Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Lakhmana with Councillor Morse substituting.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting dated 25 September 2014 be agreed as a correct record.

The second witness session into diversifying the Street Champions Initiative was divided into two sections; the first dedicated to gathering evidence from 3 active street champions and the second set aside for officers from the Corporate Communications and Community Engagement teams to outline the support that their service areas provide for the initiative. The following is a summary of evidence heard.

Street Champions

The Street Champions present at the meeting were from Townfield, Uxbridge South and Pinkwell wards and had actively been reporting issues in their local areas for varying lengths of time. Two volunteers had been part of the initiative from its introduction and noted that the system was more efficient in the early days as issues were logged and progressed more quickly. It was also noted that there used to be regular local meetings that were valuable and as they allowed volunteers to meet and hear from officers and representatives from the Police etc. Witnesses advised that these meetings had now been stopped.

Each of the volunteers advised that they had decided to become Street Champions as they wished to make a positive impact on their local areas and to develop their communities. All three volunteers noted that the main and persistent issues that they reported to the Council related to rubbish and fly tipping. There was concern that not enough was done to prohibit people from continually fly tipping and that this led to the same areas needing to be cleared repeatedly. It was suggested that CCTV be used to monitor areas that were prone to fly tipping. 

A Street Champion suggested that the Planning Department might be asked to use the network of volunteers to advise them of upcoming planning applications in their local areas. This would ensure that they were kept informed and could relay this information to residents in their local areas.

The Street Champions did not have a great deal of involvement with their Ward Councillors and noted that they would appreciate the development of closer ties.  

On a practical level, volunteers highlighted that there were some issues with computers not remembering their details so that they had to fill in their full details every time. Furthermore, the information required for reports was, at times, prohibitively detailed. Officers noted that this area would be looked into as the system should automatically store details.

As in the previous witness session, Street Champions noted that there appeared to be a lack of joined up thinking with some Council services. An example was provided on how the Council managed refuse collection. Members suggested that this was an issue that could be raised with the relevant officers but also noted that residents needed to be better educated on waste management.

Two of the Street Champions noted that they were Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators and advised that the two roles worked well together. The third volunteer advised that he would be very interested in becoming involved in the Neighbourhood Watch scheme as there were a number of issues  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

Officers provided a brief presentation on the report which was previously entitled "Byelaws for Parks". Since its inclusion on the Cabinet's Forward Plan, the item had changed focus and now concerned "The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014: Public Spaces Protection Orders".

Members raised concerns that this paper had only been circulated to the Committee one day in advance of the meeting. It was noted that this was insufficient time to consider fully the report and propose comments to Cabinet. There was also concern that the paper was not published 5 clear working days in advance of the meeting as per the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985.

Officers advised that this report was not a report for the Committee but for the Cabinet. Consequently, it had been made available as soon as the Cabinet agenda was published. However, it was agreed that the Committee's concerns would be relayed to the Cabinet and senior officers in Democratic Services.

RESOLVED: That:

1.    The Committee's concerns about the delay in receiving this report be relayed to the Cabinet and senior officers in Democratic Services; and

2.    The Report be noted.

RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan be noted.

RESOLVED: That the Work Programme be noted.