Agenda and minutes

There were none.

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

Councillor Matthew Kirk declared in relation to item 6 (Camden Evening and Night-time Economy report) that he was Treasurer of the London Piano Festival Association at Kings Place which was just outside the boundary of the borough.

Councillor Rishi Madlani in relation to the same item declared that he was a Council member of RADA which had a licensed venue in the borough.

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.

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 four deputations had been received and accepted, copies of the deputation statements were included in the supplementary agenda.

The 4 deputations related to item 6, the Camden Evening and Night-Time Economy Report and were from Barbara Brownlee – Chief Executive Soho Housing, Katie Gemmell - Chair Tenants and Residents Association Camden Town (TRACT), David Kaner – on behalf of Covent Garden Community Association and Tricia Richards – Chief Executive Castlehaven Community Association.

The Committee was informed that the deputations would be heard when that item was reached on the agenda.

There were none.

Report of the Cabinet Member for New Homes, Jobs and Investment.

This report details the Camden Evening and Night-time Strategy. The strategy aims to preserve and grow the borough’s dynamic evening and night-time economy in a way that is inclusive and safe for all and balances growth with responsible stewardship and a focus on what makes Camden’s evening and night-time economy special.

The report is going to the Cabinet because the Strategy needs to be approved and adopted.

Consideration was given to the deputation statements referred to in Item 4 above.

Superintendent Jack Rowlands Met Police Officer was in attendance and was invited to comment on the deputation statements and the Evening and Night-Time Economy Strategy.

He informed the Committee that from the Police perspective the Nighttime Economic strategy impacted the higher generating crime wards not only in the borough but across London, highlighting that Bloomsbury and Camden Town were amongst the top 20 of the highest generating crime wards in London. Remarking that although the Police had dedicated town centre teams, emergency response teams and other units that policed those areas, resources were limited and there was not likely to be an increase in resources in the near future. He was of the view that putting communities first, connecting and listening to residents’ needs was always the right way to go as well as being mindful that there were both positive and negative impacts of the strategy. Commenting that Camden did not want to see an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour in the area providing reassurance that he would work with the Council to mitigate it.

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

• The strategy appeared to be concentrating on post-midnight drinking, it needed diversification and to include things that would encourage young people and families to get out and about. This included developing nondrinking and non-alcoholic venues.
• The Council should consult with young people and should not assume it was only about alcohol venues.
• Residents did not like the proposals in the policy to remove the cumulative impact zones in areas around Camden Town.
• There were a lot of issues with the strategy particularly in relation to anti-social behaviour in the green space off of Camden High Street. There were health and safety risks with broken glass and cabs causing noise nuisance in the early hours of the morning when picking up patrons.
• The concern for residents was that the Licensing Policy was based on the Evening and Night-time Economy Strategy which was proposing to extend the hours for all venues including alcohol serving venues.
• The issue also for residents was that balance was not included in the vision. The Licencing Policy was looking to extend the hours for venues and remove cumulative impact areas which would increase the consumption and sale of alcohol in the area on the other hand there was not enough balance and consideration provided from the point of view of residents.
• A range of diverse and different types of venues could not flourish in the borough presently until the prevalence of alcohol led venues was reduced.
• In terms of consultation on the strategy and involvement with the Citizens Assembly, Katie Gemmell was asked for her comments prior to the Citizens Assembly being established and applied to be involved in the Citizens Assembly but was not selected and was not involved. The only input she had was to respond with the deputation when the draft Citizens Assembly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Report of the Cabinet Advisor on Safety for Women and Girls.

This report explores and sets out recommendations on how to ensure women and girls have the knowledge and confidence to navigate services, access support and create projects, and how our community can take practical action together to provide safer estates, streets, and venues.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Adviser on Reducing Violence and Abuse for Women and Girls.

Councillor Nasrine Djemai Cabinet Adviser on Reducing Violence and Abuse for Women and Girls gave the following key responses to questions:

• Domestic abuse and violence covered a huge area, in future she would want to look into how this affected the LGBT community and would want to speak to LGBT charities and organisations.
• A way of creating safe venues in the borough was to have open lines of engagement, encouraging venues to have a collaborative approach for example this would involve sharing information about perpetuators of harassment or violence between venues and alerting the police.
• Self-defence was one of the tools people could use to look after themselves and act confidently. Nine times out of ten perpetuators of violence were deterred from trying to approach a person that acted confidently.
• Self-defence was not only a good tool used for defending yourself from an attack/harassment, but it was also good for physical and mental wellbeing and the confidence from this could be used throughout all aspects of life. It would be good if this could be shared throughout all Camden schools providing kids the opportunity to take this up if they wished.
• Discussion about self-defence had taken place with kids at Regents Park School who had shown an interest in taking this up.
• Hopscotch was already undertaking a project in Haverstock School with focussed sessions among young people on positive masculinity and negative behaviours. Attitudes were slowly beginning to change, the challenge was how this could be sustained long term and the service spread across all schools in Camden.
• In relation to discussions with young boys about Andrew Tate, the discussions were quite uncomfortable for the young boys as they appeared not to have been exposed to these conversations. The discussions needed to include a whole range of issues, however discussions about Andrew Tate did not feature that much in the conversations.
• An experience of a single mum with a 14-year-old son was that the son was aware of who Andrew Tate was from social media he was however not seen as someone who was good or admired. A way of tackling this was through continued education of children from a young age.
• Having self-defence on the secondary school curriculum along with Personal, Social. Health and Economic Education (PSHE) would shape the way violence and harassment was viewed.
• There was the need to have more women in all areas that crimes and harassment of women could be reported to and who could serve as role models.
• Educating children in primary school about decency and about respect for women was already being done through reading and storytelling and speaking about kindness. It was suggested that it was important to have this in secondary schools because that was when there was more awareness.
• In terms of the Police Strategy of tackling violence against women, the Executive Director Supporting Communities advised that a report was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Executive Director Supporting Communities.

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

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

The Committee discussed the Work Programme, with members suggesting that the following items be included on the Work Programme for 2024/25:

·       GLL or Better Leisure Centre to understand what they were doing in Camden considering they had financial difficulties,

·       An item on Culture, and Libraries

·       Royal Mail be included on the Work Programme to discuss issues with missing post-delivery in the borough.

RESOLVED –

THAT the Work Programme be noted.

There was none.