Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024
|
Functions of safety partnerships | ||
|
116. (1) A safety partnership shall have the following functions: | ||
(a) to act as a forum for the discussion of community safety concerns and for the development, coordination and implementation of coherent and integrated approaches to improving community safety at a local level; | ||
(b) to develop and adopt, on a 3 yearly basis, a plan to improve community safety in its functional area (in this Part referred to as a “local community safety plan”) having regard to the national strategy and in accordance with any guidance in that regard which may be issued by the National Office; | ||
(c) to undertake public consultation for the purpose of identifying local community safety objectives and priorities to inform the development of a local community safety plan; | ||
(d) to implement or arrange for the implementation of a local community safety plan; | ||
(e) to monitor and review, on an ongoing basis, the implementation of a local community safety plan, including its performance against any benchmarks or indicators of performance set out in the plan or other relevant indicators; | ||
(f) to undertake a review of a local community safety plan at least once within the lifecycle of the plan and, after any such review, amend the plan as appropriate; | ||
(g) to collaborate and coordinate with relevant stakeholders in relation to actions under a local community safety plan, a Local Economic and Community Plan made pursuant to section 66B of the Local Government Act 2001 and any other plans relevant to its functional area; | ||
(h) where a local policing plan relevant to the functional area of the safety partnership is being, or has been, prepared, to provide views on such preparation or on the progress of the implementation of any such plan to the relevant divisional officer for the Garda Síochána division or part thereof to which the plan relates; | ||
(i) to host public meetings concerning matters relating to community safety in its functional area; | ||
(j) to coordinate and support area-based neighbourhood community safety fora in its functional area where appropriate; | ||
(k) to provide such information as may be requested by the National Office from time to time; | ||
(l) to prepare and submit to the National Office an annual report and such other reports as the National Office may request, relating to the performance of its functions, in such form and within such period as the National Office may specify. | ||
(2) A safety partnership, a committee of a safety partnership or an area-based neighbourhood community safety forum shall not consider matters relating to a specific criminal investigation or prosecution or matters relating to the security of the State. | ||
(3) A statement that, in the course of a discussion at a meeting of a safety partnership, a committee of a safety partnership or an area-based neighbourhood community safety forum, is made in any form and without malice by a member of the partnership, committee or forum or by a person attending the meeting at the request of the partnership, committee or forum is privileged for the purposes of the law of defamation and so is any subsequent publication without malice of the statement made. | ||
(4) In this section— | ||
“local policing plan” means a plan prepared by An Garda Síochána for the provision of policing services in a Garda Síochána division, or part thereof; | ||
“relevant divisional officer” means a chief superintendent who is for the time being in charge of a Garda Síochána division. |