Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Holz and Stringfellow. Councillor Begum attended the meeting as a named substitute for Councillor Stringfellow.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests, and any Party Whip.

There were no declarations of interest nor of party whip.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee from 26^th October 2023 will be considered at this meeting.

The minutes of the meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 26^th October 2023 were submitted for Members’ consideration.

RESOLVED that

the Minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 26^th October 2023 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chair.

To invite members of the public who have registered in advance of the meeting to address the Committee. Please note that the deadline to register to speak at this meeting is 12 noon on Tuesday 28^th November 2023.

There were no public speakers on this occasion.

This report will follow in an Additional Papers pack once the report has been published for consideration of the Executive Committee (due for publication on Monday 27^th November 2023).

The Community Safety Manager presented a report which detailed a proposal to introduce a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in Redditch Town Centre.

The Committee was advised that the report detailed the proposed wording of the order, the geographic location in which the PSPO would apply and the data that had informed the proposal.  Partner organisations, including West Mercia Police, had been consulted and an equality impact assessment had been undertaken. The proposed PSPO had the support of the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and would help to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the town centre.

The Committee was informed that risks associated with the introduction of PSPO included the risk that public expectations would be raised by the Order, which agencies might not be able to meet. To this effect, it was explained that discussions had been held and would continue with the Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) who were the primary agency for enforcement of the Order. The impact and effectiveness of the PSPO would also be monitored via the Town Centre Operational Group and Safer Redditch, where any issues or adjustments would be discussed as part of a multi-agency problem solving approach.

Another risk arising from the Order was that the introduction of a PSPO could displace ASB perpetrators to more residential locations outside of the proposed restricted area. This issue had been considered by the operational group and discussions had been held with support agencies and local charities to identify alternative, more appropriate spaces that people affected by the order could be directed toward. The proposed restricted area follows the footprint of previous Designated Public Places Orders (DPPO) and

PSPOs and historically there had been no reported increases of ASB in residential areas as a result of an Order being in place.

Once the report had been presented, Members discussed the following points in detail:

·       Impact of PSPO on licensed activities in the town centre - It was explained that PSPO did not impact on licensed activities as these were two separate sets of legislation and requirements. The PSPO enabled an early intervention action to be taken if somebody engages in anti-social behaviour (ASB) as a result of attending an event, however, the restrictions and guidance on PSPO specifically exclude any licensed premise or licensed activity.

·       PSPO and restriction on drinking in public spaces – It was explained that the PSPO would not make it illegal to drink alcohol within the boundary of a licensed premise. It only related to a public space so if a person was drinking outside of the boundary of the licensed premise and begins to commit ASB, and do not comply with the requests of the authorised officer, then they could be at risk of enforcement action. It was noted that PSPO also did not make it illegal to carry or drink alcohol in a public space, as long as someone was drinking responsibly and not affecting other users of the space.

·       Gating of the alleyways in the Town  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

The Chair of the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel, Councillor Kane, provided an update on the 2023-24 meeting of the Panel which took place on 1^st November 2023, where the Panel received a detailed presentation on the work of the North Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership (NWCSP).

The Chair of the Panel summarised the main points discussed at the 1^st November meeting:

·       The role of the NWCSP and the NWCSP Plan 2021-24, which was refreshed annually and was now in its last year. A new community safety action plan would be developed for 2024-27.

·       NWCSP focused on four priorities - Reducing Violence and Abuse; Reducing Theft and Acquisitive Crime; Reducing Anti-Social Behaviour, Damage and Nuisance; and Protecting Vulnerable Communities. Alongside these there were two cross cutting themes that had an impact across the priority areas, namely reducing the harm caused by drug and alcohol misuse and reducing reoffending.

·       The NWCSP had been allocated an annual ring-fenced budget from the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) of £139,250.

·       Since 2017, the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) had been allocating significant funding as part of its CCTV Capital Fund across the West Mercia Force area, including Redditch. The NWCSP used its funding allocation to upgrade and enhance the CCTV scheme across its area. However, no further CCTV capital funding for 2023-24 would be provided as the funding priorities of the PCC had now changed.

·       The role and setup of the Community Safety Team within the Council was explained including that it was a small team which received calls for advice and support from numerous sources. In September 2022 to August 2023 (inclusive) the Team received 19 requests from Residents, 13 from Elected Members, 24 from Partner Agencies, and 52 Requests from Internal Service with most requests relating to domestic violence, multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC) and sanctuary queries including home security assessment.

·       The details of community safety programmes and schemes delivered by NWCSP in 2022-23 were shared with Members of the Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel. The Chair noted that the Panel was impressed by the range of work carried out by the Community Safety Team and the wider Partnership.

·       It was highlighted that within Redditch Council there were two fully qualified Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) who provided specialist advice and guidance as it pertains to the built environment.

·       The Chair commented that the Panel felt there should be more promotion of NWCSP among elected members, officers and the public. At the meeting, Officers stated that there was a plan to address this through more regular briefings about its work, including to the service managers across the Council.

The Chair further reported that at the Panel meeting of 1^st November 2023, the topic of County Lines Drug Activity and prevention strategies used by regional and local agencies was considered. A detailed presentation was given on County Lines and the Chair noted that what was particularly important to note on County Lines was that these criminals operated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

It was requested that the following item be added to the work programme of the Budget Scrutiny Working Group (a sub-committee of Overview and Scrutiny):

·       Finance and Performance Monitoring Outturn Report 2023/24

RESOLVED that the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme be updated with items from the Executive Committee’s Work Programme as detailed in the preamble above.

It was requested that the following overview item be added to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme:

·       Disabled facilities grants (DFG) – a report highlighting obstacles that the Borough Council faces in spending the grant, how these obstacles could be removed, and how the grant had been spent by the Council over the last few years.

RESOLVED that subject to changes detailed in the preamble above the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme be noted.

a)          Budget Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Kane

b)          Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Holz

c)           Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group – Chair, Councillor Khan

Updates on the Task Groups and Working groups were provided as follows:

a)    Budget Scrutiny Working Group, Chair, Councillor Kane

Councillor Kane reported on the meeting of Budget Scrutiny Working Group which took place on 30^th October 2023 and noted that main concerns voiced at that meeting concerned the Council’s capital programme and the potential strains on the Council’s capital project budgets, and budgetary pressures within the Medium Term Financial Plan process.

Councillor Kane reported that another meeting of Budget Scrutiny Working Group took place on 29^th November 2023 at which the following recommendations to the Executive Committee had been proposed in respect of the Finance and Performance Quarter 2 Report 2023/24:

Recommendation 1: “That the Executive Committee ask for an officer report that provides a model of the financial implications of an unusually high demand for emergency housing support.”

Recommendation 2: “That, referring to the Strategic and Operational Performance measures stated in Appendix F of the Report (subsection Work and Financial Independence), it be recommended to the Executive Committee that they examine the Essex / Preston models that link skills to Procurement.”

During discussion of the Budget Scrutiny meetings, Members expressed concern about temporary accommodation, particularly the availability of suitable accommodation and the need to reduce the number of residents that needed to be housed in bed and breakfast accommodation over the longer term. It was requested that up-to-date data on the number of residents currently in Council’s temporary accommodation, including the breakdown of the trend over the recent weeks on people housed by each type of temporary accommodation, including bed and breakfast accommodation, be provided to Members. Officers undertook to provide this information.

Members also discussed the importance of social value within procurement and how the Council could look towards other procurement models (Essex / Preston) models with regard to how the Council could promote social value.

On being put to the vote, the recommendations made at the meeting of Budget Scrutiny Working Group of 29^th November 2023 were endorsed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, subject to the slight changes of wording as reflected in the recommendation statement below:

Recommendation 1: That the Executive Committee ask for an officer report that provides a model of the financial implications of an unusually high demand for emergency housing and temporary accommodation support.

Recommendation 2: That, referring to the Strategic and Operational Performance measures in Appendix F of the Report (subsection Work and Financial Independence), it be recommended to the Executive Committee that they examine the Essex / Preston models that link skills and developments to social value within Procurement

b)    Performance Scrutiny Working Group – Chair, Councillor Holz

Councillor Holz reported that the meeting which was due to take place on 4^th December 2023 had been cancelled and the next meeting was now due to take place on 8^th January 2024.

c)     Fly Tipping and Bulky Waste Task Group – Chair, Councillor Khan

Councillor Khan reported  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

a)          West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council representative, Councillor Marshall;

b)          West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Council representative, Councillor Marshall; and,

c)           Worcestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) – Council representative, Councillor Marshall.

Councillor Marshall had submitted written reports on the following meetings of external scrutiny bodies she attended:

·       West Midlands Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny Committee – 19^th October 2023

·       West Midlands Combined Authority Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny – 30^th October 2023

·       Worcestershire Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee – 13^th November 2023.

The Committee thanked Councillor Marshall for providing comprehensive reports from the meetings of these external bodies.

RESOLVED that

the External Scrutiny Bodies updates be noted.