Agenda and minutes

The Commission was notified that as Councillor Barry Parsons had been appointed Party Whip he had stepped down as Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Commission. Councillor Martin Fodor was nominated as Chair, with no other nominations received. The appointment of Cllr Fodor as Chair of the Communities Scrutiny Commission was confirmed.

It was agreed that Councillor Henry Michallat would also step down as Vice Chair, with Councillor James Scott to take on this role.

It was noted that Councillor Edwards had stepped down from the Commission, and Cllr Fitzjohn had joined.

Resolved; That the Communities Scrutiny Commission confirm the appointment of Cllr Martin Fodor as Chair, and;

that the Communities Scrutiny Commission confirm the appointment of Cllr James Scott as Vice Chair, and;

that the change to the CSC Membership from Cllr Emma Edwards to Cllr Tessa Fitzjohn be noted.

The Chair welcomed the attendees.

No apologies were received.

No declarations were received.

To follow.

The minutes were approved as an accurate record.

RESOLVED; That the Minutes of the previous meeting be approved.

The Action Tracker was received and noted.

The Chair noted that the process to develop a Scrutiny Work Programme for 2023-24 had begun. A workshop was intended to be held during Summer 2023, with details to be forthcoming. The Commission were asked to consider and suggest potential topics for the Work Programme. Topics that had been delayed from the 2022-23 year, such as the Libraries Task and Finish Group, and topics identified in Commission meetings had already been noted.

RESOLVED; That CSC Members consider and suggest potential topics for the Scrutiny Work Programme 2023-24.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to scrutiny@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5pm on Friday 17^th March

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on Wednesday 22^nd March.

Public Forum questions and statements were published prior to the meeting and can be viewed here.

David Redgewell spoke to a submitted Public Forum statement regarding community safety across the transport network.

RESOLVED; That the Public Forum be noted.

The Strategic Intelligence and Performance Advisor presented the Q2 CSC Performance Report. It was noted that this was the second report under the revised format, and that thematic reports were expected to continue in 2023-24.

The report was circulated to CSC Members in advance of publication to allow for specific questions to be raised. Most responses were provided directly, but as some remained outstanding at the time of the meeting it was agreed that a full written response would be provided alongside the minutes.

RESOLVED; That the Commission note the report, and; that written responses to Member questions be provided.

The Director for Property, Assets and Infrastructure introduced the Waste Improvement Project and Flats Recycling item. A presentation was delivered by the Waste Strategic Client Manager and the Neighbourhood Enforcement and Street Scene Manager. Key points included:

·       A Waste Improvement Project had been trialled in a number of areas across Bristol with a focus on improving how commercial waste was stored. This involved ensuring that businesses stored bins on their own premises or work with waste contractors to find alternatives. The process involved engagement and communication with business owners over a lengthy period, progressing up to Section 47 notices, bin seizures and Fixed Penalty Notices, where required.

·       The initial pilot was carried out in Old City for Phase 1 and expanded to City Centre and Redcliffe and Temple BID areas for Phase 2. Phase 3 was launched in December 2022 around Stapleton Road. Phase 4 was to consider other options for areas, but a different approach would be needed for a city wide roll out.

·       The project had been successful with 450 commercial bins removed from streets over the first two phases. Challenges included the resource intensive nature of the work.

·       For domestic waste, challenges were particularly found in properties with no space to store bins off the pavement between collections. This applied to around 8000 properties, including flats above shops and converted properties. To address this a pilot on non-standard collections was launched and a flats recycling project initiated.

·       The pilot for non-standard collections was launched in Old City in February 2023 and involved new bags provided to residents, including seagull proof sacks. 180 properties were moved to the new service. Funding options to expand the service were being explored.

·       The Flats Recycling project was begun in April 2021 involving an updated recycling service. Positive feedback had been received.

Members were invited to ask questions.

Both the Waste and Enforcement teams were thanked for their hard work.

A Member asked for clarification around the commercial waste bins that had been seized. It was confirmed that these were subject to a daily charge to the waste contractor, not the business. Improvements were labour intensive as some businesses were in receipt of an inappropriate waste solution. Work had taken place with commercial properties and Officers were keen to engage further with contractors.

It was noted that a company has a duty of care to have a waste removal contract if they generate sufficient waste, and fines could be made where this was breached. It was clarified that Bristol City Council does not have powers for the zoning of operators.

In instances where businesses had no storage areas they were encouraged to work with contractors to find a suitable regime. This could involve more frequent collections and bag collections. In some instances businesses had collaborated to share space, with some innovative practice seen in this area. It was noted that data collection was poor as the service was unregulated, so it was unknown whether recycling rates had been affected.

A Member queried  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The Safer City Manager delivered a presentation on ‘Keeping Communities Safe’, the Business Delivery Group part of the Keeping Bristol Safe Partnership which delivers the functions of a Community Safety Partnership (CSP). Key points raised included:

·       Officers are required to report on behalf of the KBSP on an annual basis as part of the statutory duty around the scrutiny of crime and disorder matters. The statutory duties of the CSP were outlined, including; engaging with communities around priorities; having systems in place for sharing information; analysing data (including crime data) as part of a strategic needs assessment; and commissioning Domestic Homicide Reviews.

·       The KBSP 2021-22 Annual Report was provided, but it was noted that this document had a safeguarding ‘lens’ while the covering report highlighted the community safety activity for the year.

·       A Community Safety Partnership Plan / Joint Local Police and Crime Plan for 2023-25 was in the process of approval, with a draft overview provided. This was to set out thematic priorities and objectives and was expected to be finalised in April 2023.

·       Information on progress against grant funded programmes and plans for the OPCC Police and Crime grant spend for 2023-24 was provided in the report and appendices.

·       For the future it was planned that an individual Community Safety Partnership annual report would be produced (expected July 2023), and a Strategic Needs Assessment for the 2022-23 year would be completed by May 2023.

Members thanked Officers for the work, and noted that a future Annual Report specifically for the delivery of the Community Safety Partnership function would be welcomed.

The thematic priority on tackling Hate Crime was raised, and Members noted how wide ranging this issue was. This was acknowledged, and work had been undertaken to ensure objectives were achievable. Officers drew attention to progress made in data analysis which had been able to identify trends and hotspots (an example of the Hate Crime dashboard could be found in Appendix C), while the Strategic Hate Crime Partnership delivered against objectives. Challenges with the data were noted; increased reporting was supported but did require more resources. A Member noted that the difference between reported and actual crime levels could be significant; this was an area that data analysis could draw out. Ensuring partner organisations were able to provide data as part of a Strategic Needs Assessment would be important, and these conversations were ongoing.

Members noted some safeguarding issues raised by the KBSP Annual Report. As the item was focused on the delivery of the Community Safety Partnership rather than the safeguarding aspects of the KBSP Members were invited to direct any safeguarding enquiries to the relevant leads.

A Member noted a question in the Quality of Life survey regarding whether domestic abuse was a private matter, considering this inappropriate. The Safer City Manager agreed to raise this with the relevant lead.

A Member raised Modern Day Slavery, noting the difficulty of using the National Referral Mechanism and found that involvement in the criminal justice system could be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

The Work Programme was noted. Discussions around future work programme planning were raised under Item 7.