Agenda and minutes

Venue: David Hicks 1 - Civic Offices, Shute End, Wokingham RG40 1BN. View directions

Contact: Callum Wernham  Democratic & Electoral Services Specialist

Media

Items
No. Item

71.

Apologies

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

In the absence of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman, Shirley Boyt proposed that Clive Jones be elected Chairman of the meeting until the Chairman arrived. This was seconded by Phil Cunnington and carried.

 

An apology for absence was submitted from Alison Swaddle.

72.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 247 KB

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 January 2022.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 5 January 2022 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

73.

Declaration of Interest

To receive any declarations of interest.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

74.

Public Question Time

To answer any public questions

 

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

 

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this committee.

 

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

75.

Member Question Time

To answer any member questions.

Minutes:

There were no Member questions.

76.

Local Police Service Update

To receive an update on local policing

Additional documents:

Minutes:

At 7.08pm, Guy Grandison joined the meeting and resumed the Chair.

 

The Committee considered a presentation, set out in supplementary agenda pages 3 to 8, which gave an update on local policing within the Borough.

 

The presentation noted four key areas of focus for the local police service – serious violence duty, domestic abuse, neighbourhood policing and anti-social behaviour, and violence against women and girls. Performance statistics indicated that the force was doing particularly well in tackling knife crime and undertaking formal action, whilst performance issues relating to rape and sexual offences were being looked at as a priority whilst noting that these performance issues were affecting the whole nation. Partnership working had been undertaken with the Community Safety Partnership to address issues including car cruises, school interventions in relation to knife crime, and persistent callers. Future activity would focus on a number of areas including the new safety and enforcement service (ASB) and neighbourhood policing, addressing hate crime, addressing knife crime and exploitation, and tackling cybercrime and fraud.

 

Andrew Cranidge, Local Policing Area (LPA) Commander for Bracknell and Wokingham, and Narinder Brar (Community Safety Manager) attended the meeting to answer Member queries.

 

During the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points and queries:

 

·         Was there a plan to increase performance in relation to tackling rape cases and associated prosecution? LPA Commander response – Unfortunately data could not currently be split between Bracknell and Wokingham, and this would be sought to be addressed in future. Notwithstanding the data issues, the situation was neither good locally or nationally, and there was a concerted focus to tackle violence against women and girls. The force was looking to address the lack of confidence from victims in getting the police to tackle their case and seek convictions. It was noted that it was currently taking over 700 days to get a case to court, which was contributing to victims losing confidence in the process. The strategy for tackling violence against women and girls would be published shortly, and included actions in relation to identifying potential offenders before a crime was committed.

 

·         What period of time were figures on crimes compared over, as the pandemic could have influenced the data? LPA Commander response – The burglary figures were a five-year comparison, whilst the pandemic was factored into the data to compare to a more normal year. There was a desire to improve the data in future to be able to break it down further.

 

·         How should residents report drug related issues? LPA Commander response – Residents should ring 999 if a crime was in progress, and 101 if it was a report of a previous crime. Officers had to balance the threat and harm posed by reports.

 

·         It was noted that a range of issues raised at the recent meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee relating to local policing would be responded to via a written answer.

 

·         A number of Members and residents had used the 101 service and had experienced considerable delays  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.

77.

Local Fire Service Update pdf icon PDF 647 KB

To receive an update on the local fire service

Minutes:

The Committee considered a presentation, set out in agenda pages 13 to 26, which gave an update on the work of the local fire service.

 

The presentation outlined a number of demands on the service including their financial position and target savings update, the built environment programme, and their prevention and response service. A range of savings had been delivered including the introduction of the new remotely managed station model and the closure of a number of smaller stations. Three new tri-service stations had been opened since 2017, whilst 19 new generation Volvo fire appliances had also been delivered. Work was continuing to address any concerns relating to buildings at risk of fire due to cladding. A number of response and protection proposals were also presented, including introducing 18 new apprentices to the service and developing a risk based inspection programme methodology to look at both risks to property and risk of compliance.

 

Dave Crease (Group Manager), Angus Ross (Wokingham Borough Council RBFRS Representative), and Rachelle Shepherd-DuBey (Wokingham Borough Council RBFRS Representative), attended the meeting to answer Member queries.

 

During the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points and queries:

 

·         With regards to interim measures for high-rise buildings, what would happen if landlords did not meet the prescribed deadlines? Group Manager response – The emphasis was to work with the building owners via a measured approach focussing on both safety and enforcement. Powers were available if necessary, however additional staff would likely be required to increase standards. There were a number of buildings within the Borough with enforcement action against them.

 

·         Were electric and low emission vehicles planned to replace the fleet? Group Manager response – There were no hybrid or electric vehicles within the front-line fleet at present, however the engines used were as efficient as possible. The current dilemma was to assess how front-line vehicles could achieve their functionality whilst running in a hybrid or electric model, for example running pumps for extended periods of time.

 

·         Were there any examples of where callouts were being reduced relating to previous prevention measures? Group Manager response – A significant reduction had not been realised yet, however this was a difficult area to measure. Prevention measures were important to educate the public and to protect vulnerable groups and to prevent incidents from occurring where possible.

 

·         Had there been any increase in suspicious fires in relation to property insurance fraud? Group Manager response – This was not something that had seen an increase, and any such cases would be jointly worked on with Thames Valley Police.

 

·         What were the advantages of recruiting staff via apprenticeships, and how were these staff recruited before? Group Manager response – Previously, recruitment campaigns were run with new recruits then integrated by each service. There was a degree of funding associated with apprenticeships which reduced funding pressures on the services, and the candidates were of the same or better quality than previously recruited.

 

·         Had sprinkler systems been installed in schools as per motions passed by full Council?  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

78.

Flood Risk Management Update pdf icon PDF 134 KB

To receive an update on flood risk management

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 27 to 32, which gave an update on flood risk management within the Borough.

 

The report outlined a number of areas of focus, including CCTV drainage surveys and repair works, delivery of capital drainage schemes, ongoing drainage revenue works, commenting on planning applications in relation to flooding and drainage works, smart drainage trials, and Thames Water partnership work to reduce surface water flood risk.

 

Boniface Ngu (Principal Flood Risk & Drainage Engineer) and Francesca Hobson (Service Manager  – Green & Blue Infrastructure) attended the meeting to answer Member queries.

 

During the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points and queries:

 

·         Was there any more that could be done to require residents to retain at least a small portion of green space in their front gardens, rather than paving over the whole area? Officer response – All planning applications were considered, not just major applications. Officers pushed for permeable surfaces to be installed which acted in a similar manner to grass. Officers required drawings to be presented, and if permeable surfaces were not indicated then a recommendation would be made to install permeable surfaces as opposed to concrete. Installation of non-permeable surfaces created a cumulative issue, and a number of social media pieces and newsletters had gone out and were being worked on to inform residents. Officers were working alongside the National Flood Forum to install rain gardens and water butts, whilst there were possibilities to review the SuDs strategy.

 

·         Officers were thanked for the improving situation with relation to flooding in Norreys.

 

·         Were officers confident that developers of large sites were implementing optimal drainage solutions? Officer response – Officers encouraged above ground attenuation features such as SuDs basins, attenuation basins, ponds and swales whereby issues could easily be noticed via public notification and inspection by officers. Officers looked at the increase to the one in one-hundred-year flood event in addition to a forty-percent climate change allowance for any large-scale development. There was a riparian responsibility for landowners to maintain ditches next to a development where there was water discharge. There were plenty of cases where riparian owners were not carrying out the required maintenance, and officers were writing to those landowners to remind them of their responsibilities. Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) had powers under the land drainage act to carry out land drainage enforcement where landowners had been notified but had so far failed to take action. In addition, there were additional powers under the recently adopted Wokingham specific land drainage bylaws.

 

·         Were there any updates in relation to the proposed flood alleviation scheme on the river Loddon? Officer response – Officers were quite surprised that funding had not been received through the DEFRA innovation flood resilience fund given the level of feasibility work which had been carried out. The Environment Agency had now opened up a scheme over the wider Thames catchment area to look to catch and store water, including the river Loddon. Investigative works were now underway for this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

79.

Enforcement and Safety Service Update pdf icon PDF 987 KB

To receive an update on the new enforcement and safety service

Minutes:

The Committee considered a presentation, set out in agenda pages 33 to 44, which gave an update on the new enforcement and safety service.

 

The presentation gave an update on recruitment to the new service, noting that 30.6 full-time-equivalent (FTE) roles had been filled, with 3 FTE roles outstanding. The presentation noted that services to be provided by the new service included environmental health, pollution control, and antisocial behaviour, whilst services such as trading standards and farm animal welfare would be purchased from West Berkshire Council. The project had a go-live date of 1 April 2022, and phase 2 of the project was planned which included a new problem-solving approach to antisocial behaviour and procurement of a modern computer system to drive automation and service improvement.

 

Bill Soane (Executive Member for Neighbourhood and Communities) and Ed Shaylor (Head of Enforcement and Safety) attended the meeting to answer Member queries.

 

During the ensuing discussion, Members raised the following points and queries:

 

·         It was noted that enforcement officers would work in 8-hour shift patterns.

 

·         Would enforcement officers be on duty past 2am in areas where bars and pubs had licences to stay open until 3am? Officer response - Officers had the ability to check the licencing conditions of establishments across the Borough, however they were civilians and did not have the arrest powers of police officers. Evidence could be gathered such as where broken glass was originating from and then a case could be built via the licensing route.

 

·         Would there be any final payment due to the Public Protection Partnership? Officer response – All details would be provided in the Executive papers which were due to be considered on Thursday 31st March 2022.

 

·         It was noted that issues relating to commercial processes, construction sites and water supplies were covered by environmental permits for some commercial processes.

 

·         Which staff would handle private housing, the rented sector, and caravan and home parks? Officer response – There was a residential and environmental team who would inspect private rented properties and houses of multiple occupation in addition to mobile home and caravan parks.

 

·         If a resident needed to report a foul-smelling bonfire, would they be able to call the enforcement team or email them? Officer response – Residents could email the team directly which would be sent through to officer’s smart phones to be dealt with in the field. There was an out of hours service whereby a resident could ring, and the operator would note the details and write an email to the enforcement officers. Officers would be dealing with issues in the field and would therefore not be able to take calls whilst dealing with an ongoing issue.

 

·         How many officers would be in the field at any one time? Officer response – There were 10 officers altogether, with two being in the field during weekends and evenings. Most weekdays, possibly excluding Mondays, there might be between 4 to 6 officers in the field, whilst all officers might be working some days  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

80.

Work Programme - 2022/23

To consider the draft work programme as agreed at the Overview and Management Committee on 17 March 2022

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the proposed work programme for the next municipal year, set out in supplementary agenda pages 3 to 8.

 

RESOLVED That:

 

1)      Callum Wernham be thanked for attending the meeting;

 

2)      The draft work programme be noted;

 

3)      An update on the Arts and Culture strategy be provisionally scheduled for the 25 May 2022 meeting of the Committee;

 

4)      Updates relating to the community safety partnership, the bus strategy, and civil parking enforcement be provisionally scheduled for the 4 July 2022 meeting of the Committee;

 

5)      An update in relation to Council owned companies be provisionally scheduled for the 5 September 2022 meeting of the Committee.

 

The Committee thanked Councillor Guy Grandison for his exemplary chairing of the Committee over the past 4 years, and wished him well for his future once he retired from the Council this coming May.