Agenda and minutes

Venue: Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BG

Contact: Tracy Scollin Tel 020 8359 2315 Email: tracy.scollin@barnet.gov.uk 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes of last meeting pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED - the minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2018 were approved as an accurate record.

 

2.

Absence of Members (If any)

Minutes:

None.

3.

Declaration of Members' Disclosable Pecuniary interests and Non Pecuniary interests (If any)

Minutes:

Cllr Rich declared a non-pecuniary interest under Item 8: he is a Magistrate in South West London.

4.

Report of the Monitoring Officer (If any)

Minutes:

None.

5.

Public Comments and Questions pdf icon PDF 50 KB

Minutes:

The Chairman invited Mr Michael Crick to speak on Item 8, College Farm ACV application:

 

Mr Crick reported that he was not aware that College Farm’s ownership had been transferred. It appeared to still be owned by the College Farm Trust. However the Charity Commission had delisted College Farm Trust in 2018 so he believed that ultimately College Farm could come into the Crown’s ownership. Mr Crick added that he was not aware of any legal proceedings regarding the property at present. 

 

Mr Crick noted that College Farm was tenanted and the tenant claims that he controls who has access to the farm. Mr Crick personally knows of a number of people who had been asked to leave when walking by the farm.

 

The chairman invited Ms Barbara Jacobson to make public comments on Items 7 and 10:

 

Item 7 – Outcome of annual Strategic Crime Needs Assessment:

 

Mrs Jacobson made a statement about the Barnet library service.

 

Item 10 – CLLC Delivery Plan:

 

Mrs Jacobson referred to Table 2 on the Delivery Plan and commented that the outcome on Barnet’s libraries from the DCMS had been awaited for over a year. The committee agreed.

 

Mrs Jacobson asked a supplementary question: how many people were attending weekly groups in the libraries in Barnet and how many might use the libraries independently if they had access? The Libraries manager did not have this data available. 

 

Mrs Jacobson was advised by the Chairman to submit Freedom of Information requests to the Council regarding further library-related questions since asking further supplementary questions was not allowed under the Constitution.

 

 

6.

Members' Items (If any)

Minutes:

None.

7.

Community Right to Bid Nomination for Asset of Community Value - College Farm, Fitzalan Road, London N3 3PG pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Community Engagement, Participation and Strategy Lead

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Officer’s report and comments made at the meeting by Mr Crick (Item 5, Public Comments and Questions).

 

Committee Members pointed out several reasons for listing College Farm as an ACV:

 

It was noted that a tenant at College Farm currently appeared to control access to the farm and it was not clear whether or not the community had the option to access the land.

 

In February 2018 College Farm Trust had been delisted as a charity by the Charity Commission. This might have some impact on College Farm Trust as a private limited company but the status was unclear.

 

There was no caselaw giving clear time limits as to what amounts to the ‘recent past’ for the purposes of section 88 of the Localism Act 2011

 

Cllr Longstaff moved a Motion to recommend that College Farm be listed as an Asset of Community Value. This was seconded by Cllr Grocock.

 

The vote was recorded as:

For the Motion – 10

Against the Motion – 0

 

Carried – the Committee resolved that College Farm be listed as an Asset of Community Valueand added to the Council’s Register, based on the statutory criteria set out in the Localism Act 2011, and the evidence provided in the nomination.

8.

Outcome of annual Strategic Crime Needs Assessment pdf icon PDF 396 KB

Assistant Director, Community Safety and Regulatory Services

Minutes:

Mr Peter Clifton, Community Safety Manager, presented his report.

 

Councillor Conway asked the following questions, and responses were provided by Mr Clifton:

 

·         Only 27% of people in Barnet cited being confident in how to contact their neighbourhood policing team. How can this be improved?

Response: 12000 residents had signed up to the OWL system and app. There has been an increase in engagement with Neighbourhood Watch in Barnet. Barnet is working closely with neighbourhood policing teams to continue this work.

 

·         Domestic violence and rape statistics are dramatically worse – how do you think this can be tackled?

Response: this is the trend across London. In Barnet plans had been made to improve the sanction and detection rate for these crimes, including video body cams introduced for the police and specialised police officers to respond to domestic abuse incidents. The Violence Against Women and Girls Sub Group was working with the police.

 

·         There had been recent incidents in the Cricklewood area, and gang-related crimes including child exploitation in East Finchley and Hampstead Garden Suburb. Can some mechanism be put in place when such issues arise?

Response: Barnet was meeting regularly with the Community Safety MARAC which focused on area-based anti-social behaviour.

Action: Mr Clifton offered to take this point away for discussion.

 

·         Rather than just enforcement in relation to environmental crime, it might be helpful to raise awareness of for example the North London white goods collection service. Mr Clifton agreed that more could be done and he would take this away. Action: Mr Clifton

 

Cllr Longstaff asked the following questions:

 

·         What else can be done to address burglary in Barnet? Do you think the many actions taken so far have had any success?

Response: this needs to remain a priority; there is evidence of some progress. A few years previously Barnet’s burglary rate was the highest in London - currently it was the 6th highest. The integrated offender management approach appeared to be helping and recently a review of offenders on the programme had been launched so it was hoped this would have an impact.

 

·         How can Community Payback work and how can its progress be highlighted so that plans could be made to use it in the future?

Response: work was ongoing with CRC on joint activities such as street cleansing. The aim was that training would be provided for individuals on the scheme to improve their employability. Mr Clifton would provide details of future plans after the meeting. Action: Mr Clifton

 

·         How many penalty notices for littering and flytipping were domestic and how many were commercial?. How many Fixed Penalty Notices were cancelled or retracted? Mr Clifton would take this away and respond after the meeting. Action: Mr Clifton

 

·         Cllr Rich enquired about the age profile of perpetrators of robbery in Barnet. Mr Clifton would respond after the meeting.

Action: Mr Clifton

 

Cllr Patel suggested inviting the Barnet One Stop Shop to present to the Committee on their work. The Chairman noted that Cllr Patel should inform  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

Q3 Performance Report pdf icon PDF 359 KB

Head of Performance and Risk, Commissioning Group

Minutes:

The Committee received the Quarter 3 2018/19 Community Leadership and Libraries Performance Report.

 

A Member enquired about the funding bids for a Prevent Coordinator and Prevent Education post. Mr Clifton responded that funding had been awarded by MOPAC and the Home Office. MOPAC had provided £344,000 for two years to 2021.

 

A Member enquired about the success of the PSPOs. Mr Clifton responded that there had been a 40% reduction in calls relating to anti-social behaviour and the area looked cleaner.

 

A Member enquired about the success of the full-time Coordinator appointed to work with the most prolific and repeat offenders. Mr Clifton responded that the individual had been in post since early 2018 and was working on improving the effectiveness of the Reducing Offending Management Programme.

 

Further to a discussion the Chairman moved to the vote on the officer recommendations:

 

That the Committee is asked to review the financial, performance and risk information for Q3 2018/19 and make any referrals to Policy and Resources Committee or Financial Performance and Contracts Committee in accordance with the terms of reference of these Committees.

 

For – 8

Against – 2

 

Resolved – the report was noted and no referrals were made to the above Committees.

 

10.

CLLC Delivery Plan pdf icon PDF 175 KB

Assistant Director Community Safety and Regulatory Services  

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the report and Appendices A and B.

 

A Member requested an urgent meeting on the libraries review. The Thompstone noted that he would continue to request the DCMS outcome data so that this item could be taken forward.

 

The Chairman moved to the vote on the officer’s recommendation:

 

That the Committee approve the Delivery Plan 2019/20 as set out in Appendix B.

 

For – 6

Against – 4

 

Carried – the Delivery Plan 2019/20 was APPROVED.

 

11.

Community Infrastructure Support Contract

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed Katrina Baker, Groundwork London and Caroline Collier, Inclusion Barnet, who spoke to their presentation.

 

Ms Baker stated that Groundwork London and Inclusion Barnet had been commissioned to deliver the voluntary, community and faith sector (VCFS) contract for 2018-20 as part of the Participation Strategy.

 

Ms Collier reported that Inclusion Barnet would deliver the VCFS support service. This would include not only disability services but wider community services including mental health, partnership libraries, People’s Choice, Hate Crime victim support and other services. Inclusion Barnet also provided surgeries, developed training and worked to engage organisations in partnerships and would work to collaborate with partners across the borough.

 

The immediate priority would be to develop a strong collective voice, developing partnerships with statutory partners and businesses to provide the best support for the borough.

 

Ms Baker reported that Groundwork London works to promote volunteering across the borough and to ensure that volunteering is accessible. Groundwork would be delivering two lots from the contract: the Community Directory and the Volunteering Service. In addition it would provide skills programmes and strategic grants that would be open to local ventures and the service had been nationally accredited as Volunteering Barnet. The three main priorities were to promote volunteering across the borough; to make sure volunteering is accessible, and to provide training for organisations, particularly around best practice. Groundwork would also register and place volunteers, and give them support where needed. In addition it would look to involve small businesses in volunteering and also to help organisations to connect with eachother.  

 

Through Barnet Together and the Directory the aim was also to reach new local groups and help to develop new groups. There was also specific support for young people through the Young Barnet Foundation.

 

Monitoring and key performance indicators would be through quarterly meetings with officers and through the Delivery Plan. There would also be an Annual Report. Inclusion Barnet had some input into how they were monitored and KPIs could be helpful depending on how they were managed – if they focused on priorities, were outcome-focused and allowed some flexibility they could be helpful.

 

A Member enquired how Inclusion Barnet has the opportunity to work with planners and developers in providing accessible and family-friendly development and planning. Ms Collier responded that they had not been approached about family-friendly planning.

 

 

 

A Member suggested that details were shared with the Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee. Ms Baker and Ms Collier were keen to approach these opportunities.

 

A Member asked for clarification on the numerous abbreviations they used during their presentation. These would be clarified on their respective websites.

 

A Member enquired about joint working with the faith sector and how these could link in to this work. Ms Baker noted that Groundwork London had been working with Jewish Volunteering at Work for several years, and she had also had discussions with the Barnet Multi-faith Forum on how work could be carried out collaboratively. She added that the offer was open to all.

 

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Referral of Motion from Full Council pdf icon PDF 150 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received a report from the Head of Governance. The Chairman suggested that the Committee ask officers to look at the suggestions made in the report in more detail and bring this back to a future meeting for discussion.

 

A vote was taken and the above was unanimously APPROVED.

 

Resolved – that officers were requested to submit a more detailed report to a future meeting of the CLLC with recommendations on the Motion.

 

13.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 159 KB

Minutes:

The Work Programme was received. The Chairman noted that this would be updated shortly with future meetings.

 

Cllr Patel suggested that the Barnet One Stop Shop could be invited to speak in relation to the item on Prevention of VAWG. The Chairman would discuss this further with Cllr Patel outside the meeting but agreed that they could attend.

Action: Chairman, Cllr Patel

 

 

 

14.

Any item(s) the Chairman decides are urgent

Minutes:

Paperlight meetings

 

The Chairman noted that for future meetings of the CLLC Members should ‘opt in’ to receive papers – they would otherwise automatically be opted out for receipt of hard copies by courier and this would help to work towards the target savings of £60,000 per year. All papers were available via the Modern Gov app and any queries should be directed to tracy.scollin@barnet.gov.uk.

 

If any Member had problems in relation to IT they should report these to Andrew Charlwood, Head of Governance who was monitoring the move towards paperlight meetings.

 

The meeting closed at 21:01 hrs.