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Minutes:
Police update
Southwark Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent John Sutherland, introduced himself to the meeting and informed the meeting that crime figures for residential burglaries had gone down. This was in line with an overall downward trend in crime figures including violent crime. There remained, however, some challenges regarding robberies, violence against young people and knife crime. Operation Trinity had been launched in January to tackle these three areas. The operation would continue into next year, and was running in partnership with Southwark council.
The Metropolitan Police faced the financial challenge of having to make £500 million in savings. This meant changes had to be made in terms of the policing model used. There would be no reductions in frontline policing, however, some police stations would be closing. He outlined that Walworth police station would remain a 24/7 front counter, with Peckham police station open 16 hours 6 days a week and Southwark police station 8 hours, 5 days a week. Rotherhithe and Dulwich police stations would likely be closed and sold. The Safer Neighbourhoods Teams with dedicated local officers would remain, but would in future be cluster-based, with some staff moving from one ward to another. There would, however, still be one named Sergeant, Constable and PCSO per ward. The southwest cluster would be based at Camberwell police station, the southeast cluster at Peckham police station, and the northwest cluster at Walworth police station. The base for the northeast cluster was still to be confirmed.
Responding to questions from the floor, Chief Superintendent Sutherland said that stopping violence against women was one of his personal priorities, and that all offences against women would be pursued. In terms of “stop and search”, the Chief Superintendent said that this was a hugely emotive issue, and that levels of “stop and search” had fallen in volume. He did not know Southwark’s ranking in terms of “stop and search”, and said that the issue needed work. It was an important power the police had at their disposal especially with regards to knife crime, but the police had to dispense this power professionally, lawfully and with respect.
The chair told the meeting that he himself had been stopped more than 40 times and asked to empty his pockets under the “suss” laws, one year when he was growing up. These kind of experiences alienated young people. Heavy handed policing did not serve the community.
In response to further questions, the Chief Superintendent explained that operation Trinity focussed on the fact than young people are more likely to be victims. The police were working with the Southwark Anti-Violence Unit (SAVU), and with volunteer sector organisations like the Damilola Taylor Trust and Kids Company. In terms of the numbers of police officers, overall police numbers would be lower than two to three years ago. This was partly due to the extra officers had been hired for the Olympics. Furthermore many functions had been transferred from boroughs to centralised units, such as telephone answering services for 999 calls. Reductions in staff levels in these back office functions had, however, not led to a reduction in frontline policing.
Chief Superintendent Sutherland further explained that there was no intention to withdraw from Safer Neighbourhoods policing and from the reassurance and engagement activities, but that their nature would change. In future, Peckham police station would be the emergency response base, with Walworth becoming a crime hub, a base for plain clothes operations, and the location for custody facilities. Emergency response resources would not decrease, but just be deployed at Peckham. He offered to attend future community council meetings to provide updates and feedback.
Southwark Registrar services
Bryony Aldous, from the council’s registrar services, informed the meeting about the different services offered by this part of the council, such as genealogical services, local history, births, deaths and marriages. The section was also responsible for registering marriages and civil partnerships, ceremonies for which could be held in various places in the borough, for example on HMS Belfast, Vinopolis or Tower Bridge. Because there were no birthing hospitals in Southwark, the registrar at Peckham Road, also housed a Lambeth Registrar to register the birth of children of Southwark residents, born in King’s College hospital. The section also ran citizenship ceremonies and an immigration advice service. Bryony explained that the registrar’s office also worked closely with the Border Agency in order to stop fake marriages from taking place, and that this was an issue across the country.
East Street update
Chris Mascord, Senior Engineer, updated the meeting on the resurfacing work in East Street. The surfacing had been changed in 2012, but due to the cleaning regime, there had been trips. However, the new asphalt layer was now complete. Responding to the questions from the floor, Chris explained that the need for renewed resurfacing had not been the contractor’s fault, and that it had been caused by the type of material used underneath the paving. The cleaning regime had not been the contractor’s responsibility. He also explained that the renewed repairs had been funded by TfL. The chair summarised that it looked like Southwark had specified the works incorrectly. Fears were expressed that the current surfacing would not last, and would cause renewed disruption to traders. John McHenry, Markets and Street Trading Manager, assured the meeting that an appropriate cleaning regime would be instituted and that the surface would be monitored.
The chair said that councillors would be keeping a watching brief on this issue and if new problems arose, this issue would be brought back to a future meeting.
Update on the fire at Walworth Town Hall
Matthew Hunt, Head of Corporate Facilities, updated the meeting on the fire which had started on the roof of 151 Walworth Road on 25 March 2013 at 12.30pm, and which had caused catastrophic damage to the 151 Walworth Road. As the building was listed, English Heritage were now engaged to advise and support as the recovery process and options for reinstatement or rebuilding were developed.
Walworth Town Hall had also been burgled over the weekend of 3/4 April. The thieves had risked their lives by entering the building, which was still considered a dangerous structure. As the building was at risk of collapse, officers had not yet been able to ascertain what had been stolen, but some personal possessions by members of staff were likely to have been taken, as well as an ornate Asian tray. The police were investigating. Security had been doubled following the burglary. Four teams of men with dogs now patrolled around the building 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Alarmed scaffolding was also now in place around the building. Officers were reviewing possible security measures to take internally within the building once the building was structurally secure i.e. CCTV cameras and or heat detectors. The council had formed an internal serious incident investigation panel which reported to the Chief Executive. The investigation was fully underway and running concurrently with those of the fire service and the council’s insurers. It was anticipated that the council’s investigation panel will report within two weeks.
In terms of the damage, the main impact of the fire was on 151 Walworth Road. As the fire service were able to contain the fire within 151’s footprint, Newington Library had been structurally unaffected but suffered some smoke and water damage. The majority of 151 had been severely damaged by the fire with the major impact on the central core of the building which contained the council chamber. This section had completely collapsed internally to ground floor level severely compromising the internal structure of both the front and rear sections of the building.
Officers had reviewed the options for restoring the face to face services that had operated from 151 in the Walworth area. These were the One Stop Shop (OSS) and the Cuming museum. The council building at 376 Walworth Road had been identified as the preferred location and work was underway on getting it operational with a target date of on or before 21 May 2013. As an interim facility a temporary One Stop Shop service had been established in 160 Tooley Street which would cease operation when the service is up and running at 376.
Access to Newington Library was still limited due to safety considerations but it was hoped that access to the book stock would be available soon. Enhanced services continue to be provided at John Harvard, East Street and Camberwell libraries.The Cuming museum’s onsite services remain temporarily closed. The events programme at the museum would continue in nearby venues including John Harvard Library and the Inspire centre. Most of the objects from the first of the museum’s three galleries had been recovered but the condition of the remaining objects on display was not yet known as the building was inaccessible. The collections in storage were not damaged.
Responding to a comment from the floor, Matthew explained that council would take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption on residents’ lives of the making safe and reconstruction of the buildings.
The meeting heard that there was currently a consultation about the levels of staffing of the London Fire Service conducted by the Mayor of London, and that cuts were being proposed. In light of the fire, residents were encouraged to take part and make their views known.