The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “AF”) provides information on the roles of Council Wardens and Neighbourhood Wardens in the new structure.

Recommended –

(1)       That the Bradford West Area Committee prioritises the work of the       Neighbourhood Wardens based on the needs in each Ward, taking             into account the new functions outlined in this Report.

(2)       That the Bradford West Area Committee requests a further report         to be   presented to the Committee in October 2019 to report on          the work of   the Neighbourhood Wardens between April and       September 2019.

(3)       That the Bradford West Area Committee liaises with the Civil      Enforcement and Operations Manager if there are any issues             regarding parking enforcement when the new structure goes live       on 1^st April    2019.

(Louise Williams – 01274 431066)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “AF”) provided information on the roles of Council Wardens and Neighbourhood Wardens in the new structure.

The Bradford East Area Co-ordinator was in attendance and with an invitation by the Chair, she introduced the report to the Committee.

Following introduction, a question and answer session ensued:

·         Was the information on the new structure to be set into motion or would this Committee have an opportunity to make further amends in the delivery of resources in the Bradford West area?

o   This structure outlined was to replace the present delivery of resources into the Bradford West area;

·         What was the decision behind the shift change of 2 Wardens in the Toller Ward?

o   Back in 2011, a review was undertaken and uniformed services in the district were considered in detail, hence the roles that had been put into motion for Council Wardens during 2012;

o   However the new Neighbourhood Wardens would not participate in any form of parking activities work;

§  In response, the Chair highlighted a statement that in previous years, the Wardens located in the West area had only been undertaking parking enforcement and due to being inundated with a parking activities, had not been able to focus efforts towards environmental work in the area, despite having the responsibility for both areas;

§  Officer’s response to statement, the Bradford West area would now benefit greatly than other areas due to 2 Neighbourhood Wardens.

·         In terms of the City Centre, there were reservations in how Wardens efforts would be focused on the whole of the West area due to the size and footfall in the City Ward and this particular area would consume most of the allocated?

o   In relation to the City Centre, no resources such as staff would be lost that had been allocated and a further 4 Ambassadors would be appointed;

·         The Committee was in the assumption that the City Centre area would have 2 Wardens and 2 Environmental Enforcement Officers?

o   An Environmental Enforcement Officer would cover the City Centre area once a week. In the new structure a Warden from each ward would be working one day a week in the City Centre. As of April 2019, 10 Wardens would only focus efforts towards community environmental work in the whole of the West area; and,

·         Would feedback on the process be given to the Committee?

o   Due to a daily shift change, there may not be time.

During the discussion, the following points were made by the Committee and officers:

·         No specific breakdown of any kind was given in the report;

·         This report had been discussed by this Committee on two different occasions, and on its third discussion, no appropriate mechanism had been devised by officers;

·         It seemed that financial resources being allocated to the district were not being distributed appropriately in reflection of needs of each area in the Bradford District;

·         There would be more Warden time that could be utilised to meet the ever increasing needs;

·         There had been no mention of raising awareness work during school times in the report;

o   In response to comment, 32 Council Wardens would be starting work earlier than in the previous structure;

·         This new structure would not work for the Bradford West Area;

·         Environmental Officers had to deal with complex cases that could be time consuming;

·         2 x Enforcement Officer’s would deal with bigger things such as serving notices;

·         Wardens would be working closely with communities and Environmental Officers would be taking on the responsibility of case work;

·         There were concerns as to why only Environment Officer’s from the Bradford West area would be utilised for the City Centre when the City was used by the whole district and by people from outer Bradford;

·         10 x Wardens was not enough for the West area; and,

o   In relation to statement, the Assistant Director, Neighbourhoods and Customer Services stated that there were a further 4 constituencies hence 4 net gain of Wardens the district and it was about pulling resources from other areas; and,

·         The East area was also in much need of more resources than the West area.

o   In response to statement, the Committee highlighted the fact that resources required for the City Centre area were greatly underestimated; and,

o   A further response, a copy of the formula of how resources were allocated throughout the district was requested.

§  The Bradford East Area Co-ordinator responded, this could be provided at a further meeting of this Committee.

The Committee expressed its reservations to the information about roles of the new structure for the Bradford West Area, therefore:

Resolved –

(1)       That a further report be presented to the Bradford West Area      Committee in October 2019, detailing the educational,             engagement and enforcement, environmental work undertaken in             the Bradford West area, and to specifically include educational activities and enforcement related to school parking between        April and September 2019.

(2)       That the Bradford West Area Committee liaises with the Civil      Enforcement and Operations Manager if there are any issues             regarding parking enforcement when the new structure goes live       on 1^st April 2019.

(3)       That the Civil Enforcement and Operations Manager ensures the          effective enforcement of parking around schools in the Bradford    West area.

(4)       That the Assistant Director of Neighbourhoods and Customer   Services, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Healthy    People and Places, discusses ways of finding extra resources for           the City Centre area of Bradford.

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE: Regeneration and Environment

ACTION: Strategic Director, Place