The LCSP is a board made up of regional and borough partners and currently meets five times a year. It is chaired by the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and is comprised of senior representatives from all key pan-London community safety agencies together with local authority chief executives and the Home Office.
Members are brought together to discuss, influence and support regional and borough level partnership working on crime reduction and community safety issues.
The LCSP is not a statutory body. However, it has been likened to a London-wide Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) in terms of its membership and remit. As such, it is ideally placed to develop regional strategy and promote co-ordination that improves cross-border and inter-agency working. In agreeing its purpose, the LCSP agreed that it wasn’t appropriate to develop a London strategy on crime and disorder issues. Instead it chose to use its position to select a few key themes on which to develop greater regional activity and co-ordination. These ‘workplan priorities’ have become its deliverables i.e. by taking forward these areas of interest in London, the LCSP will have benefited those working on crime reduction and community safety in London and added value
Work on two of the partnership’s initial priorities: “CDRP reform” and “robbery” have concluded at the LCSP level. The LCSP now leads sub-boards which co-ordinate activity on “youth crime/victimisation” and “anti-social behaviour” (ASB). The London Youth Crime Prevention Board is chaired by Lord Victor Adebowale whilst the London ASB Board is chaired by Michael Lockwood, Chief Executive of the London Borough of Harrow. In June 2008, the LCSP agreed a new workplan priority of serious youth violence. The LCSP’s role is to provide a regional level of co-ordination and collaboration to underpin the work around crime, disorder and policing that borough and member agencies carry out. In order to respond it seeks to secure a greater understanding of cross-cutting and cross-border issues and an awareness of the legislative, funding and performance frameworks as they change and affect London. The LCSP has no budget to drive forward work. Its influence rests upon the involvement of key stakeholders working in partnership on key issues.
