Agenda item

As in previous meetings, the witness session was divided into two sections; the first dedicated to gathering evidence from an active Street Champion and the second set aside for officers from the Corporate Communications and Community Engagement teams to provide brief updates on their work areas since the last session at which they had also presented evidence. The following is a summary of evidence heard.

Street Champions

The Street Champion providing evidence was from Cavendish ward and noted that he had been attracted to the role because he was interested in the Borough's environment. This had started with reporting graffiti issues but had latterly focussed on litter. He had worked for the Royal Mail for 23 years and reported issues via the Contact Centre on issues throughout Hillingdon as well as in other London boroughs. He commended the Council as, in his experience, it was far better at dealing with reported issues than its neighbouring boroughs. Issues in Hillingdon were generally dealt with in a matter of days. The Street Champion noted that the quick resolution of an issue was considered to be a better form of feedback than a written update.

The possibility of linking the Street Champions initiative with Neighbourhood Watch was discussed and it was suggested that the Council's reporting system could be used to report low-level crimes that would otherwise not be reported to the Police. Members noted this idea but stressed that the Police would be unlikely to support such a development.

The Street Champion informed the Committee that he had attended celebration events in the past and that these had been a valuable opportunity to meet other volunteers and feel valued by the Council. However, he suggested that some of the events were too large which led to it being difficult to share opinions given the number of views to be heard. It was noted that these meetings had been most beneficial when there had been a Police presence providing information and advice.

The Street Champion already had good links with his Ward Councillors and supported the suggestion that they be copied in when reports were submitted online.

It was suggested that the Council could undertake more publicity to promote the Street Champions initiative including case studies in the Hillingdon People setting out what volunteers had achieved.

Other witnesses

The Community Engagement and Town Centres Team Leader noted that there had been issues with the sharing of Street Champion data with Ward Councillors. This was because the registration process had not asked whether volunteers were willing for their data to be shared in this way. However, the proposed plan to ask Street Champions to re-register with the Council would be a good opportunity to ask this question.

Members asked that officers provide the Committee with the number of Street Champions who had registered within the last 12 months. Officers stressed that the number of active volunteers was significantly less than the 4,000+ residents registered for the scheme and that new registrations were relatively low. Data on the total number of active volunteers could be drawn together and reflected in the Committee's final report.

Information was provided on the four Feel Proud of Your Neighbourhood pilots for which individual leaflets and Facebook pages had been produced. The pilots would be progressed after Christmas and, based on their findings and success, a decision would made as to whether the programme should be rolled out throughout the Borough.

The Communications Manager advised that some research had been undertaken on the external website, fixmystreet.com. The Council's Contact Centre had advised that some residents already used the site and that reports were submitted to them as with any other issue. Officers from the Contact Centre had noted that dealing with reports from the site could be difficult because residents were not always required to input the level of detail needed for issues to be located and / or resolved. As such, officers stressed that they would not want to promote the use of this site.

The Committee was informed that it would be possible to have a smart phone app to report issues but the aim was to have a website that was good enough that residents did not need a standalone app.

The Committee agreed that recommendations would be developed in the following keys areas:

§  Training sessions for Street Champions on how to use the online reporting system. It was suggested that this could be supplemented by a tour of the Contact Centre.

§  Additional functionality on the online reporting system that copied Street Champions' reports into Ward Councillors unless otherwise specified.

§  The possibility of offering celebration events for volunteers to make them feel valued for the work they do.

§  That research be undertaken to ascertain exactly how Street Champions wanted to report and wanted to be communicated with.

§  All currently registered Street Champions be contacted and asked to re-register. This would also be an opportunity to ask whether they were willing for their data to be shared with their local Ward Councillors.

RESOLVED: That:

1.    Officers provide the Committee with the number of people who had registered as Street Champions in the past 12 months; and

2.    Officers produce a draft final report reflecting the suggested recommendation areas set out above.