Councillors Bodrul Choudhury, Marc Francis and Sabina Khan. Councillor Sabina Ahktar was in attendance as a substitute.  Halima Islam gave apologies as she was joining online.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, please see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are reminded to declare the nature of the interest and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it’s the Members’ responsibility to declare any interests form and to update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of your interest, you are advised to seek advice prior to the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were received at the meeting. Cllr Ahmodur Khan stated a family relationship with a London Metropolitan Police Officer.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 8 and 29 January 2024.

The Chair Moved  and it was:-

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 8 and 29 January 2024 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings.

Councillor Abu Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, Ann Corbett, Director of Community Safety, Keith Stanger, Head of Neighbourhood Operations, introduced the item, highlighting the council’s work on community safety, the council and the police, and the Violence Against Women and Girls campaign.

Local residents provided testimony on their lived experiences of community policing and women’s experiences within the borough. They highlighted the importance of access to safe, well lit roads, self-defence classes, building up trust with women across different communities and how the police need to continue to listen to women when issues are brought up.

The committee raised the following comments and questions:

• What does accessible access to police mean to you? Residents highlighted how important it is to know where women can go to ensure they will be heard and be safe. The women’s inclusive team has done a lot of work around this and supported many women where English is not a first language.
• What current issues can you report to the committee on safety on the streets and how can the council work with the police to ensure there is a more community facing approach? Residents reflected that there has been a decline in police patrolling the streets and a lot of areas are not well lit, with reporting about street lighting taking a lot of time to be fixed. Parks and larger outdoor areas feel unsafe due to a lack of lighting and CCTV.
• What do you think is the council’s role in building trust in the community with policing? Residents stated that trust is a big issue, even when you put yourself in a position of going forward to report. However, a bigger issue even before a woman will come forward to report, is the lack of awareness of what domestic violence is. The council needs to help with raising awareness of this in different communities, along with the police.

Borough Commander Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway presented to the committee, highlighting A New Met for London, the two year plan on how the Met will deliver more trust, less crime, and high standards.

The committee raised the following comments and questions:

• A year on since the Borough Commander visited the committee, where do you think police are in dealing with issues residents have with the police? James Conway stated that building up trust is vital with ensuring that the residents feel confident coming forward to report crime. How residents are treated when they do come forward to report a crime, not just by the police but across the whole service. If a resident is coming forward to an issue like domestic violence, then they need to be believed and an environment is created where they feel supported throughout the reporting.
• What is the police doing to tackle rising violent crime within the borough? And what is the police doing to build trust within communities who are more vulnerable to violent crime? How will work against drug related crime be dealt with?  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

RESOLVED:

Members noted the action log.

To receive any petitions (to be notified at the meeting).

Nil items.

To receive any petitions (to be notified at the meeting).

RESOLVED:

Members noted the Update.

To review forthcoming decisions expected to be taken by the Mayor and identify any areas of further Scrutiny for committee.

RESOLVED:

Members noted the forward plan.

To consider the 21 February agenda of Cabinet and review and pre-decision questions that were submitted.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

To consider any other unrestricted business that the Chair considers to be urgent.

Nil items.

As the agenda circulated had no exempt/confidential reports and there was therefore no requirement to exclude the press and public to allow for its consideration.

Nil Items.

Nil items.

Nil Items.

Nil items.

Nil Items.

Nil items.

To consider any other exempt/ confidential business that the Chair considers to be urgent.

Nil items.