Agenda item

Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance, Performance and Community Safety was present and made a presentation to the Committee, a copy of which is interleaved.

During discussion the following main points were made –

·         Members noted the difficult challenges relating to criminal activity in the borough in relation to moped theft, mobile phone theft, drugs and knife crime and that despite efforts made this is not reducing significantly enough

·         Members noted the increase in crime in Junction/St.Georges wards, however a number of arrests had been made and it was hoped that crime would reduce

·         The Executive Member expressed the view that it should be recognised however that the significant reduction in Police numbers in the borough has had an impact on the rise in crime

·         It was noted that the Council’s early intervention strategy is thought to be the best way to reduce criminality in the longer term

·         The Council has also been focusing on work to reduce hate crime, and whilst the Police were treating this more seriously the detection rates for such crimes were too low

·         Work is also going on in relation to violence against women and girls and child sexual exploitation and that a ‘drop in’ shop is being established.

·         Reference was made to Police tweeting on crime and that this may exacerbate Public concern in some cases

·         In response to a question it was stated that there were some established gangs in the borough, however there were now individuals becoming involved in crime that had previously not been known to the Police. A great deal of work is being done to divert young people away from crime in terms of youth provision and work to prevent girls being involved in gangs and in relation to child sexual exploitation

·         The integrated gangs team is working well and works with siblings of older gang members

·         Gangs crossed borough borders and work is taking place with neighbouring boroughs in this regard

·         In terms of the 2018/19 budget the Council were finding it harder each year to prepare a balanced budget, in view of the significant reduction in Government funding, however it is anticipated a balanced budget would be set despite having to save over £30 million. There is huge pressure on the Children’s Serviced budget and it is felt that this will continue

·         It was noted that Universal Credit is being rolled out by the Government for Islington in June 2018, and not in March 2018, as planned, however it will still  present significant challenges for residents and the Council

·         Reference was made to the Council’s IT and security systems and whether Members could be assured that these are secure. Councillor Hull stated that a great deal of work has taken place on security of data, and a lot of training now took place for staff, however no system can be totally secure and sometimes ‘human error’ could occur

·         In response to a question about the popularity of the Town Hall as a wedding venue, Councillor Hull stated that he was extremely proud that it was a popular venue and that the Registrars and Town Hall staff worked extremely hard to ensure its success

·         A Member enquired how many unemployed residents with long term health conditions had been assisted back into work and whether there was liaison with GP’s and CCG’s in this regard. Councillor Hull stated that he would provide this information but GP’s were generally supportive and packages need to be tailored to residents to support them back into work. Reference was made to the fact that GP’s/CCG were co-located in Laycock Street

·         It was stated that the Council were also working to address some of the issues raised by staff in the last staff survey

·         In relation to savings as a result of digital transformation it was noted that good progress is being made in Environment and Regeneration and that this needed to be replicated across other departments. In response to a question relating to integration of housing IT management systems it was stated that there had been a delay and that Councillor O’Sullivan would be notified as to the latest position

·         Reference was also made to the number of units that were available in relation to the number of social housing units that had been made available to rent on new build housing and Housing Associations in the previous 12 months and Councillor Hull stated that he would provide this information

·         A Member also referred to the amount of packaging used by businesses and whether this could be reduced. Reference was made to work that is taking place by the Environment Agency and London level on this issue

·         It was stated that the recycling figure is below target and a question asked as to whether there is a savings target for recycling. Members noted that there is no target in the medium term financial strategy but the relationship between recycling and residential waste and the cost of landfill is well understood

·         A Member enquired as to the reasons for the large reduction in MMR vaccinations and Councillor Hull stated that he would provide this information to Members

·         In response to a question it was stated that staff sickness levels were affected by the huge budget reductions over the past 5 years by the Government and the increased workload of staff as a result due to loss of staff and deletion of jobs. It was noted that the Council were seeking to address this issue and were looking to engage the services of an Occupational Therapist to assist staff along with other measures

·          A Member referred to the cryptosporidium outbreak at a local swimming pool and enquired the details of this. Councillor Hull stated that he would investigate and inform Members thereon

·         Concern was expressed at the target for Children in Care and that this did not totally reflect the correct position. Councillor Hull indicated that he would look at a more accurate method of reporting this PI

RESOLVED:

That the Executive Member be requested to provide the following to Members of the Committee -

(a)  Information as to the numbers of long term unemployed residents assisted back into work and whether there is liaison in this regard with GP’s/CCG

(b)   Information as to the integration of the Housing management database systems and the latest position thereon and reasons for delay

(c)   Information on the number of units made available for the number of new build and Housing Association units made available in the previous 12 months for social rent

(d)  Information as to the reasons for the reduction in the number of MMR vaccinations administered

(e)  Information as to the outbreak of the cryptosporidium outbreak as referred to above

(f)    A different method of reporting the PI on children missing from care in order to more accurately reflect the true position

The Chair thanked Councillor Hull for his presentation