Barnet Council is commended for leadership on trailblazing ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ scheme
At a ceremony last week, Barnet’s Community Safety leadership team together with Councillor Sara Conway (Cabinet Member for Community Safety) were recognised with a formal Assistant Commissioner’s commendation for their work as part of a police partnership to tackle organised crime and anti-social behaviour on the Grahame Park Estate.
Since mid-2023, the council’s joint working with the police and other partners on London’s pilot scheme for the ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ initiative has been achieving excellent results in reducing reported crimes and building a safer community. The commendations from the Met Police recognised the ‘exceptional leadership, dedication and professionalism’ shown by council officers Clair Green, Declan Khan, Maggie Higton-Brown and Matt Leng; and the ‘exceptional civic leadership, hard work and compassion’ shown by Cllr Conway in leading this work.
On Grahame Park, the ‘clear’ phase resulted in more than 300 arrests for a range of offences and documented reductions in violent crime, a 50% reduction in burglaries and a 33% reduction in anti-social behaviour calls. Several drugs supply lines being run into the estate from outside were also closed.
The council has since driven the work on ‘hold’ and ‘build’, developing the ‘Love Grahame Park Community’ brand to showcase the partnership work taking place to embed the positive change. The Love Grahame Park Community panel of local residents has co-designed a grant scheme (closing 13 June) from which Grahame Park residents and community organisations can apply for up to £5,000 for community projects that boost health, build skills, and/or bring people together. A separate ‘Space to Grow’ youth projects scheme has been administered by the Young Barnet Foundation with funding for projects running across the rest of the year. Details of successful grants from both schemes will be released in the coming weeks.
Cllr Conway said: “I’m delighted to hear from residents and see the difference this initiative has made – ‘children playing in the park again’ and ‘it feels safer walking around’ are our key measures of success. It’s also lovely for the council team to be recognised for our work by the Assistant Commissioner, alongside the extraordinary police work that’s happened here. I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved, including residents and community organisations.”
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: “I’m hugely proud of the work done in Grahame Park and the difference it’s continuing to make for residents. It also continues to shape wider partnership working and is a fantastic example of the Met and Barnet Council coming together to do something that’s shown real impact and sustainability.”
Ends
- Photo - from left to right: Chief Inspector Rob Gibbs from the Met Police with Barnet Council's Clair Green, Executive Director for Assurance and Public Protection, Declan Khan, Assistant Director for Counter Fraud, Community Safety and Protection, and Maggie Higton-Brown, Head of Community Safety Enforcement, CCTV and Intelligence.
- Clear, Hold, Build is a three-phase initiative to tackle areas which have been blighted by crime: ‘clear’ – targeted police activity to disrupt organised crime and other criminality in the area; ‘hold’ – a period during which the improvements made during the ‘clear’ phase are embedded and other partners come in to get involved with providing a good foundation for the third phase of ‘build’ which is about community-led action to foster resilience and cohesion, cementing relationships between residents and all the stakeholders involved.
- The success of the Grahame Park scheme has informed the rollout of Clear, Hold, Build in a number of other areas and the Home Office holds it up as a trailblazing framework for others to follow. Deputy Mayor of London for Policing and Crime, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, also visited the estate in March and spoke of how pleased she was to see the impact of effective partnership working.
- Love Grahame Park Community Fund: Love Grahame Park Community Fund | Engage Barnet