Councillor Ahmed  -  personal

Bev Pearson (Radford Care Group)

Inspector Amy English (Nottinghamshire Police)

Linda Wright (Neighbourhood Development Officer)

None.

Last meeting held on 16 September 2020 (for confirmation)

The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 16 September 2020 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Report of Director of Community Protection

Gursharan Singh Nijran, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented the report, which detailed a proposal to form Partnership/Community Hubs in all areas, with the intention of continuing to support local communities by combining Council and external organisations’ knowledge and resources, as has been happening during the pandemic.

It was stated that:

i.  each of the Area Partnershipswould have their own distinct ambitions, visions and priorities aimed at meeting the local needs and aspirations of residents living in the wards that fall within an Area Committees’ boundaries;

ii.  Neighbourhood Development Officers have been working with Nottingham Trent University MBA students and have carried out research to investigate and recommend which Community Hub model fits better locally to meet the changing needs and demands of the communities living in the areas during and post Covid-19;

iii.  a questionnaire was formulated and distributed to partner organisations to complete, and they were invited to a meeting to discuss the results;

iv.  the questionnaire and meeting were designed to determine the partner organisation’s priorities and see if there was a consensus among them. They were asked to select four key priorities from the questionnaire/meeting, based on the themes that had gained most importance during wave one Covid-19 pandemic, relevant to all wards in the area. The top 4 priorities for this ward are – isolation and loneliness, mental health, food poverty and benefits and welfare advice;

v.  the Community Hubs would support the delivery of the Area priorities and help reframe the connections and relationships between statutory, voluntary and faith sectors, change the way services are operating by removing silo-working and barriers and explore opportunities for joint working and funding;

vi.  the Area Partnerships would be aligned to the existing Area Committee boundaries and each Area Partnership would report to the relevant Area Committee.

During discussion, it was stated that it was pleasing to see isolation, loneliness and mental health as the top priorities as they were all linked, but that the most hard-to-reach groups must be included as that is sometimes where the most issues can be found.

In response to a question, Gursharan stated that the scheme would be led by the community / partners, with the Council acting as the facilitator.

Resolved

(1)  that based on the needs analysis as detailed in the report, to adopt the four priorities of isolation and loneliness, mental health, food poverty and benefits and welfare advice;

(2)  to note the proposed way forward for agreeing a Community hub model for this area, as detailed in the report.

If possible, please inform the Neighbourhood Development Officer a minimum of 3 days in advance of the meeting if there is an issue you wish to raise at the meeting

No issues for consideration had been raised.

Report of Chief Executive, NCH

Katie Sharp, Area Housing Manager, presented the report, updating the Committee on key issues and themes linked to local priorities and strategic themes for Nottingham City Homes. The report also provided summary updates on the following key themes:

·  capital programme and major work;

·  area regeneration and environmental issues;

·  key messages from the Tenant and Leasehold Congress;

·  Tenant and Residents Association updates;

·  area performance;

·  good news stories and positive publicity.

The Committee stated that good progress has been made in respect of the communal gardens at Carter Gate and hopefully it would inspire residents to maintain their own gardens, and that the report contained useful local data, so Ms Sharp was commended for her work.

In response to questions, Ms Sharp stated the following:

i.  in respect of the Remourban Project, the last update was sent via letter to residents in September 2020, however, she will enquire what the latest position is and let the Committee know;

ii.  the Tenant Academy is run both in-house and external, currently only digitally;

iii.  levels of domestic violence in the area, and the city as a whole, have increased substantially during the pandemic, and it is currently the 2^nd highest reporting statistic in the ward.

Resolved to note the report.

The Committee received updates on activity in the area and year-to-date statistics as follows:

(a)  Police (Sergeant Bruce Clarke)

Summary of crime figures

i.  total crime is down significantly (by 16.2%) across the area. This is a total reduction of 1,051 recorded crimes;

ii.  there has been a significant increase of ASB incidents (up 70.2%). This is largely due to the reporting of Covid breaches as they have been included within the ASB figures, although over the last month ASB figures have reduced by 19.4%, so we are now seeing a reduction from its peak;

iii.  burglary, robbery, vehicle offences and victim based crime have all reduced - by 36.2%, 22.5%, 56.1% and 18.9% respectively;

iv.  increases of crime can be seen from the statistics (in the agenda report) however, the numbers are minimal and no patterns or risks regarding these increases have been identified.

Activity

v.  there has been a significant amount of work and resources used to proactively and reactively deal with Covid breaches. This includes in response to a large amount of student parties across the area. We have issued hundreds of FPNs, including five £10,000 fines, to individuals that have hosted significant gatherings of over 30 persons;

vi.  Operation Reacher was launched in October 2020, which is a force wide operation to bring proactive policing into the Neighbourhoods. This team is made up of 1 Sergeant and 6 PCs. They have executed a number of warrants, engaged with local schools in the area and assisted Neighbourhood officers with tackling areas of concern;

vii.  Neighbourhoods and Operation Reacher officers took part in a successful operation on University Park following an increase in pedal cycle thefts. Two repeat offenders were arrested and remanded to prison, and four individuals were arrested from a vehicle nearby containing a number of weapons;

viii.  NPI has successfully obtained funds from the Councillors (with many thanks to them) to erect 2 CCTV cameras within Forest Recreation Ground to prevent and detect serious and violent crime;

ix.  ASB in and around ASDA, Hyson Green, remains a high priority concern for the City Central area. NPI and SCPO have met with the Area Manager of ASDA and a long-term plan is now in place;

x.  Operation Sceptre (National knife crime week of action) saw 150 school children successfully engaged within the City Central area. They were delivered an anti-knife crime package. Open spaces were searched for hidden and discarded weapons.

(b)  Community Protection (Senior CPO Rupinder Kooner)

Hyson Green and Arboretum

Student stats – CP Central North

Report of Director of Community Protection

Gursharan Singh Nijran, Neighbourhood Development Officer, presented the report, detailing the latest spend proposals under the Area Capital Fund 2020/21, including highways, footpaths and public realm.

The Committee thanked Mr Nijran for his work on the Park Tunnel scheme proposed in the appendix.

Resolved to

(1)  approve the following scheme:

(2)  in light of the approval at (1) above, to note the remaining balances of:

Report of Director of Community Protection

Resolved to note the report, which detailed the latest spend, in respect of ward Councillor budgets, taken by the Director of Community Protection under delegated authority.

Report of Director of Community Protection

Gursharan Singh Nijran, Neighbourhood Development Officer, and Nicky Burns, City Centre Management Officer, presented the report, detailing current priorities and issues facing the three wards, and giving details of forthcoming events and activities. It also highlights the latest issues being addressed through regular Neighbourhood Action Team meetings.

The Committee welcomed the report, as it detailed what has been happening in the ward over the last few months, and also offered its thanks to Tony Papkiewicz, Senior neighbourhood Operations Manager, and his Street Scene Team for the work it does, especially in relation to the period after students have left Nottingham.

It was also stated that the ‘covid-friendly’ Christmas light switch-on at Canning Circus was a great success and provided a moment of light relief in the current pandemic.

Resolved to note the report.

To note that the next meeting will be held at 6.00pm on Wednesday 10 March 2021 (either at Loxley House or remotely via Zoom, depending on the pandemic situation at the time)

It was noted that the next meeting will be held at 6.00pm on Wednesday 10 March 2021, either at Loxley House, Station Street, or remotely via Zoom (dependent on the pandemic situation at the time).