RBH pioneers crime-busting police partnership

Prison Me! No Way! project which deters young people from getting involved in crime by demonstrating the harsh reality of life behind bars

Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) is signing up to a new initiative to combat crime and anti-social behaviour in its neighbourhoods.

The mutual housing provider is forging stronger links with Greater Manchester Police through a new partnership that will see theorganisations working more closely, sharing intelligence and taking joint action to create safer communities.

The Crime Concordat will see landlords from the ten Greater Manchester local authorities pool information and resources with the police to develop a more strategic approach to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.

It also details how the social housing sector will work with the police to develop joint plans and use shared intelligence to deliver effective and efficient services to the public. The agreement is the first declaration of its kind that will cover an entire UK City Region.

RBH Chief Executive Gareth Swarbrick said:“Working closely with the police is not something new to the social housing sector. Across Greater Manchester there are many really good examples of this partnership approach which have helped to deliver real improvements for many communities.

“What this agreement does is establish a platform that will enable us to take all these great individual examples and share them across the region. We really are leading the way with this agreement and believe it can become the national template for other areas of the country to learn from and adopt.”

In the borough of Rochdale, partnership working with the police has already paid off through the Prison Me! No Way! project which deters young people from getting involved in crime by demonstrating the harsh reality of life behind bars.

The Crime Concordat will be signed by representatives of the social housing sector, Greater Manchester Police and Greater Manchester Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd at a special ceremony at Wigan Youth Zone on Monday 2 December.

The social housing sector across Greater Manchester is responsible for managing more than 260,000 homes. The partners hope to work more closely with their combined total of half a million tenants as part of the agreement meaning each one has the potential to play a role in making their communities safer.

Welcoming the agreement, GM Crime Commissioner Mr Lloyd said: “Communities across Greater Manchester expect to see the agencies working on their behalf joining forces and sharing information and valuable resources.

“However, there is another very important partner in this relationship and that is the people of Greater Manchester. Each individual will have a wealth of information about the areas in which they live and work. This agreement sets in place how the organisations will work together with those communities to make the best use of this information and in turn make those communities safer places to live.”

The agreement provides for approaches to be developed at a local level with divisional police teams and local social landlords deciding what works best for them.

Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said: “This agreement lays the foundation for a stronger working relationship between the police and social housing sector across Greater Manchester. It will mean that the resources, energy and talent within the partnership can be used effectively to help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour within our communities, protect vulnerable people and provide greater support for victims of crime.”