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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Market Street, Tamworth. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services 01827 709616 

Note: Due to a technical error, the recording of this meeting does not contain sound. The minutes will be avaialble on the website. 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

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

2.

Appointment of Vice-Chair

Minutes:

RESOLVED that Councillor Richard Ford be elected as vice-chair

 

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

3.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 143 KB

Minutes:

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)

4.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations of Members’ interests (personal and/or personal and prejudicial) in any matters which are to be considered at this meeting.

 

When Members are declaring a personal interest or personal and prejudicial interest in respect of which they have dispensation, they should specify the nature of such interest.  Members should leave the room if they have a personal and prejudicial interest in respect of which they do not have a dispensation. 

 

 

Minutes:

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.

5.

Update from the Chair

Minutes:

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

6.

Responses to Reports of the Infrastructure Safety & Growth Committee

Minutes:

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.

 

7.

Consideration of Matters referred to the Infrastructure Safety & Growth Committee from Cabinet or Council

(Discussion item)

Minutes:

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

8.

Overview of Borough Council services relating to Community Safety pdf icon PDF 174 KB

(Presentation from the Assistant Director, Partnerships)

Minutes:

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.

9.

Public Space Protection Order Mercia Close pdf icon PDF 225 KB

(Report of the Assistant Director, Partnerships)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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.

 

 

10.

Electric Vehicle Charging

(To receive a verbal update from Officers)

Minutes:

This item was deferred to the July meeting.

11.

Future High Streets Fund Update pdf icon PDF 85 KB

(Report of the Leader of the Council)

Minutes:

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)

 

12.

Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy pdf icon PDF 196 KB

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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)

 

 

 

13.

Forward Plan

(Discussion item – link to Forward Plan is attached)

 

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

 

Minutes:

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

14.

Working Group Updates

To receive updates from any Working Groups

Minutes:

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

15.

Infrastructure Safety & Growth Scrutiny Committee Work Plan pdf icon PDF 62 KB

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

Minutes:

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

 

Infrastructure, Safety and Growth Scrutiny Work Plan

Work Plan

DATE

SUBJECT

July 2022

EV Charging – council car parks (verbal)

July 2022

Netting of Hedges (petition referral)

July 2022 (tbc)

Local Plan

July 2022

Waste Management

September 2022

Net Zero – baseline reporting

October 2022

Amington local centre

Quarterly updates

Future High Street Fund (Growth)

Quarterly updates

Waste Management

Quarterly

Reset & Recovery updates

Date to be confirmed

Council Housing Repairs Policy

Date to be confirmed

Review of policy / engagement with stakeholders relating to Travellers

 

Date to be confirmed

Fire Safety Update

Date to be confirmed

Town Hall

Date to be confirmed

Funding of public toilets (link to HGV working group)

Date to be confirmed

Strategy for older buildings

Date to be confirmed

Review of Taxi Licensing Policy – Points System

Date to be confirmed

CCTV update

 

Working Groups

 

Topic

Possible WG Members

Target IS&G Com meeting date

Review of policy / engagement relating to Travellers

 

 

Facilities for HGV Drivers in Tamworth

Cllrs B Price (WG chair) Cllrs S Daniels and M Cook

 

 

Upcoming Infrastructure, Safety and Growth Scrutiny Committee Meetings

Meeting dates:

6 July 2022

14 September 2022

11 October 2022

22 November 2022

18 January 2023

23 March 2023