Agenda and draft minutes
PDF 219 KBVenue: Virtual Meeting
Contact: Tracy Scollin Tel 020 8359 2315 Email: tracy.scollin@barnet.gov.uk
Link: Click here for the meeting
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Minutes of last meeting Minutes: Cllr Rich asked for a correction under item 3: he is a magistrate and sits on the Youth Bench but is not a ‘youth magistrate’; this role doesn’t exist.
The minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2020 were approved subject to the above amendment.
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Absence of Members (If any) Minutes: Apologies were received from Cllr Charlie O-Macauley. |
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Declaration of Members' Disclosable Pecuniary interests and Non Pecuniary interests (If any) Minutes: Cllr Grocock noted that she is the Chairman of the Finchley and Golders Green Area Committee and of the East Barnet Community and Police Panel Ward.
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Report of the Monitoring Officer (If any) Minutes: None. |
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Public Comments and Questions (If any) Minutes: None. |
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Members' Items (If any) Additional documents: Minutes: A Member’s Item was received in the name of Cllr Zakia Zubairi – Hendon Library and Hendon Hub
Cllr Zubairi stated that assurances need to be given that Hendon Library will remain in its current historic building. Members have received many calls from residents opposing the proposed changes to the Hendon Library, which has been in its location since 1929. Cllr Zubairi commented that Barnet Council has wasted £500,000 on reducing the library’s floor space by 13% and had also cut staffed opening hours. Residents have expressed concerns that its temporary move to a portacabin would result in the loss of this library altogether.
The Chairman noted that a consultation process is currently underway and requested that Cllr Zubairi forward her comments to the Governance Service so that they could be included in the response. Action: Cllr Zubairi
The Chairman added that the Hendon Library would be considered when it returns to CLLC following the consultation. CLLC would interrogate the findings on the library services aspects of the consultation but not on the wider Hendon Hub, which would be considered by Policy & Resources Committee.
The Director of Assurance, Ms Clair Green stated that the item that had been previously presented to CLLC set out the wider consultation around the Hendon Hub. A link would be sent to all Members on the consultation, which is currently on the ‘Engage Barnet’ section of the website. Ms Green would confirm the arrangements outside the meeting and with the Chairman, to ensure that it is brought back to CLLC. She would ensure that Members are clear of the next steps.
Clerk’s note: Due to technical difficulties the Assistant Director: Commissioning and Business Improvement was unable to comment at the virtual meeting so has added the following comment:
Phase 1 of the consultation regarding Hendon Hub of which Hendon Library is a part is still on-going and will close on the 21 May 2021. In addition to the main consultation process, the library service is also asking residents to provide feedback on what they would like to see within any new building. This survey also closes at the end of May. A second phase of consultation will follow in early summer. The Assistant Director: Commissioning and Business Improvement contacted Cllrs Thompstone and Conway on the 9 March to clarify consultation arrangements.
Cllr Conway stated that Barnet Council did not appear to always listen to the responses to its consultations. She added that there are fears that as part of the wider Hendon Hub plan, this precious local and iconic resource would be lost.
The Chairman noted that over 3000 responses had been received on the previous libraries consultation and this feedback had dramatically changed some of the original proposals. He did not see the Hendon Hub project as an intention to remove Hendon Library.
Cllr Sara Conway – Engagement with residents in a world living with Covid
Cllr Conway thanked officers for the governance review on community safety, and for their time in callover ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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Domestic Abuse and Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy Minutes: Mr Peter Clifton, Community Safety Manager, noted that domestic abuse services had been reconfigured over the past year to ensure continued support for victims during the pandemic. There had also been a fourfold increase in the MARAC meetings and a communications campaign on how to report domestic abuse, emphasising that people could still leave home despite lockdown if they are at risk.
In addition, the allocation of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA) has been increased and information sharing with the MARAC Group has been enhanced. Additional training on domestic abuse risk identification has been carried out in primary care settings, resulting in an increase in the number of referrals. In Barnet there does not appear to have been an increase in domestic abuse cases during lockdown.
Cllr Rich enquired whether reports were presented elsewhere in the council on girls and gangs and women and slavery. The Community Safety Manager reported that this was reported in the Domestic Violence and VAWG Group as part of its Strategy, which included themed work on modern day slavery and criminal exploitation of young people. Reports are also presented to the Vulnerable Adolescents Risk Panel. The Community Safety Manager would bring more information on the different areas looking at these topics back to the Committee. Action: Community Safety Manager
Cllr Conway asked about access for residents to the One Stop Shop as this had been busy during lockdown. She reported that Jewish Women’s Aid had provided an excellent half day’s training on domestic violence and recommended that this be offered to all Councillors. The Community Safety Manager responded that Jewish Women’s Aid is a valuable member of the Domestic Abuse and VAWG Forum. He would discuss options for training with the Domestic Abuse Strategy Coordinator.
The Community Safety Manager noted that the One Stop Shop had moved to a telephone triage service during the pandemic and he had heard positive feedback so it may be continued in this format in the future.
Cllr Gurung asked who the agencies are, as referred to in 2.22 of the report. The Community Safety Manager responded that these are Barnet Council (Community Safety, Adults and Children’s Social Care), Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust, DV services such as SOLACE, the police, probation services and VCS services. He would provide a full list following the meeting. Action: Community Safety Manager
RESOLVED that the Committee noted the progress made by the Safer Communities Partnership on delivering the four priority objectives of the Barnet Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.
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Barnet Zero Tolerance to Hate Crime Project Update To follow Minutes: Mr Sam Rosengard, Prevent Coordinator, presented his report. He noted that the project’s objective is to reduce hate crime in Barnet, improve support for victims, and raise awareness about how to report hate crime and safeguard the most vulnerable victims of it.
The multi-agency response to hate crime in Barnet is overseen by the Safer Communities Partnership Board and the Access to Justice Committee, which receive quarterly updates on the progress of the project and on hate crime figures in Barnet, locally and nationally.
The Prevent Coordinator reported that awareness raising on hate crime is led by Reshma Hirani, who has delivered training to several organisations in Barnet.
Currently the Reporting Centre Network is being increased to ensure that residents can access support when reporting hate crime. Also, additional Hate Crime Reporting Champions have been recruited.
Mr Rosengard reported that because it has been recognised that hate crime might impact disproportionately on vulnerable groups like disabled people, Barnet is actively asking statutory professionals and community groups to think about safeguarding actions that might be necessary. In November 2020 during Safeguarding Week a webinar had been held for Barnet staff.
Cllr Conway noted that she was pleased to hear that the team had contacted some communities, and that this had been fed back to her as a positive experience. She suggested that knowledge from the reporting centres might help with the community engagement work. The Prevent Coordinator would contact the Community Engagement, Participation and Strategy Lead to discuss this. He added that the team hopes to expand the reporting centres across the community. Action: Prevent Coordinator
RESOLVED that the Committee noted the progress made in delivering Barnet’s Zero Tolerance to Hate Crime project.
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Item Referred from Environment Committee
Make Our Parks Safer (Environment Committee, 25.11.20) Additional documents: Minutes:
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Minutes: Cllr Conway reported that some Member training on community safety issues would be helpful to help them to deal with serious incidents in their wards. Ideally a dedicated person to contact at the Council in such incidents could be provided as this can be a difficult time for Members.
Cllr Conway noted that the fly tipping taskforce is a positive step but this continued to be a huge problem in Burnt Oak. She requested a discussion on environmental crime at a future meeting.
Ms Green responded that governance is looking into future training needs and other support that can be put in place in relation to community safety. This would be a positive addition to the member development programme; she noted that any other suggestions from Members on development needs are welcome.
Ms Green noted that the issue of fly tipping is shared with Environment Committee, There is a dedicated team that is tasked to clean up fly tipping as it appears. Further clarification on communication between the different committees on areas of shared interest would be brought back, to ensure that committees are kept informed.
The Chairman noted that a future CST report to CLLC includes details on fly tipping enforcement. Action: Director of Assurance
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Any item(s) the Chairman decides are urgent |