To hear from Councillor Baldwin and Jeff Pick (Thames Valley Police).

Jeff Pick, Thames Valley Police, outlined the crime stats which had been circulated as part of the agenda pack. He introduced Roger Aisladie, who was the Lead Manager for the Community Safety Team. The original concept was volunteers were used to make the community a safer place, while using social media to inform residents about events and operations. It was important that residents did not leave valuables in their car, as thieves could easily break the window. A number of occurrences had happened where residents had reported their car as stolen, however it was actually due to them parking in a multi-story car park and being unable to locate their car again. There had been a number of bike thefts around the train station, however, a number of residents did not know the model, make or even colour of their bike which had it harder for the police to locate. Jeff Pick advised bike owners to use a UV pen to mark their bike with details which could be used should it be stolen.

Jeff Pick said that Councillor Baldwin had requested to know if there had been an increase in the number of crimes due to the cost of living crisis. There had been a few shoplifting incidents recorded, for skincare products and clothing. A number of incidents were not formally reported to the police, therefore this figure would be much higher.

Robyn Bunyan said that she was aware of an increase in the number of shoplifting incidents across the town centre.

The Chairman asked if shoplifting had always been an issue or if there had been a recent increase.

Robyn Bunyan said that there had always been a level of shoplifting in Maidenhead but this had got significantly worse. Some shops had to now employ security to try and deter thieves, while others like supermarkets were now using things like meat monitors for expensive goods. For big companies, they could afford to take a financial hit but the effect was particularly damaging for smaller and independent traders.

Jeff Pick said that there was a similar situation with petrol, garages only reported incidents to the police which were over a certain value. He concluded his presentation by outlining the various alarms and other products which could be used to improve home security and for protecting things like tools in vans.

Councillor Singh commented on the closure of the upper levels of the Broadway car park due to anti-social behaviour, it would be good to have more patrols in this area to deter any further activity.

Councillor G Jones questioned whether there needed to be more prosecution for those who were involved in shoplifting.

Jeff Pick explained that prosecution was a long drawn-out process and often shops would rather ban the individual from their store. It was not the responsibility of shop assistants to stop shoplifting, it was down to security but a lot of stores could not afford this extra cost.

Councillor Baldwin said that he had received a huge amount of correspondence from residents and community groups about the cost of living crisis and what the council was doing to help those in need. The council had a responsibility to do what it could and Councillor Baldwin requested that his comments were put forward as a motion for Cabinet Members to consider and respond to. The council tax relief scheme allowed residents to claim back money but a significant amount of this was due to go unclaimed. There was concern that a number of residents would qualify but were unaware that the scheme existed or how they could claim the amount back. Councillor Baldwin suggested that the scheme was promoted through the council’s communications channels.

The Chairman said that he did not see how the item was something that could be discussed by the Town Forum Members. He suggested that any requests should be raised directly with officers or with the relevant Cabinet Members. The Chairman said that he wanted to see the proposals from Councillor Baldwin carried out in a different way and felt that they were not relevant to the Maidenhead Town Forum.