Cllr. Luke Cousin raised the following question, - to Cllr. Les Phillimore, Housing, Community Safety and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder:

“As with many areas, there has been a huge increase in graffiti in public; namely, the application of the St George’s Cross on many public facing white surfaces. Whilst it would be wonderful to believe that this demonstration is a celebration of English culture and heritage, it has become clear that this is a form of attack on members of our communities. Around the country, police are investigating instances of such graffiti as hate crimes, and, furthermore, statements on social media by anonymous agents in public forums support that these acts are not done with good intentions, certainly not intentions which celebrate English culture. I’m sad to say that it feels only a matter of time before the current climate will lead to a level of civil unrest that we will find difficult to reconcile and return from. I would like to ask Cllr. Les Phillimore, in his position of Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, what actions, precautions and preventative measures are being taken by Blaby District Council (possibly with the Police) to ensure that every member of our community feels safe in the current climate. Please can he also advise on how we, as Elected Members, can best support the efforts, so that no member of the public in Blaby feel ostracised due to one or more protected characteristics?”

Cllr. Les Phillimore, Housing, Community Safety and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder, responded:

“The Community Safety Team work very closely with our Police colleagues and other partners to ensure that anyone within the district who may be negatively impacted by potential criminal actions such as hate incidents, targeted harassment or similar are supported to feel safer. We also provide education and increased awareness across the District through work in schools and with partners at community events and local national campaigns.

We have long standing, effective partnership arrangements that have been in place over a number of years such as our regular Tactical group meetings, and Community Safety Partnership which brings together key partners from Police, Fire, Public Health, Police and Crime Commissioner and the County Council who work to not only assess emerging threats within our district but also proactively plan to take actions to reduce these. The priorities for the Community Safety Partnership are to reduce offending and reoffending, to tackle serious violence and to support vulnerable people.

Work to achieve these priorities is ongoing and constantly evolving to meet the needs of changing circumstances and issues as they arise.

Graffiti Stance – Offensive graffiti is removed as soon as possible with he support of the Council. Other graffiti is the responsibility of the owner of the property impacted, in the instances listed above they are primarily the County Council and therefore it is down to them to determine the most appropriate course of action. Any actions that maybe be considered criminal damage would also be a matter investigated by the Police.

In relation to the role elected members can play in helping to make all members of the public across Blaby District feel heard and supported we would ask that any concerns or frustrations are highlighted to the Community Safety Mailbox (Community.Safety@blaby.gov.uk) this allows us to address the concerns and provide support where needed.”

Cllr. Luke Cousin asked the following supplementary question:

“Thank you for the response, Cllr. Les Phillimore, are you happy to support that all councillors can pass this information down to Parish and Town Councils so that every local government can support their local communities in the same way and have access to this mailbox?”

Cllr. Les Phillimore, Housing, Community Safety and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder, responded:

“We are happy to pass this down to Parish and Town Councils, none of us can be immune to Social / Mainstream Media noise and it is beholden to us all to keep our eyes and ears open. At Blaby District Council we have a fantastic Community Safety Team so please keep them informed if you have any concerns. I am very satisfied that the right mechanisms are in place and that the collective agencies and teams are conscious of what is going on.”