Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence was received from Councillor Rishi Madlani who was substituted by Councillor Liam Martin-Lane.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Nina De Ayala Parker and Izzy Lenga.

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.

There were none.

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.

There was none.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th September 2023.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th September 2023 be signed as an accurate record.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Safer Communities.

The Cabinet Member for Safer Communities will provide the Committee with her annual report for discussion.

The Chair informed the Committee that the Cabinet Member for Safer Communities was not available to answer questions on her Annual Report this evening due to her being unwell.

A member requested that a report on the incident and what took place in Huntley Street outside the University College London Hospital (UCLH) involving a group of homeless people and some of the Council’s contracted service providers and partners be circulated to the Committee.

Action By: Cabinet Member for Safer Communities

The Committee sent the Cabinet Member best wishes for a speedy recovery and RESOLVED:

That

·       the report be noted without any further discussion; and

·       if members had any questions to write direct to the Cabinet Member for Safer Communities for a response.

Report of the Superintendent of Police.

The report is a response:

·       to a number of concerns raised by residents within the black community about what they view as disproportionate policing; 

·       The Chair of the Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee queries on how Camden/Islington Police Borough Command Unit monitors the impact of policing from an equalities perspective; and

·       what approach the local policing team is taking towards supporting the delivery of the recommendations outlined within the Casey Review.

Consideration was given to the report of the Superintendent of Police.

In response to questions, Superintendent Jack Rowland (Metropolitan Police), made the following points:

·       It was incorrect to say that Camden and Islington Police Borough Command Unit was mistreating Black and ethnic minorities. In relation to a number of incidents raised and as indicated in the written response provided to the Chair of the Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee the Police were required to act on sensitive intelligence information which was developed through a number of channels. The Police were duty bound to process the information and sign off any prospective warrants at the Magistrates Court which was what had been done in the case of the incident mentioned.

·       The warrant and raid were conducted based on the information developed an although no firearm was found, it was important to recognise that this did not mean that the intelligence was wrong and a realisation of the impact this had on local communities.

·       Since the issue was raised by the Committee, the Police had offered to meet with the family concerned though this had not yet occurred. The resident had their complaint recorded which was investigated and overseen by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). The resident had received a report on the outcome of the investigation.

·       The findings from the investigation were that there were no issues of poor performance around the development of intelligence, how the intelligence was dealt with and the execution of the warrant on the part of the Police BCU. However, as previously indicated the specialist Police unit did not inform the local Police and some learning had come out of this in relation to the impact and mitigation on local communities.

·       The Police understood the traumatic effect raids had on people, it was however necessary and what the Police needed to do to keep Camden safe and take firearms off the street.

·       With regards to the second incident reported in the Camden New Journal (CNJ) this was reviewed and investigated, it was found that the complainant made no racial elements to the allegation around what occurred. The Police made every attempt to identify and arrest the suspects but unfortunately this was not successful and the Police felt sorry that the victim was let down and had to go to the CNJ to express that.

·       With regards to the third incident of a family being subject to invasive Police visits looking for people that did not live in the property, the Police owned up to the error of misinterpreting information. The person concerned had been given the opportunity to make a complaint which would be investigated. Lessons would be learnt from this.

·       Police BCU was making sure it listened, responded and learnt from feedback provided by the local community as well as working with the Council and local community groups that it came into contact with and were affected by police action and activity.

·       The Police did not want to convey the impression of fear or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Report of the Circular Economy Panel.

This report contains the findings and recommendations of the Circular Economy Panel, and details of the work completed by the Panel in reaching their conclusions.

Consideration was given to the report of the Circular Economy Scrutiny Panel.

Councillor Fulbrook (Chair of the Panel) introduced the report which investigated the applicability of concepts related to the Circular Economy in the work of the Council, considered any appropriate recommendations for circularity within the Council and more broadly in support for circularity in the public and private sectors within the borough.

He likened the report to the proverbial school report where there were some positive aspects that Camden was in the forefront of and doing well in terms of environmental concerns and sustainability, there were some areas where the Council could do better and there were some new challenges, new opportunities with potentially new solutions to further the work and achieve the ambitious targets the Council had. He noted that from the findings and conclusions, the Panel had made 43 recommendations and requested that the Committee asked the Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden to prepare a response to the report and recommendations and come back to the Committee with the response.

Members made the following comments:

·       The Chair praised the very comprehensive report noting that it covered so many areas and thanked the Panel members for a deep dive into the topic.

·       A lot of the information contained in the report resonated and sat with how I tried to live my life, particularly in relation to fixing and repairing clothes rather than buying new things, the section on how to alleviate child hunger and the education of children and young people could help children and young people to influence their parents.

·       Retrofits in libraries such as West Hampstead Library could provide access to tools such as drills and carpet cleaners for transient people in the area.

·       Cycle safety, one of the local primary schools in the borough was providing weekly cycling lessons, it would be good if this could be extended throughout the borough for all primary school children.

·       Proud to be associated with the work of the Panel and tributes to the Chair of the Scrutiny Panel for the efficient way he steered the Panel and the large amount of work he did in producing the report.

In response to Committee members question the following information was provided:

·       Libraries were useful for all sorts of things not only as a focal point for education but with some imaginative thinking in conjunction with schools a lot more could be done in terms of recycling of things such as school uniforms. -There was some cycling training happening in Camden although not at the level of some other local government institutions. However, the more cycling infrastructure available in schools and across the borough the better. There were more possibilities for this to happen as more parents were cycling and this in turn could encourage younger primary school children to cycle.

·       There was also the possibility of looking into waste services being run with E-Cargo bikes which could reduce the level of road traffic and particulates in the atmosphere.

·       Anything  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Director of Environment and Sustainability.

This report provides the Committee with current local and national work influencing Environment Services across Camden.  The report gives an overview of recent community engagement work focussing on people’s experience of waste, recycling and street cleansing services alongside Central Government’s Waste Reform proposals being implemented over the coming years.  Information is also provided on the current process for Camden’s Environment Services contract renewal.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Environment and Sustainability.

In response to questions, Councillor Adam Harrison (Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden) Richard Bradbury (Director of Environment and Sustainability) and Rachel Bailey (Head of Environment Services) made the following points:

·       In terms of incentivising people towards behavioural change such as recycling, repairing and sharing, the Council had updated things such as the Camden Echo points scheme formerly known as the cycle awards scheme which encouraged residents to recycle more and were awarded points the more, they recycled. This was also extended to encompass healthy travel.

·       The Council was also trialling new initiatives such as the raised bag scheme, peer-to-peer learning in communities which encouraged behaviour change as well as making things easier for people from an educational and service design perspective.

·       Providing clear guidance on how to use recycling services and communicating this to local communities was another way of encouraging behaviour change.

·       There was a regular email sent out to over 60,000 people providing information on the echo rewards points system this was a way of incentivising people to do different things.

·       The echo points system rewarded those with the largest number of points gained each month due to either recycling more things or taking up healthier modes of travel such as cycling, with cash payments or vouchers. People also got to vote for their preferred charity for the money to be sent to.

·       The deposit return scheme was a government led incentive encouraging people to return plastic items back into the system in exchange for a small reward.

·       The old water fountains required regular cleaning to ensure that they were suitable for use. There were about 8 water fountains scattered around the borough funded and maintained by Thames Water and the Mayor of London’s scheme.

·       It was recognised that access to a regular supply of water was good, fortunately there were schemes where cafes and others provide water. The mayor had a map of where these fountains were located.

·        The Council looked after the older water fountain such as the one in Swiss Cottage which was challenging to maintain operationally as it was regularly vandalised and flooded quite regularly.

·       In terms of the level of engagement with residents, there was an on-line survey based on the Good Life Framework which asked open ended questions of residents, 813 responses were received. There were also some in-depth responses from residents which were still being analysed. In addition, a public engagement exercise was conducted where residents were invited to workshops.

·       Some of the feedback related to Veolia not being responsive, frequency of street cleansing, jet washing, the number of litter bins around the borough, missed collections and waste getting ripped open as well as fly tipping. Some people praised their local street sweeper indicating that they did a good job as well as positive feedback about the Camden Clean Streets App.

·       It appeared not enough people knew about the Camden Clean Streets App, so the more this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

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.

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

For the December 2023 meeting the following items were expected

·       Annual report of the Cabinet Member for Voluntary Sector, Equalities and Cohesion

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

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

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

·       The Use of Pesticides should be moved from February 2024 to January 2024

·       Response of the Cabinet Member for a Sustainable Camden to the Circular Economy Panel Recommendations.

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

RESOLVED –

THAT the above changes to the Work Programme be agreed.

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

There was none.