Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Andrew Cooper and Paul Turner, and Councillors Daniel Maycock and Rosey Claymore attended as substitutes.

RESOLVED that Councillor Richard Ford be elected as vice-chair

(Moved by Councillor S Goodall and seconded by Councillor B Price)

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 March 2022 were approved as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor S Goodall and seconded by Councillor R Claymore)

Councillor Sheree Peaple declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 8 (Overview of Borough Council services relating to community safety) as a trustee of the Heart of Tamworth, a partner organisation.

There were no other declarations of interest.

There were no items from the Chair to update on at this time.

The Chair updated the Committee on the recommendations which had been made by the Committee at the meeting on 24 March 2022 following consideration of the Recovery & Reset item, which were presented to Cabinet on 7 April and which Cabinet took on board.

(Discussion item)

The Chair reported that there were no new items to report.

(Presentation from the Assistant Director, Partnerships)

The Chair introduced the Assistant Director, Partnerships who provided an overview to the Committee of the activities within the council relating to community safety which covered:

1.    An update on the CCTV shared service which had commenced in March 2020;

2.    Initiatives relating to homelessness and rough sleeping including work with local partnership organisations

3.    Activities associated with Travellers, including with Staffordshire Police, Staffordshire County Council and the role of the Street Scene teams;

4.    The arrangements which applied to parking enforcement, including the roles of Staffordshire County Council where there are traffic restrictions in place, when the Police can take enforcement action if obstructive parking affects road safety and the planned updates to the parking toolkit to include partnership approach to neighbour disputes;

5.    Activities associated with Anti-Social behaviour, including partnerships work and environmental anti-social behaviour and the activities of wardens in support

6.    The activities of the Partnerships team in safeguarding children and adults at risk and vulnerable people and the training provided to staff, councillors and taxi drivers and the role of the team in terms of PREVENT reporting (relating to persons at risk of radicalisation) and modern slavery reporting.

7.    Coordination with partners to promote and raise awareness of community safety.

The Committee commented and sought and received clarifications in the following areas:

1.    Whether there was data available on whether the new CCTV shared service had had an impact on the detection and reporting of crime.  It was reported that figures could be provided on a bi-annual / quarterly basis going forwards, if requested.

2.    Whether the distribution of the cameras was appropriate and whether there was planned to be any review of these, where it was confirmed that this could be provided as part of a more detailed update.

3.    The Committee noted that whilst the figures from the rough sleeping count were very low, these were a snapshot in time and it was important for there to continue to be strategies in place to manage wider homelessness, as well as street homelessness.

4.    The Committee sought clarification on when the parking toolkit would be updated and the Assistant Director expected that it would be possible to bring an update on this back to the Committee in Autumn 2022.

5.    The arrangements in place with Staffordshire / Stoke on Trent Council regarding parking enforcement were discussed and further details requested. It was agreed that the Staffordshire Parking report would be circulated.  Clarification on when and by whom parking enforcement action could be taken were sought, including in terms of parking on pavements and the importance of education work in terms of parking close to schools, where it was reported that the Staffordshire County Council Road Safety Team and the Police were working on this.

The Chair thanked the Officer for her presentation.

(Report of the Assistant Director, Partnerships)

The Committee received the report of the Assistant Director, Partnerships to consider public consultation received and to support delegation to Portfolio Holder Voluntary Sector, Town Centre, Evening Economy and Community Safety for implementation of a Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO’s) at Mercia Close.

The Committee sought and received clarification about the extent of the consultation undertaken, which had included letters to residents as well as the publication of notices on relevant posts and on websites.

Following consideration by the Committee of the results of the public consultation, the Committee

RESOLVED to:

1.    Recommend progression for a PSPO at Land running behind 1 to 35 Mercia Close, specifically the Public Right of Way (Tamworth 25) that runs form No 11 to No 35; and

2.    Recommend delegation for implementation of the PSPO to the Portfolio Holder Voluntary Sector, Town Centre, Evening Economy and Community Safety.

(Moved by Councillor S Goodall and seconded by Councillor B Price)

The Chair thanked the Officers for their attendance and the Assistant Director, Partnerships and the Partnerships Officer left the meeting.

(To receive a verbal update from Officers)

This item was deferred to the July meeting.

(Report of the Leader of the Council)

The Chair welcomed the Leader of the Council, the Assistant Director, Growth & Regeneration and the Future High Streets Fund Project Officer to the meeting for this update on progress on the Future High Streets Fund programme.  The Chair thanked the Officers for the recent site visit which they had organised for committee members which had provided good context to members.

The Committee commented and sought and received clarifications in the following areas:

1.    In terms of the demolition works the expected duration for these works, where it was reported that demolition for the College Quarter project was expected to take around 22 weeks following which building works were expected to start.  In was expected that there would be hoarding in this area for around two years.

2.    The extent of the preservation of the historic buildings whilst ensuring these buildings were brought back into use and the cost implications of this, where it was reported that whilst some further survey work had been completed (in respect of the timbers), more remained to be done and following that there would need to be an assessment of what could be maintained and preserved.

3.    The importance of the projects in being a catalyst for further investment in the town and the need for the design of new structures to be of quality and to have a positive and confidence building effect.

4.    The Committee discussed with the Leader and Officers the funding of the projects and the delivery of value for money, including where projects could deliver benefits in non-cash terms, by generating growth and encouraging footfall in the town centre.  It was reported that if the project went outside of budget (including the contingency) then this would require Cabinet and /or Council to consider further.

The Chair thanked the Leader and Officers for their update.

RESOLVED that the Committee endorsed the Report.

(Moved by Councillor S Goodall and seconded by Councillor R Claymore)

(Report of the Portfolio Holder for Skills, Planning, Economy and Waste)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Skills, Planning Economy and Waste on the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was received with proposals for a process for Neighbourhood CIL spending.

The Committee considered the proposals and sought clarification on the resources available to support the process, which it was noted was aimed to be proportionate to the funds available.  The Committee proposed a mechanism for inclusion in the process in the event that all three ward councillors cannot agree on a single project to propose to Cabinet. 

RESOLVED that the Committee agreed the approach set out in the report for the distribution for neighbourhood CIL money with the addition of a process where the three ward members could not agree on a single project.  In such a case the Committee proposed that were the ward members unable to agree on which project to put forward to Cabinet, firstly there should be a vote between the three ward members, if there was majority support for one project, that project would go forward to Cabinet, if there was no majority support for a single project, then Cabinet would make the decision on their behalf.

(Moved by Councillor S Goodall and seconded by Councillor M Cook)

(Discussion item – link to Forward Plan is attached)

http://democracy.tamworth.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=120&RD=0&bcr=1

No further items were identified which were not already noted on the Committee’s wok plan.

To receive updates from any Working Groups

In respect of the Facilities for HGV Drivers in Tamworth, Councillor S Daniels and Councillor M Cook agreed to join this working goup.

(Update and discussion on the Infrastructure Safety & Growth Scrutiny Work Plan)

The Committee considered its work plan and updated it as follows:

Infrastructure, Safety and Growth Scrutiny Work Plan