Agenda and minutes

To report any changes to the membership

1.1           The Chairman sought any absences, apologies or substitutions to the Committee’s membership. 

1.2           The Chairman welcomed the new members to the committee Councillors Margot Bright, Mark Shearer and Shamim Talukder.

To receive declarations by Members and Officers of any personal or prejudicial interests in matters on this agenda.

2.1      The Chairman sought any personal or prejudicial interests in respect of the items to be discussed from members and officers, in addition to the standing declarations previously made.

2.2      There were no declarations made.

To approve the minutes of the City Management and Public Protection Policy and Scrutiny Committee held on 20 September 2018.

RESOLVED:

3.1      That the Minutes of the City Management and Public Protection Policy and Scrutiny Committee held on 21 November 2018 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record of proceedings.

Councillor Tim Mitchell (Cabinet Member for Environment and City Management) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his portfolio.

4.1      Councillor Tim Mitchell provided an update of the Environment and City Management Cabinet Member portfolio.  Councillor Mitchell advised the Committee that the Greener City Action Plan (GCAP) annual report was currently in preparation and the report would highlight all the work done on the Greener City agenda over the last 12 months. With regard to the Marylebone Low Emission Neighbourhood (LEN), Councillor Mitchell informed the Committee that following the LEN Stakeholder meeting in September and a core steering group meeting in October there was continued good progress. Councillor Mitchell discussed the update for Highways and Transport, advising the Committee that the current Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) for the trial of up 20 to 40 mph and now needed to evaluate how to grow the programme borough-wide. 

4.2      Councillor Mitchell also updated the Committee on the WCC Planned preventative maintenance carriageway 2018/19 - lighting and road management.  With regard to cycling, Councillor Mitchell advised that the cycle hangar trial in Ilbert Street had been a success with all spaces occupied and a significant number of residents on a waiting list.  Councillor Mitchell provided an update on public realm schemes, advising that the major public realm schemes were progressing on time and on budget.  He said that the works at New Bond Street were progressing well and the Baker Street Two Way was near completion and would switch over in spring 2019.  Councillor Mitchell also advised that he had been working alongside the New West End Company.

4.3      With regard to Electric Vehicles, Councillor Mitchell advised the Committee that WCC continued to expand the lamp column charging option for residents and had secured £300,000 in funding through the Go Ultra Low Cities Scheme (GULCS) for resident’s charging.  The roll out to date had been funded by TfL LIP funding and would pay for approximately 100 points, with plans to introduce a further 150.   Finally, Councillor Mitchell informed the Committee that WCC parks and gardens had been awarded Gold standard in the majority of the locations entered for the London in Bloom competition; that had resulted in the award of Borough of the Year for the second year running, and the team would be busy over the next 4-6 weeks, as they were expected to clear approximately 1000 tonnes of leaves from our streets.

4.4      Responding to the report, Councillor Taouzzale raised a query with regard to Zip Cars and further queried the current guidelines; he referred to the requirement for drivers to have held their licence for a minimum of two years.  Councillor Taouzzale felt that it was expensive for a young person to buy and insure a car, making a ZIP Car affordable and a better choice for short trips. Councillor Taouzzale queried what provision had been put in place for younger drivers.  In response to Councillor Taouzzale’s queries, Councillor Mitchell advised that he would take the query back for a response and also offered that there could will be a different structure for younger drivers and made reference to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Councillor Ian Adams (Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Licensing) to update the Committee on current and forthcoming issues in his portfolio.

5.1      Councillor Adams addressed the Committee with an urgent update regarding ASB activity in the Church Street ward.  Cllr Adams advised the Committee that with immediate effect, there would be a joint approach with the Police, and with additional support from the Police’s Violent Crime task force and Territorial Support Group.  Councillor Adams added that the council was also currently completing a Community Impact Assessment to understand what was happening in that area. 

5.2      Councillor Less thanked Councillor Adams for his update and was reassured to hear that extra measures were being put in place for Church Street and advised she was a Church Street ward councillor.  Councillor Less advised the Committee that just today she had witnessed an ASB incident involving a betting shop and a group of young men, she informed the Committee that the members of staff at the betting shop were scared to call the police for fear of reprisal. Councillor Less was shocked that it incident was taking place on Edgware Road in the late afternoon and informed the Committee that it was an example of the incidents that were taking place in the Church Street area, the public were scared to come forward and if there was anything that she and her ward members could do by working with the police to improve the situation, she was happy to do so.

5.3      Councillor Arzymanow responded to Councillor Adams’ urgent update and raised a query with regard to the efforts in Church Street and if it extended to the Blandford Estate.  Sara Sutton, advised Councillor Arzymanow that the work would encompass the whole area of North West Westminster where pockets of that type of ASB exist.  Councillor Arzymanow questioned if an update on begging was available, Councillor Adams advised that it was updated in detail in his last report to the City Management and Public Protection Policy ad Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED: The Committee noted the update and the Cabinet Member report.

The Committee to receive a report from the Metropolitan Police Service on Basic Command Units, followed by a discussion with expert witnesses.

6.1      The Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Jones, delivered a presentation to the Committee members on the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) move in February 2019, from a 32 Borough based policing model to the creation of 12 Basic Command Units (BCUs).  The Borough Commander advised the Committee that The MPS was facing a rise in demand for services, increased financial challenges, and was policing a growing London population which was getting younger in a context of increasing complexity and expectations. The Borough Commander explained that without significant changes in how resources were managed they will be unable to meet these challenges and the complexities of policing a global city like London.

6.2      The Borough Commander advised that East London (Havering, Barking & Dagenham, Camden and Islington) changed over to the model last year and there had been a number of lessons learnt from their pilot, he informed the Committee that the responses to emergency calls became extremely challenging for a period of six months which did cause some concern; however much had been learnt and they were confident in the new model.  The committee was advised that from February 2019 there would be around 243 fewer officer posts.  Most of the reductions were from supervisory and senior posts.  There were reductions of officer posts in Neighbourhoods and Investigations, there will be an increases in Response and Safeguarding.  The Borough Commander anticipated that demand would continue to increase, including through additional footfall when the Elizabeth Line was operational.  The Borough Commander informed the committee that the changes reflected the fact that crime profiles have changed and also because the Response officers would be investigating non-serious and complex crime.  The new headquarters includes officers who were focused on demand reduction and increased back office efficiency. 

6.3      The Borough Commander advised that the benefits he anticipated under the model were more flexible resourcing, savings from the sale of buildings and demand reduction through local resolution teams.  Providing further details, the Borough Commander informed the committee that the Central West BCU would cover Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea Boroughs.  It was further advised that the BCU model incorporates five policing “Strands” each led by a Superintendent; Response, Neighbourhoods, Investigations (CID), Safeguarding and Headquarters.  The Borough Commander advised that the “Go Live” date for Central West was 20 February 2018 and there was to be a stabilisation period of 3-4 months following the implementation.

6.4      The Borough Commander advised that there would be a 10% reduction in overall numbers from 2016 and was reflected across London.  He also addressed the BCU resources and the changes to the mix of policing ranks, providing a diagram which gave a snapshot of the changes to the ranked officer numbers, which includes reductions at Chief Superintendent rank.  It was also advised that due to its central location and crime/location profile the BCU works very closely with specialist teams for example public order, firearms, counter terrorism and protection teams.  Detective Superintendent Ruddell addressed the Committee advising that there would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Tracker and work programme update

7.1      Artemis Kassi (Policy & Scrutiny Officer) presented an updated report on the agreed topics for the Committee’s 2018/19 work programme.

7.2      The Committee reviewed the progress of items on the 2018/19 work programme, which included task groups on Metropolitan Police Basic Command Units and forthcoming illegal waste dumping. Members raised queries with regard to the progress of the communication story on the Committee’s successful visit to the Integrated Waste Management Facility.  Ms Kassi agreed to follow up on the progress with the Communication team.  The Committee agreed that the task group on Sexual Exploitation would now be a substantive agenda item to be heard at a future committee meeting.

To consider any other business which the Chairman considers urgent.

8.1      No other business was discussed.