Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Hannah Dumbrell and Niamh Christie from Bromley Youth Council.

The Chairman reminded the committee that Purdah had just commenced.

There were no declarations of interest.

Members considered the minutes of the meeting of the Public Protection and Enforcement PDS Committee held on 24^th January 2024

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th January 2024 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

In line with the Council’s Constitution, any general questions regarding the Public Protection Portfolio should have been received by the Democratic Services Department by 5pm on 5^th March.

Questions relating to specific items on the agenda should be received by 5pm on 13^th March. Members of the public are permitted one question per person and it should be stated if the question is for written response post meeting, or if the questioner is intending to the ask the question at the meeting. 

No questions were received.

CSD 24044

The Chairman referred to the 712 alleged breaches of planning control. He asked how many of these had been subject to enforcement action. It was agreed that this would be investigated and an answer provided post meeting.

RESOLVED that the Matters Outstanding report be noted and that the number of breaches that had been subject to enforcement action would be clarified.

Nathan Ward and Ethyan Soysa attended from Bromley Youth Council (BYC) to answer questions relating to their annual report. They were supported by Danie Gibbs-Youth Engagement Coordinator. A You Tube link to a video had been disseminated to Members pre-meeting which had been made by BYC. The video highlighted the dangers associated with drugs and vapes. 

Further to the Youth Council Manifesto Event, BYC had decided to focus on two main areas going forward:

·  Mental Health

·  Drugs and Substance Mis-Use

With the collaboration of young people from many different schools, a mental health magazine was produced. After consulting with young people from youth clubs it had become clear that many young people were afraid to call 999 with respect to drug related emergencies.

The Chairman commented that the report was well documented and impressive and would have provided valuable experience for all youth counsellors. He expressed his gratitude for the report and the work undertaken. The Chairman said that he had previously expressed the hope that the police would work more closely with Bromley Youth Council and he wondered if this had occurred. Members were informed that BYC had made presentations at two crime summits and had also been nominated for a police award. BYC were working closely with the Police Youth Engagement Team and they would be attending and supporting BYC at an upcoming Youth Manifesto Event later in the week. A Member commented that it was important to communicate to young people that abusing drugs could result in a criminal record. The Vice Chairman said that it was important that information regarding drug abuse, particularly where drugs were being sold and supplied--be fed back to the police.     

The SNB(Safer Neighbourhood Board) Chairman said that it was important that BYC continued to attend the Crime Summit meetings. It was noted that the possibility of ‘safe spaces’ in in schools to discuss drug related matters had not been pursued. There was a discussion about negative and positive stress and the importance of leading a holistic lifestyle.

The Chairman asked that his thanks be passed to all the members of BYC and he looked forward to seeing next year’s plan.

RESOLVED that the update from BYC be noted.

ES20362

The committee was updated concerning the counter terrorism exercise that had been undertaken in the Glade Shopping Centre on 25^th February. Over 700 people had been involved, including 300 members of the public. Specialist police services and other emergency services were involved and a Survivor Reception Centre was opened. Much learning was had from the exercise itself and from the following post exercise de-briefings.

A discussion took place concerning cyber security and maintaining business continuity and resilience while the Council was moving to a new premises. It was noted that the Council’s IT system would be moving from a server based system to the Cloud which would make it more robust. IT had a Disaster Recovery Plan if needed. There was always the fallback of working from home that been used during Covid if required.

The committee was updated with regard to ‘Martyn’s Law’. It was noted that this Law would apply only to premises and not to open spaces. The Government would reflect on recent consultation responses. It was unlikely that any legislation would be passed until 2025 and then there would be a time of reflection and adjustment to allow those affected to put any required measures in place.

The Chairman directed the committee’s attention to Appendix B, which was concerning resilience standards and the assessments that took place with respect to those standards. It was noted that there was a process involved whereby the Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Lead would undertake the assessment first, this would then be checked by the Director for Environment and Public Protection, and then signed off by the Chief Executive. A peer review would also be undertaken by five other local authorities in the southeast cluster system. In terms of being scrutinised by the Public Protection and Enforcement Committee, the time to scrutiny the resilience standards would be now, as the meeting was taking place. The Chairman requested that  in the next annual review, information regarding resilience standards and the assessment process be highlighted and clarified in a separate document.

The issue of falling masonry in Penge High Street was raised and it was clarified that issues of this nature should be reported to Building Control or the Borough Surveyor.

RESOLVED that the Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Service update be noted. 

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The Portfolio Holder stated that she had attended the recent Bromley Mentoring Initiative meeting. She mentioned that there was an informative article regarding this in the latest edition of the Bromley News; the article gave more information about mentoring and encouraged people to volunteer.

On 2nd February, the Portfolio Holder deputised for the Leader at the second of the twice yearly leaders’ meetings with the Met Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Crowley and his team.

On the 12th February, the Portfolio Holder joined a briefing on the use of facial recognition cameras in the Borough. There had been positive feedback and successes in Croydon. The BCU Borough Commander stated that he wanted the cameras to be used more widely. The cameras had been deployed on two occasions since then in Bromley Town Centre, and whilst awaiting the official outcomes, the initial feedback regarding their use was positive.

The Portfolio Holder had attended exercise ‘Felix Fort’ at the Glade Shopping Centre as an observer.

On the 11th March, the Portfolio Holder had attended the ASB Conference which had been organised by the Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board. This had been held at Bromley Football Club. The Portfolio Holder had attended the ‘Driven by Consequences’ presentation at Hayes School which had taken place earlier in the day.

A Member enquired if MOPAC money for combatting drug use could be ring fenced. The Portfolio Holder said that she would look into this. It was noted that the funding for the ‘Driven by Consequences’ presentation that had taken place earlier, was LIP funding from TfL. 

A discussion took place regarding the use of facial recognition cameras in the Borough. It was noted that the cameras would be triggered if they recognised an individual who was on the police ‘watchlist’. A Member said that it would be helpful if more information regarding this could be provided by the police. The Portfolio Holder responded and said that you would need to be on the National Police Register to trigger the camera. In Croydon two people were arrested after facial recognition cameras identified individuals that were wanted on rape charges.

A  discussion took place about future ASB conferences and the Chairman said that it would be helpful to Members if more notice could be provided.

RESOLVED that the update from the Portfolio Holder be noted.

ES20368

The committee was pleased to note that there were no new ‘red flags.’

It was noted that good progress was being made regarding catching up with food safety inspections. A new tender had been finalised and a contractor appointed which would result in more capacity moving forward.

RESOLVED that the Performance Overview update be noted and that the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement be recommended to endorse the outcomes, aims and performance measures set out in the draft 2023/24 PP&E Portfolio Plan.

FSD24020

The Committee noted the Budget Monitoring report for 2023/24.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to endorse the 2023/24 revenue budget monitoring position for the Public Protection and Enforcement Services Portfolio.

ES20363

Members noted that this was in effect an extension of what was already in place following a consultation which was primarily supportive. It was clarified that action could be taken with respect to ASB by PCSOs and specifically designated council officers as well as police officers. A discussion took place regarding the use of psychoactive substances and it was explained that with respect to the Anti-Social Behaviour Public Spaces Protection Order, it would be any resultant anti-social behaviour that would trigger enforcement action. It was hoped that in all respects, engagement and education would reduce the level of anti-social behaviour resulting from the use of these substances.

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement be recommended to approve the renewal of the Public Spaces Protection Order to address anti-social behaviour, until the 31st of March 2027.

The Chairman noted that some of the crime statistics were going up. There would be an opportunity to raise questions regarding these issues with police at the June meeting. The Chairman said that shoplifting was an issue that was often raised by the public when contacting Ward Councillors. There was a perceived lack of action by the police and the Chairman felt that this was becoming an issue. The Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board responded and said that Superintendent Luke Baldock had set up a Retail Forum to discuss these issues and they were now meeting on a regular basis. The issue of shoplifting was a national problem. Again, this was a matter that could be raised with the police at the June meeting. A discussion took place regarding the statistics concerning burglary.

The Chairman expressed concern regarding the lack of police vehicles for Safer Neighbourhood Teams. He was concerned that the police were not getting the resources they needed. The Safer Neighbourhood Board Chairman responded and said that these matters had been raised at senior level with New Scotland Yard. In the next round of MOPAC funding, it was anticipated that funding could be allocated to acquire a new police vehicle for the south of the borough.

The Chairman commented that Community Impact Days were very worthwhile and that it would be helpful to better promote what was going on and being achieved.

RESOLVED that the Safer Bromley Partnership Update be noted.

ES20374

The committee received the report which set out the proposal to adopt the Safer Bromley Strategy for 2024-27.   

The Strategy had been developed in consultation with partners and residents. Workshops had also been held. Three high level priorities had been decided upon, which were ‘People’, ‘Prevention’ and ‘Place’. For the Strategy to be successful, the efficient use of all partner resources was key. A ‘Delivery Strategy’ document had been produced and it was intended that this would be a live document. It was noted that an annual Statutory Assessment would be undertaken. It was felt that better engagement was required with the public. The Chairman mentioned that confidence in the criminal justice system was low, and a discussion took place as to how this could be improved.

A Member referred to the online public consultation which she had completed. She expressed the view that the questions in the consultation document were ‘woolly’ and meaningless, and that in the future the questions should be more relevant.

A Member asked if there was a list of Neighbourhood Watches that could be circulated. The Public Protection Projects Manager said that she would arrange this and that it would be circulated to all members of the committee.

The Chairman referred to the section in the report regarding the monitoring of impacts. He suggested that a fourth area of monitoring could be added which was to monitor the effect of individual actions taken and agreed and that this be reported back to the committee.

It was noted that the recommendation in the report was for the Leader to approve the adoption of the Strategy.  The Chairman pointed out that this was incorrect and that the recommendation should be changed to read that the Portfolio Holder should approve the adoption of the new Strategy.

RESOLVED that, taking into consideration the above comments of the PP&E PDS, the Portfolio Holder be recommended to approve the adoption of the Safer Bromley Strategy for 2024-27, ensuring that the Leader is aware and in agreement.

ES20360

Reference was made to the Environmental Consultancy Agreement with South Derbyshire District Council and LBB. It was noted that this contract had now been renewed.

It was noted that the Domestic Homicide Review Contract with Sancus Solutions was due to expire in October. The committee was assured that a new tender was being put together with a new reporting model and that all was in hand.

RESOLVED that the Contracts Register report be noted.   

ES20365

The committee noted the Public Protection Risk Register.

It was noted that the ‘red’ risks were the same as noted in the previous meeting.

RESOLVED that the Public Protection Risk Register report be noted.

CSD24046

The committee noted the Work Program report.

The Chairman requested that the Police and SLAM be contacted in plenty of time so that they could prepare to report to the committee in June.

RESOLVED that the Work Programme report be noted.