Agenda item
ADMINISTRATION MOTION DEBATE
To debate a Motion submitted by the Administration in accordance with Rules 11 and 13 of the Council’s Constitution. The debate will last for a maximum of 30 minutes.
Minutes:
Councillor Ohid Ahmed moved and Councillor Bodrul Choudhury seconded the motion as printed in the agenda.
Councillor Amina Ali moved and Councillor Rebaka Sultana seconded the following proposed amendment as set out in the supplementary agenda.
Additions underlined
Deletions struck through.
This Council notes:
·
The rising levels of crime in Tower Hamlets since
2015. That Community Safety
remains a vital issue for residents across Tower Hamlets
borough.
· That Tower Hamlets is ranked in the top ten of London’s most dangerous
Boroughs, ranking third out of a possible thirty-two.
· That, according to 2022 data, serious crimes are on the rise and are much higher than the London average, including Anti-Social Behaviour, Drugs, Robberies and Burglaries and violent crime, including periodic explosions in knife crime and murder.
· According to the latest reported statistics from the Metropolitan Police, homophobic hate crime in Tower Hamlets has increased by 39% in the last 8 months. At the Hate Crime Awareness event run in October 2022 by the Council-funded LGBTQI + forum, residents shared their concerns over safety in Tower Hamlets. This fear within the LGBTQI+ community in Tower Hamlets has increased since the horrific and tragic murder of Roy Kankanamalage last year, and further violence against our LGBTQI+ community in Mile End in July, continues to create fear and terror amongst our residents.
·
That it is no coincidence that this rise in crime
has coincided with the cuts to police and other key public services
in London due to the decimation of neighbourhood policing by 13
years of Conservative government austerity where PCSOs have been
halved since 2010, destroying the vital community link between
residents and the police and the previous administration’s
indifference and unwillingness to invest in community
safety.
· Despite Government inaction, the previous Labour administration did a lot of work with its partners in the Metropolitan Police Service and other local agencies to ensure that residents were protected from the worst effects of Conservative austerity on community safety.
· That the previous Labour administration invested in council-funded police officers, known as the Partnership Task Force (PTF), and since April 2021 the PTF undertook more than 9,000 hours of uniformed patrols, issued nearly 200 anti-social behaviour warnings, conducted 376 stop and searches and made 53 detections for possession of drugs or possession with intent to supply.
· The Council’s award-winning Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), funded by the previous Labour administration, offers vital support for victims of domestic abuse and looked to improve women’s safety, offering training sessions to encourage male allyship and reporting of abuse, a new contract with Solace Women’s Aid to support victims of domestic abuse, and continued to deliver the sanctuary scheme which allowed domestic abuse victims to stay in their own homes.
· That the previous Labour administration also invested in the Council’s CCTV Transformation Programme, a £3.1million investment to upgrade the whole CCTV network to new digital technology, which will increase visibility and allow the Council to better support the police and tackle crime.
· That huge volumes of complaints and concerns have been received by the Mayor at his surgeries and to his office from residents concerned by this increase in crime.
·
That crime disproportionately impacts members of the
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, and
those on the lowest incomes. and members of the LGBTQI
community.
This Council believes:
· That the residents of Tower Hamlets should be able to walk their streets and live in their homes in the knowledge that they are safe, secure and protected.
· That the fear of crime alone has a corrosive impact on people’s day-to-day quality of life.
· That to achieve this sense of security, continued serious investment is required in the Borough’s Community Safety services – from Police Officers to Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOS) – to ensure that these numbers can be driven down.
· That investment in key services, such as Youth Services, Community Services and third sector groups formulates an equally important part of any preventative strategy to reduce crime rates in the Borough.
·
That the Mayor of London has a strong record in
tackling crime across London and should the Council is
grateful in his continued assistance assist this Council in
providing the resources to recruit additional Police
Officers.
This Council resolves:
· To support the Mayor and his administration to build on the strong record of the previous Labour administration in investing in Community Safety and procuring additional resources to drive down crime rates in the Borough.
·
To continue the work of the previous Labour
administration which developed a partnership Violence Reduction
Plan, and request task Officers with the formulation of a
Crime Reduction Plan that pulls together the relevant agencies and
combines prevention, intervention and inter-agency cooperation,
subject to due process. build on this plan and continue to work
in partnership with the police, the voluntary community sector,
probation, schools and other community safety partners.
· To continue to work and partner with the Metropolitan Police in the sharing of information and joint-tasking in tackling crime.
· To continue the strong record on tackling crime from the previous Labour administration and support this Administration to invest £2.9million in the recruitment of 40 Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOs), £1.6million of investment in recruiting 33 new Police Officers over the next three years and £200,000 in CCTV investment.
· To further invest in the Council’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Team, to ensure that action is taken by the administration on this important issue, and look at the expansion of the previous Labour administration’s Young Person and VAWG focussed enforcement officers.
· To support the LBTH LGBTQI+ forum to conduct a review of safety concerns for the community in Tower Hamlets, and to resolve to end violence against the LGBTQI+ community in Tower Hamlets to truly become a No Place for Hate borough.
·
To support an additional £8.5million of
investment on top of the existing £3.4million in youth
services through the new Young Tower Hamlets programme, a
continued significant investment in Drug Treatment Services and a
redesigned and rejuvenated Community Grants programme to help
strengthen community cohesion in the Borough, which will be open to
all and subject to a fair and transparent allocation system, in
turn reducing crime and improving standards of living.
· To work with all housing providers in the Borough to improve the safety of housing and estates in Tower Hamlets, through the assessment of existing planning design and the designing out of crime hotspots and blind spots.
Following debate, the amendment moved by Councillor Amina Ali was put to the vote and was defeated.
The motion as moved by Councillor Ohid Ahmed was put to the vote and was agreed.
RESOLVED:
This Council notes:
- The rising levels of crime in Tower Hamlets since 2015.
- That Tower Hamlets is ranked in the top ten of London’s most dangerous Boroughs, ranking third out of a possible thirty-two.
- That, according to 2022 data, serious crimes are on the rise and are much higher than the London average, including Anti-Social Behaviour, Drugs, Robberies and Burglaries and violent crime, including periodic explosions in knife crime and murder.
- That it is no coincidence that this rise in crime has coincided with the cuts to police and other key public services in London and the previous administration’s indifference and unwillingness to invest in community safety.
- That huge volumes of complaints and concerns have been received by the Mayor at his surgeries and to his office from residents concerned by this increase in crime.
- That crime disproportionately impacts members of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and those on the lowest incomes.
This Council believes:
- That the residents of Tower Hamlets should be able to walk their streets and live in their homes in the knowledge that they are safe, secure and protected.
- That the fear of crime alone has a corrosive impact on people’s day-to-day quality of life.
- That to achieve this sense of security, serious investment is required in the Borough’s Community Safety services – from Police Officers to Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOS) – to ensure that these numbers can be driven down.
- That investment in key services, such as Youth Services, Community Services and third sector groups formulates an equally important part of any preventative strategy to reduce crime rates in the Borough.
- That the Mayor of London should assist this Council in providing the resources to recruit additional Police Officers.
This Council resolves:
- To support the Mayor and his administration in investing in Community Safety and procuring additional resources to drive down crime rates in the Borough.
- To task Officers with the formulation of a Crime Reduction Plan that pulls together the relevant agencies and combines prevention, intervention and inter-agency cooperation, subject to due process.
- To work and partner with the Metropolitan Police in the sharing of information and joint-tasking in tackling crime.
- To support this Administration to invest £2.9million in the recruitment of 40 Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOs), £1.6million of investment in recruiting 33 new Police Officers over the next three years and £200,000 in CCTV investment.
- To support an additional £8.5million of investment on top of the existing £3.4millionin youth services through the new Young Tower Hamlets programme, a significant investment in Drug Treatment Services and a redesigned and rejuvenated Community Grants programme to help strengthen community cohesion in the Borough, in turn reducing crime and improving standards of living.
- To work with all housing providers in the Borough to improve the safety of housing and estates in Tower Hamlets, through the assessment of existing planning design and the designing out of crime hotspots and blind spots.
Supporting documents:
- 7 - ReportAdministrationMotionDebateCouncil 18.01.23, item 7. PDF 211 KB
- 7a Labour Group Amendment to the Aspire Group Motion on Tackling Crime, item 7. PDF 210 KB