Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Camron Aref-Adib, Izzy Lenga and Stephen Stark.

Members will be asked to declare any pecuniary, non-pecuniary and any other interests in respect of items on the agenda.

There were none.

Requests to speak at the Committee on a matter within its terms of reference must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 5pm two working days before the meeting.

The Chair informed members that two deputations had been received and accepted, copies of the deputation statements were included in the supplementary agenda.

The first deputation was from Sam Ebner-Landy and was about providing plant-based catering at council events; and

The second deputation was from Ben Pearson of the Save London Motorcycling Group regarding the Council’s policies towards motorcyclists in the borough.

Plant Based Catering at Council events.

The deputation was presented by:

·       Sam Ebner-Landy

The following responses were given by the deputees to Members questions:

• In terms of the cost implications of the Council switching to Plant based catering, the Cambridge City example indicated that there was no difference in terms of the cost and impact on the budget, it however had a massive climate impact.
• It was a powerful way of showing people that it was something that could be done in their own home, providing sustainable environmentally friendly food.
• It was being approached from the environmental angle rather than an ethical angle because in terms of the environment it could create drastic change as seen with other Councils around the UK. There was an absolute commitment to plant-based foods in total while still providing people with the choice to bring their own food which would have a powerful effect.
• It was important to be aware of where all nutrients consumed in all diets came from. There should be education about whatever diet you had.
• Introducing plant-based food in schools involved a lot of overly complicated issues which would need to be pitched correctly and need to address issues in terms of the cost-of-living crisis and what people could afford.
• Some of the supermarket staples which were often plant based could help to feed a lot of people at a relatively small cost.
• Camden was one of the richest Councils, also situated in London where there were so many vegan options readily available. It had the ability to lead the way in what was being provided showcasing excellent plant-based food to residents.
• It would be a good idea when events occurred in Camden to work with the Events Team to show everyone that came to Camden to show case what could be done in homes in relation to plant-based food highlighting the impact this would have on climate action.

In response, Richard Bradbury (Director of Environment and Sustainability), made the following comments:

·       Camden Food Mission was working to ensure that by 2030, everyone ate well everyday with nutritious, affordable, sustainable food outcomes.

·       So that residents were food secure and did not need to access crisis food provision and food was a foundation of children's and young people's flourishing lives.

·       Camden's food system contributed to tackling the climate crisis and enabled residents to have healthy and balanced diet.

·       The mission, included running public awareness campaigns to encourage more climate friendly diets, including the recent Camden and Re London eat like a Londoner, a campaign which was now live in bus stops and social media, and specifically took planet  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Webcasting of the Meeting

The Chair to announce the following: “In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record and film public meetings, I would like to remind everyone present that this meeting will be broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for six months after the meeting.  After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available on DVD upon request.

If you are seated in the room it is likely that the Council’s cameras will capture your image and you are deemed to be consenting to being filmed and to the use of those images and sound recordings for webcasting and/or training purposes.”

Any other announcements

The Chair announced that the meeting was broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and could be viewed on the website for six months after the meeting.  After that time, webcasts were archived and could be made available on DVD upon request. Those who were seated in the room or participated via Teams were deemed to have consented to their contributions being recorded and broadcast and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.

A member announced that Councillor Francis, The Cabinet Member for Young People and Culture had sent an email round to all Councillors advising of the Love Camden website which provided a link to all Camden’s cultural events in the borough.

A member also highlighted that there appeared to be an issue with Royal mail delivering post in some areas of the borough which could become a bigger issue.

There was none.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2023.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th November 2023 be signed as an accurate record.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities and Cohesion.

The Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities, and Cohesion is providing the Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee with her annual report for discussion.

Consideration was given to the annual report of the Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities and Cohesion.

Members made the following comments:

·       The Council did a lot of good work in supporting and working with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQI +) community and it was disappointing that the LGBTQI+ community was not specifically mentioned in the report. It would be helpful if the work the Council was doing to support this community could specifically be mentioned in future reports.

·       There was a lot of good work in the report.

In response to questions, Councillor Nadia Shah (Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities and Cohesion, Oliver Jones (Director of Recreation) made the following points:

·       With regards to the LGBT community recognition that, hate crime was under reported. Work was being done with the Police to see how reporting of all hate crime to the police could be made easier for all communities.

·       There was work ongoing with the Council’s Community Safety team in partnership with the Police and other partners in the borough to encourage reporting of these type of crimes so more resources could be targeted towards this.

·       The Community Safety Partnership Team in conjunction with the Police was also working on building trust and confidence among the community in Camden, so members of all Communities in the borough could have confidence in reporting crimes to the police.

·       The Council was raising awareness of issues through training of staff and members, guest speakers had been invited to speak highlighting challenges faced by members of the LGBT+ community and seeking advice from LGBT+ champions on what more could be done to provide support to the diverse groups in the community.

·       Special days, historical occasions and events such as Trans day and Pride had been celebrated in the borough. This had brought awareness to the wider Camden Community.

·       The Council was known to be a welcoming borough on diversity issues, recognising that there was still a lot more work to be done, it aimed to be a lead on diversity issues in London and eventually the country.

·       In terms of the absence of an Ice Rink in Camden, Islington’s press material illustrated that a large subsidy was required to maintain an ice rink. Any addition of service required a business model to make it work. The Council already had subsidised activities at its leisure centres with an active business model required to make it work. Adding more subsidised activity would make it a very challenging business environment.

·       There was a hierarchy of need with a multitude of sports considered that the Council was required to respond to. There was an ice rink at Alexandra Palace in Haringey.

·       Lee Valley consisted of multi rink provision which London Boroughs contributed to and was a space where all Londoners could go.

·       With regards to the rents across all the Community Centres, there was a big mix of different leases. The Council was going through a difficult and arduous process of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Executive Directors of Supporting People, Supporting Communities and Corporate Services

This report focusses on Quarter 2 2023-24 using a broad range of measures from each directorate and division across the organisation. This quarter, directors have been asked to provide a narrative covering key areas of challenge, opportunity, and learning (both current and future needs).

This report is divided into two main sections:

·                A summary which highlights key responses from directorates and highlights particular cross-cutting themes;

·                A detailed summary of individual service responses Quarter 2 2023-24 across each of our three Directorates.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Directors of Adults and Health, Children and Learning, Supporting Communities and Corporate Services.

In response to a question about Regeneration and Planning and for more information on how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning would be used, the Director of Recreation advised that he would request further clarification from colleagues in Planning and report back to the Committee.

ACTION: Director of Recreation

A member highlighted how difficult it was to forward plan services for a borough the size of Camden given financial constraints and the limited period for which financial payments were received from central government.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report, including the most recent data and trends and the emerging challenges identified, that relate to the services that fall within the Committee’s remit, be noted.

Report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities.

This paper provides an update on the work programme for the Committee for the 2023/24 municipal year and tracks actions from previous meetings.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities.

The Chair apologised to members commenting that the agenda items for this meeting had not been what had been agreed at the last meeting. He noted that a few items had been moved around because this meeting had fallen a week before Christmas and he felt that there would not be a huge turn out to consider the dockless bike item which had therefore been deferred to January 2024.

There were however quite a few items on the work programme for January and there might be a need to further shift some items around including considering an additional meeting between the meeting on January 22^nd, 2024, and 26^th February 2024.

Action By Principal Committee Officer

Members discussed the work programme and suggested that items on the Committee’s Work Programme should be moved around.

For the January 2024 meeting the following items were expected

·       Annual Report of the Cabinet Member for New Homes, Jobs and Community Investment

·       Thames Water

·       Dockless Bike Hire Update – Lime and Human Forest to be invited.

·       The Use of Pesticides should be moved from January 2024 to the extra meeting to be scheduled in February 2024

For the February 2024 meeting the following items were expected

·       Report from the Cabinet Adviser on Safety for Women and Girls -Cllr Djemai

·       Violence against Women and Girls Update moved from January 2024 - February 2024

·       Climate Action Plan Annual Review including Climate Resilience Plan

·       Transport Strategy Delivery update

Items moved to the Spring.

The Met Police Turnaround Plan

Facial Recognition - Police.

Night-time Economy Strategy

NLWA Joint Waste Strategy – (The Director of Environment and Sustainability to confirm with NLWA if this was possible in December

Response of the Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden to the Circular Economy Panel Recommendations. - to be moved to a later date.

RESOLVED –

THAT the above changes to the Work Programme be agreed.

ACTION BY: Senior Policy and Strategy Officer / Principal Committee Officer

There was none.