Night-time economy solutions

• To provide training for 600 police officers through 10 online packages on policing the night-time economy and women's safety training.
• To engage with stakeholders and local businesses that are affected by the NTE.
• To review and audit two NTEs (Northampton and Kettering) through site visits to physically observe the issues and collate a report to steer the strategic direction.
• To deliver consultation activities through interviewing and surveying the public, businesses, and public sector organisations (such as the NHS, police and fire) affected by the NTE.
• To work with the Business Improvement District (BID) to improve operating and management standards of venues regarding women's safety.
• To work towards the Purple flag accreditation (highlights the standards of excellence in managing the evening and night-time economy). 

The intended outcomes are to:

• establish and implement a framework for future strategic planning considerations
• create a night-time inventory for the two largest towns in Northamptonshire, Northampton and Kettering
• create a town-wide action plan across Northampton and Kettering
• form a robust engagement strategy for sustainable access to the NTE and information sharing with new initiatives
• develop the Northampton town centre master plan for Northampton and Kettering
• use the Northampton town centre master plan to develop a night safety and welfare strategy
• implement a transportation improvement strategy and activation plan of how people are getting home safely.

These objectives are the responsibility of Northamptonshire County Council who will act on the recommendations, using the town centre tasking group as their delivery mechanism.

Northamptonshire Office for Police and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) have previously implemented several 'risk management' interventions to make the NTE safer. However, a need was identified to look at the longer impact of the NTE. This is with the aim to provide a NTE which is more diverse and vibrant, enabling people to feel safer as well as reducing crime levels. 

Funding 

£50,000 was awarded through round four of Home Office Safer Street funding which is used to tackle neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and anti-social behaviour (ASB).

Five-part plan 

A five-part plan was introduced to improve the understanding of the NTE in Northamptonshire and to adopt a more focused strategic approach. A multi-faceted contract was required to cover various aspects of improving the NTE employing an independent specialist consultant from NTE Solutions. 

The five-part plan includes the following steps:

1. Stakeholder engagement using data collection methods such as surveys, one-to-one or group interviews about whether they feel safe in the NTE.
2. Review two NTE audits (one Saturday night in Kettering and one in Northampton) to assess the safety of women at night and make recommendations for improvement.
3. Strategy formulation to generate a series of recommendations to address any areas of improvement identified in the review including the creation of a Women's Safety Charter.
4. To deliver online training to 600 officers with the knowledge of licencing and powers of the NTE.
5. Collaborating with the business improvement districts (BID) to develop security policy onsite for both chain and independent businesses.

Training 

In total 600 officers received training from a former senior officer who is an NTE expert. The officers split into groups of 100 and received five to six hours training. The training was essential to prepare frontline officers with the knowledge of licencing and powers and the procedures in place to protect people. 

The training focuses on the following content:

• NTE policing officer strategies – knowing the community, remaining calm, listening to the public whilst remembering that each situation and person is unique.
• Understanding and implementing relevant legislation – these include National Licensing Laws, Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime & Policing Act 2014, and Health Protection Regulations 2021.
• Partnership working – fostering relationships to address community issues and concerns, and partnership initiatives such as Pubwatch, Purple Flag, and Community Alcohol.
• Working with venues – establishing relationships with local venues and understanding their responsibilities of keeping the public safe. 
• Alcohol and drugs – knowledge of helping people who are under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs as well as identifying different types of intoxication.
• Identifying and managing vulnerability. 

When planning the strategy for Kettering NTE, crime prevention interventions were identified as not being implemented efficiently due to there being no town centre tasking group. A tasking group was established to collate and regularly update a night-time inventory of Northampton and Kettering. This included the following:

1. Produce monthly reports on NTE footfall data with a breakdown of time indicators. 
2.  Commission quarterly NTE business reports establishing expenditure trends and transaction value within the NTE sector.
3. Collate a full list of all current NTE venues and businesses operating in Northampton and Kettering after 5pm.
4. Work with business and educational facilities to collate a full list of all current NTE venues and businesses promoting targeted events towards specific clientele for example students, under 18s, LGBT+ and non-drinking individuals.  
5. Collate a calendar of annual events including festivals, outdoor events, indoor events, night markets, sporting events and seasonal events.

An evaluation is currently ongoing and being led by Northamptonshire OPFCC. While the force has the results from the 600 officers who completed the training, the report does not look directly at the NTE solution, but at the forty plus interventions implemented to ensure a safer NTE.

Northamptonshire County Council and the BID are working through the findings and the key themes that have enabled the partnership to achieve Purple Flag status. The NTE report and work subsequently undertaken undoubtedly helped contribute to the success of this accreditation.

NTE Solutions has had a positive impact on the NTE within Northamptonshire. The Superintendent in charge of policing the NTE has acknowledged a real positive change. Feedback from the NHS revealed that NHS A&E admissions had reduced by 40%. Furthermore, it appears less ambulance callouts are occurring because of the collective work being delivered.

Feedback from officers highlighted that they were more confident and equipped to deal with incidents within the NTE. 

• By consulting those who work in the NTE, Northamptonshire OPFCC have improved relationships with those stakeholders. 
• Involve NTE Solutions or another consultancy company early on to assess the issues and work on the recommendations from there. 
• Interventions which result in immediate results can be easy to set up, have lower cost and can gain instant results. Often the hardest interventions to implement will have the most significant results.