Agenda item
SCRUTINY SPOTLIGHT
The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Ohid Ahmed, will attend to report on his portfolio.
(Time allocated – 30 minutes)
Minutes:
Councillor Ohid Ahmed, Deputy Mayor, gave a detailed presentation on aspects of his portfolio, focusing on areas set out below:-
Services covered by Deputy Mayor portfolio
• Highways & transport, street cleansing, waste, recycling, graffiti & flyposting removal, pest control, trading standards, licensing, markets & street trading, parking, animal wardens, noise team, food hygiene, incontinence laundry, THEOs, drug and alcohol team, domestic violence, hate crime, ASB, CCTV, parks and open spaces, civil protection, smokefree environment team, mortuary
Highlights and successes
• Recycling rates increased from 19% to 26.5%
• Successful deployment of Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers
• 5% drop in overall crime (952 fewer crimes)
• 409 arrests under the ‘Dealer a Day’ initiative.
• Successful introduction of first Cycle Super Highway network, and implementation of first London Cycle Hire Scheme docking stations
• Successful HLF bid for Victoria Park worth £4.55m
• Perception of parks, playgrounds and open spaces up by 8% to 61%
• Community payback teams at work across the borough
• ‘Bike it’ scheme won a London Transport Award
• Major parking enhancement programme
• Moving key partners rapidly towards the development and adoption of shared targets within a Public Realm strategy
Key Priorities 2011/12
Safer Communities
• Strategic Review of Community Safety and a new Crime & Drug Reduction Plan
• Adoption of Sexual Encounter Legislation
• Street Markets Strategy Implementation
Public Realm
• Parking Enhancement Programme
• Recycling Improvement Plan
• Waste Strategy
• London Cycle Hire Scheme Phase 2
• Winter Maintenance
• Victoria Park
• Integrated Public Realm & Safer Community Services
Members of Overview and Scrutiny Committee then posed a series of detailed questions to which Councillor Ahmed, supported by Mr Stephen Halsey, Corporate Director and Andy Bamber Service Head Community Safety, responded. The question and answer session was centred on the following points:
While the increase in recycling rates was reassuring, it was recognised that some residents were still unaware of how to recycle and that the ‘pink’ recycling bags needed to be provided more efficiently.
The Council was working with Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and Arms Length Management Organisations (Almos) to try and ensure that anti-social behaviour on housing estates was being properly addressed, and this was also part of the ‘Great Place to Live Delivery Plan’ and CLC localisation and joint tasking work with the Police.
In response to a
query about why no visible examples of recycling were not presented
to residents, Mr Halsey stated that while there was no obvious
visible reward from recycling for residents, any reduction in the
amount of waste going to landfill was a financial benefit to the
Community as it reduced the need for expensive land fill and carbon
allowances to offset land fill tonnage exceeding the very limited
government target and the carbon emissions generated by the
Borough. This would also lead the Council to becoming more
environmentally sustainable as well as reducing the financial
pressures.
In response to a complaint that the pavements had not been properly gritted during the snow it was stated that gritting had been maintained through the recent bad weather but no Council had the resources to grit every single road and pavement in the Borough. The Council had implemented a new Winter Maintenance programme which had ensured that other services such as waste collection had been able to operate, while carriageways were kept clear and traffic had been moving on priority routes. The Council had also stockpiled 2000 tons of grit, some of which had been provided by Transport for London, which would help in case of any future national grit shortage and more grit storage facilities were planned.
Provision for the ability to remove chewing gum from roads and pavements using a special surface coating was being included in street cleansing contracts.
Following a very poor inspection by the Audit Commission two years previously, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had introduced the London Reform Programme and was now much improved. The CPS was now co-located within police stations enabling a more integrated prosecutions team, and virtual courts dealing with domestic violence were being embedded.
The focus of the new Crime and Drug Reduction Plan didn’t just target dealers, but also the drug users themselves as often they committed crime to support their drug habits. Funding for the Drug Intervention Programme would still be provided, and the Tower Hamlets Partnership also funded the Drugs and Alcohol Awareness (DAAT) teams and provided outreach workers.
The savings proposals for Communities, Localities and Culture were fully detailed in a report going to the Cabinet the following evening, and these would focus on reviews of the Parking Service, Pest Control Service and supervised adventure play activities, highways income and efficiencies opportunities, the restructure/redesign of Enforcement functions, service integration and commercial waste income opportunities.
Graffiti continued to be a major challenge and the Public Realm Strategy aimed to bring together all major land owners with a view to tackling the problems jointly.
From April 2011 integrated enforcement, community safety and street cleansing services would be provided and staff would be based in the area enabling residents’ requests and concerns to be dealt with more quickly.
The Chair thanked the Deputy Mayor and officers for his very detailed presentation.