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Member Login Terms and Conditions

The aim of Sandwell Pub Watch is to improve the ambience of the environment in and around premises in the Pub Watch area and enhance the safety, security, comfort and well being of customers and staff so that their visit is a pleasurable occasion, which they will wish to repeat. If this aim is achieved then an improvement in the safety, security and well being of staff will almost certainly follow.

Introduction

The Aim

To gather, collate, exchange and manage all information relating to crime,

its commission and perpetrators by members of West Bromwich PubWatch,
to reduce and prevent criminality and anti-social behaviour, in order to
create a safe and secure environment, specifically:

 

2.1    To reduce/prevent criminality, drug use and anti-social behaviour 
        within the member’s premises and adjoining areas.

 

2.2    To create a safe and secure leisure environment within the Borough of
         Sandwell.

 

2.3    To discuss and promote licensing issues relating to members.

 

2.4    To work in partnership with all relevant agencies and interested
        parties to achieve the above aims.

Description of Scheme

 3.1   Sandwell Pub Watch is a proactive scheme run by licensees and 
        supported by the police and the local authority and is directed at 
        criminal activity within West Bromwich & Great Barr area. The
        members, who have each signed a confidentiality agreement, are
        involved in the collation and analysis of data and thereafter the
        dissemination of intelligence and information within the membership
        of the scheme.

Objectives

4.1   The prevention and detection of crime.

4.2   The apprehension and prosecution of offenders or suspected offenders.

4.3   To reduce the opportunity for individuals to commit crime.

4.4   To enhance public confidence in a safe and secure environment for customers who socialise and staff who work in West Bromwich & Great Barr.

4.5   To work in partnership with the police, local authority and other agencies and organisations responsible for delivering the Community Safety Strategy.

4.6   To encourage greater economic investment by creating and promoting a safer place to invest, work and socialise.

Statement of Purpose

5.1   The West Bromwich PubWatch will be operated fairly and within all relevant law only for the stated aim and objective for which it was created.

5.2   Each participant and contributor to the scheme is and remains bound by this code of practice and any subsequent amendments to it.

5.3   All operators of the system and persons considered for such employment must demonstrate an adequate knowledge of all the relevant legislation including the Data Protection Act and the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.

Criteria for Membership

6.1   A member is defined as a business which has signed an agreement to abide by the code of practice and rules of the scheme, is registered under the relevant provision of the Data Protection Act and has paid the relevant membership subscription to the scheme. The West Bromwich PubWatch membership will meet at least 10 times per year.

 

 

Scheme Discipline

7.1   The scheme has specific responsibilities, which should be fully understood by all partners and their representatives.

7.2   The steering group/watch is responsible for the approval of all partners and the representatives of these partners.

7.3   All rules on confidentiality and data protection must be the subject of written agreement and must be strictly adhered to.

7.4          Breaches of confidentiality and contravention of the Data Protection Act may lead to criminal prosecution and/or civil actions for damages.

7.5          Information processed by West Bromwich PubWatch which may prove relevant to pending or possible prosecution will be passed to the police in accordance with local reporting procedures or any conditions laid down by the Crown Prosecution Service.

7.6   When information is passed to a police officer the level and nature of response to the information will be decided by that officer. Where possible, the officer should have been advised of the terms of operation of the scheme and the agreed procedures relating to it.

Third Party Employees

8.1          Disclosure of West Bromwich PubWatch data to such employees has been considered and agreed in consultation with the Information Commissioner.

8.2   The Watch will retain the power of veto on individual third party organisations in the appropriate circumstances.

8.3   Third party employees such as door supervisors, contract staff and agency staff, who are employed by scheme members, must abide by the same codes of practice/rules/data protection agreement which form the structure of the scheme.

Information Control

9.1   The information and intelligence held by the West Bromwich PubWatch is confidential. No disclosure of information will take place that is not in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions. The data held may only be accessed and shared by scheme members.

9.2   The West Bromwich PubWatch scheme is registered as a controller under the Data Protection Act. All provisions of the Act relating to information capable of being processed either manually or by equipment which operates automatically will apply.

Security Audit

10.1  All information received from participants will be assessed in terms of its intelligence value and will, if found to be of value, be held on the West Bromwich PubWatch database and retained for no more than 2 years. Value in this context means information relevant to the prevention or detection of crimes or disorderly behaviour.

10.2  The scheme will maintain appropriate levels of security, in accordance with good practice and the requirements of legislation.

10.3          Members will maintain like standards of security in respect of hard copy information in their custody.

10.4  Each member agrees to appoint a locally designated representative to assume responsibility for the protection and security of data disclosed and exchanged in the partnership, for ensuring that all security rules are applied and to facilitate any audits.

10.5  The Scheme will submit to an annual inspection with a detailed audit report against the requirements and principles of Data Protection Act and code of practice. The results will be made available.

 

Disclosure of Information

11.1  Only those staff or agents of members who are involved in the scheme will receive relevant information.

11.2  This relates to photo files, updates and other information as may be from time to time released.

Data Protection Principles

12.1          Participants of the Scheme must be aware of the eight Data Protection Principles. These principles state that personal data shall be:

§         fairly and lawfully processed;

§         processed for limited purposes;

§         adequate, relevant and not excessive;

§         accurate;

§         not kept longer than necessary;

§         processed in accordance with the data subject's rights;

§         secure;

§         not transferred to countries without adequate protection.

Data Protection Requirements

 

13.1  All staff that have access to personal Data recorded on the West Bromwich PubWatch system must be made aware of the following:

1.      The information held within West Bromwich PubWatch files or other documentation is confidential and must be used only for the purpose for which it was generated.

2.      Any such information must not be disclosed to any third party who had not signed the necessary Agreements.

3.      The responsibility and potential liability for inappropriate disclosure rests with the individual once he/she has been made aware of these statutory requirements.

4.      Breaches of confidentiality by members or their representatives may also be subject to sanctions by the West Bromwich PubWatch Committee.

5.      All staff allowed access to the West Bromwich PubWatch data should sign the organisation's data and information disclosure declaration to indicate that they have been advised of their statutory obligations and responsibilities.

6.      All West Bromwich PubWatch information will be stored under secure conditions.

7.      Offender files will not be photocopied or otherwise reproduced unless expressly authorised by the West Bromwich PubWatch Committee.

8.      If an individual makes a request to a scheme member regarding data held on that individual that person should be referred to the West Bromwich PubWatch Chairman.

13.2  Any changes to nominated contacts with individual members should be communicated to the West Bromwich PubWatch.

Subject Access

14.1  Where subject access to the West Bromwich PubWatch scheme database is requested, a fee of £10 will be charged in accordance with the regulation under the 1998 Data Protection Act.

14.2          Currently the provisions of Section 29 of the Data Protection Act 1998 provide a conditional exemption from disclosure in cases where the prevention or detection of crime or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders would be prejudiced.

14.3  The Data Protection Act 1998 and supplementary legislation replaced the 1984 Act and the scheme should be aware of the changes that ensued to ensure full compliance with the 1998 Act.

Links to Other Schemes

15.1  If West Bromwich PubWatch shares data with other Schemes, these Schemes must comply with the requirements of current data protection legislation.

PubWatch Management

Officers

16.1  West Bromwich PubWatch will appoint at each A.G.M. an Executive Committee  including Chair, Dep Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. . The Excutive Committee will oversee all appeals and reviews on banned persons. Membership of the Sandwell Executive is from the officers of each separate pubwatch.

Each pub watch must appoint their own Chairperson, Dep Chair, Secretary and Treasuer on an annual basis at thier A.G.M..

Meetings

16.2  The Watch will meet on a regular basis

Acceptance Document

16.1  It is a condition of membership that each member (on behalf of his/her organisation) must sign the scheme’s acceptance document. In doing so they acknowledge their role and responsibility as a member of West Bromwich PubWatch and agree to abide by the decisions made by it.