No disclosures of interest in matters under discussion were made.

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2021 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

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

Resolved –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2021 be signed as a correct record.

ACTION: City Solicitor

(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. 

(Fatima Butt/Tracey Sugden - 01274 432227/424287)

No requests to remove the restriction on a report or background paper were made.

(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 15 March 2021.

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

No public questions were submitted.

The Area Committee is asked to consider Document “E” which provides information on Capital Highway Maintenance funding and makes recommendations on the allocation for Non-Classified road resurfacing schemes and Surface Dressing sites.

Recommended –

That the Bradford East Area Committee approves the proposed programme of works as shown in Appendix 1 and 2 to Document “E”.

(Andrew Whelan – 01274 434409)

(Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

The Area Committee considered Document “E” which provided information on Capital Highway Maintenance funding and made recommendations on the allocation for Non-Classified road resurfacing schemes and Surface Dressing sites.

A Member queried the status of Poplars Park Road in respect of this funding and was informed that there was an ongoing issue with the road but that it was still under consideration.

Another Member queried whether the inclusion of Greaves Street in the list of schemes would conflict with the recent road markings which had been put in place. The Committee was advised that the road would be inspected again to ensure it still needed work.

Resolved –

That, subject to  further inspection of Greaves Street in respect of the proposed programme for surface dressing, the proposed programme of works as shown in Appendix 1 and 2 to Document “E” be approved.

Action:  Strategic Director, Place

(Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

The Strategic Director, Place will present a report (Document “D”) which considers a petition expressing concern about the speed of traffic on Leeds Road, Eccleshill and requesting the installation of speed cameras or some other method to stop high speed driving.

Recommended –

(1)  That no action be taken on the request for safety cameras or further traffic calming measures.

(2)  That Highway Maintenance be requested to reinstate the road hump markings.

(3)  That future speed surveys be arranged and when the data has been collected and analysed, if there is evidence of excessive speed the data be shared with the Police to assist them in targeting enforcement.

(4)  That the petitioner be informed accordingly.

(Andrew Smith – 01274 434674)

(Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

The Strategic Director, Place presented a report (Document “D”) which considered a petition expressing concern about the speed of traffic on Leeds Road, Eccleshill and requesting the installation of speed cameras or some other method to stop high speed driving.

Thr Principal Traffic and Road Safety Engineer explained the traffic calming which had been in place in this location for a number of years and advised that data collected did not support the installation of further measures.

A member of the public joined the meeting and highlighted the traffic problems in the area, particularly those due to speeding vehicles. He was thanked by the Chair for bringing the issue and the petition to members’ attention.

In response to a question, it was clarified that work was due to start shortly on the reinstatement of road markings in the area.

Members were also advised that the organisation which would be able to authorise speed cameras at a given location was the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership and that there were specific criteria for doing so. As such, the Area Committee would not be able to accede to the petitioners’ request. An important first step in addressing residents’ concerns would be to survey speeds in the area for a full five day period, 24 hours per day, including a weekend.

Members concurred with that and stated that they had received similar representations previously. They stressed the need to consult with the Police on this issue with a view to resolving it.

Resolved –

(1)  That Highway Maintenance be requested to reinstate the road hump markings and carry out an inspection of the road hump conditions.

(2)  That future speed surveys be arranged and when the data has been collected and analysed, if there is evidence of excessive speed the data be shared with the Police to assist them in targeting enforcement.

(3)  That it be noted that this Area Committee is not the body which would make a decision on requests for speed cameras and that, therefore, the request be forwarded to the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership for consideration and the outcome conveyed to the lead petitioner and Ward Members.

(4)  That West Yorkshire Police be contacted to discuss the issues of Anti-social behaviour and speeding and what can be done to resolve them.

(5)  That the petitioner be informed accordingly.

Action:  Strategic Director, Place

(Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

The Chief Executive will present a report (Document “F”) which provides an update to and builds on the report presented to the District Area Committees previously regarding the issue of Child Exploitation (CE). It focuses on the Strategic Response to all forms of exploitation in Children and Adults and how partners from the Working Together to Safeguard Children – the Bradford Partnership and the Bradford Safeguarding Adults Board work to drive improvements across the District and to hold agencies to account for their work in their area. This report also outlines the emergence of other complex safeguarding themes and outlines how partners are effectively collaborating and focussing upon the protection of vulnerable Children and Adults.

Recommended –

(1)  The Area Committee is invited to consider the contents of this report and how members can support local activity.

(2)  The Area Committee shall receive a further update on the progress of the response to exploitation in 12 months’ time.

(3)  Partners will seek further funding opportunities from Government funding streams to enable to continuation of service provision as outlined in this report.

(Darren Minton – 01274 434361)

(Children’ Services & Health & Social Care Overview & Scrutiny Committees)

The Chief Executive present a report (Document “F”) which provided an update to and built upon the report presented to the District’s Area Committees previously regarding the issue of Child Exploitation (CE). It focused on the Strategic Response to all forms of exploitation in Children and Adults and how partners from the Working Together to Safeguard Children – the Bradford Partnership and the Bradford Safeguarding Adults Board worked to drive improvements across the District and to hold agencies to account for their work in their area. The report also outlined the emergence of other complex safeguarding themes and how partners were effectively collaborating and focussing upon the protection of vulnerable Children and Adults.

A Member queried how the pandemic had affected this work and was advised by a representative of West Yorkshire Police that lockdown had led to a noticeable reduction in calls which gave rise to the concern that some incidents may not have been reported. As children returned to school, reports of concerns went back up again. It was stressed that resources had been increased and every effort was made to investigate reports and to intervene as early as possible.

It was also stated that the incidence of young people missing from home had reduced significantly during lockdown.

In response to a question about cyber exploitation, Members were advised that there was a dedicated team of six PCSOs who worked on this issue and who offered training to children in primary schools to prevent such exploitation. In secondary schools, there was a team of officers who dealt with all incidents appropriately, including the use of restorative justice where possible. Bradford was the only local authority currently doing proactive work in schools on this topic. Members commended the team for that work.

A Member asked a series of questions, including :-

·         following the move from CSE to all forms of exploitation, would all children continue to be viewed as victims ?

·         was there a reason for the difference in the rates of turnaround for boys and girls ?

·         the systems described involved a lot of referrals, was there a risk of missed communications or appointments ?

In response, she was advised that, in terms of the social care response, all young people would continue to be viewed as victims and that there would be no reduction in response now that teams were working together. It was also explained that the service was tailored to make its response bespoke to the needs of the individual young person, which would affect the response for boys and girls. Also, it was explained that the system for referral was robust and that processes were in place to flag and address any missed appointments.

Members noted that the team presenting this report had another meeting to attend and suggested that they email and further questions. The team welcomed this approach and undertook to provide prompt responses to those questions. It was also noted that the independent thematic Serious Case Review of CSE  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

The AREA Committee is asked to consider “Document “G” which provides an update on COVID-19 in Bradford District.  It describes the district response between March 2020 and January 2021.  The latest data on cases, admissions and deaths will be reported verbally at the meeting. 

The report sets out how the Bradford District COVID-19 response is being managed, explaining the leadership role of the COVID-19 Management Group and the working groups that feed it.

Recommended –

That Bradford East Area Committee notes the contents of the report and the work that is taking place across district to respond to the Covid 19 pandemic.

(Ian Day – 07896728186)

(Health & Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee)

The Area Committee considered “Document “G” which provided an update on COVID-19 in Bradford District.  It described the District response between March 2020 and January 2021.  The report set out how the Bradford District COVID-19 response was being managed, explaining the leadership role of the COVID-19 Management Group and the working groups that fed it.

Members were advised that Bradford was still in the top 10 local authorities for rates of COVID and was regarded as an area of stubborn and enduring transmission. The reasons for this were explained, including the high number of key workers in the area; the young population within the District and the struggle that people were having with self-isolation.

Members were also advised about the latest rates of COVID infection and their reduction over the last few days. The number of lateral flow tests being carried out in schools was explained as was the ongoing concern about the level of infection in the community. It was stressed that hospital admissions were on the way down and that local hospitals were not now under pressure. The percentage of the local population who had been vaccinated was explained as was the extremely good vaccine take-up in the Yorkshire and Humber region. It was also stressed that there was no evidence of risk of blood clots from the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine and that the World Health Organisation had confirmed that it should continue to be used. Members were advised that it would be very helpful if that message could be communicated in the community.

The work of the central hub was explained to the Committee, including work on vaccine hesitancy and community testing. Local support and advice was being provided and was making significant progress, especially among groups which the National Team was struggling to reach. The work of the Young COVID ambassadors was especially praised and the joint work of the Police and Environmental Health in dealing with breaches of the lockdown restrictions was highlighted.

In response to a question about the provision of information in different languages, Members were advised that there was a District Communications Partnership and that most material was translated into a variety of different languages. The use of social media had also been prioritised and the Young COVID ambassadors had been key stakeholders in the production of information videos which had been extremely well received.

Members were also advised that any help they could give in reaching out to communities which were vaccine hesitant would be very gratefully taken up.

The Chair asked if it was possible to have the vaccine at home if a person had severe mobility issues and the officer undertook to respond to that question after the meeting. There was a wide variety of access points for vaccination in place to enable as much take up as possible, including faith and community settings.

In response to a question about vulnerable people such as the homeless, it was explained that a great deal of work was ongoing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.