Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from John Simpson (London Fire Brigade) and Bob Benton (City Business Representative).

There were no declarations of interest.

Minutes of the meeting held on 23 September 2016.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 September 2016 be approved as an accurate record.

Matters Arising

-       The Fire Station Open Day had been successful. It was felt the Lord Mayor’s Show had increased attendance.

-       The Coroner was aware of the meetings; it was not anticipated she would be a regular attender of the Group.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk outlining actions still outstanding. The following updates were noted:

St Mungo’s Telephone Line

The Director of Community and Children’s Services reported that a new card with the national telephone line was to be issued to address unreliability with the local response service. The Chairman asked that the number include an option to leave a voicemail message, as it was often inconvenient to fill in an online form when assisting a homeless person.

One Safe City Member Working Party

Peter Dunphy had been selected as the representative for the Safer City Partnership on the One Safe City Member Working Group. The Chairman thanked Jon Averns and Don Randall who had also put their names forward.

It was asked that an update from the group be included as a standing item for future meetings.

Increasing Parking Enforcement

The Director of Port Health and Public Protection reported that he had progressed the matter with the Department of Built Environment. There had been some concern that towing vehicles would contribute to the level of violence, and the City of London Police undertook to review the action.

Street Pastors

It was anticipated that a scheme would be in place by the end of the year. A meeting with local churches was due to take place on the 23November 2016 after which the scheme would be finalised.

The Assistant Director (City Transportation) to be heard.

The Director of the Built Environment provided an update on the impact of the 20mph zone and other schemes affecting road safety. Casualties in the first 12 months of the new speed limit had declined, with the biggest reduction seen in pedal cyclists. It was felt that this could be due to the impact of the Cycle Super Highway.

The Chairman asked whether there was a proven correlation between the lower speed limit and the number of casualties. It was reported that although it was hard to determine the effects of an individual scheme, a lower speed limit could be proven to lower the severity of injuries sustained in accidents.

A Member queried whether data was available for accidents between cyclists and pedestrians. Officers confirmed this would be included in the statistics in the written report be presented to the Committee as a standing item going forward.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services updating them on the work of the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Forum.

It was asked that the Communications Team be informed of the “16 Days of Action” scheme due to be run from 25 November to 10 December 2016.

RECEIVED

Report of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Adult’s Board.

The Committee received the annual report of the City and Hackney Safeguarding Adults Board. A covering report was tabled. It was detailed that it was the first year the Board had been a statutory duty for Local Authorities, with the Corporation being asked for a financial contribution for the first time. 

A Member queried whether the national reduction in adult safeguarding budgets was affecting the work of the Board. It was reported that the effect was relevant to the number of cases handled by the Corporation. So far there had been no adverse effect on outcomes; however partnership organisations were finding it difficult to make financial contributions. The effect of a recent change to the law regarding responsibility for deprivation of liberty safeguards was also noted.

RECEIVED

The Director of Community & Children's Services to be heard.

The Sub-Committee received a verbal update on recent Health and Wellbeing matters. A written report would be circulated to the Committee following the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board Sub-Committee in November. Two initiatives to improve the health of residents and workers, City Living Wise and Business Healthy, would be run following a recruitment exercise. Officers agreed to circulate links to the schemes to ensure they were publicised in the correct streams. The joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy would also be circulated.

RECEIVED

Report of the Director of Community and Children Services.

The Committee received a report on the recent work on suicide prevention. Signs had now been placed on most City bridges, with planning applications submitted for Blackfriars and Southwark Bridge in conjunction with the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Southwark. Work was being undertaken to collate multi-agency statistics on suicide levels, with a data-sharing agreement predicted to be in place by the end of the year. The Chairman asked that any delays by the agencies should be escalated to Members for resolution.

RECEIVED

Report of the Borough Commander, London Fire Brigade

The Committee received a tabled report from the London Fire Brigade updating them on recent activity. There was a discussion over the rise in smaller fires, and the targets for these and arson attacks being set as zero, given the small amount of influence the brigade could have on their cause.

The biggest current issue faced by the brigade was reported to be false activation of fire alarms at businesses and work was being undertaken to target repeat offenders. A Member representing the Crime Prevention Association undertook to arrange a talk to their Members on the issue.

Although nationally the Fire Brigade were expected to make £23.5 million savings, it was not anticipated that this would have a significant impact on the City’s resources.

RECEIVED

Report of the Community Safety Manager

The Committee received a report of the Community Safety Manager detailing activity undertaken since the last meeting. The following points were noted:

-       A common reporting and recording standard was required for incidents of antisocial behaviour for a legal basis to be formed for convictions. This was being rolled out across the organisation.

-       No Prevent referrals had been received for residents in the City. The Strategy needed to be refreshed 

-       There had been no attendees to the first resident engagement session. Officers undertook to liaise with the relevant ward Members to increase engagement.

-       Jon Averns had been appointed the Deputy Chairman of the Serious Organised Crime Board, regular updates from which would be coming to the Group in future.

-       A Communications plan was being developed to help advertise forthcoming activities.

 Members welcomed the progress monitoring tool and asked that completed actions be retained for re-evaluation in future years.

RECEIVED

Report of the Community Safety Manager.

The Committee received a report of the Community Safety Manager concerning the action plan which had been developed as a result of the learning taken from conducting a Serious Case Review. It was confirmed that the plan had been sent to the Home Office and their comments were expected shortly.

RECEIVED

Report of the Port Health & Public Protection Director, Markets & Consumer Protection

Members considered a report of the Director of Port Health and Public Protection which provided an update on recent operational activity. The following points were noted:

-       A better relationship between the Department and the City of London Police on licensing matters had been developed.

-       There had been a significant decrease in nut selling activity on London Bridge, with progress also being made on operations on Southwark Bridge. 

RECEIVED

Report of the City of London Police

The Committee received a report of the City of London Police detailing recent operation activity. The following points were noted:

-       The increase in anti-social behaviour was likely due to a new method of reporting. Officers undertook to ensure this was the case, and include similar explanations in the report in future.

-       The use of SARA profiles was being reinstated, following a recommendation by HMIC, including for the project to reduce thefts of cycles and scooters.

-       A reduction in gym thefts was seen as positive, although it was acknowledges that a fall could often be linked to the arrest of an individual.

-       The Christmas Campaign, Operation Present, would commence at the end of November.

A Member (Crime Prevention Association) expressed his concern that the trends were seen to be up across a number of areas. It was felt that this was in line with national trends, and that the City of London Police were still achieving good relative results.

The Chairman asked for the inclusion of statistics and analysis for cybercrime that affected victims in the City in future iterations of the report.

RECEIVED

Report of the Commissioner of Police.

The Committee received a report of the City of London Police regarding the current and predicted spend of the Late Night Levy for 2016/17.

RECEIVED

There was no other business.