Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Auditorium - Harrow Council Hub, Kenmore Avenue, Harrow, HA3 8LU

Contact: Kenny Uzodike, Senior Democratic & Electoral Services Officer  E-mail:  kenny.uzodike@harrow.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

42.

Attendance by Reserve Members

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance at this meeting.

43.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

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Minutes:

RESOLVED: To note that the following declaration was made at the meeting:

 

·                 Councillor Graham Henson declared a non-pecuniary interest in that as the former Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member, he had signed off the previous Community Safety Strategy.

44.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 92 KB

That the minutes of the meetings held on 18 April and 18 May 2023, be taken as read and signed as correct records.

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Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meetings held on 18 April 2023 and 18 May 2023 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

45.

Public Questions

To receive any public questions received.

 

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

 

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, 1 June 2023.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

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Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that no Public Questions had been received.

46.

Petitions

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors.

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Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that no Petitions had been received.

47.

References from Council/Cabinet

(if any).

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Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that no references from Council/Cabinet had been received.

Recommended Items

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48.

Community Safety Strategy 2023-26 pdf icon PDF 160 KB

Report of the Interim Assistant Director of Strategy and Partnerships.

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Minutes:

Members received an introduction to the report from Councillor Anjana Patel, the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Community Safety.  The report set out the rationale for the updated Community Safety Strategy which was aligned to the new Corporate Plan.

 

The Portfolio holder, Superintendent Matt Cray and Assistant Director for Strategy and Partnerships supported by other officers, took Members through the report and draft strategy and highlighted the following:

 

·                 The three-year strategy set out a clear vision and comprehensive delivery plan for how the Safer Harrow Partnership would deliver community safety priorities, how each priority would be measured, and progress monitored.  Working with Harrow’s statutory and VCS partners as well as residents, communities, local businesses and stakeholders would be instrumental in keeping the residents of Harrow safe from crime and repeat victimisation and help achieve desired outcomes.

 

·                 The strategy outlined six community safety priorities for Harrow, and how each of these priorities would be measured and progress monitored.  These priorities were identified through the analysis of Harrow-specific data and trends and were proposed by statutory and non-statutory partners at consultation workshops, and as such they were based on insight and evidence.  The six priorities for Community Safety in Harrow were:

 

-      Tackling and reducing Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)

-      Reducing incidents of burglary / motor vehicle crime / robbery

-      Reducing the number of violent incidents in the borough

-      Tackling and reducing offences and harm caused by drugs

-      Tackling Hate Crime

-      Perception of crime

 

·                 As the overarching body which had the statutory responsibility to produce a Community Safety Strategy, the SHP would oversee this work. Being a strategic Board, the partnership would delegate the operational aspects of this strategy to sub-groups who would implement the work and report back to the partnership quarterly.  This would be under the remit of the SHP with the Board’s Terms of Reference already allowing for the establishment of thematic sub-groups and setting out how they report to the SHP.

 

Next Steps

 

·                 There would be six thematic sub-groups which reflect the six priorities in the Community Safety Strategy.  To avoid duplication, any forums that currently exist would report to the SHG on a quarterly basis.

 

·                 The Strategy would cover the period 2023 to 2026 and would be reviewed annually by Safer Harrow.

 

Members asked the following questions:

 

A Member asked about the use of scooters in criminal activities on Harrow roads. Councillor Ajana Patel confirmed that use of scooters was not legally allowed on Harrow roads.  Superintendent Matt Cray agreed to look into it.

 

Another Member asked about the drop in public perception to 45% and asked for the latest figures.  It was explained that the latest figures were not available, and that Harrow was in a fortunate position with strong scores in this area.

 

Another Member asked how Harrow’s figures fared when compared to other boroughs outside London considering what was stated on page 29 of the agenda, that Harrow was the safest borough.  The Superintendent explained that recent figures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Resolved Items

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49.

Call-in (Education) Sub-Committee pdf icon PDF 146 KB

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.

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Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Interim Director of Legal and Governance which  set out proposed changes to the Call-In (Education) Sub-Committee.

 

She explained that under the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, a political group with a majority of members on the Council was entitled to have a majority on all committees and sub-committees of the Council.  At present this was not the case, due to the voting rights of the co-opted members on the Sub-Committee.

 

She further explained that to ensure compliance with regulation, the most practical option was to increase the size of the Education Call-in Sub-Committee to 17 (9 Conservative and 4 Labour Councillors) and 4 co-optees and although the Sub-Committee rarely met, this still had to be addressed in preparation for any forthcoming meetings.

 

RESOLVED:  That the membership of the Call-In (Education) Sub-Committee, comprised of 13 Councillors (being 9 Conservative and 4 Labour Members) and the 4 voting Co-opted members, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be approved.