Agenda item

Councillor Richard Watts stated that he was deputising for Councillor Hull in respect of this item. Lela Kogbara, Assistant Chief Executive Strategy and Community Partnerships was also present.

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         There are increasing financial pressures on adult social services, particularly in the area of sexual health and it was stated that details of the funding and proposals in relation to sexual health would be circulated to Members

·         Reference was made to the fact that the organisation of sexual health services across London could be improved and made more efficient. The provision of the service is currently being renegotiated to reduce the spend, without reducing the level of service provided

·         The Chair stated that he had discussions with the Executive Member Finance and Performance about revisions to the Performance Indicators and when these were concluded they would be reported to PPS/Scrutiny Review Committees for final approval

·         Reference was made to the quality of life measures, outlined at page 69 and it was stated that reductions in funding and the Housing and Planning Act would make this much more difficult to achieve, however there were still a number of measures the Council could take to improve the lives of residents

·         There were however significant challenges in the reductions in Adult Social Services funding by 2020 and in the schools budgets

·         Members were informed that across all services, Police, Council and health services spending on domestic violence is over £35m per year and that money could be saved if there is an increased focus on prevention. Whilst this is a challenge this could achieve results in the number of multiple children from families taken into care and there needed to be a focus on early intervention in the longer term

·         There is also a challenge of education budgets being cut in real terms and this will get worse with the Academisation programme and the proposals around the National Schools formula funding

·         Reference was made to the fact that schools were often not fulfilling their S106 agreements to make school facilities available in the evenings. In addition, there is a possibility that RC schools were looking at an Academy model and that often schools did not want to open in the evenings as it costs them money to do so

·         It was stated that it was pleasing that the PI target on accessing alternative therapies in mental health has been met

·         In response to a question it was stated that there is enormous pressure on the housing budget in terms of rehousing homeless families which has been made worse by the benefit cap and the reductions in Local Housing allowance. The Leader indicated that a report on local connections re: housing policy has been considered by the Executive recently and that he would circulate this to Members of the Committee

·         In relation to progress on the Council’s new build housing programme, the Leader stated that new build projects took a while to come on stream and that these were subject to peaks and troughs, however this should be looked at over a 4 year period. He added there is a challenge to deliver because of the loosening of the planning regulations on developers in terms of affordable housing

·         Reference was made to the increase in hate crime and that this could rise post Brexit,and that this is being looked at with the Police and that Police action needed to improve. The view was expressed that this issue should feature on the list of priorities at Safer Neighbourhood Panels

·         Discussion took place as to the recent attack at the Finsbury Park Mosque and that nobody has still been apprehended for this which is very disappointing

·         In relation to ASB this was well above the target figure and there is a strong relationship with youth offending.  It was stated that a large number of young people were subject to civil orders and work is being carried out to ascertain if this is appropriate

·         In response to a question it was stated that the Youth Offending service now has a new management structure

·         It was noted that a relatively small number of prolific offenders were committing a large number of crimes, and many offences were linked to the drugs market. There is a need for local intelligence from the Public to provide data for the Police, especially in hotspots

·         There is a need to involve Trident and the Metropolitan Police more in Islington, given the County Lines connections with the drugs market and Islington had not been regarded as a high priority in the past. This issue has now been raised with the Mayor of London in order to get more resources for tackling this

·         Reference was made to the fact that residents were often afraid of reporting crimes, intelligence etc. due to fear of reprisals. In addition there is a need to build up trust between the Police and residents on the sharing of information

·         In response to a question as to the number of children missing in care and it was stated that this information is regularly reviewed at Corporate Parenting Board. The majority of unaccompanied children in care were Albanian young men but there is not widespread problem of children going missing in Islington and children tended to go missing overnight and usually not for longer periods

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the Chair be requested to circulate the draft revised PI’s agreed with the Executive Member Finance and Performance to Members of the Committee when these are available

(b)   That the Police be invited to the September, November and March meetings of the Committee to discuss the crime statistics in more detail

The Chair thanked the Leader and Lela Kogbara for attending