Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Merlita Bryan as the Chair of the Committee for the 2016/17 municipal year.

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Liaqat Ali as the Vice-Chair of the Committee for the 2016/17 municipal year.

Councillor Liaqat Ali

Zenn Athar

Ursula Dove

Maya Fletcher

Rosie Jarett

Lucas Willen

None.

Last meeting held 17 February 2016 (for confirmation)

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Director of Community Protection and Corporate Director of Commercial and Operations

Richard Taylor, Environmental Health and Safer Places Manager, gave a presentation on air quality and health in Nottingham, highlighting the following points:

(a)  air is comprised of 79% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. The remaining 1% is "other" such as natural emissions and particles and emissions from human activities. Near to roads, around 3/4 of emission contributions are from road transport. In addition to gases there are particles (such as sand, dust, carbon, and diesel particulate emissions) present in the air;

(b)  air pollution shortens lives, the great smog shortened 12,000 people's lives in London alone. In 2008 it was estimated that 29,000 people died early due to particle pollution, this figure was later revised upwards to 40,000 when the effects of nitrogen dioxide were re-assessed;

(c)  during air pollution episodes with higher concentrations of pollutants, these issues become much more apparent. When there is an episode this is usually due to air not moving around enough, so pollutants build up. There was a big episode in April 2014 affecting a significant proportion of the country;

(d)  there is discrepancy between WHO recommended levels of pollutants and national and EU limits, so we may reach our own targets but we are still not within WHO recommended safe levels;

(e)  the Clean Air Acts (1956, 1968, 1993) each caused a significant change in visible air pollutants and improved situations significantly. Air pollution is now far less visible. Black particles of smoke and sulphur dioxide reduced dramatically due to the introductions of these acts. In 1995 some older measurement equipment could no longer measure the levels as they were now so low. The current pollution problem is road transport related. The 1995 act introduced local air quality management, Councils are required to assess air quality and come up with a plan to improve air quality to meet objectives;

(f)  concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in Nottingham follow the major roads into the city. Air quality management areas have been introduced to reflect these areas. Nottingham City Council has attempted to change behaviours by encouraging walking, cycling, and public transport use. All local authorities had to do this, and neighbouring local authorities are also working together. It is still a problem though as car use is still very high. Nottingham is meeting legal air quality objectives, but not WHO guideline levels. There is a general trend down on particulate pollutants;

(g)  Public Health England plotted background particle concentrations for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, which confirmed that dense urban areas have higher particle levels. This helped the argument for what needs to be done to improve air quality;

(h)  in Nottingham we recognise that air pollution has an impact on health. Air quality is now included in the joint strategic needs assessment, and a range of behaviours and programmes to improve air quality are promoted;

(i)  the government has announcement clean air zones, Nottingham will be one of a number of city's mandated to declare one. DEFRA have slightly different qualifiers, so their areas don't  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Inspector Rob Wilson, Nottinghamshire Police, provided a verbal update on policing in the area to the committee:

(a)  the Police are now based in a modern building at the top of maid Marian Way, along with some Nottingham City Council teams such as Licensing and Trading Standards. There have been some teething problems, but overall it is a good facility. There is a front counter with service during office hours;

(b)  there have been some staffing changes around police inspectors covering different areas. The total number will be reduced, but the number of front line officers will be kept as stable as possible. Effectively there will be no immediate change in this area;

(c)  all 3 wards have had an overall decrease in crime based on the end-of-financial-year figures;

(d)  Arboretum has seen a total reduction of 75 crimes. Anti-social behaviour has reduced by 224 calls. Burglaries have reduced by 13. There have also been reductions in crime so far in this financial year. There were some robberies towards the end of the last financial year, but a significant number of arrests were made. Future work includes tackling street drinking as the weather improves;

(e)  Radford and Park has seen a total reduction of 21 crimes. Home burglaries increased by 24 which is concerning - there are a number of Houses in Multiple Occupations (HMOs) in the area which are often particularly affected by home burglaries. Work continues to try to combat this, with patrols, investigations, and a number of arrests having recently been made. Anti-social behaviour has increased by 5 offences. Future work includes tackling noise, begging and violence linked to drug supply;

(f)  Dunkirk and Lenton has seen a total reduction of 10 offences, with Anti-Social Behaviour reduced by 20 calls. Dwelling burglaries reduced by 15. Future work includes tackling noise, drug related crime, and un-licensed scrap metal dealers;

There were a number of questions and comments from the Committee:

(g)  some member of the committee expressed concern regarding the removal of the City Division of Nottinghamshire Police. In light of fantastic crime reductions, they felt this re-organisation was ill-advised, and could place partnership working in jeopardy. Inspector Wilson reassured the committee of Nottinghamshire Police’s commitment to partnership working and crime reduction, regardless of whether there is a separate Chief Superintendent for the City and the County;

(h)  the committee asked for feedback on what issues there have been in Bridlington. Inspector Wilson confirmed that there have been some youth related and drug related issues, and will feedback in more detail to Councillors;

(i)  a citizen expressed concerns regarding a bookmakers in Hyson Green, where customers have been drunk, dealing drugs, exposing themselves, and engaging in violent crime. Citizens, residents associations and councillors have repeatedly asked for security cameras to be placed in this area. Inspector Wilson will follow up with these issues with the citizens concerned after the meeting.

RESOLVED to note the information in the policing update.

Report of Nottingham City Homes

Paul Howard, Tenancy and Estate Manager at Nottingham City Homes (NCH), presented an update to the Committee, highlighting the following points:

(a)  there have been some staffing changes at NCH which affect the areas covered. These are the last planned staffing changes for a while;

(b)  NCH is hoping to complete works on any bathroom or kitchen that was missed in the last upgrade. If anybody knows of an NCH tenant whose kitchen or bathroom is in need of works, please have them contact NCH;

(c)  the community mediation service now up and running, and NCH will update Area Committees on its progress;

(d)  at the Inside Housing awards, held by the Chartered Institute of Housing, NCH won the Equality and Diversity category award for their Women in Construction initiative, and were runners-up in their approach to anti-social behaviour.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  note the update and performance information as set out in appendices 1 and 2 to the report;

(2)  note the allocation of funds for 2016/17:

(3)  approve the Area Capital Programme funding requests as below:

Linda Wright, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented the Ward reports to the Committee.

The new style of ward report focuses on ward priorities, provides details of community events, and replaces the old ward performance reports. The recent community cohesion events have been very successful.

RESOLVED to note the information in the ward reports.

Report of Director of Neighbourhood Services

Deborah Wilson, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented a report on the Area Capital Fund, requesting approval for a number of schemes. Iffat Iqbal provided an updated appendix detailing these schemes at the meeting (attached to the minutes).

RESOLVED to approve the following Area Capital Fund schemes:

Report of Director of Neighbourhood Services

Deborah Wilson presented a report on delegated authority projects.

RESOLVED to note the actions taken under delegated authority, as set out below:

21 September 2016

23 November 2016

22 February 2017

AGREED to meet at 5:30pm on the following dates:

·  21 September 2016

·  23 November 2016

·  22 February 2017