Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest stated.

Resolved:                 That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 November, 2015 be agreed as a correct record.

The Senior Partnerships Officer presented this item. The area of responsibility of the role within the Borough was explained and a conversation and feedback concerning the interventions around Newcastle Town Centre was welcomed. 

Continuing, The Senior Partnerships Officer gave a comprehensive report of a recent week of action including arrests and fines notices together with support carried out via a pilot multi-agency approach within the Town Centre. The main concerns which were raised in a number of partnership forums were:-

“Chuggers”

Rough Sleepers

Littering

Intimidating behaviour by drinkers

A copy of the full report will be sent to all members of the Committee.

Members of the Scrutiny Committee questioned the Senior Partnerships Officer on the areas coverage of CCTV.  They asked if there was a need for coverage in all of the Borough subways.

Members wanted to know how the national policies regarding excessive charity selling could be used to help with this issue and how a bye law might be introduced to help prevent a reoccurrence.

The approach as outlined by the Senior Partnerships Officer with its stress on positive intervention as a priority but with the application of penalties where appropriate was welcomed by businesses in the Town and would help to build confidence with members of the public.

The Partnership approach had been very successful with people had engaged with the services offered, with for example, no people sleeping rough at the end of the week. In this respect members raised the possibility of pulling an influx into the town.

Recommended:

(i)            That an officer from the body which oversees street charity activity

be asked to attend a future meeting of the Scrutiny Committee to advise on policy and possible byelaws to be adopted by this authority

(ii)          That the appropriate agencies be pursued for the provision of a

comprehensive CCTV coverage in all subways.

(iii)         That the initiative be continued for the next 3 months at monthly

intervals with a further end review and that the Senior Partnerships Officer be afforded the resources to do this.

With regard to the work plan and the items suggested:-

The Chair reported that the Leader of the Council had asked this Scrutiny Committee to consider the issue of who is responsible for the maintenance of subways in the town centre. This was also linked to the previous item on the agenda in terms of anti-social behaviour. The Chair proposed a condition survey from members of the committee.  Photographs, voice file and notes collected at each of our town subways to be collected and presented to the relevant officers and portfolio holder for initial response.  The starting point for the survey was the cleanliness, appearance and quality of experience of users of them.  Specific dates would be identified for a team to meet at the Civic Offices, working in pairs and taking council iPad for photos.

A review of the Greenspace Strategy would be held in abeyance until the report which had been commissioned was completed.  Following consideration by officers members would be consulted.

The Green Deal was no longer available and so members considered that there was little point in assessing the delivery within the Warm Zone project.

Decriminalised Car Parking – although there were a number of questions and answers on the last minutes members still had areas of concern.  It was agreed that members would be asked to email any questions to Jayne Briscoe, as the Scrutiny Officer within the next month.  Following this the Chair would collate these and meet with the Engineering Manager prior to the next meeting and report back to members.

The issue of flytipping was raised particularly with regard to where the responsibilities of the Borough Council/Staffordshire County Council and the landowner rested. The Chair agreed to begin with investigations with officers in the first instance.  The results of these initial inquiries would be emailed to members.  If necessary a representative from Staffordshire County Council might be asked to attend a future meeting of the Scrutiny Committee to help clarify the issues.

Any member of the public wishing to submit a question must serve two clear days’ notice, in writing, of any such question to the Borough Council.

There were no members of the public present at the meeting.

There was no Urgent Business.