Agenda item

To interview Councillor Natasha Enin Cabinet Member for Community Safety giving an Overview of key strategies and projects under the portfolio supported by Stephen Douglass, Director of Stronger Neighbourhoods.

To also receive a report on Noise & Nuisance from Matt Clubb, Director of Environment and Nick Stabeler, Neighbourhood Nuisance Service Manager.

The commission first heard from Councillor Enin on the following themes

·  Regulatory services- licensing, night economy; Private Rented Sector (PRS) enforcements and licensing; report on PRS by Citizen advice and Generation rent, partnership working with diverse communities, more efficient licensing for building with multiple dwellings

·  Food and Safety sector- delays due to the pandemic, bringing forward plans

·  Commitment of £2m in Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) to increase community wardens targeting hotspots and dedicated patrolling, ASB team working with other organisations for drug use and rough sleeping (Calm Mediation and MOPAC).

·  Working with police to address disproportionate impact on Black & Ethnic minority communities, women safety hotspots to benefit from £250m in funding to increase lighting by trimming trees and pruning bushes. CCTV operation to track harassment and Environmental Visual Audits in Peckham, Canada water, Tooley street etc. aiding the targeting of resources

·  Women’s safety survey to meet needs of all women, stakeholder engagement process and horizon scanning for major partners; Casey review resulted in council commitment and working on terms of reference on the police oversight board. Scrutiny to be consulted on the paper.

The commission then asked questions on the following topics

·  Street robberies and injury and harm to residents, performance data from police; Facial recognition and mask wearing

·  Women’s safety mapping of lower CCTV coverage and low footfall areas, public realm investment; One women’s safety centre to cover all the cases in the borough

·  Trans people especially transwomen safety; Diversity within community safety team and community wardens to reflect the diverse demographic of Southwark

The commission heard from Councillor Enin that targeting resources in hotspots and live facial recognition is being used in such areas to deter and monitor street robberies which have increased according to data received by the police. Canada water has had specific problems.

Stephen explained to the commission that live facial recognition is very sophisticated works incredibly with masks as well, pictures that are not of missing or wanted people are pixelated and deleted within seconds and not stored in any way. Facial recognition on London Bridge has resulted in no robberies occurring and works well as a deterrent.

Councillor Enin explained to the commission that CCTV resources can be directed to areas where incidents have been reported, some mapping has been done and resources have been allocated in diverse communities with language barriers. Dimly lit areas and LED replacements are mapped as well. Public realm investment can be done and there are plans for it. The council are looking for a strategic partner to support all women in diverse communities and there are options for more than one women’s safety centre.

Stephen informed the commission that there are other activities in the form of Through Your Eyes campaign and women’s safety centre is one part of the strategy.

Councillor Enin explained that Southwark has a commitment towards being a Trans inclusive borough, the council is looking at service providers across without delineating any one group of women.

The commission learnt from Councillor Enin that on visiting different services within the council it is clear that black people are disproportionately in the lower levels of the corporate structure when compared to their male counterparts and also that this needs to be addressed through the council’s Civic Leadership Program, mentoring future leaders through working relationships and commonalities.

Noise and Nuisance

The commission then heard from Councillor Enin on the following points

·  Budget proposal on savings in Noise and Nuisance £90k/year; metrics on the service indicates high workload when compared to other London boroughs

·  Mental health issues are significant and noise and nuisance teams often have to deal with such cases; some other issues are also related to medical emergencies such as a heart attack and the television being left on

The commission then asked questions on the following topics

·  Decision taken on budget saving and its impact on the service- rise in complaints and legal duties; motivation behind proposed savings and the review which would lead to more officer time being utilised

·  Consequences of the larger cut to the budget option; involvement of users in the redesign process of noise and nuisance; pt. 28 and 29 of report, responses/outcomes for users not included in categories of notices and prosecutions

·  Data on tenancies and resulting actions due to noise and nuisance; council powers according to licensing schemes; accessibility and solutions for basic ways of communicating with residents; pg.24 of report assessing statutory noise and nuisance

Matt explained to the commission throughout the budgetary process it was concluded that it was unclear the impact that proposed savings could have on the provisions of the service. As a result, the proposal for savings has been included in 2025-2026 budgetary process to give officers enough time to measure the impact whilst working with customer service colleagues to review the service and improve the customer journey. The review will also look at safety of officers in attending these complaints and also looking at bottlenecks which could affect the savings proposals in 2025-2026. Savings option of £90k/year would result in reduction of service on weekends for 4 hrs, a total of 8 hrs reduction per week.

The commission heard from Matt that the motivation behind the proposal and review was to improve the customer journey and as a part of this process if savings can be made to make it a more efficient service. Improving the service to ensure resident satisfaction is the main concern to be addressed in this review.

Matt explained to the commission that there would be a significantly much larger impact on the service if the larger cut option was taken. A review of Southwark needs in Noise and Nuisance were compared to Councils smaller in size, it was revealed that industry standards would not be met, with regards to legal obligations.

Councillor Enin informed the commission that it is about raising awareness amongst residents and training officers to signpost them to the right service; engaging residents through TRA’s and ward councillors with the right information pack with contacts.

Matt clarified in the report that Southwark has higher averages in calls for Noise and Nuisance across London, however Southwark serves a lot more people and responds to higher number calls and a significantly high percentage resulting in prosecutions.

Nick explained to the commission that as the data in the report indicates, during Covid courts were closed and prosecutions dropped off. Notices were served according to specific guidance from government. Noise and Nuisance teams have a statutory noise threshold which would then be classed as a legal action. Officers endeavour to give advice according to guidelines which doesn’t necessarily result in a formal action.

Councillor explained to the commission that there is a recommendation to have a dedicated Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) officer.

Matt explained to the commission that the licensing scheme covers the property standards and the property being fit for purpose and does not cover tenant behaviours.

Councillor Enin explained to the commission that call centre is available for residents to complain about noise and nuisance, communication work with TRAs is also being done.

Matt informed the commission that statutory noise assessment occurs at the victim’s property and investigates levels of noise as per an average person would experience. The team is reviewing, the process from the point of contact all the way through to when an outcome is reached.