Agenda and minutes

The Committee are asked to approved the minutes of the last meeting held on 29 April 2019.

Report of the Chief Executive

The constitution of the Committee and the appointment of the Chair and Vice Chair for the 2019/20 municipal year, as approved by the Council at its meeting on 17 May 2019 was noted.

Joint report of the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director, Corporate Services and Governance

The Role and Remit of the Communities and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee was reported and noted.

The Committee received a report which provided the year end assessment of performance and delivery for the period of 2018/19 in relation to the Council’s Thrive agenda.

The report forms part of the Council’s performance management framework and  gives an overview of progress for the priorities appropriate to the Communities and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC).

The Council’s new strategic approach Making Gateshead a Place Where Everyone Thrives, was approved by Cabinet in March 2018 to ensure the Council continues to get the best outcomes for local people and remains a viable and sustainable organisation in the future.

Committee were advised at the meeting in December 2018, that a review of the strategic indicators has been undertaken to ensure their appropriateness in measuring performance relating to the Thrive agenda.

As part of the Council’s performance management framework, five year targets were replaced with a single 2020 target with strategic indicators identified as either target or tracker indicators. These targets were approved be Cabinet on 12 July 2016.

The Strategic Indicators aligned to OSC Communities and Place have been reviewed to ensure they are appropriate in measuring performance in respect of the Thrive agenda.

Implementation of new strategic indicators will be developed for Culture and Leisure and introduced as part of the 2019/20 performance reporting cycle.

Report of the Strategic Director, Communities and Environment

The Committee received a report which provided them with a copy of the statutory Partnership Plan for Gateshead Community Safety Board, which provides details of the strategic priorities and workstreams for the next 12 months.

The Committee were advised that in January 2019, the Community Safety Board received a comprehensive overview of the Strategic Assessment findings and agreed to undertake public consultation on its draft priorities for 2019/20. This process was carried out over a six-week period and ended in March 2019.

The consultation has elicited a significant number of responses, with more than 900 replies over the six-week period. Analysis of the responses highlight:

·         41% of respondents felt that their neighbourhood has got worse in the last 12 months. We know crime has steadily increased over the last three-years – with levels rising by a further 4% (+863 additional crimes) on last year.

·         However, despite the feeling that their neighbourhood has got worse, most respondents still report feeling safe, with 76% of people say they feel very of fairly safe in their neighbourhood.

·         60% of respondents stated they do not feel ant-social behaviour or crime are specific problems, which may suggest national headlines impacting

·         Over a third of respondents believe partner agencies (including Gateshead Council and Northumbria Police) work well together to tackle the issues that matter to them.

In terms of the proposed strategic priority areas, anti-social behaviour was ranked as most important followed by domestic abuse and substance misuse. Fewer respondents felt hate crime was a priority. The reason for this could be because its an issue that affects a very small proportion of the community. In addition, environmental issues such as fly-tipping, graffiti, dog-fouling and littering continued to be identified as key concerns – all of which are visible incidents which impact on feelings of safety and perceptions of Council/Police to tackle issues and is linked to the wider anti-social behaviour agenda.

There are no references made within the consultation to issues such as County Lines, Modern Day Slavery and Knife Crime – and yet, we know these issues are closely intertwined in community safety activity. These areas will be picked up as part of the work around anti-social behaviour and substance misuse.

Analysis of the qualitative data highlighted information which has been shared

with Gateshead Operational Tasking Group and Missing, Sexually Exploited and Trafficked Group for (e.g. hotspot locations).

The Five Strategic themes were confirmed for 2019/20:

·         Anti-Social Behaviour & Environmental Crime

·         Domestic Abuse

·         Substance Misuse – Reducing the Harms

·         Hate Crime, Tension Monitoring and Community Cohesion

·         Preventing Violent Extremism (Terrorism)

Tailored action plans will be produced under each priority area which will set out the partnership work and activities that will be delivered over the next 12 months to make Gateshead a place where everyone can thrive. Lead partners were identified by the Board and they are responsible for ensuring action plans are working effectively and are required to feedback to the Board in relation to key achievements, gaps and barriers. The lead for each  ...  view the full minutes text for item CPL41

Report of the Strategic Director, Communities and Environment

The committee received a presentation and report providing an update on Anti-Social Behaviour.

The presentation provided councillors with an update in relation to how anti-social behaviour is being tackled within Gateshead and focused on:

·         The operational delivery models (including Neighbourhood Tasking and Problem Solving) that are currently in place;

·         Overview of the ASB Tools and Powers that are being used within Gateshead to address ASB concerns/issues

·         Specific case study examples of how partnership working has been used to help solve problems for residents of Gateshead, this will include specific examples of local interventions that are being deployed to help address ASB in estates as well as to tackle the behaviour of complex and persistent offenders.

Report of the Strategic Director, Communities and Environment

The Committee received a report setting out the approach to dealing with vacant sites in private ownership in Gateshead. At future meetings examples of a range of different sites and proposed solutions will be presented to demonstrate the complexity of tackling the issues associated with some sites and highlight the range of tools and powers available.

The Committee were advised that there are currently 45 vacant and problematic sites identified. The list has been informed by using the Brownfield register, planning application data, ward based issues and personal knowledge from officers on the working group. Ward Councillors have also provided information regarding sites in their wards which have been added to the list for the group to work towards resolving.

The Committee were advised on case studies, examples of success and examples of ongoing work as a basis for the approach.

Joint report of the Chief Executive and the Strategic Director of Corporate Services and Governance

The Committee received a report setting out the provisional work programme for the municipal year 2019/20.

The Committee’s provisional work programme was endorsed at the meeting held on 29 April 2019 and Councillors have agreed that further reports will be b rough tot future meetings to highlight current issues/identify any changes/additions to this programme.

The appendix sets out the work programme as it currently stands. Any changes proposed to the programme are set out in bold and italics for ease of identification.