To receive questions from Councillors.
Minutes:
Mayor Jason Perry, used the first 3 minutes to highlight the following:
· The second blitz clean campaign had started in Thornton Heath from West Thornton this week. This was part of the ongoing commitment to cleaning up Croydon’s streets and district centres.
· Lesson learnt from the successful Norbury Blitz campaign had resulted in a three-pronged approach to tackle street licensing, commercial waste licenses, and domestic waste from flats and HMOs. Also following Blitz Clean up in Norbury, there was an 84 percent reduction in flight tipping.
· This campaign would likely take place over two-month period and would target graffiti and residents have requested the Council to crack down illegal parking. Police activities would also target fly tipping and the Council would be working local businesses and residents to provide ongoing advice and support to help keep the area looking its best after the clean-up.
The Executive Mayor then gave the following answers to questions asked by Members:
· Conversations with Maintain Nursery Schools have been ongoing since the decision in December with sessions with the community. There was a slight improvement as some nurseries had improved their position, but a deficit remained. A report on this would be coming to Cabinet, in May or June 2024.
· There were a number of factors to be taken into consideration in deciding the closure of any Maintained Nursery School such as results of the consultation and if any financial improvement made would be sustainable. The decision would be made at Cabinet.
· Councillor Hale as Cabinet Member for Homes was having regular meetings with the Housing Regulator. The Council was reshaping the Housing department to ensure a better delivery of the Housing Transformation plan and Council was engaging with resident through the Housing Improvement Board.
· Council had appointed carbon neutral program managers who were reviewing the Carbon Neutral Action Plan for implementation.
· The Mayor confirmed he would be to meet with residents in upper Norwood in a Brick by Brick built Shared ownership scheme to discuss the 35 percent increase in property management services and would work to improve conditions for tenants and residents in housing across the borough.
· The changes to the Local Plan would provide stricter policies to control the environment around HMOs.
· Air quality was now part of the Local Plan and the policies, once adopted, would be used to incentivize developers to incorporate air quality improvement measures into their projects.
· Environmental health and planning conditions breaches were being taken seriously. The Council’s enforcement team now had a new team leader and had managed to reduce caseloads. The team they had dealt with 19 cases so far with two cases which may go to court.
· The Police were making effective use of the recently reintroduced public protection order to ensure the safety of the town centre. Along with the reviewed Community Safety Strategy, and the delivery plans, the Council was working with Partners and volunteers to undertake the number of initiatives and to engage on, different issues around safety in the town centre.
· The Council was trying to tackle the issue of the viability of the High Street in different ways such as using the Mayor’s good growth fund to make improvements to Portland Road.
· When the contact centre contract was brought in house, it became apparent that the number of calls was greater than it was under the previous contractor. Permanent Staff were recruited in April and resources were now being built up to deal with the issues presenting at the centre and improvements would be monitored through engagement of residents.
· The case of an elderly resident with boiler issues for over a year would be considered by the Mayor.
· The recommendation from Home Scrutiny to set up a direct contact with the voluntary sector and support workers would be considered and a response provided accordingly.
· The results of the recently concluded consultation on the Brighton Road Cycle Scheme would be presented at Cabinet soon.
· It would be communicated when the improvements on the Portland Road Bridge would begin.
· The South Norwood Regeneration Programme was on track with the funding being used for many projects such as mentoring support for Six businesses.
· The medical centre would be an excellent facility for the health care for residents. Planning applications would be submitted soon and hopefully the Centre would be opened next year.
· There was a lot of work happening about getting community space that was meaningful and affordable into new developments and Developers were partnering with local community groups to take the place once built.
· The backlog of planning enforcement cases had been reduced by 25 percent as the Council recruited a new team leader with the aim of reducing case loads and making sure the residents get the desired service.
· The successful Harris Primary School trial Streets Programme would be taken forward by Council.
· Over 300,000 people attended actual physical events during Croydon’s year as the London Borough of Culture. The numbers are being finalised.
· Planning officers work very closely with developers to bring forward schemes such as NHS schemes for the benefit of local residents.
· Public space protection orders are part of that dealing with trouble hot spots. The Council was using this to do lots of work around tackling the violence against women.