Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Sophie Dunbar.

Apologies were received from Councillor Josh Coldspring White and Councillor Fawthrop attended as substitute.  

There were no declarations of interest.

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting of the Public Protection and Enforcement PDS Committee held on 14^th November 2023.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14^th November 2023  be agreed and signed as a correct record.

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 that are not specific to the agenda should have been received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 10^th January 2024.

Questions specifically seeking clarification of reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda.  Please ensure that any questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 18^th January 2024.

Members of the public can ask one question each. Please clarify if you want to ask your question at the meeting or require a written response.

No questions were received.

No questions were received.

It was noted that the responses to the matters that were highlighted in the Matters Arising Report had been emailed to the committee. It was noted that repeat offenders who continued to shoplift (and had issues with drug addiction), could be referred to ‘Change, Grow, Live’.

RESOLVED that the updates regarding matters arising be noted.

A Performance Monitoring overview of the Portfolio is provided to each meeting of the Committee, along with any relevant updates that the Portfolio Holder may deem appropriate.

The Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement said that she had taken part in the Safer Bromley Partnership Strategic Workshop event that was held to develop the new Safer Bromley Strategy. She had also attended the Orpington Community Safety Team event. A Member had requested that a statement be provided by the Portfolio Holder concerning the recent acts of vandalism that had affected traffic lights, and the consequences thereof. The statement was tabled at the meeting. It was noted that this was also a matter that had been discussed in depth at the ECS PDS Committee the previous evening. The police had assured that incidents of vandalism to traffic lights would be thoroughly investigated.

The Portfolio Holder statement read as follows:

Thank you for your request for an emergency statement on the criminal damage to traffic lights last week.

The responsibility for road safety lies within the Environment Portfolio and Members will have seen the update from the Portfolio Holder for Transport, Highways and Road Safety on 19^th January, and the separate response from TfL on 21^st January.

As the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement, I continue to be in contact with Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain and Superintendent Luke Baldock who have given us assurance that any criminal activity, such as this, will be fully investigated, with any perpetrators held to account.  Superintendent Baldock assured us last week that investigators and extra patrols are in place for this matter.’

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Update be noted. 

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A Member asked if the Food Safety Inspection Team was now operating at full strength. The Assistant Director for Public Protection answered and said that there were still some recruitment issues. The Council had been forced to use agency workers. An agency worker had been employed on a paid per inspection basis and had recently undertaken over 300 inspections in the last few months. A contractor was being appointed to deal with low to medium risk inspections. It was noted that the tenders had been evaluated and officers were now going through the appointment process.

The Chairman drew attention to what seemed to be a relatively low target with respect to the sale of age restricted products. It was explained that the new system was intelligence led.

The Chairman noted that the report referenced breaches of planning control and had been rag rated as ‘green’. The issue pointed out by the Chairman was that the report had simply been marked as ‘awaiting data’. The Chairman asked when this data would be available. The Assistant Director for Public Protection said that she would investigate this.

RESOLVED that the Public Protection and Enforcement Portfolio Holder be recommended to endorse the outcomes, aims and performance measures set out in the draft 2023/24 Public Protection and Enforcement Portfolio Plan.

This item has been published as an Information Briefing.

The web link is:

Agenda for Information Briefings on Wednesday 24 January 2024, 7.00 pm (bromley.gov.uk)

The Committee noted the Public Protection and Enforcement Performance Overview Data Information Briefing.

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A Member enquired if there were any transformational challenges that may at some point flow into the Public Protection budget. The Director for Environment and Public Protection answered and said that this was a relatively small budget and so no transformation items had been proposed for 2024/25. This could possibly change however in the medium term. The Member also asked if there were any fees for services, and if these would increase in line with inflation. The Director responded and said that the Council was looking at fees across the board; some fees were set by statute. Any proposed changes to fees would be brought back to the committee.

A Member referred to the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement and  commented that it would be much more helpful if the settlements were not one year settlements. It had been the sixth year in a row that the settlement had been on a one year basis; a longer term settlement would make financial planning easier. The Director stated that central government had just released extra funding for local government.

The Chairman was concerned that further financial assistance was needed, otherwise there would be problems with providing discretionary services and serious decisions would need to be made. He said that CCTV was a good example; although it was a non-statutory service in itself, the Council could not fulfil its statutory duties of protection without the CCTV. The Chairman said that another risk was MOPAC funding, as this always seemed to arrive late. The Chairman requested a list of MOPAC funded projects.

RESOLVED that the Public Protection Portfolio Draft Budget be noted.

It was noted that the new Safer Bromley Strategy was still in the process of development; Members were asked to note the quarter two update. The committee was informed that the consultation regarding the priorities for the new SBP Strategy was ongoing, and would close on the 12th of February. The Assistant Director for Public Protection encouraged responses to the consultation. Once the consultation process had ended, then an update would be brought back to the committee.

A Member noted the Safer Neighbourhood Board theatre production that had been performed with respect to ‘county lines,’ and wondered how the effectiveness of this could be assessed. A Member noted that 610 potential weapons had been collected in the Council’s two knife amnesty bins and she wondered if further bins could be located in the south of the Borough. A Member asked what a ‘Faraday Bag’ was. It was noted that this was a bag in which car keys could be put to stop them being cloned. The technology was essentially that if you put keys into a metal box, then it would stop the transmission of radio waves and this would prevent the car keys from being cloned.

The Vice Chairman expressed her thanks to the Community Safety Team with respect to the successful implementation of Community Impact Days. She asked that this be noted in the minutes, and hoped that more could be organised in the future. It was further noted that these days were part financed through MOPAC funding.

A Member drew attention to the service road located in Bromley South between the police station and Waitrose. This was not a Council road, and he said the police were not enforcing parking restrictions in this road. He asked if it was possible for the committee to look into this on safety grounds, and ask the police to take further action and increase parking restrictions. The Director for Environment and Public Protection responded that the Council were aware of the situation and were in discussions with the police to adopt the road. There were some complexities involved, in that the police were asking for 50 parking spaces for their vehicles. It was noted that the Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking was trying to locate a police contact and had written regarding this matter to the Borough Commander. A Member enquired why the same interest was not being applied to the road next to Orpington Train Station and Orpington Bus Station.

It was noted that the ASB Conference would be taking place on 11^th March 2024. This was being organised by the police and the Safer Neighbourhood Board. 

A request was made for the scheme ‘Driven by Consequences’ to take place in  schools with greater frequency. The Chairman said that this request would be passed onto the Safer Bromley Partnership. 

Post Meeting Note regarding the issue of parking enforcement on the service road by the police station:  Update from the Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking.

I have now  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

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Members heard about how calls were prioritised and tasked. Priority was given to those calls where a legal order had already been served. In quieter times, other pro-active visits were undertaken, such as checking compliance with pavement licensing. There had been an increase in TENs (Temporary Events Notices) applications around Halloween and Bonfire Night. A Member commented that it would be useful to note in future reports, the difference between active and pro-active visits. A Member commented that with respect to the production of tables in reports,  that it would be helpful to clarify the nature of the figures in the tables in future reports. Members were advised that the figures in the table covered the period from mid-August to mid November 2023.

RESOLVED that:

1) The Current Service Provision by TMS Protection Limited be noted.

2) The Committee note the proposal to move the service to a commissioning model of delivery, with an initial contract extension for a further 12 months, from 31^st March 2024 to March 2025. 

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It was clarified that IDOX Cloud was the principal line of business software within the Public Protection, Planning & Building Control and Housing divisions.

It was requested that the Contracts Register Database Extract no longer just be published as an Information Briefing. Members requested that a hard copy of the document be incorporated into the agenda pack.

RESOLVED that the Contracts Register update be noted.

This item has been published as an Information Briefing.

The web link to the Briefing is:

Agenda for Information Briefings on Wednesday 24 January 2024, 7.00 pm (bromley.gov.uk)

The Committee noted the Contracts Database Extract that had been provided as an Information Item link. It was agreed that in future the database extract would be published as part of the agenda pack.    

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The Committee noted the potential risks associated with the provision of the Coroner’s Service. It also noted the reference in the report to the dysfunctionality of the Uniform System. A Member stated that with respect to the provision of the Coroner’s Service, this was no longer a risk, but rather an issue. The Director agreed with this. The Chairman asked who would make the decision with respect to the Coroner’s Service. The Director answered that he suspected that this would filter back through to the Executive as a change to the Budget. At the present time the Coroner’s Service had not presented any evidence base for their proposed increased in costs and without this the Director was not going to agree to any cost increases at this time.

RESOLVED that the Public Protection and Enforcement Risk Register Report be noted.  

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RESOLVED that the following items be added to the June agenda:

1) Annual update report from the Police.

2) The new Safer Bromley Strategy.

3) Annual update from SLAM.