Venue: Ground Floor Committee Room - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG
Contact: Laura Wilson Senior Governance Officer
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Councillor Cate Woodward - leave |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS Minutes: None. |
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To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 4 July 2018 Minutes: Councillor Jim Armstrong’s apologies were not recorded in the minutes of the last meeting. With this alteration then minutes were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair. |
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Discussion with the Portfolio Holder for Community Protection PDF 149 KB Report of the Head of Legal and Governance Minutes: Toby Neal, Portfolio Holder for Community Protection, gave a presentation outlining progress within his portfolio against the Council Plan priorities and the main priorities and challenges for 2018/19, highlighting the following:
(a)
18 out of the 26 measures in the Council Plan that come under
Councillor Neal’s portfolio are rated green; (b)
there has been an increase in crime but this is influenced by wider
factors such as new reporting methods, and the baselines for
measurement will need to be adjusted; (c)
a reduction in Domestic Violence is a
key deliverable in the Council Plan. All services have been
protected to support this including support services at GP
surgeries and midwives; (d)
there has been an increase in the
reporting of hate crime in the City. This could be seen to show a
more positive environment where citizens feel supported
to report crime; (e)
the removal of the City Police Division undermined years of
collaborative work between the Police and the Council, but the new
Chief Constable is more open to a geographical approach to policing
in the City enabling a more positive relationship going
forward; (f)
the Council is working with the Police and Crime Commissioner to
maintain a network of police stations and access points across the
city, but this is challenging due to lack of resources; (g)
Councillor Neal’s portfolio also covers city centre
management, and he has been bringing groups together to aid city
centre regeneration and an improved street scene; (h) homelessness is an increasing problem in the City, and requires an effective method to support those at risk of eviction and finding fit temporary accommodation. The aim is for the use of bed and breakfasts to finish by Christmas, and the Council is moving to a ‘no first night out’ policy;
The following points were raised during the discussion which followed:
(i)
particular types of crime, such as knife
crime, are given a higher profile by the media. Funding for youth
services has reduced, so the Council works with a number of
grassroots organisations around these specific issues and tries to
keep a visible Community Protection presence; (j)
not all anti-social behaviour is a police matter, as some behaviour
which was previously recorded as anti-social behaviour is now
recorded as public nuisance and is not always dealt with as a
criminal offence; (k)
the Selective Licensing scheme places the same burden of
responsibility on private rented sector landlords as social
landlords to make all reasonable efforts to reduce anti-social
behaviour; (l)
some police have moved from Byron House to Radford Road Police
Station, which has made it more difficult for them to work jointly
with Community Protection Officers; (m)parking enforcement officers will always respond to
reports from citizens and Councillors, but around half of them are
based in the city centre and can’t cover the entire city at
one time. If Nottingham City introduced charges for
residents’ parking schemes then more officers could be
employed but the Council does not wish for residents to incur
additional costs; (n)
three pilot schemes are taking place around schools to create a
better environment with less obstruction from parking, and more
powers to enforce this for the Council; (o)
ongoing engagement activity takes place with new and emerging
communities such as the Roma community, as well as activity with
established communities; (p)
Community Protection is currently under resourced. CPOs’ job
is very demanding and requires a high commitment but does not pay
very well so they often move on to more senior roles in the police
or other areas of the Council. Their rates of pay and career
opportunities are currently under review. RESOLVED to thank Councillor Neal for the information provided. |
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Report of the Head of Legal and Governance
Additional documents: Minutes: Jason Gooding, Head of Parking, Fleet and Transport, delivered a presentation to the Committee highlighting the following:
(a)
Nottingham City has an ambition to become an exemplar for Ultra Low
Emission Vehicles (ULEVs), leading by example and embracing new
technology. This would see at least 22% of the Council’s
fleet as ULEV vehicles, with reduced emissions, and further
commercial opportunities for the Council; (b)
Parking, Fleet and Transport Services manage on and off street
parking in the city, the Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) and Workplace
Parking Charge, as well as the Council’s fleet of
vehicles; (c)
the Council has a large fleet of
vehicles which mostly runs on diesel. Lighter vehicles are being
systematically replaced with ULEVs, with over 38 so far
replaced; (d)
for medium and heavy vehicles there is nothing market ready at the
moment in terms of ULEVs, but the Council has secured £1.5m
of government funding in order to pilot conversion of a number of
its heavy fleet vehicles from diesel to ULEV, such as electric
sweepers and electric cage tippers; (e)
the Vehicle to Grid initiative is the first of its kind in Europe
and allows electric vehicles to be charged as usual, but also to
feed electricity stored within their batteries back to the grid
when they are not needed; (f)
the Council is planning the development
of a fully equipped ULEV service maintenance and repair centre at
Eastcroft Depot. This will save the
Council money in the upkeep of its ULEV vehicles, whilst also
presenting a commercial opportunity as
there are currently no such independent facilities for public
sector and commercial fleets; (g) new telematics systems across the Council’s fleet to measure and monitor drivers’ behaviour and emission impact will provide a clear picture for improvement and maximise fleet utilisation.
The following points were raised during the
discussion which followed: (h)
although there are no market ready heavy
fleet ULEVs available at the moment, battery technology is
improving all the time. This is why it makes sense to buy the
vehicles using a phased approach. Trialling these vehicles will
also provide insight and deliver a business case for future
investment; (i)
in the private sector there has been a
huge increase in the number of delivery vans. At the moment these
can be driven on a normal driving license if they are under a
certain weight which ULEVs on the market exceed; (j)
batteries currently take 7-8 hours to charge on a slow charge, but
can be charged more quickly in 30 minutes on a rapid charge which
is more expensive; (k)
reducing the WPL for ULEVs has been
considered but dismissed as the WPL is intended to reduce
congestion rather than emissions. The WPL provides support to 50-60
businesses for cycle provision, charge points and ULEV pool
cars; (l)
the price of ULEVs should reduce in the
future as the market expands and a second hand vehicle market
develops. Diesel vehicles are likely to reduce in value; (m)hybrid vehicles are useful for longer journeys and reducing CO2 emissions, but not so good for short journeys and local air pollution as ULEVs. They are also very expensive.
RESOLVED to thanks Jason for the information provided. |
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Report of the Head of Legal and Governance
Minutes: RESOLVED to note the Committee’s work programme for the remainder of the municipal year. |