The December meeting of the Safer Communities Board for Wales took place on Thursday 11 December. It centred on the collective theme of Prevention, with partners emphasising the importance of early, coordinated and evidence‑informed action to improve safety and wellbeing across Welsh communities. Members received a comprehensive update on the newly launched strategic model of the South Wales Violence Prevention & Reduction Unit, which is embedding trauma‑informed practice, strong partnership leadership and data‑led decision‑making into a regional approach to reducing serious violence. This also included discussion of the Young Futures Programme pilots in South Wales and North Wales, recognising the value of multi‑agency work with vulnerable children and young people while highlighting the ongoing need for clarity around governance and long‑term funding.
Public Health Wales, Violence Prevention Team introduced its RISE approach for applying a public‑health model to violence prevention. Partners welcomed the practical support on offer, including workshops, data tools, training and research translation. The launch of the national Wales Without Violence Community of Practice was celebrated, designed to strengthen collaboration and share learning across sectors. The Board also reviewed continued progress on the Single Unified Safeguarding Review (SUSR), receiving updates on referral volumes, training, reviewer capacity, and the development of tools such as the SUSR dashboard and the expanded Safeguarding Repository. Opportunities to better connect SUSR data with wider violence prevention and safeguarding information systems were recognised.
Community cohesion was a significant part of the discussion, with partners sharing recent examples of local tensions driven by misinformation, symbolic disputes and politicised narratives. Members noted the strain this places on frontline staff as well as the importance of coordinated responses through local Strategic Community Safety Boards and Public Safety Boards. National updates included new Welsh Government training on tackling misinformation, ongoing equality and cohesion work, and the South Wales Cohesion Collaboration Agreement, which supports a shared approach to protests, communications and community reassurance.
The Board considered practitioner feedback on the impact of legislative and policy changes on Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs). Responses highlighted long‑standing issues of fragmented governance, growing statutory responsibilities and insufficient resources, with uncertainty heightened by the UK Government’s decision to abolish elected Police and Crime Commissioners by 2028. Partners stressed the need for a Welsh‑specific governance model that protects local accountability and ensures adequate resourcing for CSPs. Complementing this, findings from a recent practitioner survey highlighted serious violence, youth antisocial behaviour and substance misuse as key concerns, alongside barriers such as limited data sharing, short‑term funding, staff turnover and workforce pressures. The Board agreed that these insights should guide future advocacy and inform its work programme.
Further updates included concerns about cost‑of‑living pressures affecting council tax collection rates, the positive impact of adopting the real living wage across some services, and continued work on promoting civility in public life, including analysis of councillor experiences of abuse and intimidation. The Probation Service also provided a brief update on its expression of interest for an Intensive Supervision Court for women in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, with more detail expected in future meetings.
Overall, the meeting reinforced the shared commitment to a preventative, partnership‑led approach to community safety, emphasising the value of collaboration, data, early intervention and shared learning to tackle the complex challenges facing communities across Wales.
