(65 minutes)
To receive questions from Councillors. The first five minutes of this item may be used by the Mayor to make any announcements.
Minutes:
Mayor Jason Perry, supported by members of the Cabinet, invited questions from Council on various topics affecting the borough. The Chair called upon councillors in turn and Mayor Perry responded that:
· The prevalence of domestic violence against women and girls was an ongoing issue and the Council was intent on tackling this. It was one of the delivery plans in the community safety strategy.
· The Council’s partnerships with the police, health, and community colleagues were regularly reviewed to refresh the community safety strategy. The three delivery plans were live documents co-produced with partners and featured in the Council’s budget.
· The Community Safety Strategy was reviewed, the safety delivery plans were considered by Cabinet the previous week, the Youth Justice plan was considered by Scrutiny Committee on 10 October and the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy would be coming forward in due course.
· The Community Safety Engagement Board was initiated in April 2023 at the request of local community groups.
· The Town Centre was top priority, and the council was working with partners on a renewed master plan for the Town Centre. A Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) was initiated in April and 130 notices within the PSPO had been issued. Also, the Safer Streets group had been reformed to support the homeless and improve the cleanliness of the Town Centre.
· Regarding Croydon Limited Partnership, the Council was currently in ongoing negotiations with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) and firm timetables were expected towards the end of the year.
·
One of the ways the Council was
implementing the recommendations of the Violence Reduction Network
contained in the Strategic Assessment Report 2022 was by focusing
on funding community groups.
The Executive Mayor held monthly and daily meetings with the
Borough Commanderto discuss issues and challenges facing the
borough and hold the Police to account and ensure all was being
done to make Croydon’s streets safe. Also, the Safer
Neighbourhood Board was a public board that was in place to hold
the police to account.
· The supplementary design guide (SPD) was removed in July last year. The Local Plan would be focused on design character rather than being density driven and would be agreed by Cabinet and Council.
· There was no total quantum of resources available for preventive projects but an ongoing process of funding local grassroots groups through resources drawn down from government funding in addition to council resources and advice was being sought from professional officers and professionals in the field on the best programmes to keep the Borough’s young people safe.
· The Council’s “blitz” clean-up campaign had successfully led to the reduction of fly tipping by 84 percent over a three-week period in Norwood and the Thornton Heath Clock Tower had been restored. The next target for the blitz cleaning was Thornton Heath.
· Cabinet approved the extension the PSPO to include Thornton Heath Ponds and the whole of Grangewood Park. The protection orders would be in place by the end of 2023. Training on what powers for use were available under the PSPO would be provided to officers.
·
A public meeting with local residents to discuss violence against women
and girls would be held in a few weeks to ensure the
Council’s plan was moving in the right direction. In addition
to tackling street harassment activities in schools, there was a
recognition that discussions with young people about healthy
relationships was needed.
A leading UK charity, Against Violence and Abuse (AVA) was working
to have interventions in schools, and the Council was working with
schools and AVA to ensure those interventions were rightly
targeted.
· There were measures within the delivery plan of the community safety strategy for preventing violence against women and girls to ensure the Council was setting the right targets, and that those targets were monitored and met.
· Lessons learnt in the successful Norbury blitz clean-up would be applied to the Thornton Heath blitz clean-up.
· The Youth Justice Plan was a set of priorities from central government that officers were collaborating and working hard on to address the issues, despite financial challenges to deliver the best for the Borough’s young people.
· Wandle Park Café would be reopened pending resolution of the issues with the building.
· Croydon had low school pupil exclusion rates compared to other London boroughs, and it disproportionately affected black boys. However, there was intensive support from organisations such as Saffron Valley Collegiate, grassroots community groups, and there were support mechanisms in place such as mentoring support for both excluded and managed moved children.
· Cabinet agreed the non-statutory consultation for the closure of maintained nursery schools. Five of the maintained schools already operated at a deficit; doing nothing was not an option.The consultation would enable the views of local residents to be factored into the decision.
· Officers were working hard in collaboration with the Cabinet Member for Children Services and Young people to mitigate the impact of previous budget cuts and prepare for the forthcoming youth offending service inspection.
· The ability of the Council to provide spaces for community groups had reduced significantly due to the council’s debt burden and the necessary sale of assets. Officers were asked to explore the possibility of putting empty shop units into community use.
· The Council was committed to educating primary and secondary school pupils about domestic violence as part of a multi-agency approach to tackling violence and the inclusion of this approach was being drafted in the Youth Safety Plan.
· The London Borough of Culture programme’s initial funding of approximately £1.5 million from the GLA was used very wisely. Officers were currently trying to use the programme to secure additional funding from the Arts Council and the Lottery Fund.
· The Council was committed to working in partnership with private enterprises in the borough.
· The first papers relating to budget setting would soon be published. The Cabinet Member for Finance was engaging with the opposition parties and preparations were being made in terms of officer support to facilitate the process next year.
At this point, in accordance with Council Procedure Rules (3.3 of Section 4A) the Civic Mayor moved that the meeting be extended for a further 30 minutes up to 10 pm to allow for Item 11, Council Debate Motions to be considered.
The motion was seconded by Councillor Mario Creatura, put to the vote and CARRIED.
RESOLVED, to: Extend the guillotine for a further 30 minutes to 10 pm.