Review of actions 2024 - 2025
Crime levels within Tonbridge and Malling are low and the borough remains one of the safest in the county. From April 2024 to March 2025, there were 6,932 incidents of victim-based crime recorded within Tonbridge and Malling, compared to 7,621 the previous year (a decrease of 9%). There have been reductions in violent crime (-9.2%), vehicle crime (-4.9%), criminal damage (-5.8%) and in crimes against society (-6.5%). The borough remains one of the safest in the county and we have the third lowest victim-based crime rate in Kent.
During 2024/25 the Partnership had six priorities, and the tables below show the progress made against these actions.
Acquisitive crime including shoplifting, theft and burglary
| Action | Owner/lead agency | Update | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promote the Safer Towns Scheme to businesses | Safer Towns Partnership Kent Police TMBC |
The scheme currently has 32 members and has now extended into Kings Hill, Snodland and Wouldham. | Green |
| Hold at least three crime prevention stands to distribute crime prevention items | TMBC KCC Community Wardens Kent Police |
During the year four crime prevention stands were held at Tonbridge, Burham and Snodland. At least 150 personal alarms were distributed, 200 purse chains and 50 shed alarms. | Green |
| Ensure high visibility patrolling of key hotspot locations | Kent Police | High visibility patrolling was carried out in the hotspot locations of Snodland and Tonbridge. | Green |
Anti-social behaviour including environmental crime
| Action | Owner/lead agency | Update | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identify perpetrators of ASB and undertake actions to cease their behaviour | TMBC Housing Associations Kent Police |
During the year the ASB Officer for TMBC received 429 reports. This is compared to 328 in the previous year. | Green |
| Provide mediation to deal with neighbour disputes and family conflicts | Mediation services | During the year the Mediation service received 11 neighbour mediation referrals, 3 family mediation referrals and 8 anger management referrals. | Green |
| Hold face to face and online engagement meetings with the public | TMBC Kent Police KCC Community Wardens |
In total five community events/meetings were held during this year. These events included a bike marking event in Wouldham, a crime prevention stand in Snodland and an event to celebrate International Women’s Day. | Green |
| Work with Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council’s ASB Enforcement Team to tackle ASB hotspot locations | TMBC | The ASB Enforcement Team were in place from April and September 2024, and they submitted 456 reports to the Borough Council on issues they had seen whilst patrolling the borough. As part of this they also identified 80 incidents of flytipping. | Green |
| Run Op Assist to target flytipping (subject to funding) | TMBC Kent Police |
An Op Assist took place on 11 June 2024 and one Fixed Penalty Notice was issued for a vehicle carrying garden/green waste without a Waste Carriers Licence. The Police also seized a vehicle for having no insurance. | Green |
Domestic Abuse
| Action | Owner/lead agency | Update | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work with DAVSS to ensure that all victims of domestic abuse can receive support | DAVSS | In total there were 376 referrals to DAVSS from clients in Tonbridge & Malling for the year. This is compared to 310 the previous year. | Green |
| Continue to provide an IDVA and refuge service to support high risk victims of domestic abuse within West Kent | Lookahead | In total this year there were 344 referrals to Lookahead. This is compared to 335 last year. They continue to provide Refuge accommodation for those people who need this. | Green |
| Run a suite of survivor programmes for female and male survivors including the Freedom Programme and Own My Life | DAVSS Lookahead |
DAVSS and Lookahead ran the Freedom Programme (33 attendees), Own My Life (43 attendees) and a Children’s Freedom (7 attendees). | Green |
| Continue to support the One Stop Shop in Tonbridge | Lookahead, Clarion, PAS and TMBC Housing | The One Stop Shop continues to run on a weekly basis in Tonbridge. On average three people visit each week. | Green |
| Run preventative/educational programmes around healthy relationships in schools (subject to funding) | DAVSS Lookahead |
A DAY (programme for young people) ran during the year. | Green |
| Continue to support the CDAP programme in Tonbridge | Community Domestic Abuse Programme | At the end of the year there were seven men active in the CDAP programme. 1 of these was from Tonbridge & Malling. | Green |
| Progress the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance Accreditation (DAHA) for Tonbridge & Malling | TMBC | The DAHA accreditation is being progressed. A staff domestic abuse policy is now in place and DA Champions have been identified. | Green |
| Undertake training and awareness raising for partners and local businesses | Lookahead DAVSS TMBC |
During the year awareness training sessions were held with over 60 people attending. | Green |
Preventing extremism and hate
| Action | Owner/lead agency | Update | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promote the Prevent Strategy within the community via social media etc. | All partners | This is ongoing work although social media has been used to raise awareness. | Green |
| Attend Chanel Panels where appropriate and provide support to individuals when required | TMBC Kent Police |
Representatives from the Community Safety Partnership have been able to attend the Channel Panels where appropriate. | Green |
| Run Prevent training for staff, partners and Members (as appropriate) | TMBC | Training was held in May 2024. | Green |
| Implement Martyn’s Law (Protect Duty) when appropriate | TMBC | This has only just become law (April 2025) and so was not able to be progressed during 2024/25. | Red |
| Encourage victims to report hate crime and promote the ways to do this | All partners | This is ongoing work, and residents are encouraged to report all hate crime to the police. | Green |
Safeguarding Vulnerable People – to include mental health, child criminal sexual exploitation, modern slavery and human trafficking, substance misuse, fraud and scams and youth diversion
| Action | Owner/lead agency | Update | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provide and support diversionary activities for young people | TMBC KCC Project Salus |
TMBC have been able to commission Salus to run diversionary activities within the borough. These continue to be successful in engaging with young people. | Green |
| Work with Kenward Trust to identify hotspot areas and individuals at risk of becoming involved in substance misuse issues | Kenward Trust | Kenward Trust engaged with 1,770 young people during the year. They worked in Tonbridge, Snodland, East Malling, West Malling and Larkfield. | Green |
| Work with schools to raise awareness of substance misuse issues | Kent Police Kenward Trust |
This is ongoing work with Kenward Trust continuing to visit schools and raise this issue. | Green |
| Work with the Police to address Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking e.g., car washes, nail bars, and pop-up brothels | Kent Police | This is ongoing work with the police targeting car washes and nail bars to ensure that no one is subject to modern slavery or human trafficking. | Green |
| Work with the Community Alcohol Partnership organisation to tackle underage drinking across the borough | TMBC | This is ongoing work and meetings are held twice a year. | Green |
| Run training for partners, staff and Members as appropriate | TMBC | Prevent training was held in May 2024. | Green |
Violent crime – including Serious Violence, Violence Against Women and Girls and Stalking
| Action | Owner/lead agency | Update | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link in with the work of the Kent Violence Reduction Unit and progress initiatives as appropriate including the Serious Violence Duty | TMBC Kent Police |
The CSP receives funding through the VRU to run sports diversionary activities and during the year Sports Connect have been funded and have engaged with 40 young people. | Green |
| Work in Partnership to disrupt recognised OCGs, emerging trends and county lines | Serious and Organised Crime Group | Work is continuing to disrupt organised crime groups within the borough. | Green |
| Work with 'Reform, Restore, Respect' to hold educational programmes within schools | Reform, Restore, Respect | RRR went into 6 schools during this year, talking to 351 pupils. | Green |
| Consider work to tackle violence against women and girls | TMBC | Women and Girl’s Self defence classes were held in Tonbridge and Larkfield with over 55 women and girls attending. The police have also run ‘Walk and Talk’ events across the borough. | Green |
| Raise awareness of stalking to partners | Protection Against Stalking | Training was held during the year with different partners and PAS supported a total of 127 clients during the year. | Green |