Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Bromley Civic Centre. View directions

Contact: Steve Wood  020 8313 4316

Items
No. Item

STANDARD ITEMS

53.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND NOTIFICATION OF SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Kathy Bance; Councillor Angela Wilkins attended as substitute.

 

Apologies were also received from Emily Warnham and Cameron Ward.  

54.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

55.

QUESTIONS TO THE CHAIRMAN AND THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting. 

 

Questions specifically concerning reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the publication date of the agenda.  Please ensure that questions specifically regarding reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 29th January 2020

 

Minutes:

Two questions were received for the Portfolio Holder. The questions and responses are attached as an appendix to the minutes.  

56.

QUESTIONS TO THE CHAIRMAN

Minutes:

No questions were received for the Chairman.

57.

QUESTIONS TO THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER

Minutes:

Two questions were received for the Portfolio Holder.

 

A written response was disseminated in response to a question from Councillor Julian Benington. This is attached as Appendix A.

 

A question was received from Councillor Ian Dunn for oral response. Councillor Dunn was not present at the meeting and so a written response would be provided. This is attached as Appendix B.

 

58.

MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC PROTECTION AND ENFORCEMENT PDS COMMITTEE HELD ON 14th NOVEMBER 2019 (EXCLUDING EXEMPT INFORMATION) pdf icon PDF 265 KB

Minutes:

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting of the Public Protection and Enforcement PDS Committee held on 14th November 2019.

 

It was noted that no matters were outstanding and the Chairman thanked the Committee Clerk for an excellent set of minutes. 

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14th November are agreed and signed as a correct record.

59.

POLICE UPDATE

The Police update will be provided by Superintendent Colin Carswell.

Minutes:

Superintendent Colin Carswell attended to provide the Police Update. Also in attendance were Inspector Gary Byfield, Superintendent Andy Brittain and DCI Lewis Collins.

 

The Chairman welcomed the officers and reminded the Committee that a set of questions had already been sent to the police for response, and the said questions with responses had been disseminated to Members beforehand. The rationale was to make the police update more efficient and streamlined, as well as limited to 30 minutes.

 

Superintendent Carswell stated that the primary objective of the police was to protect the residents that lay under the covering of the BCU (Basic Command Unit). The police were aware of the different demographics that existed, and they were also aware of the various hotspots for violence and crime in the area, especially north of the borough. Resultantly, Chief Inspector Craig Knight had been tasked solely with leading a team to reduce violence in the area covered by the BCU. Mr Knight would be supported by an Acting Chief Inspector. The police were aware that there was a fear that assets would be sucked into Croydon.

 

Mr Carswell stated that there had been success over the Christmas period in reducing crime in Bromley Town Centre. The police had worked collaboratively with LBB and the use of Dispersal Orders had been successful. He felt that it was helpful if the public understood the nature and purpose of Dispersal Orders, as transparency was important. A Section 60 Order had not been used, but Section 35 Dispersal Orders had been implemented. This was basically a warning to certain individuals to leave the area or get arrested. This had been used on six occasions over the Christmas period.

 

The use of the Dispersal Orders seemed to have had a calming effect and so no arrests were required, and the number of robberies decreased. The use of the Dispersal Orders had been advertised on Twitter.

 

The Chairman asked where Chief Inspector Craig Knight would be based. Mr Carswell responded that Mr Knight would still be working as part of the BCU, and would come under the authority of Superintendent Andy Brittain. Mr Knight would be responsible for reducing violence across the BCU. A rumour had been circulating that he would be moving to the Violence Reduction Unit at City Hall, but this was not correct.

 

The Chairman referred to the minutes of the previous meeting of the SBP (Safer Bromley Partnership) where Mr Carswell had mentioned his concerns regarding robbery and burglary, and the fact that the police ‘were having to go back to the drawing board’.  The Chairman expressed concern that if this was the case then something else would ‘fall off the end’.

 

DCI Collins came to the table to respond to this concern. He said that a dedicated response was required and so burglaries would now be dealt with by a ‘dedicated investigative strand’ with more proactive elements involved in the investigation. There would be an uplift in staffing to facilitate this. The Chairman hoped  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

60.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SAFER BROMLEY PARTNERSHIP STRATEGIC GROUP HELD ON 5th DECEMBER 2019 pdf icon PDF 322 KB

The Public Protection and Enforcement PDS Committee is responsible for scrutiny of the Safer Bromley Partnership.

Minutes:

The Committee noted the minutes of the meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership that had met on 5th December 2019. The Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Safety was also the Chairman of the Safer Bromley Partnership.

 

The Chairman referenced minute 40 which was the Chairman’s Update. He concurred with the sentiment that out of the £14m allocation from the MOPAC Violence Reduction Unit, LBB was being granted only a very small (0.3%) allocation of the funding.

 

Minute 41 was an update from the Housing Division and a reference was made to ‘Inherent Jurisdiction’. The Assistant Director for Public Protection and Enforcement explained what this was. She expanded that the problem of begging was going to be explored at the next JAG (Joint Action Group) meeting. The JAG would look at what powers could be used under the Crime and Policing Act, together with the possible use of Dispersal Orders. These powers would not be used against those deemed as ‘vulnerable’. 

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Safer Bromley Partnership from the meeting of 5th December 2019 are noted. 

 

 

HOLDING THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER TO ACCOUNT

61.

PORTFOLIO HOLDER UPDATE

The Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement will provide an update to the Committee.

Minutes:

The Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Safety (Councillor Kate Lymer) provided the following update:

 

In December 2019, the Portfolio Holder had attended the Bromley Youth Council Executive meeting which focussed on BYC’s Anti Knife Crime Campaign.  The Portfolio Holder had also attended a meeting at the Warren for BYC’s Knife Prevention Youth Conference; representatives from most of the senior schools in the borough were in attendance.

 

The Crime Survey was distributed on 13th December 2019. The results of the survey would be used to influence the Safer Bromley Strategy which would be presented to the Safer Bromley Partnership at its March meeting.

 

The Portfolio Holder had recently attended a meeting with the Chairman regarding the Bromley Youth Mentoring Initiative. It had been decided that a new mentoring initiative would be started which would be aimed at the siblings of young people involved in gang and knife crime.

 

The day following the meeting (5th February), the Portfolio Holder would be attending a meeting at City Hall. This was for the launch of the mayor of London’s City Resilience Strategy.

 

The Portfolio Holder would be attending a SNB meeting at the Warren on 12th March regarding Cyber Security.

 

Two further bids to MOPAC had been accepted, one of which was a theatre workshop/performance concerning ‘County Lines’. This would be a new project managed by public health. The other project was a BMX bike track at Cray Valley West.

 

The Crime Summit for 2020 would be held on 19th September.

 

The Committee was informed that the High Court appeal which sought to reinforce an injunction against Travellers had been lost because there was a lack of space in Bromley to move them elsewhere.

 

RESOLVED that the update from the Portfolio Holder is noted. 

 

 

 

62.

PP&E PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW pdf icon PDF 49 KB

Minutes:

The Head of Performance Management and Business Support attended to present the update regarding the PP&E Performance Overview. Most of the outcomes on the report were either rag rated as purple or green. She mentioned that although LBB had lost the High Court injunction case with respect to the Travellers, an injunction was still in place to prevent ‘persons unknown’ from fly tipping in Bromley’s parks. 

 

The data with respect to fly tipping enforcement actions had been rag rated as ‘amber’. This was because the year-end projections for enforcement actions were short of the target figure. It was explained that the implementation of the Fly Tipping Action Plan was expected to result in an improvement in performance. A co-ordinated approach was being achieved through the Fly-Tipping and Enforcement Working Group.

 

Plans were underway to purchase 2 covert cameras and 1 CCTV camera in the fight against fly tipping. There had recently been three prosecutions for fly tipping and it was confirmed that these successes were publicised via press releases on the Council website.

 

Meetings with the Environment Agency were planned to discuss illegal waste disposal.

 

The Council had requested information from other local authorities with respect to fly tipping FPNs. The matter of Fly Tipping on private land was discussed. It was noted that LBB would only get involved in this type of situation if there was a statutory nuisance that required enforcing. 

 

It was noted that LBB would be using CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) certified drone operators to seek out possible fly tipping sites that were not easily visible from ground level.

 

A Member asked if LBB made use of the Proceeds of Crime Act and it was confirmed that when the occasion warranted, appropriate legal action based on the Act would be undertaken.

 

 

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

 

63.

ENFORCEMENT POLICY FOR PUBLIC PROTECTION pdf icon PDF 149 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Report ES20007

 

The Committee was briefed that the Enforcement Policy for Public Protection had been reviewed and revised to allow for legislative changes and also other changes that had been brought about by modifications to the 2014 Regulator’s Code. The report being presented outlined the results of the consultation of the draft Policy. The issues raised had been responded to and now the final Policy was being presented to the Portfolio Holder for approval.  

 

The Committee noted the three responses that had been received from the consultation, together with the actions that had been taken as a result.

 

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement adopt the 2020 Public Protection Enforcement Policy.  

64.

PUBLIC PROTECTION AND ENFORCEMENT PORTFOLIO DRAFT BUDGET 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 225 KB

The prime purpose of this report is to consider the Portfolio Holder’s Draft 2020/21 Budget which incorporates future cost pressures and initial draft budget saving options which was reported to Executive on 15th January 2020.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee was presented with a report concerning the Public Protection and Enforcement Portfolio Draft Budget for 2020/2021. The report considered future cost pressures and possible budget savings for the next financial year. The budget had previously been considered by the Executive on 15th January 2020, and the Committee was being asked to consider the proposal and provide any relevant comments back to the Executive for consideration.

 

The Chairman and the Committee concluded that the report was straight forward, and that the recommendations of the report should be noted and agreed.

 

RESOLVED that

 

1) The update on the Public Protection financial forecast for 2020/21 to 2023/24 is noted.

 

2) The initial draft budget is agreed as the basis for setting the 2020/21 budget.

 

 

 

 

65.

MOPAC UPDATE/PRESENTATION

Minutes:

The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety used a PowerPoint to update the Committee.

 

It was noted that the MOPAC (Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime) funding for LBB was drawn down from the London Crime Policing Fund. It was confirmed that VAWG (violence against women and girls) now sat under an alternative Directorate. Reference was made to the VAWG related work that was being undertaken by Croydon and Bromley Women’s Aid. Youth mentoring was overseen by the Youth Offending Service.

 

The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety briefed the Committee that LBB received monies from MOPAC that covered areas like ASB, Noise, IOM, Youth Mentoring, and VAWG.

 

Funding to the value of £7k (one fifth of total salary) was provided so that an officer could undertake IOM related work once a week. This work involved attending IOM Panel Meetings and providing data that would be fed back in to the Safer Bromley Partnership.

 

Members heard that with respect to nuisance from excess noise, this was normally related either to parties or to construction sites. Real time evidence was required for follow up and enforcement action. There was a Noise App and it was being used. 

 

The Committee was advised that in terms of noise, contrary to popular opinion there was not a cut off time of 11.00pm. Construction sites would normally operate according to a code of practice. The Assistant Director for Public Protection and Enforcement clarified that for LBB to undertake enforcement action there must be a statutory nuisance which materially affected the use of a room.

 

The Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety explained what happened on ‘Community Impact Days’ (formerly known as ‘Operation Crystal’). He outlined the various partners that were involved and mentioned that Peter Sibley had been replaced by Sandra Campbell as the new ASB officer. It was MOPAC funding that covered the ASB officer post. Community Impact Days were:

 

  Led by ASB Project Officer (MOPAC Funded)

  Multi Agency

  Intelligence led – with a monthly planning meeting

  Deployments were made monthly

  Targets Environmental, ASB  and Criminal issues

 

The aims of Community Impact Days were:

 

  To clear the area of long-term rubbish in and around targeted areas

  To raise awareness amongst the community about these matters.

  To reassure residents regarding Crime and other issues.

  To deal with Crime and ASB related matters in the area.

  To carry out Operations as defined by the intelligence and statistics provided by the Operations Intelligence Hub.

 

An update on the newly formed ‘JAG’ (Joint Action Group) was provided. The JAG had met in December, and a decision had been made to undertake high visibility joint patrols along with the use of Dispersal Orders. Local traders and CCTV managers had also been invited to the meeting. Since then, 21 young people had been given ABC (Acceptable Behaviour Contract) notices and some of these had escalated to Criminal Behaviour Order Notices. The next JAG meeting would be focusing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

66.

CONTRACTS REGISTER UPDATE REPORT pdf icon PDF 389 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

ES20005

 

The Chairman and the Committee were pleased to note that no contracts were flagged as ‘Red’.

 

There would be an update regarding the Dogs and Pest Control Contract at the next meeting.   

 

RESOLVED that the appended contract register is noted, and that this formed part of the Council’s commitment to data transparency.  

67.

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC PROTECTION RISK REGISTER pdf icon PDF 153 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

ES 20003

 

The Committee noted the report which highlighted the risks associated with the Public Protection Portfolio.

 

It was commented at the meeting that David Tait (Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead) had (assisted by Sarah Baker), revolutionised LBB’s Resilience capabilities. Member training in this regard was going to be rolled out soon.

 

The Chairman noted that there were three areas of risk that had a net risk rating of 12. These were the Out of Hours Noise Service, Integrated Offender Management and the Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinator Post. However, the reason for this was that each area was reliant on MOPAC funding to fill key posts. 

 

RESOLVED that the Risk Register report is noted.

 

 

 

 

 

68.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 160 KB

Minutes:

CSD 20015

 

Members noted the Work Programme for the Public Protection and Enforcement Committee.

 

The Chairman highlighted that at the meeting on 31st March there would be a presentation from Bromley Youth Council. He asked committee members to attend at 6.30 to facilitate this.

 

It was agreed that the item related to the licensing hours for the White Hart Pub in Orpington should be removed from the Work Programme.

 

The Assistant Director pointed out that LBB did not have a ‘contract’ with the Coroner; rather it was a memorandum of understanding.

 

It was agreed that a date should be formalised for Members to visit the Coroner’s Court.

 

RESOLVED that the Work Programme is noted and amended as per the above recommendations.

 

    

 

Appendix A pdf icon PDF 162 KB

Appendix B pdf icon PDF 325 KB