Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 9 – Community Safety Strategic Assessment 2019

CouncillorPeymaana Assad declared a Non-Pecuniary interest in that she was Portfolio Holder Assistant for Community Cohesion and Crime.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 February 2019 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on12 February 2019 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

A Member stated that the following actions from the previous meeting were still outstanding and requested relevant officers forward this information to Members after the meeting:

·                     data relating to incidences of fly tipping by Ward;

·                     the affordable housing list.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

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, 4 April 2019.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk   

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that there were none.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were none.

Report of the Divisional Director, Strategic Commissioning.

The Committee considered the Scrutiny annual report 2018/19. 

The Chair advised that the meeting statistics for Overview & Scrutiny Committee had omitted to mention that the Leader of the Council had attended two meetings of the Committee.

Members made the following comments regarding the report:

·                     the report did not set out achievements and actions undertaken and that this information should be included in any future reports;

·                     it might be useful to link achievements to Performance Board data in future such reports.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director Community

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director Community which set out an overview of the waste technology currently utilised as part of the waste and recycling collection service operating within Harrow.

Members asked the following questions and officers provided the following responses:

·                     What was the rate of contamination of dry recycling?

An officer advised that for Harrow, this figure was between 9-10%, whereas the industry average was 15%.

·                     Was the Bartec waste collector system compatible with the Council’s other packages such as SAP, CRM and CCP?

The officer stated that Bartec had first been introduced in 2009. It was possible to upload real-time information via CRM (which meant back office staff could access this immediately), as well as link this data into the Council website.  It was therefore not necessary to use SAP

·                     How was data collected by the waste teams?  Was it input manually?  Were Harrow’s refuse bins micro chipped?

The officer advised that the LLPG (Local Land and Property Gazetteer) data set was updated regularly.  Harrow’s bins were not chipped and data was entered manually into the system by the waste teams, who reported incidents by exception rather than by property.  Therefore, if there were no issues on a particular street, the entire street could be closed off on the system.

·                     Were there any savings associated with the new fleet of waste trucks?

The officer stated that in line with the Mayor of London’s Environment Strategy, the new vehicles complied with emissions standards required by the Euro 6 standard.  She added that Harrow was ahead of other London Authorities in this area.  Additionally, vehicles in the old fleet which had been on lease, often broke down and were more expensive to maintain.  The new fleet of vehicles was Council-owned and there were procurement savings associated with its purchase.  There had been some teething problems while the new system was embedded, nevertheless, the crews had been well trained and were happy with the new fleet as they found it simpler and quicker to resolve any issues.

·                     Why were some of the new vehicles white without any Council branding?

The officer advised that the unbranded, white vehicles were interim use for the period between the ending of the previous contract and the acquisition of the new vehicles.  The new fleet would be branded.

·                     What was the cost benefit of the new route optimisation technology?  This information should have been included in the officer report.

The officer stated that the Bartec system had been in place since 2009.  The new system enable more immediate reporting and response.  It would be difficult to quantify the cost benefit of this.

·                     What savings had been made under the new contract?  He gave the example of a resident who owned two brown bins, and had paid for both to be collected, however, only if the bins had the necessary sticker to indicate it should be collected.  Nevertheless, waste crews had collected both bins for several months before they realised their error – how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

Report of the Divisional Director, Strategic Commissioning

The Committee considered a report of the Divisional Director, Strategic Commissioning, which set out the Strategic Assessment, which was an annual review of the patterns of crime and anti-social behaviour, thereby fulfilling partnership responsibility under relevant sections of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.  The findings of the Review would help inform the annual refresh of the Harrow’s Community Safety and Violence, Vulnerability and Exploitation Strategy.

Members asked the following questions and received the following responses.

·                     To what extent did social media have an impact of the rising fear of crime?

The Acting Borough Commander stated that this was difficult to assess.  Social media could be a tool for both good and bad.  Often stories of crimes were circulated without any context and could lead to a fear of crime.

·                     Had there been an increase in hate crimes, for example, Islamophobia?

The Acting Borough Commander advised that there had been an increase in the reporting of these types of crimes.

·                     What were the implications of the MOPAC funding for Harrow for 2019-2021?

An officer advised that there would be a slight reduction in funds in the later period which would need to be reflected in both the strategy and the delivery plan.  The Council was in the process of accessing funding streams in related areas and had recently been awarded funding from MHCLG (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) for a community engagement and cohesion project which would impact on community safety.

·                     The data in the report related to 2017/18 period and had been previously reviewed by Members.  Members would prefer to see the most up-to-date information in future reports.

The officer advised that the report had been populated with data available at the end of December 2018 as there was a 3-month delay in receiving the verified published data.  He pointed out that there were some typographical errors in the report which he apologised for.

·                     Should the header on page 51 state 2017 or 2018?  There were a number of spelling errors throughout the report.

The officer advised that the header was incorrect and should state 2018.  However, the data included was accurate.

The Chair expressed his disappointment in the lack of accuracy and the errors in the officer report.

·                     A Member made the point that because Harrow was considered to be a relatively safe borough, a large proportion of policing resources had been moved from Harrow to other boroughs.  For example, in his Ward, Kenton West, there were no PCSOs allocated. 

·                     How were targeted burglaries dealt with?

An officer advised that data regarding aggravated burglaries or targeted burglaries was not disaggregated from the overall data relating to burglaries.  He added that overall, the data showed that the number of burglaries had reduced.

·                     Different communities were targeted by criminals for different reasons.  Was there any data regarding this available?

The Acting Borough Commander undertook to look into the matter and feedback to the Committee.

·                     Residents wanted to know where the burglary hot-spots in the borough were.  Burglary was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.