Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Hannah Gray, and Samaris Huntington Thresher. Councillor Kira Gabbert acted as substitute for Councillor Hannah Gray.

There were no 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 January 24^th.

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

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting of the Public Protection and Enforcement  PDS Committee held on 4^th December 2019.

A Member requested an update concerning the possible use of McDonalds in Penge as a police hub. The police had decided that this location was not suitable and would not be used.

RESOLVED that the Part 1 minutes of the meeting held on 4th December 2018 be agreed and signed as a correct record. 

CSD19006

Members reviewed progress on matters that had arisen from previous meetings.

Members noted the Chief Inspector’s comments with respect to the arrest of Travellers.

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising report is noted. 

The police had submitted a PowerPoint presentation in advance of the meeting.

The document was called, ‘Bromley ASB and Crime Analysis’— the data was accurate as at January 2019.

The PowerPoint had been disseminated to Members previously so that they had the opportunity to read the information and subsequently ask any questions that they deemed appropriate at the meeting.

The police had also been requested to provide an update on Neighbourhood Policing and on the BCU (Basic Command Unit) tri-borough merger.

The police update was given by Chief Inspector Craig Knight and Superintendent Colin Carswell.

A discussion took place concerning the definitions of residential and non-residential burglaries. It was noted that if a garage was attached to a house, then if the garage was burgled, it would be classed as a residential burglary. If a garage was not directly attached to a house, any burglary that took place in the garage would be classed as non-residential.

An explanation of the term ‘sanctions detection’ was provided. The term applied to any situation where an individual entered the criminal justice system, even if no further action was being taken. The Chairman expressed some concern around the ratio of sanction detections to the number of crimes committed in Bromley. Over the last 12 weeks, the total number of offences committed in Bromley were 5964, and the number of sanction detections for the same period was 500. The Chairman was concerned because this figure was below 10% (actually 8.4%). This seemed to be a London wide issue.

Superintendent Carswell acknowledged that the MET had lost ground, but they were seeking to consolidate and improve. 

A Member asked if it was true that detectives were resigning because they were being forced to relocate to North London. Mr Carswell responded that this was not wholly correct. It was the case that the police had to restructure because they were under-resourced in terms of detectives working in North London. Wherever possible, the police had asked officers to consider voluntary relocation. It was the case however, that 12 detectives had been compulsorily transferred to North London. This had resulted in some detectives moving to Surrey and Kent police. It was still the case that in south London the occupancy rate was still over 100%.

A Member queried how this was the case, given the fact that not so long ago, Inspector Gary Byfield had told the PP&E PDS Committee that the police were understaffed by 16 detectives. The Chief Inspector stated that the structure of the CID had changed since the statement had been made by Inspector Byfield, and that this may account for the seeming anomaly in the statistics. The Chief Inspector promised to look into the matter and seek clarification. Members were informed that ‘Response Officers’ would deal with a wide variety of offences from start to finish, whilst CID would focus on more serious and complex crimes.

A Member mentioned that there had been a spate of burglaries recently in Biggin Hill, but there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

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 Thursday, January 24^th.

No questions had been received for the Portfolio Holder.

FSD 19006

The Draft Budget report had been drafted by Claire Martin—Head of Finance.

The primary aim of the report was for the Committee to consider the Portfolio Holder’s Draft Budget for 2019/2020. This incorporated future cost pressures and a consideration of initial draft budget savings options. 

RESOLVED that

1) The update on the financial forecast for 2019/20 to 2022/23 is noted.

2) The draft budget is agreed as the basis for the setting of the 2019/2020 budget.

ES18089

The Committee was presented with a report on ‘Parking Services—Contractor Performance Review, APCOA Parking, Year 2’.  The report had been written by Chloe Wenbourne (Acting Head of Parking Services). Ms Wenbourne attended to present the report, along with Mr Angus Culverwell (Assistant Director, Traffic and Parking). Mr Ken Stone attended from APCOA.

The report was written to update Members on the performance of the Parking Services Contract. The report stated that the contract was approaching the end of its second year, and that overall the contractor was performing to a satisfactory level.

The Chairman clarified that the report was also going to the Environment PDS Committee. The PP&E PDS Committee would be focusing solely on areas related to enforcement.

Ms Wenbourne said that some improvement in KPI enforcement targets had been evidenced. Mr Stone stated that he was seeking to develop a better working relationship with LBB. He wanted to improve staff retention which had been an issue in the past. To this end, staff had been granted a pay award in October 2018.

The Chairman noted the issues around staff retention, and was hopeful that the matter could be improved. Mr Stone responded that APCOA staff were paid above the national minimum wage and would soon benefit from another 2% pay award. Mr Stone fully understood the importance of retaining staff, as it was costly to lose and retrain them.

The Chairman was concerned to note that four Contract Managers had been appointed over a short time-frame. It was suggested that this was because the pressure and workload of managing a shared service with LB Bexley had proved too difficult. A new Contracts Manager was starting soon who was experienced at managing a team. It was anticipated that she would be able to motivate staff and increase morale. 

The Chairman commented that the number of parking tickets issued had decreased and he asked why this had occurred. Ms Wenbourne replied that this was probably due to staffing issues, but this would be something that would be investigated.

The Chairman was impressed to hear about the benefits that had been accrued from using the ANPR moped, and he hoped that more of these could be used for various enforcement functions in the future. 

The Chairman referred to table PK3 (appendix 2 of the report) which detailed civil enforcement errors. It was observed that within year 2 of the contract, there had been 685 cases cancelled as a result of CEO (Civil Enforcement Officer) error—this averaged out to 76 per month. It was hoped that this figure would drop in the future.

A discussion took place concerning parking contraventions outside of schools. There seemed to be a desire amongst Members to be more aggressive and pro-active in combating parking contraventions outside of schools. A Member referred to Harris Academy in Lennard Road and expressed the view that continual and widespread contraventions were occurring without any enforcement action being undertaken. Mr Culverwell responded that when CEOs were sent to Harris  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

ES19016

The MOPAC update report was provided by Rob Vale (Trading Standards Manager). The aim of the report was to update the Committee concerning the Local Crime Prevention Fund which was administered by MOPAC.

Members noted the following MOPAC approved projects and budget allocations for the period 2019 to 2021.

·  Total for VAWG was £411,680

·  Total for ECHS was £492,880

·  Total for ECS was £141, 400

A Member referred to section 7.1 of the report, dealing with personnel implications. She expressed concern that the reduction in the LCPF grant could mean that funding would not be available to fund the Out of Hours Noise Service and the ASB Coordinator post. Mr Vale stated that although there was a slight deficit in the grant funding, LBB would bridge the funding gap and the posts would continue to be funded over the next two years.

A Member raised a query concerning some of the budget figures, and Mr Vale said that he would investigate this and report back to the Committee.

RESOLVED that the report is noted and that Mr Vale report back on the budget query raised by a Member.

ES19011

The Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Service update report was written and presented by David Tait (Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead).

The report had been written to update Members on the Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Service, following a previous report on 16^th January 2018.

The report was also presented to introduce Members to the Standardisation Programme which was designed to standardise London Local Authority emergency response capabilities.

The report outlined the Standardisation Programme and outlined the training and exercises that staff had taken part in during 2018. The report also briefed Members on the work of the Borough Resilience Forum.

Several large documents had been appended to the report. The first one of these was the ‘London Local Authorities—Concept of Operations for Emergency Response and Recovery’. This document outlined the plans for the standardisation of the roles of Gold and Silver command structures, as well as the standardisation of generic Control Room training.

The second document that had been appended to the report was the LGA’s ‘A Councillor’s Guide to Civil Emergencies’. This document had been drafted to provide guidance for Cabinet and Councillors when a civil emergency had occurred. Mr Tait stated that a training package was being developed by London Resilience to support the document and was scheduled to be rolled out at the end of the year. Mr Tait said he would offer this training to all councillors once the package was made available.

A third document was appended which was the ‘Resilience Standards for London Local Government’. This was a draft document that had gone out for consultation. The end of the consultation period was 28^th February 2019. The aim of this document was to try and improve standards, outcomes and practices. Mr Tait was hopeful that Members would provide some feedback on the consultation.

A Member referred to section 3.11 of the report that was related to Training and Exercises. She asked if going forward, more detail could be provided regarding the outcomes of the training exercises. Mr Tait said that the training and exercises had been well received, and had helped to develop and cement relationships. The importance of perception and communication was acknowledged. Members highlighted the need for them to be properly briefed and trained so that they would know how to respond in emergency situations.

A Member noted section 3.13 of the report and the reference to ‘Exercise Peregrine’ that had taken place at Biggin Hill Airport on 1^st November 2018. He asked if a similar exercise was planned regarding an aircraft crashing outside of an airport. The Executive Director for Environment and Community Services stated that the BRF (Bromley Resilience Forum) possessed a risk assessment document that referred to this, and listed the main agencies that would need to be involved in an emergency response. This would likely to be a table top exercise.

A Member asked if Councillors could be provided with a concise document that would provide guidance on what to do and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

The PP&E Portfolio Plan Performance Overview document was presented by Sarah Foster (Head of Performance Management and Business Support).

Updates were provided on the two ‘amber’ rag ratings relating to the FSA (Food Standards Agency) and to Fly Tipping. It was noted that the FSA had met with the Food Standards Team and had advised the team to move the focus away from unrated premises. The Committee was briefed that the Fly Tipping and Enforcement Working Group had met four times this year. It was also the case that additional enforcement warning letters would be issued. 

A Member asked if rubbish was inspected when fly tipping was suspected. The Committee heard that even if incriminating evidence was found in the rubbish bags, this was generally still not enough evidence to prosecute, as the fly tipping needed to be witnessed. Sometimes evidence found in fly tipping inspections could lead to enforcement action for other offences. Members noted that enforcement action was costly and time consuming.

It was noted that if the public wanted to check if waste carriers were licensed, then details of such could be found on a public register.

The Committee was appraised that the Waldo Road Tip was currently closed for trade waste because of redevelopment.

RESOLVED that the Public Protection and Enforcement Performance Overview update is noted. 

ES19003

The Committee noted the Part 1 Contracts Register report.

The report presented an extract from the November Contracts Register for detailed scrutiny, based on data as at 28^th November 2018.

RESOLVED that: 

1) The Contracts Register extract is noted.

2) The Committee notes that in the Part 2 extract of the register, the commentary contains additional, potentially commercially sensitive information in its commentary. 

Members noted the current ECS Risk Register.

The Register would be updated during the course of the next month, and would be reviewed with the help of LBB’s insurers—Zurich.

The risk concerning the failure of ICT systems had been moved to the Corporate risk register; the risk associated with infectious diseases had been moved to the Public Health register; the risk associated with Corporate Health and Safety had moved to the Human Resources risk register. 

New risks that had been added included:

·  CCTV

·  Dogs and Pest Control

·  IOM

·  ASB

·  MOPAC funding

There were no red risks apart from the Mortuary Contract and this was updated upon in the Part 2 section of the meeting. 

CSD 19007

Members noted the Work Programme.

It was agreed that a Part 2 update be provided concerning the Mortuary Contract in due course.

A Member stated that she would like to receive an update concerning the Knife and Serious Violence Action Plan. This was agreed and it was resolved that the update should be presented to the Committee either in March 2019, or at the following meeting if the March meeting was too busy.

Resolved that updates concerning the Mortuary Contract and the Knife and Serious Violence Action Plan be presented to the Committee in due course.

The Chairman to move that the Press and Public be excluded during consideration of the items listed below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the press or pubic were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information. 

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it was likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if Members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

Members noted the Part 2 commentary on the Contracts Database extract.

An update was received concerning the current negotiations with the Kings Trust. This update was noted in the Part 2 minutes as there were aspects that were deemed to be commercially sensitive.

RESOLVED that the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 4^th December 2018 be agreed and signed as a correct record.