To receive a presentation on the Aston Project and Gloucestershire Great Expectations.

64.1           The Head of Community Services advised that Jack James had been working for the Council as the Aston Project Co-Ordinator for the last five months.  The post was funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office and Jack worked closely with the Anti-Social Behaviour Youth Diversion Worker within the Community Services team.  He would be giving a presentation on the Aston Project and the next stage, Great Expectations.

64.2           The following key points were raised during the presentation:

·           Aston Project (1) – Named after PC Lynn Aston who sadly lost her battle with cancer in April 2011; launched in Cheltenham in September 2011 building on the duty to identify vulnerable children at risk of causing anti-social behaviour; provides community-based activities linked to their interests; earn time banking credits to spend on reward activities; engage at an early point whilst the pathway can still be changed.

·           Aston Project (2) – Caseloads: Cheltenham – 37, Gloucester – 26, Newent – 19, Tewkesbury – 13; Tewkesbury was a pilot introduced in November 2017 for children in Prior’s Park and all had been engaging on a regular basis; approximately 630 had engaged since the project launched; approximately 150 had engaged in the last 12 months; 45 volunteers had registered with the project since October 2015; a total of over 500 hours had been contributed so far; 24 volunteers were currently considered active (15 active and 9 in process); the Tewkesbury Aston Project launch would be in February 2018.

·           Aston Project (3) – Volunteers - Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checked; considered as Gloucestershire Police volunteers; make a real difference to the lives of young people; actively trying to recruit volunteers; looking at long-term sustainability.

·           Aston Project (4) – Referral process – referrals currently made via the Gloucestershire Police website, the Aston Project would have its own website from February; prevention and intervention – reducing future harm amongst young people; young people are referred on the following basis “I am concerned about where this young person is going to end up…”

·           Great Expectations (1) – Launched in April 2013 in Gloucester; response to gang problem; national move towards emphasis on longer term prevention and intervention; step-up from the Aston Project; referrals on the same basis as the Aston Project, allocations meeting to decide which they should subscribe to; three tiers to Great Expectations; Tier 1 (pre- offending/arrest) Prevention – custody experience involving a mock arrest (the young person is not told it is mock); Tier 2 (early offending) Intervention – court and prison experience; Tier 3 (pre-custodial offending) Intervention – Great Expectations seven week programme.

·           Great Expectations (2) – Programme delivered to approximately 115 young people in the last six months; mentoring caseload currently 28 young people (five/six per mentor); four mentors, including two females, volunteers; gain a qualification, induction programme, quarterly training – rehabilitation; one senior mentor.

·           Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) (1) – “A complex set of related childhood experiences that include abuse, neglect and growing up with household dysfunction”; research has shown strong relationships between ACEs and: adoption of health-risk behaviours (e.g. drug/alcohol abuse, self-harm, smoking, high-risk sexual behaviour), increased risk of violence or victimisation (including domestic abuse), presence of adult diseases and conditions (heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, skeletal fractures, liver disease, severe obesity), mental health conditions (including suicidal and depressive disorders), higher levels of involvement in the criminal justice system, homelessness and early death.

·           Adverse Childhood Experiences (2) – 10 ACEs: sexual abuse by someone five years older than the individual; emotional abuse by parent/caregiver; physical abuse by parent/caregiver; emotional neglect by parent/caregiver; physical neglect by parent/caregiver; loss/abandonment of or by parent (death/separation); witness abuse in the household; drug/alcohol abuse in the household; mental illness in the household; parent/caregiver incarcerated – someone experiencing four or more of these is six times more likely to offend.

·           Adverse Childhood Experiences (3) – Preventing ACEs in future generations could reduce levels of: heroin/crack cocaine use (lifetime) by 66%; incarceration (lifetime) by 65%; violence perpetration (past year) by 60%; violence victimisation (past year) by 57%; cannabis use (lifetime) by 42%; unintended teenage pregnancy by 41%; high-risk drinking (current) by 35%; early sex (before age 16) by 31%; smoking tobacco or e-cigarettes (current) by 24%; poor diet (current, less than two fruit and vegetable portions daily) by 16%.

·           If you refer to us – Referral form (ACEs); gather information from Police and partners; allocate to Aston Project or Tier 1, 2 or 3 of Great Expectations and update the person who made the referral; meet with the young person and update the referrer; positively engage with the young person as part of the Aston Project and/or Great Expectations.

·           Coverage – Great Expectations – countywide; Aston Project – Gloucester, Cheltenham, Newent, Tewkesbury and looking to start a Stroud branch via the Police; single referral process.

64.3           A Member noted that funding for the Aston Project was currently for 18 months and he questioned what was being done to ensure that it could continue beyond that period.  The Aston Project Co-Ordinator confirmed that he was looking at long-term sustainability and charitable status was one option.  He intended to compile a report on the cost-benefits over the coming months.  The Member indicated that he had noted a difference in Prior’s Park since the introduction of the Aston Project pilot and he thanked the Aston Project Co-Ordinator for his hard work.  Another Member questioned whether the Aston Project was reliant on the Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner remaining in office.  The Aston Project Co-Ordinator indicated that, if and when a new Police and Crime Commissioner was elected, he hoped that they would see the benefit of the project which had now been running for a number of years.  Unfortunately it was difficult to quantify the success of the project; clearly there was an impact on the young person’s life but there were no statistics to show the benefit of the Aston Project.  Notwithstanding this, he was confident that a strong case could be made to retain the project.   A Member went on to suggest that it may be beneficial for Members to visit SkillZONE, Gloucestershire’s safety education centre.  The Chief Executive indicated that it could be difficult to arrange a visit to the centre as it had a very active programme; however, it was an interesting location for raising awareness of issues around crime and safety and he would be happy to look into this following the meeting.

64.4           The Chair thanked the Aston Project Co-Ordinator for his informative presentation and it was

RESOLVED          That the Aston Project and Great Expectations presentation be NOTED.