Agenda and minutes

Venue: Bromley Civic Centre

Contact: Steve Wood  020 8313 4316

Items
No. Item

STANDARD ITEMS

124.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND NOTIFICATION OF SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Lucy West and Colin Brand.

 

125.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

 

126.

MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC PROTECTION AND ENFORCEMENT PDS COMMITTEE--31st JANUARY 2023 pdf icon PDF 332 KB

Minutes:

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting of Public Protection and Enforcement PDS Committee held on 31st January 2023.

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 31st January 2023 be agreed and signed as a correct record.

 

127.

QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC OR COUNCILLORS

Generic questions concerning the Public Protection and Enforcement Portfolio should have been received by the Democratic Services Team by 5:00pm on the 14th of March.

 

Questions specifically on the March agenda should be received by the Democratic Services Team by 5:00pm on the 22nd of March.

Minutes:

Two written questions were received from a member of the public. The questions and responses were tabled at the meeting.

128.

MATTERS ARISING pdf icon PDF 128 KB

Minutes:

CSD 23049

 

Members noted the updates concerning matters that had arisen at the previous meeting.

 

Members noted the ongoing matter concerning the A3 font size on certain documents. The Assistant Director for Public Protection and Enforcement said that she would continue to look into this issue. The Committee was still waiting for responses from MOPAC and the Police. A Member requested regular updates concerning the composition of the police Safer Neighbourhood Team. A new Superintendent had been appointed (Superintendent Luke Baldock) and the Chairman requested that Mr Baldock attend the June meeting of the PP&E PDS Committee with his team. The Chairman reminded Members to submit questions for the police in a timely manner.

 

The Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board informed the Committee that the next meeting of the the Board would be on 18th May (6pm-9pm) at the Warren. MOPAC and Superintendent Baldock had been invited. It was noted that the Crime Summit would take place in September and that the Police Commissioner was expected to be in attendance. 

 

RESOLVED that the Matters Arising report be noted.

 

 

 

129.

UPDATE FROM BROMLEY YOUTH COUNCIL

Minutes:

A verbal update was provided by BYC. Attending from BYC were Nathan Ward (Chairman), Tommy Velvick (Portfolio Holder) and Alice Kirby (Deputy Chairman). Updates were provided with respect to their primary and secondary campaigns. The 2022/23 Youth Manifesto was launched in May 2022. The Youth Manifesto set out the key priorities that had been identified through consultation. It was decided that the BYC primary campaign would be Youth ASB and Knife Crime and that the secondary campaign would be Relationships and Sex Education. 

 

Vaping had been included in the primary campaign. BYC had met with the LBB Head of Trading Standards and Commercial Regulation and with the LBB Director of Education to discuss various matters and this included the issue of how young people were accessing vapes. 

 

There was a concern regarding the number of young people that were carrying knives. BYC were seeking greater engagement from the police in tackling ASB.  It was reported that Bromley Youth Council had 54 youth councillors elected or co-opted from Bromley secondary schools, colleges, and youth projects.

 

The BYC Chairman summarised the various actions that had been undertaken by BYC which included the provision of training to skill up youth councillors around Anti-Social Behaviour & Knife Crime, facilitating them to lead the campaign and to enable them to raise issues of concern within their educational establishments. Contact had been made with the LBB Anti-Social Behaviour Team to examine the LBB anti-social behaviour strategy in order to facilitate collaborative working.

 

It was reported that 45 young people had contributed to the LBB schools guidance on vaping and 39 had been involved in test purchase activities with Trading Standards.

 

It was noted that Youth Councillors had decided to encourage schools and groups to sign up to the ‘Making Communities Safer’ – an anti-social behaviour principles document that supported the tackling of anti-social behaviour. The BYC Chairman said that Youth Councillors had met with Bromley police regarding ‘stop and search’ to understand how this was used in Bromley, young people’s rights, and the impact of stop and search on knife carrying within the borough.

 

A video concerning the subject of consent was being worked upon but had not yet been completed. A resource pack had been put together with general guidance concerning relationships. A discussion took place regarding vapes and nitrous oxide. A Member asked how many schools were involved and the BYC Chairman said he would look into the matter and report back.

 

The possibility of liaison with drug agencies was raised and the Youth Support Coordinator informed Members that this would be dependent upon what campaigns had been flagged up, and whether or not they were part of the BYC manifesto. A BYC meeting was scheduled to take place at the Warren on the 26th April and councillors were welcome to attend. A panel had already been invited.

 

The BYC Chairman informed the Committee that training had been provided for BYC councillors by Trading Standards, the police and the LBB Director of Education. It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129.

130.

BUSINESS CONTINUITY AND RESILIENCE UPDATE pdf icon PDF 540 KB

Minutes:

ES20255

 

It was noted that business continuity and resilience training had already been presented to councillors.  A Member asked how councillors would be informed of a major incident in their ward. It was explained that this would be done via the Communications Executive or one of his deputies. An update was provided regarding cyber resilience and security, although it was noted that a fuller update if required would need to be sought from the Assistant Director for IT. Members heard that the Council  was subjected to hundreds of attempted security hacks every day, but the Council spent robustly on cyber resilience with BT and so far the security systems had been holding well.

 

It was mentioned that with respect to business continuity it was well practised at a high level, but needed more input at officer ground level. It was noted that the Council had numerous individual business continuity plans as well as one main corporate business continuity plan. Emergency Response Volunteers were available to assist the Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Manager. 

 

An update was provided concerning the fire that had taken place in July last year at St. Mark’s Square where 150 residents were evacuated along with the hotel and the cinema. The Council had provided a robust response in terms of providing humanitarian assistance. Members heard that there was a scheme in place called ‘Borough Mutual Aid’ whereby London boroughs could collaborate with other boroughs in providing mutual assistance. The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Manager said that he would recirculate the Member presentation with the minutes. It was noted that business continuity was amber on the Risk Register.

. 

The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Manager said that he would update Members when he was informed of the date of the mock aircraft crash. This was conducted yearly and he expected that this time it would be conducted in the evening. Mention was also made of the London wide ‘Safer City’ exercise which would be held in May. This would test command and control functions across London. The Emergency Planning and Corporate Resilience Manager promised to circulate information regarding this.

 

RESOLVED that the Business Continuity and Resilience update be noted.

 

 

HOLDING THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER TO ACCOUNT

131.

UPDATE FROM THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR PUBLIC PROTECTION AND ENFORCEMENT

Minutes:

An update was provided by Councillor Angela Page, the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Enforcement. She mentioned that she had received an invite to the Bromley Youth Council manifesto event. There seemed to be some confusion on the evening as to whether or not this was the 24th or the 26th of April. The Portfolio Holder had recently chaired a meeting of the Bromley Youth Mentoring initiative. There was due to be a follow up meeting at Orpington fire station for prospective mentors. This had to be cancelled because of centrally arranged training, so this would be rearranged. The Portfolio Holder had arranged regular meetings with  the Police Chief Superintendent—Andy Brittain. The Portfolio Holder was also planning to meet with the new borough police Superintendent, Luke Baldock.

 

The Portfolio Holder was pleased to note that data would be provided regarding the composition of the Bromley Safer Neighbourhood Team. The Portfolio Holder had recently represented the Leader at a virtual meeting regarding Baroness Louise Casey’s review of the Metropolitan Police.

 

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder update be noted. 

132.

PUBLIC PROTECTION PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW pdf icon PDF 145 KB

Minutes:

‘Challenge 25’ had been rag rated as red because one business had failed a test and sold a product to a minor. Robust action was being taken in this case. The matter of food safety inspections was also still rag rated as red but the Committee was reminded that this was a national issue and that the Food Standards Agency was happy with the progress that the Council was making in terms of addressing backlogs.

 

A discussion took place regarding review hearings and different types of suspension with respect of premises that sold restricted products to minors.

 

RESOLVED that the Performance Overview update be noted. 

132a

BUDGET MONITORING 2022/23 pdf icon PDF 352 KB

Minutes:

ES20268

 

Members noted a projected overspend of £208k on the Public Protection and Enforcement Division. A sizeable proportion of this overspend was in connection with increased costs for the Mortuary and Coroners Service. Members were briefed that there was scope in next year’s budget to resolve this.

 

A Member asked how the work was progressing on updating the PRUH mortuary facilities. It was noted that the work at the PRUH was on target and progressing to plan. The Assistant Director for Public Protection and Enforcement stated that she was not aware of the precise completion date of the work at the PRUH, but she would investigate this and report back. 

 

(Post Meeting Note: The work at the PRUH will be completed during Autumn 2023)

 

The Chairman commented on the £18k overspend in the costs of the Community Safety and Management Team. He requested that in future, an explanation be provided to explain the reasons for such overspends.

 

RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to endorse the 2022/23 revenue budget monitoring for the Public Protection and Enforcement Services Portfolio. 

132b

PUBLIC PROTECTION & ENFORCEMENT DRAFT PORTFOLIO PLAN pdf icon PDF 462 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

ES20258

 

With respect to the issue of addressing the sale of underage products, a Member requested that vapes be added to the list. It was noted that regarding the regulation of food and licenced premise , 75% of complaints about food and food premises would be responded to within five working days. A Member asked about the other 25% and the Assistant Director for Public Protection and Enforcement said she would report back on this.

 

A Member referred to section 3.3.5 of the report which stated that 28,896 kg  (almost three tonnes) of waste had been removed on Community Impact Days. The Member pointed out that 1000kgs equated to one tonne, so one of these figures was incorrect. The Assistant Director said she would report back on this.

 

The Chairman referred to HMOs and requested that a future report be brought to the committee concerning not just regulating HMOS, but improving HMO conditions.

 

A discussion took place concerning the CCTV annual review and it was clarified that officers fed into the review, together with the contractor. The Assistant Director said that the annual review of CCTV could be reported upon if Members requested this.

 

A Member asked if a Community Impact Day could be undertaken in Orpington. The Chairman responded that this was unlikely to occur because Community Impact Days would only be carried on in MOPAC identified crime hotspots. The Chairman of the Safer Neighbourhood Board said that an ASB Awareness Week was being undertaken in Bromley. It was possible (depending on cost) that  a similar Awareness Week could take place in Orpington.

 

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

 

 

133.

CONTRACTS DATABASE REPORT AND DATABASE EXTRACT pdf icon PDF 692 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

ES20262

 

The committee noted the PP&E Contract Register report.

 

RESOLVED that the Contracts Register report be noted.    

134.

PUBLIC PROTECTION AND ENFORCEMENT RISK REGISTER pdf icon PDF 370 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

ES20260

 

The Committee discussed the increased costs with respect to the Coroners Service. It was reported that satisfactory progress was being made in the negotiations and it was anticipated that the red flag rating would soon go.

 

The Council would be engaging with staff to encourage increased participation in the OOH Noise Service rota. If uptake from staff did not improve, then contingency plans would be required, including the possible use contracted services. The revised service was anticipated to be up and running in June 2023.

 

RESOLVED that the Risk Register update be noted. 

135.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 213 KB

Minutes:

The Committee noted the PP&E Work Programme for 2023/24.

 

RESOLVED that the following items be added to the Work Programme for June 2023:

 

1.  Police Update

2.  Update from SLAM

3.  PSPO report.

136.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 AS AMENDED BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ACCESS TO INFORMATION)(VARIATION) ORDER 2006, AND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000

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. 

 

137.

CONTRACTS REGISTER PART 2 UPDATE

Minutes:

Members noted the Part 2 Contracts Register report.

 

RESOLVED that the Part 2 Contracts Register report be noted.   

Council Response to Emergencies pdf icon PDF 203 KB