Agenda and minutes

The Chairman made a short address to remind all present that the meeting would be broadcast on the Internet and that the Council had adopted a protocol for the webcasting of its meetings. The Sub-Committee noted that Council’s Protocol for Webcasting of Council and other meetings.

(Director of Communities) To report the appointment of any substitute members for the meeting.

There were no substitutions made for the meeting.

(Director of Governance) To agree the notes of the meeting of the Select Committee held on 6 September 2016 (attached).

RESOLVED:

That the notes of the last meeting of the Select Committee held on 6 September 2016, be agreed subject to an amendment under “Member’s Present” – W Marshall (Tenants and Leaseholders Federation) had not been recorded as being present.

(Director of Governance). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a pecuniary or a non-pecuniary interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 9 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a non-pecuniary interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 9 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Member’s Code of Conduct.

(Chairman / Lead Officer) The Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed the Terms of Reference of this Committee. This is attached along with an ongoing work

programme. Members are asked at each meeting to review both documents.

(a)          Terms of Reference

The Select Committee’s Terms of Reference were noted.

(b)          Work Programme

The Select Committee’s Work Programme was noted.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report.

This item was taken first on the agenda with the consent of the Chairman. The Select Committee received a report from the Assistant Community, Health and Wellbeing Manager regarding the Summer Activities in 2016.

The Council’s Community Services Team organises and delivers a summer holiday activity programme each year, providing a wide range of activities for engaging children, young people and their families.

This year, over 2,500 youngsters participated in the extensive range of activities on offer.

Each year, summer activities brochures were produced as the main source of advertising for the programme and this was delivered to all schools, libraries and sports centres in the district. In addition, fliers, posters, school visits, social media, website, radio interviews and attendance at community events and town shows were all utilised for promotion of the programme.

The Select Committee were advised that the Community Services Team had encountered numerous issues and problems this year with the online booking portal accessed via the Council’s website. This meant that the number of online bookings taken were less than last year although administration staff were excellent in providing support to help people complete bookings by phone. However, a new corporate online booking system was currently being investigated. Fortunately these issues did not have too much of an affect upon overall participation numbers for the summer.

RESOLVED:

That the work and success of the Community Services Summer Activities for 2016 be noted.

To receive a presentation from Essex Police’s District Commander for Brentwood and Epping Forest, Chief Inspector Denise Morrissey.

The Chairman introduced the District Commander for Brentwood and Epping Forest, Chief Inspector D Morrissey and Superintendent A Mariner, responsible for Territorial Policing in the West Local Policing Area (LPA), Essex Police to the Select Committee.

Chief Inspector D Morrissey gave a presentation in which she outlined the following:

(a)  Epping Forest District had 8 tube stations;

(b)  The district borders three Metropolitan Police boroughs;

(c)  80% of criminal suspects the Police had here, lived outside the district;

(d)  April – August 2015 – 3,222 crimes reported in the area;

(e)  April – August 2016 – 3,530 crimes reported in the area, which constituted an increase of 9.5% (308 crimes);

(f)   Violent crimes against the person; (i) without injury - saw an increase of 24% and (ii) with an injury - went up by 32%. Approximately 30% of violent crime occurred in the home.

(g)  Acquisitive Crime:

·         16% decrease in dwelling burglary

·         5.6% decrease in theft from motor vehicles

·         5.1% increase in theft of a motor vehicle

·         25.7% decrease in robbery

(h)  Anti-Social Behaviour – 3.4% increase in offences (66 more offences).

(i)    Chief Inspector D Morrissey had established a problem solving team and Community Hub in September 2014 for co-ordinating anti-crime efforts.

(j)    Resourcing had been a major factor in policing recently as Epping Police Station had closed and the nearest police station to the district was now in Harlow. A police contact point had been established at the District Council for reporting low level crime and Chief Inspector D Morrissey had 10 Police Constables and 10 Police Community Support Officers.

(k)  Moving forward – two important police operations had been initiated, Operation Scorpion for dealing with travelling criminals and Operation Raptor, an anti-gang project.

The Chairman opened the session for questions from members. Chief Inspector D Morrissey and Superintendent A Mariner responded as follows:

(i)    Since Epping Police Station had closed, the district did have a small team of detectives; she urged that people should continue to report crimes; the District Council Community Safety Team could be contacted as well. Loughton Police Station had a yellow telephone outside for the public to report crimes.

(ii) The online reporting system for crime did not work very well; it was acknowledged that various faults were apparent. However Essex Police was trying to correct these.

(iii) Resourcing problems meant that better communication was necessary and intelligence led policing was even more important. Motor cycle users on private farm land could be caught if more was known about where they lived.

(iv) The Police advised that there had been a big reduction in crime connected to the night-time economy, particularly in Epping. In partnership with the Council, the Police had been successful in closing a night club and putting another establishment under a review.

(v) Superintendent A Mariner advised that the Active Citizen Scheme provided a wide scope for supporting the Police through voluntary activity; volunteers could support vulnerable people at police stations or look on Ebay for stolen property.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached annual report.

The Select Committee received a report from the Safer Communities Manager regarding the Epping Forest Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Annual Report 2015/16.

The Committee was advised that CSPs provided a statutory function in all District, City and Borough Councils across the UK. The partnerships consisted of representatives from a range of statutory and non-statutory organisations. Each year they were required to produce an annual report on the initiatives and work that they had undertaken in their designated area to address local crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour. The report covered the financial status of the CSP and an overview of the work undertaken in addressing key priorities for the district. The annual report was supported by a range of case studies.

There was concern at the meeting that gaps existed in the amount of protection that could be provided to residents. Officers have engaged with Social Care and Community Mental Health Teams but this was still a challenge as we continued to work more closely with these agencies where necessary and the committee was advised that their knowledge base was getting stronger but did feel that more was needed.

RESOLVED:

That the Community Safety Partnership Annual Report 2015/16 be noted.

(Director of Communities) To consider the attached report.

The Select Committee received a report from the Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener and Transport regarding the proposed decommissioning of CCTV in two locations.

A decommissioning assessment of CCTV currently installed across the district was undertaken in 2015 as part of the review process for the production of the Council’s CCTV Strategy 2016-2022. This met with the guidance provided in the CCTV Code of Practice which stated that regular reviews of CCTV systems should be undertaken to ensure that the use of surveillance cameras remained in pursuit of a legitimate aim and that a pressing need existed. As a result, the Council’s CCTV Officer had identified two sites for potential decommissioning which was based upon the last two years of service and factors such as reduction of service requirement and on-going costs. The two sites were:

(a)  Longcroft Rise, Oakwood Hill Shopping Parade, Loughton; and

(b)  Upshire Shopping Parade, Upshire, Waltham Abbey.

These were the first cases to arise under the Council’s new CCTV Strategy, therefore the Portfolio Holder was seeking the views of the Select Committee on the proposed de-commissioning, prior to making a formal Portfolio Holder Decision. It was further advised that this would assist in assessing future requirements.

The CCTV equipment installed at Longcroft Rise, Oakwood Hill, Loughton had generated just 6 requests for CCTV footage in 2 years and was operating beyond its expected life span of 7 years. The cost of updating the system was in the region of £4,000 with servicing costs of £300 per annum.

Four requests to view footage from the CCTV cameras at Upshire Parade, Waltham Abbey had been received in the past two years and the cost of updating the system was in the region of £4,000. This system was also operating beyond its lifetime expectancy of 7 years and on-going servicing costs were in the region of £180 per annum.

It was noted that out of the 10 requests for CCTV footage from these two sites during the last two years, only one was in relation to a serious incident or offence. However, should there have been an occurrence of crime or anti-social behaviour at these two sites in the future, mobile CCTV cameras could be installed at very short notice.

Consultation had taken place with two Parish/Town Councils:

(i)            Waltham Abbey Town Council (WATC)

WATC had objected to the decommissioning of the Upshire Shopping Parade CCTV on the grounds of problems in the past with anti-social behaviour which it was felt had been controlled by the presence of cameras. It was suggested that CCTV was needed to cover the ATM installed at a sub-post office and that businesses opening until late could attract problems. Crime figures for July 2016 showed considerable numbers of public order offences.

(ii)          Loughton Town Council (LTC)

LTC felt it important to maintain the CCTV on the Oakwood Hill Estate given the apparent record of anti-social behaviour and drug related problems that existed. It was appreciated that there may have been only a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

To consider which reports are ready to be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its next meeting.

The Chairman would give general feedback to the forthcoming Overview and Scrutiny Committee on this meeting’s activities.

The next meeting of the Select Committee will be held on Monday on 21 November 2016 at 7.00p.m. in the Committee Rooms and then on Tuesday 17 January 2017. Following this there will be a further meeting on Tuesday 14 March.

The next meeting of the Select Committee would be held on Monday 21 November 2016 at 7.00p.m. in the Committee Rooms.