Community

Strategic Priorities

Empowering and enabling local people to be able to make a positive contribution towards tackling the damage caused by drugs to their communities and neighbourhoods, in areas where drug markets have flourished.  This will be achieve using a variety of commissioned interventions, notably the 'Neighbourhood Drug Awareness Campaign' .  This compaign has been developed together with the Birmingham Assocation of Neighbourhood Forums to provide information and support to local people about issues such as drug related crime and social nuisance which have compounded other neighbourhood difficulties.

Ensuring that the voluntary and community sector is properly engaged in the activities of the Birmingham Drug Action Team (BDAT)and the wider Birmingham Community Safety Partnership (BCSP) and is sufficiently capacity built to contribute these activities.

Creating access points for the voluntary and community sector into the BCSP and creating opportunities for this sector to contribute to decision making processes relating to policy development, commissioning and distribution of funding.

Increasing the number of volunteers from Black and Ethnic Minority communities into the drug sector workforce through a structured volunteer programme.  Promoting volunteering as a useful entry point into the drugs sector workforce and substance misuse field.  This intervention supports the BDAT Workforce Development Strategy which identifies a need for more culturally diverse drug sector workforce.

Joint working with priority constituency based Local Delivery Groups will continue to be strengthened.  Locally produced community safety needs assessments will continue to inform commissioning activity and will provide a useful tool for Local Delivery Groups in the development of needs led community plans.

Increased high profile police enforcement activity to disrupt the supply of Class A drugs locally, regionally and internationally.  This will be achieved by developing and commissioning a series of intelligence led interventions, reducing the demand for class A drugs by supporting drug education and the diversion of drug users to drug treatment services, increased target hardening interventions such as Class A closures orders and CCTV; to enable effective neighbourhood management and help reduce drug related crime and intimidation that have cuased damage within communities.

Effective management of the 'Let's Work Together' grant which is a community capacity building grant created to support the engagement of voluntary, community and faith-based organisations and groups in the community safety agenda by providng small grants through a simple application process.  The grant supports the capacity building and infrastructure strengthening to enable these groups to deliver efficient, effective and sustainable services, which contribute to the reduction of community safety risks.