In the interest of transparency all those who were landlords disclosed an interest in Minute 44.

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

(Tracey Sugden - 01274 434287)

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

To hear questions from electors within the District on any matter this is the responsibility of the Committee. 

Questions must be received in writing by the City Solicitor in Room 112, City Hall, Bradford, BD1 1HY, by mid-day on Monday 17 February 2020.

(Fatima Butt/Tracey Sugden – 01274 432227/434287)

There were no questions submitted by the public.

The Strategic Director, Place will present a report (Document “V”) which seeks approval for programmes of safer roads schemes in the Bradford East constituency for 2020/21 and 2021/22.

Recommended –

(1)  That the programmes of Casualty Reduction schemes for 2020/21 and 2021/22 listed in Appendix 1 to Document “V” be approved.

(2)  That the proposed programmes of Traffic Management measures for 2020/21 and 2021/22 listed in Appendices 2 and 3 to Document “V” be approved.

(3)  That any Traffic Regulation Orders, or any legal procedures linked to the processing of traffic calming measures or pedestrian crossing facilities which are necessary to implement the chosen schemes be approved for processing and advertising subject to the scheme details being agreed with the local Ward Members.

(4)  That any valid objections to the advertised Traffic Regulation Orders, traffic calming or pedestrian facilities be submitted to this Area Committee for consideration or in the event of there being no valid objections the Traffic Regulation Orders be sealed and implemented and the traffic calming or pedestrian facilities be implemented as advertised.

(Andrew Smith – 01274 434674)

The Strategic Director, Place presented a report (Document “V”) which sought approval for programmes of safer roads schemes in the Bradford East constituency for 2020/21 and 2021/22.

Members were informed that the total Bradford East Safer Roads budget for 2020/21 and 2021/22 was £110,000 per year; the recommended annual split between casualty reduction schemes and community-based projects in Bradford East was £70,000 and £40,000 respectively. However, there was an option to increase the spend proportion on community-based projects when viable casualty reductions schemes programmes had been exhausted. Suggested schemes programmes were detailed in Appendices 1 and 2.

            It was reported that due to the timing of funding announcements, previous years Safer Roads programmes had generally been presented to Area Committees in June or July. This had sometimes resulted in there being only 8 months to deliver a full programme of schemes; given the lengthy consultation and legal process required for many of the projects, this had inevitably resulted in a failure to complete programmes on time. In order to ensure timely delivery of schemes, it was proposed to determine a 2-year programme. This also facilitated the potential for a more flexible approach whereby more significant schemes could be funded over a 2-year period.  

In response to a Members question it was reported that Appendices 3, 4 and 5 were monitored and updated, older schemes were removed in consultation with Ward Members; a review of the lists was undertaken periodically and some historical schemes that had remained on the lists for a number of years had been retained following consultation with Members; it was also useful to keep some of the schemes on the lists in case other sources of funding becoming available and also provided a checklist of what was needed in the area.

It was reported that the proposed programme of Casualty Reduction Schemes were identified by looking at clusters of recorded traffic collisions.

Members felt that future reports should include information on casualty rates across Bradford East and give reasons as to why certain schemes were chosen over others.

Resolved –

(1)          That the programmes of Casualty Reduction schemes for 2020/21 and 2021/22 listed in Appendix 1 to Document “V” be approved.

(2)          That the proposed programmes of Traffic Management measures for 2020/21 and 2021/22 listed in Appendices 2 and 3 to Document “V” be approved.

(3)          That any Traffic Regulation Orders, or any legal procedures linked to the processing of traffic calming measures or pedestrian crossing facilities which are necessary to implement the chosen schemes be approved for processing and advertising subject to the scheme details being agreed with the local Ward Members.

(4)          That any valid objections to the advertised Traffic Regulation Orders, traffic calming or pedestrian facilities be submitted to this Area Committee for consideration or in the event of there being no valid objections the Traffic Regulation Orders be sealed and implemented and the traffic calming or pedestrian facilities be implemented as advertised.

(5)          That future Safer Roads reports include information  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The Area Committee is asked to consider Document “W” which provides information in respect of the Bradford Opportunity Area in Bradford East.

Members are advised that, as an “Opportunity Area”, the DfE funds a small team to work with Bradford to agree and deliver priorities in improving social mobility. Its work is driven by an Opportunity Area board made up of key stakeholders from across Bradford. This group has identified four priority area to work on:-

·         Strengthening school leadership and the quality of teaching

·         Improving literacy and oracy, including a focus on parental engagement

·         Helping young people access rewarding careers

·         Removing health-related barriers to learning

A wide range of activity has been funded and is outlined at Appendix 1 to Document “W”.

Recommended –

That the programme progress be noted for information and the use of the Social Mobility Dashboard (as outlined in Appendix 3 to Document “W”) be endorsed to support the work of the Area Committee.

(Kathryn Loftus – 01274 434590) 

The Area Committee was asked to consider Document “W” which provided information in respect of the Bradford Opportunity Area in Bradford East.

Members were advised that, as an “Opportunity Area”, the DfE funded a small team to work with Bradford to agree and deliver priorities in improving social mobility. Its work was driven by an Opportunity Area board made up of key stakeholders from across Bradford. This group had identified four priority area to work on:-

·         Strengthening school leadership and the quality of teaching

·         Improving literacy and oracy, including a focus on parental engagement

·         Helping young people access rewarding careers

·         Removing health-related barriers to learning

A wide range of activity had been funded and was outlined at Appendix 1 to Document “W”.

It was reported that a wide range of activities which specifically focused on the Bradford East Area was tabled at Appendix 1.

Members were informed that the Department for Education (DfE) published its Bradford Opportunity Area plan in January 2018; with this plan, the DfE committed an extra £6m of funding and a tilting of more national programmes into Bradford until 2020; Bradford had received £4.85m to date with a further £1.4m due before the end of March 2020 (total £6.25m); on top of this, Bradford also received £5.6m in Essential Life Skills funding.

It was reported that by the end of August 2020, Bradford schools would have been direct recipients of over £9m additional funding since the start of the Opportunity Area programme.

Members were informed that the Opportunity Area investment had totalled £12m (from 2017 – 2020) through a grant from the Department for Education; this included in excess of £6m for the main Opportunity Area grant (with an extra £500K committed in summer 2019), in excess of £5.5m for Essential Life skills funding with the remainder made up of support from national partners and prioritised funding for other government initiatives; this investment had been across the entire Education sector in Bradford and not all of the funding had passed through the Council, with grants awarded directly to schools for some activities and programmes. 

Members commented on a number of issues which included:

·                     What measures were in place to assess the outcomes of the various projects and whether the money was being used for what it should be?

·                     What trends in improvements were being seen?

·                     There was a discrepancy in the information presented in Appendix 3; needed up to date local information.

·                     Needed to see information on what was being undertaken to ensure the programmes were sustainable.

·                     It terms of the Essential Life Skills funding it was difficult to see from project to project what the money was being spent on; the allocation to schools was not explained fully.

·                     Don’t feel the projects were targeting the right areas; there were parts of Bradford East that did not have a Youth Centre and young people were meeting in McDonalds; needed to target funding where it was needed.

·                     More could be undertaken in relation to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

The Strategic Director, Place will present a report (Document “X”) which provides members with an overview of the work of the Housing Standards and Empty Homes and Loans Teams undertaken in the Bradford East Area.

Recommended –

That the report be noted.

(Julie Rhodes – 01274 431163)

The Strategic Director, Place presented a report (Document “X”) which provided members with an overview of the work of the Housing Standards and Empty Homes and Loans Teams undertaken in the Bradford East Area.

It was reported that in 2018/19 the service received 648 service requests relating to housing standards in the Bradford East area, the majority of which were from the private rented sector. This was a 20% increase on the number received in 2017/18, which was higher than the increase across the whole District, which was 15%. Appendix 1 provided a breakdown of those service requests received in 2018/19 by ward.

Members were informed that the main legislation enforced by the team was the Housing Act 2004.  This legislation came into force in April 2006 and used the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) as the prescribed method of assessing a house’s condition.  Under the HHSRS officers were required to ensure that each property was assessed against 29 separate hazards.  Using the assessment tool hazards were categorised as either Category 1 or Category 2 hazards.  Details of the 29 hazards assessed using HHSRS were provided in Appendix 2.

It was reported that In 2018/19 the most frequently scored hazards in Bradford East were Fire, Electrical Hazards and Damp and Mould. This was broadly in line with the frequency of hazards across the District, except that the proportion of Electrical Hazards was higher and Excess Cold (which is one of the top three hazards District wide) was lower.

Members were informed that During 2018/19 for properties in Bradford East:

•           The Housing Standards Team served 302 notices requiring works to be undertaken.

•           Housing conditions were improved in 317 properties.

•           Housing conditions were improved in 131 properties where children aged 0 -18 years were.

•           2 prosecutions were taken for non compliance.

Members made the following comments:

·         What was classed as a high risk property?

·         What methods of prosecution were used on landlords who failed to take action?

·         How was the Service made aware of empty properties?

·         Was the focus on properties that were empty for longer than 6 months?

·         A number of properties that became long term empty posed being used for fly tipping.

·         There were hundreds of empty properties that could be looked at.

·         What type of property gave the most problems?

In response to Members comments it was reported that:

·         A property was assessed as high risk depending on its condition, length of time it had been empty, the landlord not taking action when requested and owners not engaging with the Service.

·         The methods used by officers included utilising appropriate products from the full range of options available to them to try to encourage owners to bring their homes back into use but in some cases they had to use the ultimate sanction against uncooperative owners – compulsory purchase.  Since 2010, the service had compulsorily purchased 35 properties and voluntarily acquired 39 properties. There were a further 20 cases currently on going  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

Members are asked to consider Document “Y” which provides an overview of Community Action work undertaken across the area.

Recommended –

That the information in Document “Y” be noted and welcomed.

(Paul Stephens – 01535 612500)

Members were asked to consider Document “Y” which provided an overview of Community Action work undertaken across the area.

It was reported that Community Action helped voluntary and community groups to start up, grow and develop. As the needs of groups changed over time, Community Action also helped groups change, reduce activities or close when needed. The voluntary organisation support officer role involved helping groups with good governance and explaining how to raise funding including, but not limited to, applying for grants. Typical enquiries also included questions about employment/ volunteer issues, financial management, marketing and business planning.

Members were informed thatCommunity Action supported, enabled, developed, represented and informed the community in a wide variety of ways. It offered operational support in setting up and sustaining a voluntary or community group; it managed bfunded

The organisations supported in the Bradford East Constituency were reported in Appendix 3 to the report.

In response to a Members question it was reported that not all groups were proactive in coming forward for advice from Community Action; some obtained funding through the lottery and did not keep in in contact, others came when their funding had run out.

It was reported that the majority of the work was undertaken with small organisations.

In response to a Members question it was reported that the Laisterdyke Hub had links with the BD3 area to help small organisations.

There was a discussion on whether some of the organisations supported had become sustainable.

Resolved –

(1)       That the information in Document “Y” be noted and welcomed.

(2)       That the work Community Action do to help voluntary and community groups be welcomed and that all volunteers be thanked for the valuable work they do across the District.

Overview and Scrutiny Area:  Corporate