The Head of Environment presented the report which had been requested by the Committee following the pilot of a community safety hub.  The report highlighted the strength of collaborative working currently undergone by the partnership, but outlined the benefits of a co-located hub.

The Chair thanked the Head of Environment for presenting the report and welcomed the move to a co-located hub as a principle as it would lead to increased communication, better decision making and the ability to achieve more across the groups involved.  He asked for assurance that the move was not about taking anything away from the service.  Members were assured that bringing the partnership together in one location would mean increased efficiency and the ability to respond more quickly as things occurred.

Councillor Jones agreed that the change was needed.  He asked whether a location had already been identified, and for elaboration on the phrase “costs being negotiated”.  The report alluded to 8 desks which had been identified within the Civic Centre.  When attempting to bring all the relevant parties together there would be cost implications, particularly as the Police required certain infrastructure, although it was thought they would be relatively small.  It could be that each of the partners would contribute towards what they required, but the Head of Environment would clarify outside of the meeting.

Councillor Collins expressed his appreciation for the work of the Community Safety Partnership Hub and echoed previous sentiments that a co-location would allow more effective and more rapid working.  He asked whether there was any idea of a date when the proposal would be fully operational.  A date was not yet available; the report sought a steer from the Committee as to whether they supported the change.  Councillor Collins asked, and the Head of Environment confirmed that it was now a matter of logistics more than overcoming problems.

Councillor Piccolo sought clarification on the wording of recommendation 1.2.  The Chair interjected that, following a previous discussion, the recommendation should be read that officers would progress plans with the Committee happy to approve them, with reference to an update to the Committee as the plan progressed.

Councillor Piccolo requested figures regarding paragraph 2.4 of the report, and also the figures for quarter 3 so Members could make a comparative assessment.  He noted that, in reference to paragraph 2.5 of the report, the fortnightly meetings were never attended by representatives from organisations such as Neighbourhood Watch and proposed they be invited from time to time to give an insight into residents’ perception of issues, regardless of the statistical data.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the Committee support the concept of a co-located community safety partnership hub.

2)    That the Committee work with Essex Police command team to agree a mutually suitable agreement.

The Chair reminded Members that this was the last scheduled meeting of the Cleaner, Greener and Safer Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the municipal year and as such there was no work programme item listed on the agenda.  He outlined that there may be a need to request an additional meeting before the end of the year.  He asked whether Members would agree, in principle.  The Committee agreed to an additional meeting before the end of the municipal year.

Members were invited to suggest issues either for the additional meeting or as a potential framework for next year’s Committee.  The Chair requested an update on the “Clean it, Cut it, Fill it” campaign, particularly the statistics around levels of litter and detritus.  He also asked for an update to Environmental Enforcement.

The Vice-Chair asked for additional information regarding the work of volunteer groups within the borough, to ensure that as much as possible was being done to keep the borough clean without additional costs to the Council.

Councillor Piccolo agreed and added that it would not go amiss to recognise the contributions of volunteer groups.  He asked whether there were any plans to follow up the “Bin it” campaign with a more targeted strategy along the waterfronts, following the presentation by the River Thames Society and Thames21 at the previous meeting.

Members discussed the British Spring Clean event which would be running from 3 – 5 March 2017.  The event was community driven with support from the Environment Team.  Residents were asked to register if they wished to take part so that the Council could provide litter pickers, waste sacks and PPE where necessary.  The Environment Team would also collect all the filled sacks and consideration was being given to staff activities during the period..  In terms of additional publicity the event was being promoted on the Council’s website and there had been several press releases, local organisations and community forums were also being contacted to publicise the event further and there were plans to update people on locations so that they could take place if they decided on the day.  Councillor Piccolo noted that the British Spring Clean event was to take place a week after the “Love Grays” launch event and suggested that might be a positive opportunity to promote the event to local residents.