Priority Issues for 2025 - 2026
The Strategic Assessment undertaken during the autumn of 2024 identified the priority areas for the Partnership to tackle during 2025 – 2026 and the Partnership held a ‘workshop’ in March 2025 to discuss the areas that they would focus on during the next year. The Strategic Assessment used data provided by partners to recommend priorities for the forthcoming year.
The priorities agreed through the Strategic Assessment for 2025/26 are:
- Acquisitive Crime – including shoplifting, theft and burglary.
- Anti-Social Behaviour – including environmental crime
- Exploitation – to include gangs, modern slavery and human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, cuckooing and Prevent.
- Safeguarding people at risk of harm – to include domestic abuse, violence against women and girls, stalking, serious violence and fraud and scams
Partners felt that there was a need to focus on some key topics and therefore to have fewer priority themes this year. They also agreed that there should be cross cutting themes running through each of the priorities – these would be prevention, young people and substance misuse.
Although the main focus of the CSP will be the priorities as mentioned above, it will continue to monitor other types of crime. The Community Safety Unit holds weekly meetings where issues of concern are raised, and partners can be tasked to address issues as they arise. Information on repeat and vulnerable victims of anti-social behaviour is shared with partners on a regular basis.
The following pages set out the actions for the CSP for 2025/26. The action plans do not include details about the numerous activities already undertaken by partners, town and parish councils, the voluntary sector, and others as part of their day-to-day work, but will highlight activities in addition to core work, which partners will undertake throughout the forthcoming year.
Funding for actions included within the Action Plan is available from a number of different sources, including the funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council. The amount of funding that the CSP will receive from the PCC has remained the same as last year and we have also again been given a ‘tactical pot’ of funding from the PCC that we can access during the year. Regular monitoring of each project will be undertaken by the Partnership and an evaluation will be provided on completion of the project.
When preparing the action plans, issues such as equality and diversity will be considered to ensure that any person, regardless of their protected characteristic feels safe in the Borough. The CSP takes reports of hate crimes seriously and works together to ensure that information is shared to ensure any issues are resolved.