Agenda item

ES 18048

The Committee received the Draft Public Protection and Enforcement Portfolio Plan for 2018/19.

The Chairman expressed his thanks for a very comprehensive report. He proposed that an additional recommendation be added which was to acknowledge the previous achievements of the 2017/18 plan. This was agreed by the Committee.

A Member referenced section 5.6 of the report which mentioned the deployment of the CCTV service. The Member asked the Portfolio Holder if the number of CCTV cameras had increased, or if there was any plan to do so. The Portfolio Holder responded that such matters were considered on a case by case basis. Mr Vale (Head of Trading Standards and Community Safety) confirmed that LBB had invested in additional cameras, and that LBB always tried to ensure that sufficient cameras were deployed. It had to be borne in mind that the budget for this was limited. The matter was reviewed regularly, and focus would be on known ASB hotspots.

A Member asked if more cameras could be provided in the Biggin Hill area to catch people dropping litter from cars. He felt that more prosecutions were required. The Portfolio Holder replied that it was something that could be looked into, but she felt that CCTV would not be effective in this case. This was because fixed CCTV was limited in what could be picked up. People would just commit littering offences off camera if they wanted to.

A Member stated that graffiti on bus stops seemed to be on the rise. She had reported several incidents to TfL, but they had been slow to respond. She wondered if anything could be done to nudge them along. Mr Davies stated that this was a matter that he would look into.

The Chair of BYC referred to the mentoring programme for young people that was noted in section 5.3 of the report. He informed the Committee that support for more educational programmes for young people was the focus of a current BYC campaign. He stated that BYC was not aware of the mentoring programme, and asked if the profile of the programme could be raised. The Portfolio Holder clarified that this was not a programme that was open to all. It was for young people that had been identified as requiring support, and young people had to be referred onto the programme either by teachers or by the YOS (Youth Offending Service).

The Portfolio Holder informed the Committee that Mr Davies was now a new mentor, and that the Bromley Mentoring Team had recently won a Bromley Star award. Referrals to the mentoring service could come from Children’s Services.

The Vice Chairman referred to outcome 4, (Aim 3.7) of the report, which was the continued delivery of parking enforcement services. He asked if it could be made simpler for local residents to report parking enforcement infringements as this was not clear to local residents currently.

The Chair of BYC referred to the section of the report dealing with the sale of age restricted products and stated that BYC had been undertaking the same kind of mystery shopping recently. He was informed that he could go out with the LBB Trading Standards Team to support investigations if he wished.

RESOLVED that

1) The Portfolio Plan for 2018/19 be noted

2) The Executive Director for Environmental and Community Services investigate why TfL were taking so long to remove graffiti from bus stops. 

3) The Committee acknowledge the previous achievements of the 2017/18 Portfolio Plan.