(Members Code of Conduct – Part 4A of the Constitution)

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

Notes:

(1)       Members must consider their interests, and act according to the following:

(2)       Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

(3)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

No disclosures of interest in matters under discussion were received.

Recommended –

That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2023 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

(Yusuf Patel / Jane Lythgow – 07970 411923 / 07970 411623)

That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 November 2023 be signed as a correct record.

(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. 

(Yusuf Patel / Jane Lythgow – 07970 411923 / 07970 411623)

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

The Committee is asked to note any referrals and decide how it wishes to proceed, for example by incorporating the item into the work programme, requesting that it be subject to more detailed examination, or refer it to an appropriate Working Group/Committee.

There were no referrals made to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Strategic Director, Place, will present a report (Document “V”) which provides an update on volunteering initiatives across the Bradford District supported by Stronger Communities and VCS partners.

Recommended –

1.    That the initiatives and volunteering that support services to local communities be acknowledged.

2.    That the Strategic Director, Place, be requested to present a further report to provide an update on the impact of the VCSE Service Improvement Programme and the Volunteer Coordinator to support volunteering across the district in 12 months-time.  

(Mahmood Mohammed – 01274 433799)

The Strategic Director, Place, presented a report (Document “V”) which provided an update on volunteering initiatives across the Bradford District supported by Stronger Communities and VCS partners.

Members referred to the Citizen Coin initiative and questioned if the scheme had been rolled out more widely than was reported in Document “V”.

In response it was explained that successful work had been conducted with young people. Shipley College had been signed up to the scheme and work had been conducted with Bradford New College to train young people to promote the initiative.  A progress report was awaited.  Work had also been undertaken with pupils from Bradford Grammar School, Year’s 12 & 13, who were able to spend their coins in the school canteen.  Wider opportunities for volunteering outside of school had also been sought by those pupils.  It was hoped to progress Citizen Coin with pupils at schools where volunteering was currently not promoted.  It was also reported that staff from Bradford University had joined the scheme.

It was questioned if the coins were accepted in retail centres and it was explained that 160 retailers were on board with the scheme.  Those retailers may not have offers available constantly as they could choose when to offer the coin scheme. It was hoped that volunteers would travel outside of their own areas to spend their coins and efforts were being made to recruit retailers.  The scheme provided a good opportunity for small businesses to capture data.

A Member who had been present at the Local Government Conference where it had been talked about all organisations being involved in the Citizen Coin initiative questioned progress and the role Councillors could play in support.  It was explained that an audit of all retailers had been conducted and an audit to see how they could be supported and to access the app to its full potential was being undertaken.

It was reported that Monday 3 June 2024 was the first day of volunteer’s week.  All Councillors and partners would be included, and events would be provided in all areas.  It was explained that Wakefield Council had joined the scheme, and their involvement would allow the investment made by Bradford to be enhanced.  A report had been provided to the Portfolio Holder and would be shared with all Members.

The Chair referred to a typing error on page 10 of the report and that the Risk Management system should have reported that there were ‘no’ significant risks arising from the proposed recommendations.

In response to the social media activity around the ‘People Can’ initiative concern was raised about the limited interest revealed in the report. In response it was explained that the initiative also promoted on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook accounts.  The social media co-ordinator had left their post, and the work had been conducted by the Area Teams. The Stronger Communities Team were now picking up that role. 

It was reported that ‘People Can’ was a multi-agency brand owned by the voluntary sector.  This  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

Members are asked to consider if the Not for Publication Appendix to Document “T” containing the Community Safety Partnership Performance report should be considered in the absence of the public and, if so, to approve the following recommendation:

Recommended –

That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the Not for Publication Appendix to Document “T” containing the Community Safety Partnership Report because information would be disclosed which is considered to be exempt information within paragraph 7 (Crime Prevention) of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

It is considered that, in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing this information as it is in the overriding interest of proper administration that Members are made aware of the safety implications of any decision without prejudicing the work of the Community Safety Partnership.

Resolved –

That the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the Not for Publication Appendix to Document “T” containing the Community Safety Partnership Report because information would be disclosed which is considered to be exempt information within paragraph 7 (Crime Prevention) of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

It is considered that, in all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing this information as it is in the overriding interest of proper administration that Members are made aware of the safety implications of any decision without prejudicing the work of the Community Safety Partnership.

TheSafer Communities Delivery Co-ordinator, on behalf of the Community Safety Partnership, Safer Bradford, will present a report, Document “T” including Not for Publication Appendix two, whichprovides an annual performance report summary for the twelve months to 30 September 2023 and presents the annual Delivery Plan.

Recommended –

That Document “U” be acknowledged and the work of Safer Bradford in delivering improved results be recognised.

(Michael Churley – 01274 431364)

The Safer Communities Delivery Co-ordinator, on behalf of the Community Safety Partnership, Safer Bradford, presented a report, Document “T” including Not for Publication Appendix two, whichprovided an annual performance report summary for the twelve months to 30 September 2023 and presented the annual Delivery Plan.

Resolved –

(1)  That officers from West Yorkshire Police, be thanked for their attendance.

(2)  That a further progress report be presented to the Committee in 12 months, which also reflects the comments raised by members, including crime statistics across the Districts wards.

To be actioned by – Strategic Director for Place

                                                                        (Michael Churley – 01274 431364)

The report of the Anti-Social Behaviour Team Manager, Document “U”, is presented as a response to the resolution at full Council on 11 July 2023 to continue prioritising action against Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and working with the police and partners in measures to combat ASB.

The report is divided into the three heading areas in the resolution: Progress on tackling ASB; options for any new approaches; and learning from other areas to build on our measures to tackle ASB and its causes.

Recommended –

That the report be acknowledged and the work of the wider ASB Partnership, delivering improved results, be recognised.

(John Redding – 01274 431364)

The report of the Anti-Social Behaviour Team Manager, Document “U”, was presented as a response to the resolution at full Council on 11 July 2023 to continue prioritising action against Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and working with the police and partners in measures to combat ASB.

The report was divided into the three heading areas in the resolution: progress on tackling ASB; options for any new approaches; and learning from other areas to build on our measures to tackle ASB and its causes.

The report revealed that there had been an overall improvement in performance in the majority of areas related to anti-social behaviour over the last 12 months based on police recorded data.  That followed significant increases over the period of the Covid pandemic and the current falls in ASB were welcomed. 

Document “U” also reported that overall ASB victim satisfaction with support services in the Bradford district had risen steadily over the past 12 months.

Members referred to the perception of ASB in towns and the city centre and believed that this affected the quality of visits to those locations.  It was felt that people congregating; sleeping in doorways and begging at traffic lights was becoming increasingly concerning and frightening for women drivers.  It was suggested that could be some organisation behind the traffic light begging and concerns that a shift system was in operation were raised.  Members expressed concern that no improvement in ASB had been seen in the city centre and it was questioned how those issues had been addressed.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Team Manager addressed the meeting and reported that he had been in post for only three months.   He recognised Members’ concerns and whilst being compassionate to vulnerable people and trying to provide support his team would use all legislation available to them if other measures failed.  Community Protection Warnings and Notices would be issued were appropriate. 

A Member referred to the Members Call for Action currently being conducted.  He reported that Eccleshill Ward Partnership and the Police were tacking ASB robustly and it was felt that there were some signs of reduction.  The single biggest issue he had experienced was residents’ reluctance to ring the police as they believed their issues would not be resolved. Their experience had been that they would be provided with a crime number but no police presence would be provided.  He questioned if ASB was actually reducing or was it the case that people were just not reporting issues.

In response representatives of the West Yorkshire Police confirmed that reports of ASB had reduced.  They discussed the work of the ASB team; Operation Steerside, the Licensing Team and others outlined positively in the report.  The Anti-Social Behaviour Team, a multi-agency team including the police and Council, had resulted in reduced figures for repeat offending and provided support before enforcement action became necessary.  It was explained that 16 Criminal Behaviour Orders, some for begging, and 38 Final Warnings had been issued.  It was stressed that the team did try to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

The Chair of the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee will submit a report (Document “W”) which includes the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme for 2023/24, which are attached as appendix 1 to Document “W”.

Also attached as appendix 2, is a list of unscheduled topics for 2023-24.

Recommended –

(1)      That the Committee may choose to add to or amend the topics included in the 2023-24 work programme.

(2)      That Members consider any detailed scrutiny reviews that they may wish to conduct.

(Mustansir Butt - 01274 432574)

The Chair of the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee presented a report (Document “W”) which included the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme for 2023/24, which was attached as appendix 1 to Document “S”.

Also attached as appendix 2, was a list of unscheduled topics for 2023-24.

Members were requested to contact the Overview and Scrutiny Lead with any comments.

Resolved –

That the Committee discussed and amended the work programme.

To be actioned by: Overview and Scrutiny Lead

(Mustansir Butt – 07582 101597)