Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies.

Apologies were received from Michael Gold.

Members of the Committee paid their respects to Neil Bryson, a former Co-opted member of the Committee who passed away in March. His contribution to the work of the Committee was praised.

In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, Members are requested to declare any interests orally at the start of the meeting and again immediately before consideration of the matter. Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and the nature of the interest being declared.

No declarations of interest were received.

To consider and approve the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2013 attached.

The minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2013 were agreed as a correct record and the Chairman authorised to sign them.

The Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Clive Chalk was in attendance to present details of the new Policing structure to the Committee and explained that the Metropolitan Police had to find £5 billion in savings. He focused on the pan-London plans, a more detailed picture of the new Policing structure in Richmond upon Thames and provided responses to some of the key concerns he was aware of in relation to the amalgamation of some policing functions with neighbouring boroughs.

In particular Mr Chalk highlighted that town centre patrols would be enhanced and that there would be a dedicated Schools Officer. In addition the Safer Neighbourhood Teams would use a flexible working approach meaning that in each ward there would be one Police Constable, one Police Community Support Officer and all other officers would be flexible so that they could be deployed where they were required.

Mr Chalk outlined the plans for the amalgamation of some policing functions with other Boroughs. He emphasized that Richmond would retain its own individual Borough Commander. Custody arrangements would be shared with Kingston upon Thames. Richmond would close its Custody Suite and use the facilities in Kingston upon Thames from September 2013. Mr Chalk would also be looking into the opportunity to share other services with Kingston upon Thames, including Youth Offending Teams.

Some members of the Committee expressed concern that currently there was little stability in the Police presence and people liked to know their local Police Sergeant. Mr Chalk responded that whilst he could not rule out change, it was his intention to provide as much continuity as possible.

The Community Safety Manager, Natasha Allen, was in attendance to present details of changes to the Community Safety Fund and the structure of the Community Police Partnership. She explained that the Community Police Partnership would evolve into Safer Neighbourhood Boards from September 2013. These Boards would have a greater scrutiny role and would hear and monitor complaints including those regarding proliferation of certain types of crime and the work of Police.

It was explained that funding for Community Safety in London had been devolved to the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and that local authorities had to bid for funding for certain projects. The Committee heard that decisions on the funding applications should be made by early April 2013. MOPAC intended to use a payment by results method of funding and may also require match funding locally.

It was RESOLVED:

1. That the update on Policing, the Community Safety Fund and the Safer Neighbourhood Boards be NOTED.

This report includes details of the Strategic Intelligence Assessment 2012/13 which will inform the priorities of the Community Safety Partnership for 2013/14.

The Community Safety Manager, Natasha Allen, and the Strategic Cabinet Member for Community, Business and Culture were in attendance to present the report. In particular they highlighted information regarding priorities, performance and the common themes and drivers of crime contained in the report.

Following questions raised and comments made the Committee heard the following information from Officers.

(i)                  The volume of crime was relatively static and whilst some crimes have reduced significantly, others were increasing for a variety of reasons. One example of this was an increase in the issuing of drug warrants which could be attributed to the pro-activity of Police to ensure one warrant is issued per day. Another example is that of domestic violence as there had been a drive to encourage victims to come forward and report domestic violence crimes and the official definition of domestic violence had been broadened.

(ii)                Cross border criminality was a particular issue in Richmond upon Thames with approximately 50 per cent of individuals charged with offences coming from outside the Borough. This figure rose to over 60 per cent for some acquisitive crimes.

It was RESOLVED:

1.      That the Committee NOTE the report.

The Director of Environment and the Assistant Director of Environment for Development and Street Scene were in attendance to present the report which highlighted areas of under performance during the third quarter of the 2012-13 municipal year.

The Committee heard that there had been a series of changes made to waste regulations in relation to how different waste was categorised and therefore at the time of the meeting it was not possible to provide performance information for household waste and recycling indicators for quarter three. Officers were working back through information to provide figures based on the new categorisations and were able to report that the actual quarter one figure was 44.9 per cent and the quarter two figure was 45.18 per cent.

Following questions raised and comments made the Committee heard the following views from Officers.

(i)                  Small sample waste analysis was difficult to extrapolate and therefore it was hard to provide a figure for what proportion of residual waste could have been recycled. Furthermore, although some waste could be recycled, it may not be viable to do so; for example it would be difficult to provide curb side green waste collections. There were also issues relating to the contamination of recycling boxes which prevented the contents of the box being recycled.

(ii)                Excluding the appeals for TfL adverts on roundabouts of which all but one appeal was lost, the local authority was successful in around two thirds of planning application appeals.

It was RESOLVED:

1.      That the report be NOTED.

The Director of Environment, Paul Chadwick and the Assistant Director of Commissioning, Corporate Policy and Strategy, Mandy Skinner, were in attendance to present the report and explained that the plan before the Committee was an updated version of the procurement plan they received the previous year.

The Committee discussed which procurement activity it wanted to scrutinise in the future. It was felt that the procurement work plan for the Committee was already full.

It was RESOLVED:

1. That the Committee’s procurement work programme stay the same and that timescales for procurement activities be updated to ensure appropriate opportunity for scrutiny.

The Assistant Director of Environment for Traffic and Transport, Andrew Darvill and the Head of Network Management and Street Care, Stuart Walmsley were in attendance to present the report to the Committee. They explained that the maintenance programme was based on various sources of information including surveys carried out by external providers and comments from residents. The broad strategy was to maintain roads at a reasonable standard and carry out more minor repair works to prevent roads falling into a state of disrepair. It was reported that the Roads Pavement Community Scheme had been successful with a 25 per cent increase in requests from the public and as such the fund for this had increased by £400 000 for the next financial year.

Following questions raised and comments made the Committee received the following responses from Officers:

(i)                  There had been an overall reduction in the number of insurance claims made by road users and pedestrians over the previous three years.

(ii)                It was standard procedure to consult with energy and water providers prior to new surfaces being laid to ensure that any works involving lifting the road or pavement surface were, where possible, carried out before new surfaces were laid. All such works have three years protection against being lifted, however they cannot be protected against emergency works.

(iii)               On narrow roads the verge of paths were strengthened to prevent cracking.

It was RESOLVED:

1. That more detailed information regarding the number of insurance claims lodged due to road conditions be provided to the Committee.
2. That the report be NOTED.

The Assistant Director of Environment for Development and Street Scene was in attendance to present the report to the Committee. It was explained that the Planning Inspectorate had accepted the Thames Tideway Tunnel as a major application that day. Barnes was the only location where the tunnel entered the Borough and this site had been downgraded from a major site to a connection site. The Planning Inspectorate would confirm a date to visit the council offices to brief Councillors and members of the public on the process and it was thought that the application would be heard by the Council’s Planning Committee in Autumn 2013.

The Committee heard that there would be a number of conditions attached to the planning application including other property agreements and a Section 106 legal agreement.

Following questions raised and comments made the Committee heard that the Thames Tideway Tunnel would generally follow the line of the Thames but at Barn Elms it would go under properties towards Hammersmith Bridge and St Paul's to Acton pumping station.

It was RESOLVED:

1. That the update on the Thames Tideway Tunnel project be NOTED.

The Chairman of the Recycling Task Group, Councillor Porter, Senior Scrutiny Officer, Christian Scade and the Assistant Director of Environment for Development and Street Scene, Jon Freer were in attendance to present the report to the Committee. Councillor Porter thanked the members of the Task Group, Officers and external witnesses for their participation.

The Committee discussed the content and recommendations of the report. Some Members felt that the report should include that individuals could be encouraged to take up food recycling by being offered a small sample of biodegradable bags for their food waste bins and it was agreed that this would come under the more formal communications plan put forward in the report.

It was RESOLVED:

1. That the recommendations of the Recycling Task Group report be AGREED.
2. That the report be referred to the Council’s Cabinet for an Executive Response.
3. That a further Overview and Scrutiny report be sought in approximately six months time, giving an update on progress with implementing the recommendations.

The Committee discussed their work programme for the 2013/14 municipal year.

It was RESOLVED:

1. That the Thames Tideway Tunnel be removed from the Work Programme.