The council must:

• Investigate and take action to tackle cases of anti-social behaviour
• Work in partnership to carry out an audit and consultation to produce a three-year strategy
• Consider crime and disorder implications across all policies and decisions that it makes

The partnership work is achieved through the council's membership of the Western Dorset Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP). For further information please click the link on the right called Dorset Crime and Drugs Reduction Strategy.

The council produces an implementation plan each year to make sure that actions to reduce crime and disorder are taken by all appropriate services. The plan also ensures that all the other requirements of the 1998 act are being met.

In June 2005 the council was inspected by the Audit Commission on its work to 'mainstream' community safety. The commission found that the council has a good service with promising prospects for improvement.

An action plan to deliver the recommendations for improvement was agreed in December 2005. In April 2006, the district council adopted a Crime and Disorder Reduction Implementation Plan for 2006/7 setting out the work programme for the Community Safety Team in particular and the district council as a whole. This, and the associated action plan are attached on the right of this page.

One of the actions was to carry out an audit of work across the council's services that tackle crime and disorder. The audit in June 2006 identified further actions that needed to be added to the action plan in 2007/08.

Work on tackling crime and disorder in 2005/06 included the following.

Anti social behaviour

In 2005/6 the Anti-Social Behaviour Team dealt with more than 50 cases, with the outcomes including the monitoring and/or use of five Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, five Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, two evictions and eight warning letters (six of which were successful and have resulted in those cases being closed). The team has met its performance target of 100 per cent of anti-social behaviour cases that required investigation, resulted in further action. For more information please click the link to the right called anti social behaviour.

CCTV

CCTV cameras were introduced in Bridport in 2003 and in Dorchester in October 2006. Both sets of cameras are linked to the scheme in Weymouth. The work was carried out by a multi-agency group including, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, West Dorset District Council, Dorchester Town Council, Dorset County Council, Dorset Police and the Dorchester Crime Prevention Panel.

In Dorchester the district council has contributed £80,000 towards capital costs and allocated £28,750 a year revenue funding, both from car parking revenue in Dorchester and £750 from the community safety budget. The total cost of the scheme is approximately £350,000 capital and approximately £60,000 revenue with other funding from Dorset County Council (including Highways) and Dorchester Town Council. For more information click the link to the right called CCTV.

Domestic violence

A Dorset Domestic Violence Strategy has been published for 2006-2009. Five strategic priorities have been identified and these form the basis of the action plan. The council adopted the strategy in March 2006. For more information click the link on the right called Dorset Domestic Violence Strategy.

Council officers have worked closely with Dorset County Council's domestic violence strategic co-ordinator. The co-ordinator is funded through allocations from the Home Office, via the Dorset Strategic Partnership's Safer Stronger Communities Group. This officer works with both the Western and Eastern Dorset Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships.

The council's Best Value Performance Plan 2006/7 sets targets for delivery of BVPI 225 on domestic violence. The BVPI consists of 11 actions and the targets are to achieve from 73% for 2006/07 to 91% in 2008/9. In 2005/6 the target of 45% was met, five out of the 11actions of the BVPI achieved. The actions in the Dorset Domestic Violence Strategy will enable the council to achieve a maximum of 91% against this target. To reach 100%, another woman's refuge place would need to be made available in West Dorset.

Vehicle crime and burglary

The district council is a member of the Western Dorset Vehicle Crime Priority Action Group, a multi-agency group set up to tackle vehicle crime in the area. The Car Parks Manager and Enforcement Officers from West Dorset Services have been involved in relevant project work. The problem-solving group focused on thefts from unattended vehicles that was taking place in beauty spots.

In February 2005 a corresponding priority action group was formed to look at the burglary reduction across western Dorset. It has continued to develop in 2006, as domestic and commercial burglary form part of the objectives for the Crime & Drugs Reduction Strategy for 2005-2008.

Reporting incidents of discrimination

The district council is working with partner agencies and has extended the monitoring and reporting system for racist and homophobic incidents to include incidents relating to gender and disability. Research has shown that levels of racist incidents have increased slightly as the result of improved reporting practices, in accordance with Government guidance, but it is still widely accepted that such incidents are significantly under-reported.

Funded project work/activity

£14,000 has been allocated to project work by the district council including funding for intervention work with young people subject to Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, plus funding to help with the work of Victim Support Dorset, Relate, Mediation Dorset and Dorset Race Equality Council.

Implementation plan 2006/07

The implementation plan, attached on the right of this page, sets out the responsibilities of the district council under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and identifies what needs to be done to fulfil these responsibilities in 2006/2007. The plan links to the statutory Western Dorset Crime and Drugs Reduction Strategy 2005 - 2008. It also provides for the monitoring and evaluation of the council's crime and drugs reduction activities.

The plan identifies specific actions that the council is working on to reduce crime and drugs in 2006-07, including those that help deliver the current Western Dorset Crime and Drugs Reduction Strategy 2005-2008, service plan objectives, the Dorset Domestic Violence Strategy 2006-09 and the council's implementation plan for responding to the Audit Commission's recommendations in June 2005. The actions are identified along with timescales, costs, expected outcomes and identifies the responsible services and divisions of the council.

The district council has an obligation to work in partnership to reduce crime and disorder in West Dorset through the decisions it makes and in its service provision. By working on the actions in the plan, the district council can show how it meets the requirements of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

For further information please see West Dorset District Council's Crime and Disorder Reduction Implementation Plan 2006 - 2007 and West Dorset District Council's Crime and Disorder Reduction Implementation Plan 2006 - 2007 Action Plan attached on the top right of this page.