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Departmental Schemes

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022

Tuesday, 29 March 2022

Questions (117)

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill

Question:

117. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Justice if she will report on the way the pilot community safety partnerships are progressing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16049/22]

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Written answers

As the Deputy will be aware, I announced the establishment of three pilot Local Community Safety Partnerships in November 2020. These pilots schemes have been set up in Longford, North Inner City Dublin and Waterford. The pilots will run for a period of two years, and learnings from the pilot LCSPs will inform the eventual rollout of the model to every local authority area.

The Community Safety Partnerships will be rolled out nationally following enactment of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, completion of the three pilots and related monitoring and evaluation processes. I made a commitment to utilise a robust evaluation from the outset of this process. The overall aim of the evaluation is to provide actionable evidence to help inform the development of the LCSPs and their rollout across the country.

Each LCSP pilot consists of 30 members including an independent chairperson. The remaining 29 members are divided in a 14/15 split in favour of non-public representatives. Non-public membership relates to those who are not members of public body agencies or service providers. This can include local residents, community representatives, including youth, older persons, minority and new community representatives; business representatives, education representatives, voluntary sector representatives etc.

The specific membership composition of each individual partnership is flexible depending on the needs of the community and is outlined in the individual Terms of Reference of each Partnership. The Pilots meet on a regular basis with at least four meetings a year.

To date, each of the three pilot LCSPs in Longford, Dublin North Inner City and Waterford has a complete membership including an independent Chair. Each pilot has also employed a Community Safety Coordinator who provides the day to day contact between the community and the partnership, runs projects within the community and generally acts as a focal point through which community concerns can be channelled. Due to the size and complexity of the Dublin pilot, Dublin also employs an Administrative Officer to support the Coordinator and Chairperson.

Each pilot has had at least two formal meetings of the full Partnership and the Partnerships are all currently working to develop unique Local Community Safety Plans. Each partnership has also formed subgroups that are focussed on bringing actions forward between full meetings and/or developing the Community Safety Plan.

Each pilot is also subject to an ongoing independent evaluation which will last for the 24-month duration of the pilots. The overall aim of the evaluation is to provide actionable evidence to help inform the development of the LCSPs and their rollout across the country on completion of the pilot period, after the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill is enacted.

The evaluation is exploring implementation approaches and processes that appear to be effective across and within the pilot communities. It will, over time, assess how well the Local Community Safety Partnership pilots identified the priorities and concerns of their respective communities; how the LCSPs conducted their work; the engagement and relationships the LCSPs had with the local communities; and the impact of the LCSP work on community safety.

Findings from the evaluation process will inform future rollout of the LCSP model in every local authority area. The initial phase of fieldwork, between Q4 2021 – Q1 2022, is focused on reviewing processes and establishing a baseline for any outcomes of the LCSPs work over the next two years.

Establishing a baseline is an important aspect of the evaluation, it ensures a solid understanding of the starting point against which to compare the data at the latter stages of the evaluation. A baseline report will be completed and submitted to my Department during Q2 of 2022. The first report on findings and lessons will be due in Q4 2022.

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