Agenda and minutes

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant financial or other interest in the items on the agenda.

None declared.

None.

The minutes are attached.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 May 2013 be approved as a correct record.

There were no matters arising.

This paper provides information to the committee on three community safety issues and presentations will be provided by individuals indicated:

·         An update on the Safer Brent Partnership - Sue Harper, Director of Environment & Neighbourhoods and David Murray, Policy and Partnership Advisor

·         An update on work by the Council and its partners on ending serious youth violence and gangs - David Murray, Policy and Partnership Advisor and Kiran Vagarwal, ASB Team Manager

·         Crime and disorder statistics - Nick Davies, Brent Police Superintendent

An update on the Safer Brent Partnership –

David Murray (Interim Policy and Partnership Adviser) provided the Committee with an update on the report. He informed members that the Crime Prevention Strategy group had met in June to discuss the future of the group and its relationship with its partners. They had established the Safer Brent Partnership and they agreed a new vision for Brent ‘A strong, safe and just Brent where individuals and communities are safe from harm.’ They also developed five key strategic priorities to drive forward the new vision. These priorities were based on a needs assessment, various surveys and feedback from ward working and they attempted to capture what mattered most to people in Brent. Underpinning the Partnership board were action groups who would be responsible for delivering each of the priorities. The leaders of the action groups would meet once a month to ensure the work was delivering against the key priorities. David Murray concluded by stating that the next Safer Brent Partnership Board meeting would be chaired by the interim Chief Executive and they would discuss what the next steps would be.

The Committee welcomed the new vision for Brent and the key priorities that had been identified and they enquired who would be responsible for ensuring that the vision and strategies were developed. They also wanted to know who the Safer Brent Partnership would report to.  The committee were also keen to know how the public had fed into developing the new priorities and how they would continue to be engaged. The members questioned how Smart Water would be used within the Borough, given the current financial hardship the Council faced. A member praised the officers for creating a new structure, however, it was unclear exactly what that structure was and therefore the members asked for a detailed chart of how the community could engage with the process and raise issues. The committee were happy to see that crime was actually falling in the borough but questioned the officers as to why they thought that the public’s perception was contrary to this.  The chair concluded the questioning by asking why there was currently waste in safeguarding children and how this would be changed in the future.

In response to the questions raised by the committee, David Murray explained that a group of officers, from across the different partners, including those in the voluntary and faith sectors would be dedicated to delivering each key priority. Each strategy would have key indicators against them, rated red, amber and green depending on how they were progressing. The partnership board would jointly own those indicators so there wold be shared responsibility for them. The actions plans behind the key strategic priority were still being finalised and were due to be finished in September 2013. The action groups would report the status of each priority to this Committee, CMT and Partners for Brent. It was explained that the public had fed into the new vision and strategies in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Presentation by Sean Lynch, Chief Inspector Safer Neighbourhoods Team, on how the service operates and how councillors can get more involved:

·         an overview of the service

·         performance/targets/comparison with other similar London boroughs

·         contraints faced

·         any new initiatives or projects

·         short and long term plans for the service.

Andy Jones (Chief Inspector Partnership) gave apologies on behalf of Sean Lynch and gave the committee an overview of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams. Members were updated on how successful the recent ‘week of action’ in Harlesden had been. It was explained that ‘the week of action’ was a multi-agency, high impact form of policing in the community and had been used very successfully in other boroughs. If it was deemed to be a success then it would be rolled out to other parts of the Borough.

Members were then given an update on the current use of dispersal orders in the borough. Firstly the police had used dispersal powers very successfully at the Ace Café in Harlesden on Friday and Saturday nights and there had been a number of arrests. They had also been used successfully in Wembley central area to close a couple of brothels and in Chichelle Road to stop street drinking. Members were also advised about the Tri borough dispersal order that was in place between Brent, Barnet and Camden. It was in operation at the Old Hendon football Club as a tented community had been erected there. Dispersal orders had also been used successfully in and around Wembley stadium on match days to tackle anti-social behaviour and it was hoped this would continue in the new season.

Andy Jones informed members about the recent work that they had been doing with registered landlords on how to deal with problematic tenants. The re-launched crime housing focus group had devised a toolbox of strategies for landlords to use. Members were advised about two potential evictions in Stonebridge, where the Council had been working with Catalyst Housing to evict tenants who were subject to CASBOs.                                    

A member asked how many ASBOs were in operation in Brent at the moment and what the average age was of those subjected to them. Members also enquired whether most ASBOs were given for drug offences. Members sought further clarification about the new policing model being introduced and what this meant for community safety. They asked the police for more detail on the new model and whether it would mean more officers would be available for each ward compared to the safer neighbourhood teams currently in operation.

In response to the issues raised by members Kiran Vagarwal took the lead on answering about ASBOs. It was explained that a CRASBO was a criminally sought anti-social behaviour order and they were given after someone had been criminally convicted. She stated that Brent had a number of these in operation at the moment but not many ASBOs. She clarified that a high proportion of them were issued for drug offences however they could be given for a number of crimes. There were around 55 ASBOs in force and the age range of those subject to them varied significantly but generally they were between the ages of 16-40.

Nick Davies informed members that Brent was moving to a local policing model in September. Therefore the number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

This report provides the Partnership and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee with an update on the CCTV service.

Alvin Wakeman (CCTV Control Room Manager) informed the committee that the first four CCTV cameras were introduced in Brent during the European Football Championships in 1996. He added that they now had 175 cameras and they used these to help the police both operationally and strategically. For example the police used the cameras extensively to tackle gangs, particularly in South Kilburn and Alvin Wakeman stated that he attended the cross board meetings to see the results of CCTV work. He stated that the service would continue to face increasing financial demands, such as the up keep of cameras whilst facing a diminishing budget. Due to this they may need to reconsider sharing resources with the West London Alliance (WLA) which had first been investigated in 2009. He also informed members that the Government had issued new guidance in relation to CCTV and that would require a significant amount of work.

Michael Read (Assistant Director of Environment and Protection) advised members that they were currently reviewing the CCTV strategy and what the cameras were actually used for. Currently they were used for detecting and deterring crime as well as traffic management and enforcement. The council had 175 cameras that were used for detecting and deterring crime. Michael Read clarified that 82 of those cameras were authorised to manage and enforce traffic laws and 30 of the cameras could be used by Wembley stadium on event days as Wembley Stadium had provided the funding for those. In addition Brent had access to 23 cameras owned and maintained by TFL. However access was limited to 3 cameras at any one time.

Members thanked Alvin Wakeman and Michael Read for their update and asked both for further clarification regarding what the future was for CCTV given the financial constraints that they faced. Members also enquired whether there were any mobile cameras in operation and if so where they were. They also wanted to know where the camera was that was purchased with Ward Working finances. A member also asked if Brent had any traffic enforcement cars and whether these cars were entitled to park on double yellow line. An enquiry was then made regarding the removal and erection of cameras and what the criterion was for both and whether the public were involved in these decisions.

In reply to the issues raised by the committee, Alvin Wakeman advised that due to financial constraints it was unlikely that they would install any new cameras in the near future. Most of the cameras that were currently in operation in Brent were funded by other partners, for example 8 new cameras had been installed in Harlesden by the parking enforcers. The Council would be able to use those new cameras at night for community safety. In regards to the requirement to place cameras it was explained that a new code practice, that was to be issued soon, would have to be adhered to when placing cameras to ensure they were only used for  a specific purpose in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The committee’s work programme for 2013/14 is attached.

The Chair drew members’ attention to the work programme and informed them that the next meeting was due to take place on 3 October. At that meeting they were due to receive an update on ward working, community right to bid and challenge and a progress update of the Partners for Brent work programme. He advised that the update on employment was scheduled to be presented at the meeting in November.

The next meeting of the Partnership and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting is scheduled to take place on 3 October 2012

It was noted that the next meeting of the Partnership and Place Overview and

Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to take place on Thursday, 3 October 2013 at 7.00 pm.

Notice of items raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Democratic Services Manager or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64.

None.