Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Ian Edwards (Councillor Alan Chapman was present as his substitute).

RESOLVED:  That all items of business be considered in public. 

The Chairman thanked the Borough Commander, Mr Colin Wingrove, for attending, particularly as he had also been presenting at an event about the same issue in the Council Chamber the previous evening.  Mr Wingrove had been pleased with the attendance at that event which gave members of the public the opportunity to comment on the proposals.  It was noted that the deadline for consultation responses was 5.30pm on 6 October 2017.

The MPS had been engaging with members of the public and encouraging responses to the consultation through Facebook, Twitter and, more locally, in Hillingdon People.  However, it had still been challenging to get residents to attend the consultation events. 

Members were advised that the strategy had been worked up by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and not by the Borough.  It covered all 32 London boroughs and had been brought about by the need to save £400m on top of the £600m already saved.  The first round of savings had resulted in the outsourcing of some back office functions and a reduction in the number of PCSOs.  It was anticipated that the proposals would result in revenue and capital savings and would include an additional 800 new police officers. 

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) currently occupied more than 400 buildings across London and it was anticipated that the proposals would reduce this number to around 100.  Each borough would have one police station which was open 24/7 - the proposal was that, in Hillingdon, this control centre would be on the current Hayes site.  The stations in Uxbridge and Ruislip would be sold off and the Northwood station would be returned as per the building's covenant.  Mr Wingrove noted that the Uxbridge site would sell for more money than the Hayes site and cost more to maintain.  The proposals would include the refurbishment and modernisation of Hayes police station to accommodate the additional 200 officers that would need to be decanted from Uxbridge.  The detail of this work had not yet been determined.  It was suggested that the projected value of the Hayes site would increase with the advent of Crossrail so that it was more in line with (or exceeded) the value of the Uxbridge site. 

Members queried whether an adequate cost benefit analysis of the proposals had been undertaken (which included the impact on services and operational ability) and whether the value of the sale of Uxbridge and the refurbishment of Hayes would cancel each other out.  Concern was expressed about whether Hayes, even after development, would have sufficient capacity for staff and whether consideration had been given to developing a brand new purpose built station in the Borough.  It was noted that there were operational advantages and disadvantages to both sites, for example, demand was greater in Hayes, Yiewsley and West Drayton but Uxbridge would be more visible and was closer to Brunel, the London Underground and major road networks.

Each of the 32 London boroughs previously  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

As the criminalisation of looked after children (LAC) fell within the remit of more than one Policy Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Chairman and Labour Lead of the Children, Young People and Learning Policy Overview Committee had been invited to participate in this item. 

Mr Tom Murphy, the Council's Assistant Director of Early Intervention Prevention & SEND, advised that the Strategy and Protocol attached to the report set out the activity between the police, social care and youth offending, primarily around placements.  The effectiveness of the Strategy and Protocol would be regularly monitored by the Corporate Parenting Board. 

Where a LAC had committed a crime, staff in children's homes would be more likely to call the police than foster carers who tended to deal with the situation as they would with their own child.  As such, consideration needed to be given to how the police were equipped to make a judgement about an individual child (culturally and professionally) in a care home. 

It was noted that Children in Care (CiC) were disproportionately represented within the criminal justice system.  As the corporate parent, the Council had a responsibility to work with the police to put local arrangements in place to ensure that proportionate/balanced action was taken to deliver justice. 

It was suggested that the police formed a wider part of the community parenting community and recognised that the relationship between the Council and the police was good.  Mr Murphy noted that the protocol had helped the Council to assist the police in their duties and raise awareness of people in care that had issues which made their transition from child to adult more challenging. 

One of the three children's homes in the Borough had had 51 police attendances in the last quarter (37 of which were in relation to one child).  Mr Murphy advised that the majority of police attendances had been curfew related. 

Members were advised that there were currently 12 children currently deemed to be missing from care.  However, 7 of these were thought to be immigration absconders.  Mr Murphy would forward further details regarding absconders to Democratic Services for circulation to Members. 

It was suggested that children in foster care were less likely to have a lot of other children at home and therefore proportionately less likely to be exposed to negative influences.  Furthermore, children admitted to care homes were likely to be older so it was more challenging to correct poor behaviour.  It was noted that children could become LAC because they had a criminal episode or could have a criminal episode because they were LAC. 

Concern was expressed that children in foster care experienced breakdowns in communication with their carers because of the child's criminal behaviour.  Furthermore, appearances in court were seen by some of these children as a badge of honour and they needed to be educated about the impact of the behaviour in terms of their future.  As the application of principles and approach in the Strategy and Protocol applied to children foster care and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

Consideration was given to the Committee's Work Programme.

RESOLVED:  That the Work Programme be noted.