Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Kim Botting, and Cllr Mary Cooke attended as Alternate.

Apologies were also received from Cllr Tim Stevens, Kate Frail, and Dr Robert Hadley.

Apologies were additionally received from Nigel Davies, with Dan Jones attending as substitute.

There were no new declarations of interest.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 23rd June 2016.

There were no questions from Councillors or Members of the Public to the Chairman.

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting of the Public Protection and Safety PDS Committee held on 2^nd March 2016..

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd March 2016 be agreed.

Report CSD 16076

The Committee agreed to re-appoint the following Co-opted Members:

·  Terry Belcher—Safer Neighbourhood Board

·  Alf Kennedy—Bromley Neighbourhood Watch

·  Dr Robert Hadley—Bromley Federation of Residents’ Associations

The Committee agreed to appoint the following new Co-opted Members:

·  Kate Frail—Victim Support

·  Katie Bacon—BYC

·  Millie Banians--BYC

The Chairman asked both co-opted BYC members to introduce themselves and both did so.

Report CSD 16077

The CCTV Control Room update was given by Jim McGowan, (LBB Head of Environmental Health). It had been anticipated that the CCTV Control Room refurbishment would have been completed, but this was not the case. The Department for Transport would not agree the “technical file” until they had viewed the images produced by the new CCTV cameras. However, the images could not be produced until the ‘tech file’ had been agreed. This meant that a “chicken and the egg” scenario had been in existence for a period. A compromise solution had since been found. It had been agreed that DfT representatives would attend, and that at the same time, the contractors would switch the new cameras on. A mutually agreed date had to be established. 

Post Meeting Note:

The mutually agreed date has been scheduled for 12^th July.

It was hoped that this could be completed within the two weeks following the meeting. Five percent of the contract value would be withheld for a year in case of any problems with the new system. Cllr Cartwright asked if LBB could switch back to the old system if the new one was not adequate. The response to this was that it could be done, but it was a big and expensive job. If this was the case, then the contractors would bear any costs.

Mr McGowan informed the Committee that the Dogs Contract had been retendered. The number of dogs being kennelled had reduced, and LBB were now only paying for dog kennels as and when they were needed. The reduction in usage seemed to be a trend. A different system was being used to rehome dogs. A partnership agreement for re-homing had been developed with Battersea Dogs Home, and this had resulted in reduced homing costs.

The Chairman asked Mr McGowan why the number of dogs requiring rehoming had reduced, and what the savings were. Mr McGowan responded that the number of dogs was reducing because of the new legislation that required dogs to be chipped; this meant that more dogs were going back to their owners. It was not possible to provide a precise figure in terms of savings at this time, but it was expected that it would be 5 figure sum.

Cllr Richard Williams argued against using Battersea Dogs Home on the basis that they put healthy dogs to sleep. He suggested using the Dogs Trust, and stated that they provided a free service. Mr McGowan responded that the Dogs Trust would not provide a re-homing service for free. Cllr Williams was of the view that they would re-home dogs for free. Mr McGowan stated that he would contact the Dogs Trust to clarify if they would provide a free re-homing service.

The remainder of the Matters Arising report was noted.

RESOLVED

(1) that a date would be agreed for the DfT to attend LBB when the contractors switch on the new CCTV Control Room

(2) that Mr McGowan contact the Dogs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74.

The Chairman stated that she attended a meeting of the Safer Neighbourhood Board on 17^th June 2016. This was also the SNB’s Annual General Meeting.

The Police update was provided by the Borough Police Commander.

The Borough Commander provided a MOPAC 7 crime update in statistical form as follows:

Bromley Crime Update

The data expounded upon by the Borough Commander is provided in the minutes in table form for ease of understanding and reference.

The Committee heard that until further notice, the MOPAC 7 dashboard was still the primary data set. No updates were available concerning the possible transition to a BCU command structure.

The Commander informed the Committee that there had been a rise in sexual offences, child exploitation and people trafficking. Good progress had been made in reducing burglary, robbery and theft from motor vehicles. The overall MOPAC 7 crime figures showed that Bromley Police had achieved an overall reduction in crime of 19.2%, compared with a target of 20%. There were still some concerns regarding the number of violence with injury offences. The increase in the number of recorded VWI offences, may have been due to an increased confidence felt by the public in reporting these issues to the police. 

Response times to 999 calls continued to be good, with 90.3% of calls that required a response time of 15 minutes answered on time. Calls that required a response time of 60 minutes had been answered in 88.9% of cases. Customer satisfaction levels had risen to 84%. Confidence in local policing had risen from 70% to 72%. 

Councillor William Harmer asked if Bromley had an acute problem of violence and disorder. The Borough Commander responded that it was difficult to compare town centres in this regard, other boroughs had different circumstances and resources. It was noted that Ronnys Bar/Nightclub had now been closed. Paul Lehane (LBB Head of Food Safety and Licensing) informed the Committee that a successful review of the premises licence for Vu Vu had been undertaken. Consequently, the review conditions had led to the requirement of Vu Vu management to make sure that staff were put onto the street to help keep order, and this had led to reductions in crime. The Borough Commander expressed disappointment that the Bromley BID had not been willing to support Street Marshalls. 

Councillor Cartwright asked if crime figures were available for ASB, and stated that there was an issue of public confidence in Mottingham. He also expressed the view that police time in Mottingham was being lost due to excessive travelling by police officers. The Borough Commander stated that ASB data could be supplied if required. Councillor Cartwright asked if the Borough Commander would be able to provide the Committee with a rolling 12 month figure for ASB.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 23^rd June 2016.

There were no questions from Councillors or Members of the Public.

The LFB presentation was provided by Judith Oram. Ms Oram was the Youth Engagement Team Leader for The LFB LIFE Team.

Ms Oram gave a presentation that outlined the work of the LIFE Project. LIFE was an abbreviation for ‘Local Intervention Fire Education.’  The history of the project dated back 13 years, to problems that had been experienced in Tower Hamlets with local gangs and youths who had been involved in fighting the emergency services. It took 18 months to engage the young people involved. The service was still running 12 years later and evolving to needs.

The young people involved on the LIFE Projects were normally aged between 14-17. Many were referred by schools, and had demonstrated a variety of behavioural issues—some had been excluded. Some of the young people and been referred from Pupil Referral Units, the YOT, and some from the young offender’s institution at Feltham. The purpose of the LIFE courses was to divert young people away from ASB, and show them that there was another way to live that did not involve crime and ASB.

Whilst attending the course, the young people are given some basic discipline, and learn how to ‘fall in’, stand to attention and stand at ease. If they perform to a satisfactory standard, they receive a ‘Portfolio’ at the end of the course, which will be presented by the Borough Fire Commander or the Deputy Borough Fire Commander. The young people are provided with a cooked breakfast and are kept busy. Funding comes from a variety of sources, including schools, MOPAC and Safer Neighbourhood Boards.

The Chairman enquired how many young people stayed and passed the course. The answer to this was 92%. The Chairman also enquired if the LIFE Team undertook any follow up work with the young people post course completion. Ms Oram responded that there were occasions when they may go back and speak to a young person if they felt it was required.

It was suggested that Members may like to attend one of the LIFE passing out parades as part of their programme of visits. Cllr Williams asked how the LIFE course was funded. Cllr Cartwright suggested that LFB investigate if any funding was available from local authorities. Cllr Lymer stated that if Cllr Williams had attended the meetings of the SNB, then he would have realised that the SNB had provided funding for LIFE courses.

Cllr Harmer enquired how the LIFE courses were marketed, and Ms Oram informed the Committee that there was no budget for marketing. She also pointed out that some schools were not keen to engage as they did not want to acknowledge that any behavioural problems existed amongst the pupils in their schools. 

The Chairman thanked Ms Oram for such an interesting and informative presentation, and Ms Oram agreed to send details of the next LIFE passing out parade. 

Report FSD16038

The Provisional Outturn report was drafted by Claire Martin—Head of Finance.

The 2015/16 provisional outturn for the Public Protection and Safety Portfolio showed an underspend of £109k against a controllable budget of £2.125m. Members noted the breakdown of how savings had been achieved in the ‘Financial Implications’ section of the report.

The Portfolio Holder endorsed the 2015/16 provisional outturn position for the Public Protection and Safety Portfolio.

The Portfolio Holder approved the drawdown of the carry forward sum of £60,610 held in Central Contingency to be used for vulnerable victims of domestic abuse as set out in section 5.5 of the report.

RESOLVED;

(1) that the 2015/16 provisional outturn for the Public Protection and Safety Portfolio be endorsed

(2) that the drawdown of the carry forward sum of £60,610 held in Central Contingency be used to assist vulnerable victims of domestic abuse.   

Report ES16037

Karen Ryan (LBB Lead Practitioner-Food Safety ) and Paul Lehane (Head of Food Safety, Occupational Safety and Licensing) attended to present the report, and to answer any questions. The report had been written to update Members concerning the performance of the Food Safety Team for the year 2015-2016, and to seek approval from the Committee and the Portfolio Holder for the Food Safety Service Plan for 2016-2017.

Mr Lehane informed Members that a part time student who had been working for the Food Safety Team had received a contract extension to the end of August. A contractor had been employed to work for the Food Safety Team for 25 hours per week. The Health & Safety Team Staff member that had been very ill had now sadly passed away and after a review of the service needs, Mr Lehane decided to move the post to the Food Safety Team, increasing the resource available by 1 fte. Recruitment was taking place for a replacement, and interviews would be conducted on July 14th.

During 2015-2016, not all of the objectives had been achieved, but all of the Category A high risk inspections had been undertaken. Businesses that had started 2015/16 with a  zero rating, had all improved, and most were now compliant.

Mr Lehane outlined the main performance figures for 2015/16:

A total of 568 food hygiene inspections had been undertaken and 74% of food businesses were found to be broadly compliant at the time of inspection i.e. achieving three or more stars. A total of 148 revisits were undertaken and 256 complaints were investigated; 495 cases of suspected or confirmed food poisoning had been reported and investigated.

The aim for 2016/17 was to adopt a risk based approach, with an aim for 747 interventions. There were 115 high risk inspections to carry out, and 180 new businesses to inspect. The Chairman noted that the Food Safety Team required 11.91 full time employees, but were operating with just 4.34 FTE. The Chairman was concerned that the backlog of inspections due on ‘B&C’ rated premises was a cause of concern, and may put the public at risk. The Chairman stated that if spare funding was available for Public Protection in future budgets, she would like to see it allocated to the Food Safety Service.

Councillor Williams noted the £109K underspend and suggested that some of this be allocated to the Food Safety Service. He also referred to a 2 year wait experienced by a neighbour for a food safety inspection. Karen Ryan asked for the details so that she could investigate. She mentioned that if the business was a cake making business, these inspections were low priority, and were not currently being undertaken. Councillor Cartwright stated that as far as the underspend was concerned, it had to go into a pot of money and be looked at. It was not as simple as just grabbing hold of the money and allocating it to the Food Safety Service.

The Vice Chairman (Cllr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78b

Report ES16022

The Committee noted the report that provided a draft of the Public Protection and Safety Portfolio Plan for 2016/17.

The Chairman referred to section 3.2 of the report where it was written that a focus of activity would be to ‘provide the CCTV monitoring service”. It was noted that as the service had already been provided, the text should read, ‘maintain and enhance’ the CCTV monitoring service.

Section 4.6 of the report referenced the noise plan for Biggin Hill. It was noted that this could now be removed from the plan as it would be managed by Biggin Hill Airport.

The KPI’s outlined in Appendix 1 for previous years, and for 2016/17 were noted.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder adopt the Portfolio Plan for 2016/17.

The Committee noted the Public Protection Portfolio Plan for 2015/16.

The Committee noted the intended outcomes for 2015/16, and how they had been achieved.

The first intended outcome was to ensure that Bromley was kept safe. This had been achieved by the following actions:

·  Tackling anti-social behaviour through joint working with the Police on Operation Crystal

·  Supporting young people in various ways through the Mentoring Service

·  Offering DV victims the support of an advocate

·  Providing support for the Safer Bromley Partnership

·  Targeting anti-social behaviour affecting the night time economy

·  Supporting the Home Office recommendations with regards to the Gangs Review

·  Working to eradicate the supply of New Psychoactive Substances 

Members noted that the RAG Status for these objectives was green, and that all of the objectives had been achieved.

The second intended outcome was to ensure that consumers were protected. This had been achieved in the following ways:

·  Action had been taken against rogue traders

·  A rapid response service had been provided to assist the victims of scams and door step crimes

·  Tackling the sale of age restricted products

·  Tackling problems caused by problem traders

Members noted that the RAG Status for these objectives was green, and that  all of the objectives had been achieved.

The third intended outcome was to support and regulate businesses.

This had been achieved in the following ways:

·  The inspection of 100% of high risk food businesses

·  The investigation of significant complaints and accident reports

·  Undertaking the statutory review of licensing policies for alcohol and gambling

Members noted that two out of three of the RAG statuses were green, and that the RAG status pertaining to food inspections was orange. This was because although 100% of high risk food premises had been inspected, the percentage of inspections for ‘Risk B’ premises was 73%.

The fourth and final outcome for 2015/16 was that the environment would be protected. This had been achieved in the following ways:

·  Working proactively to reduce noise nuisance

·  The provision of the CCTV Monitoring Service

·  The refurbishment of the CCTV Control Room

·  Depending on the result of the new lease negotiations, the current noise plan for Biggin Hill would be analysed and expanded.

The Portfolio Holder explained how the £50k funding for 2015/16 had been spent:

  I.  £1k on a moped lock scheme

  II.  £1k on 10 call blocking units

  III.  £3k on Operation Budge

  IV.  £10k on the GAV anti-gang initiative (Growing against Violence)

  V.  £2.7k on a boxing scheme for schools in the Crays

  VI.  Safer Bromley Newsletter

  VII.  Bollards in a Park

 VIII.  £5k on Height Barriers

  IX.  £7.8k on extra police resource

  X.  £230.00 on a training course

  XI.  £80.00 on dummy cctv cameras

  XII.  £6k Challenge Troop Programme

Members noted the Portfolio Plan for 2015/16 and the Chairman congratulated the Portfolio Holder on successfully achieving almost all of the intended outcomes.

The Committee noted Appendix A which was the Public Protection Enforcement Activity Statutory Notices. It had been noted on the report that the number of notices  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

Report ES16024

The report was presented to the Committee to update members on the annual submission to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.

The Committee heard that LBB was now in the fourth and final year of the current four year MOPAC funding programme. MOPAC had not clarified what the funding arrangements would be following 2016/17. LBB’s full annual submission to MOPAC had been attached as an appendix to the main report. This had been approved, paid in full, and the Committee noted the funding details.

MOPAC  funding had been agreed for:

  I.  A Domestic Abuse Strategy Co-ordinator

  II.  The Domestic Abuse Advocacy Project

  III.  Community Domestic Abuse Projects

  IV.  Safer Bromley Van

  V.  Community Safety Mentoring Program

  VI.  Bromley ASB Initiatives

The funding total was £401,731.

Cllr Harmer commented on the KPI’s around the Safer Bromley Van. The report detailed that the number of referrals to the Safer Bromley Van had decreased in the previous year to 266, compared with a target of 400. Cllr Harmer suggested that this may simply be due to the fact that the demand was no longer there.

The Chairman noted that the target outcome for perpetrators of DV completing 30 hours of treatment had not been achieved. This was because the perpetrators were difficult to engage. Similarly, the Chairman enquired if perpetrators were given drug or alcohol rehabilitation treatment if required. The Assistant Director promised to find out and update the Committee.

RESOLVED:

(1) that the MOPAC Update report be noted

(2) that the Assistant Director of  Street Scene, Greenspace and Public Protection enquire if DV perpetrators had the opportunity to receive drug or alcohol rehabilitation treatment where necessary.

Report CSD16078

Members reviewed the Public Protection and Safety PDS Work Programme and noted the Public Protection and Safety Portfolio Contracts.

The Committee will discuss possible PDS/PPS visits as outlined in the Work Programme.

The Chairman suggested the following possible visits to add to the existing list:

·  A visit to the CCTV Control Room

·  A visit to Victim Support

·  A visit to a LIFE passing out parade.

No other business was discussed.

The date of the next meeting is 28^th September 2016

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Wednesday 28^th September.