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| Photo: L-R - Chief Inspector Julie Westgate, Manager of The Forum Shopping Centre, Lawrence Allen, Lord Henley, PC Mel Pemberton - Beat manager for the city centre and Business Crime Manager Bob Lelliott. |
Home Office Minister visits Chester Partnership
The Home Office Minister for crime reduction, Lord Henley, paid the first ever ministerial visit to a partnership when he spent the day in Chester on Friday, 20th January. He spent the day listening to what the partnership does and how it works and speaking to the crime manager, businesses, police and local authority members, who all voiced their support for the good work carried out by the partnership.
The minister was shown how the partnership operates, its codes of practice, data protection compliance, radio link, photograph sharing and exclusion schemes which have all helped to reduce business crime significantly in the city. He was impressed by the strong links that have been forged across all the agencies in the city and the pro-activity and co-ordination of effort provided by the partnership.
At the conclusion of the visit Lord Henley said that he was “very impressed” with what he had seen in Chester and he expressed his thanks for the detailed insight into the partnership’s work, and the extent to which it was making a positive contribution to crime reduction and community safety in the city.
Lord Henley said, ‘Shops are the lifeblood of our communities. We recognise the cost and disruption retail crime causes to business as well as the damaging effects for communities and consumers. That is why we are working with business and trade associations to improve understanding of crimes against business, and to find effective solutions.
'In addition, from November 2012, directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners will make forces truly accountable to their communities, retailers and businesses, to ensure they appropriately address local policing concerns. Chester Against Business Crime is a great example of how partnership working is getting real results. I welcome its work and encourage more local areas to take their lead.’
During his visit the minister heard a number of comments in praise of the partnership’s work such as:
‘This scheme has made a massive difference in Chester.’ - Lawrence Allen, manager of the Forum shopping centre.
‘It has made a real difference to our anti-social behaviour problems and we attend every weekly meeting and find them really relevant and useful.’ – Chris Jones, Chester Cathedral.
Our losses would be twice as bad if we were not part of this partnership, it really works.’ – Tom Astley, manager at All Saints retailers.
Bob Lelliott, manager of Chester Against Business crime said, ‘This is the first time a business crime reduction partnership has been visited by a Home Office Minister and we are very proud he selected Chester. This was a great opportunity to showcase how we all work together to achieve the excellent results that we do. The city has seen a reduction of crime year on year, and during 2011 acquisitive crime was reduced by 28.9%, testament to all the hard work by all the agencies in Chester.’
Richard Barron, chief executive of ABCP, who accompanied Lord Henley said, ‘Chester is a well run and very effective business crime reduction partnership in Chester. Bob Lelliott and his team have a great relationship with members and stakeholders. I was delighted that Lord Henley had the opportunity to see how a Safer Business Award accredited business crime reduction partnership is managed and to understand how important the partnership is in supporting the local economy, local businesses and the community alike. I have no doubt that the minister will have been very impressed by the enthusiasm, commitment and the effective partnership working involved by all those associated with Chester Against Business Crime’.
Inspector Ian Thorp, Cheshire Police, said: ‘The proactive approach of Chester Against Business Crime displayed in support of local business has had a significant effect on criminality in the area, by working together with local officers to challenge the behaviour of offenders.’
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