety Project

• Introduction
• Step 1- What is the current situation?
• Step 2 - What do we want to change?
• Step 3 - How do we do it?
• Step 4 - How do we know that we have made a difference?
• Further Support and Advice
• Glossary

Introduction

This guide contains questions to help you think through each aspect of planning and developing a community safety project from the beginning to the end. For further support and advice please contact CSAS.

Step 1 - What is the current situation?

Knowing your community/target group

Consider doing a community profile (consider: demographics, housing stock, transport, employment, poverty indicators, schools, shops, businesses, facilities, the physical environment)

Borough crime audits and strategies will provide useful information.

For more information on doing a community profile contact CSAS.

Who are the key players in the community?

• community activists
• residents groups
• voluntary/community/faith group
• other agencies e.g. Youth Offending Team, probation service, youth service, housing departments, community development/regeneration, social services, neighbourhood wardens etc.

What are the key crime reduction issues for the community?

Which of these can be addressed by a partnership working / problem solving approach?

Bring together a group of interested parties

• consider the issue of representation i.e. are all people's interests represented? Is anyone excluded?

Explore a range of possible interventions.

Step 2 - What do we want to change?

Decide on an intervention

Is your idea a social or situational solution to crime?

How do you know that there is a need for this service? (What evidence have you got? i.e. anecdotal evidence, evidence of a gap in services, statistical evidence)

What are the aims (outcomes) of your project?

Objectives (outputs) of the project?

Step 3 - How do we do it?

What will the project delivery look like?

• What is your project going to do on a daily/weekly basis?
• How many people are you targeting?
• How many sessions will your project deliver?

Beneficiaries

• How have you identified the beneficiaries of your project?
• How will you recruit people to your project?
• How will you advertise/market your project?

Project Management

• How will you manage the project?
• If your project is a partnership what are the roles and responsibilities of each of the partners?

Funding

• Who are the possible funders who could fund your project?
• How does your project meet with the funders criteria?
• Make sure the voluntary or community organisation has the following in place:
• Set up for 'charitable purposes'
• Has a constitutional document
• A management committee comprising at least three members
• A bank or building society account in the organisation's own name which needs at - least two signatures on each cheque or withdrawal
• And a copy of the most recent approved accounts.
• Policies i.e. equal opportunities, health and safety, child protection
• Apply for Funding

Networking/Unique Selling Point

• Who are you networking with?
• What other agencies or groups work with your target group?
• Does any other agency in the area provide similar services/ functions?
• If so have you considered working in partnership with them?
• If not how does your project idea differ or add to existing services?
• How does your project idea fit with your boroughs Crime Audit and strategy and Local Area Agreement

Step 4 - How do we know if we have made a difference?

Monitoring and Evaluation

• How will you know if your project is successful?
• How will you record/evidence your outputs?
• What will you develop the project? - (draw a chronological plan and identify milestones.)
• Is your project idea SMART? (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound)
• What are the 'signs' or 'indicators' that you would expect to see if the project was working?
• How will you monitor your project? - Consider equal opportunities, uptake, outputs etc.
• How will you evaluate your project? - Consider staff/volunteers, participants, the wider community.

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Further Support and Advice

You may find it useful to inform the following agencies about your project

• Neighbourhood police team
• Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership
• Local Council of Voluntary Service (CVS)

Glossary

Community Profile

A community profile is an attempt to describe a particular community or neighbourhood. It uses a variety of techniques to build up a picture from a number of perspectives. The reasons for doing a community profile can vary enormously but it is normally orientated towards preparing the ground for an effective piece of community action. By listening to a community through doing a profile, any subsequent action is likely to be more rooted, productive and sympathetic to what is already going on.

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP)

CDRPs are primarily funded by the Home Office. They use the following process:

• Establishing the type and levels of crime and disorder in their borough through an audit.
• Consulting widely with the borough population to make sure that the partnership's perception of crime and disorder matches that of local people. Minority groups are particularly encouraged to input their views.
• Devising a strategy containing measures to tackle those priority problems, including an action plan, targets and responsible individual/organisation.

The strategy lasts for three years, but must be kept under review by the partnership.

The work of the CDRPs is parallel to national government strategies and targets and also considers national policing plans.

Local Area Agreements

A Local Area Agreement (LAA) is a three year agreement that set out priorities as agreed between central government and a local area represented by a local authority and Local Strategic Partnership.

LAAs simplify arrangement for pooled funding streams from central government to local authorities, helping join up public services more effectively, thus allowing greater flexibility for local solutions to local circumstances. LAAs are helping to devolve decision making, move away from a 'Whitehall knows best' philosophy and reduce bureaucracy associated with administering multiple funding streams.

LAAs are structured around four blocks (or policy fields):

• Children and young people,
• Safer and stronger communities, healthier communities
• Older people,
• Economic development and enterprise.

LAAs form a key part of the Local Vision, the government's 10-year strategy for local government which seeks a more mature relationship between central and local government. They are also driving forward the principles of the Devolved Decision-Making review in terms of the rationalisation of funding streams.

Milestones

Are key occurrences in the life of your project that demonstrate your progress as you move towards your aim.

Outcomes or Aims

Outcomes describe a change in your service user or target group. The following terminology is used to describe outcomes;

• To enable?
• To improve?
• To increase?
• To reduce?

'This is why we do it!'

Outputs or Objectives

Outputs describe the planned activities by which you are going to achieve your Outcomes. The following terminology is used to describe outcomes;

• To provide?
• To facilitate?
• To deliver?
• To run?
• To set up?

'This is what we do!'

Solutions to crime

1. Situational - Changing the physical environment to make it harder to commit crime.
2. Social - working with those at risk of committing crime, improving quality of life, reducing fear of crime, supporting vulnerable groups.

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