Agenda item

The decisions of Cabinet to approve a proposal to enter into a pilot contract with Kingdom Security Limited for the delivery of a payment-by results, cost-neutral uniformed service for the enforcement of street scene and environmental offences in the borough for a period of 12 months have been called in for scrutiny.

The committee considered the circulated briefing paper which addressed each of the points raised by the members who had called in the decisions of the Cabinet. Councillor Southwood (Lead Member for Environment), Lorraine Langham (Strategic Director, Regeneration and Environment), Chris Whyte (Operational Director, Environmental and Employment Services) and Rob Anderton (Head of Service, Public Realm) were present for the discussion.

The Chair invited Councillor Stopp to explain why the decisions of Cabinet had been called in.  Councillor Stopp stated that the work of the task group on fly tipping had been referenced in the report to Cabinet but the members of the task group had not been consulted on the proposal and so had some concerns on what had emerged.  In response, Councillor Southwood stated that the work of the task group had been used to develop the proposals but she agreed that an important point had been raised concerning how members involved in scrutiny work could remain involved when taking forward policy development.

At the invitation of the Chair, Councillor Duffy spoke against the proposal and argued in favour of the service being provided by an in-house team, thereby ensuring that the staff received fair conditions of service and that any profit from the scheme was retained by the Council.  He questioned the value for money aspect of the scheme.  In response, Councillor Southwood stated that Kingdom Security Limited paid its staff above the London Living Wage level and that it was taking on the financial risk thereby ensuring it would be cost neutral for the Council.  She maintained that a quick and effective scheme was required to ensure cleaner streets and stood by the decisions taken by Cabinet.

Following consideration of the report, the further information supplied and contributions from the Lead Member, Councillor Southwood and lead officers, the committee decided not to submit any recommendations to Cabinet. Councillor Stopp sought assurance that the proposal would not set a precedent for permanently outsourcing the work.  Councillor Southwood provided that re-assurance and offered to meet with Councillor Stopp to discuss with him the actions being taken on dealing with illegal dumping. 

Members of the committee asked questions concerning the need for a thorough risk assessment to be carried out before the scheme was introduced and how the pilot with Kingdom would meet its financial targets.     

In response to a question, it was explained that it was anticipated that Kingdom would provide four uniformed personnel patrolling the streets, one senior officer, one area supervisor and a dedicated administrative post based in the Civic Centre.  It was submitted that better co-ordination between landlord licensing and enforcement of street scene and environmental offences.

The committee accepted the rationale behind the decisions taken by Cabinet but wanted the following views reported back:

•           That it was recognised that the issue of littering and illegal rubbish dumping was a hugely important one for local residents.  The idea of using foot patrols to issue fixed penalty notices to offenders was an interesting one and the Committee accepted the need for a trial period to determine whether this would work practically in Brent.  Due to the start-up costs associated with a short term trial the Committee accepted the Cabinet's decision to do this through a private provider with some experience in the field e.g. Kingdom Security Limited;

•           However, if the trial was a success, the Scrutiny Committee expressed its clear preference that this would not be another service permanently outsourced from local government to private contractors, and that Brent Council will work to provide it in house to ensure good terms and conditions for the enforcement officers, a build-up of internal expertise and the delivery of a positive financial return for Brent.  Scrutiny members hoped that the Council's new social value procurement strategy would help to achieve this;

•           Members were encouraged by the Cabinet member's positive attitude about working more closely with the Scrutiny Committee in future, and noted that it was best practice that when any recommendations emanating from Scrutiny were developed into Cabinet policy, the Committee and/or Task Group should be involved every step of the way.