Members are reminded that any Member may refer any local government matter to the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee. In considering whether to refer a matter, the Member must have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.
A Call for Action been received from a Member regarding anti-social behaviour in the BD2 and BD10 areas as detailed below:
“Following a number of incidents of antisocial behaviour and vandalism in the Eccleshill ward over the past year. I am now requesting that you take steps to implement a Councillors Call to Action as set out in the Councils Constitution.
With Bus services, Swimming Pool, businesses and residents in the BD2 and 10 areas regularly subjected to vandalism, anti-social behaviour and threats of violence. There has been little impact from interventions from the Police and other agencies to date.
Previous multi agency meetings have failed to bring everyone together and months on from the last such meeting the problems persist today.
Residents are suffering from regular withdrawals of services and reputational damage as a result of the behaviour of a small minority. I believe that there is no other choice left than to take this step”.
The request does comply with constitutional requirements (Part3E Paragraph 4).
The Member will be invited to attend the meeting to make representations as to why it would appropriate for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to exercise its functions in relation to the matter.
The Committee is requested to consider and determine the request for an inquiry and if it determines to exercise its functions in relation to the matter refer it to the appropriate Overview & Scrutiny Committee. In this case that would mean retaining the matter itself as the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee considers all Safer and Stronger Communities matters.
Members are requested to consider and determine the request for an inquiry into anti-social behaviour in the Bradford 2 and Bradford 10 areas of the District.
Minutes:
Members were reminded that any Member may refer any local government matter to the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee. In considering whether to refer a matter, the Member must have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.
A Call for Action was received from a Member regarding anti-social behaviour in the BD2 and BD10 areas as detailed below:
Following a number of incidents of antisocial behaviour and vandalism in the Eccleshill ward over the past year. I am now requesting that you take steps to implement a Councillors Call to Action as set out in the Councils Constitution.
With Bus services, Swimming Pool, businesses and residents in the BD2 and 10 areas regularly subjected to vandalism, anti-social behaviour and threats of violence. There has been little impact from interventions from the Police and other agencies to date.
Previous multi agency meetings have failed to bring everyone together and months on from the last such meeting the problems persist today.
Residents are suffering from regular withdrawals of services and reputational damage as a result of the behaviour of a small minority. I believe that there is no other choice left than to take this step.
It was confirmed that the request did comply with constitutional requirements (Part3E Paragraph 4).
The Member attended the meeting and made representations as to why it would appropriate for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to exercise its functions in relation to the matter.
His presentation to Members detailed quotations and references from members of the public and the police and included that residents were afraid to go out in the area in the evenings; that they were fearful that their properties and vehicles would be broken into or vandalised; they worried about their children travelling to school in that location and they felt stressed and fearful in the area.
The Councillor referred to buses being attacked; assaults on the local swimming pool staff; businesses being vandalised, including a food bank; intimidating behaviour in the street; drug use; and bad driving. It was stressed that the anti-social behaviour had resulted in no go areas for residents and that the situation was wearing and miserable for people living in that location.
It was reported that over 50% of calls to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had been as a result of anti-social behaviour and in the previous two days two cars had been set alight and rolled the slope onto a residential property. Buses had been cancelled and re-routed on numerous occasions; taxis refused to service the area; youth activities had been withdrawn and unaccompanied children were banned from the local swimming pool. The impact on residents was reported with 39% of residents suffering personally from the withdrawal of services; stress and fear was experienced by people living in the area and almost 20% of those surveyed had talked about wanting to move away.
It was acknowledged that anti-social behaviour was not new in the Bradford district or unique to the area under discussion, however, statistics from West Yorkshire Police had identified the BD2 and BD10 areas as the worst for ASB.
Attacks on buses in the area were described together with the difficulty in retrieving evidence of those incidents due to the incompatibility of security and information technology specifications of the police computer systems and the bus operators. As both those organisations fell under the remit of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority it was felt incredulous that a lack of training or technology was resulting in justice being stalled.
An incident occurring at the Industrial Museum, where the CCTV images were unable to be viewed by the police, was cited as an example of the incompatibility of systems.
In summation Members were informed that the Call for Action was presented following years of work with Council officers; the police and other agencies and despite the police’s Operation Steerside; youth service provision; neighbourhood watch schemes and repeated action days’ young people were being drawn into criminality, relationships between the generations were at breaking point and the majority of people were losing hope that the situation would ever improve.
It was reiterated that systems and processes in place were not working; crime reports often resulted in no action; nine out of ten thefts did not result in conviction and vandalism was cleared up time and again without any meaningful way to prevent recurrence.
Members were asked to launch an enquiry into measures to tackle the problem with a particular focus on the following:
· How young people could be diverted away from the routes into ASB.
· How the Council and other authorities could better work together and support organisations and staff on the front line.
· What further preventative steps authorities could take to limit the opportunities for anti-social and criminal behaviour.
· Ensure that justice was done and seen to be done.
· Restore the faith of the 99% plus of residents that their neighbourhood is safe, friendly and calm.
Members were urged not to lose the opportunity to show residents that they were listening and ready to act.
Following the very detailed presentation Members questioned the response rate to the survey results quoted in the Member’s presentation and it was confirmed that the survey had commenced four weeks previously and was ongoing. Responses from 200 to 300 residents had been received to date.
A Member acknowledged historical problems of ASB and referred to assurances received six or seven years previously that the situation would be rectified. He recognised that this had not happened and suggested that if an enquiry was conducted, whilst happy for the area under discussion to form the core of the enquiry, he believed that the geographical area should be widened across the district and the focus of investigations clarified at the onset.
Issues in the Toller Ward on bonfire night four years ago were reported by a Member representing that area. It was explained that an action plan had been developed with the police, ward officers and youth service and had eased the situation. It was believed that there were a range of measures which could also be undertaken to address the issues under discussion.
It was recognised that Incommunities and social landlords were experienced with dealing with ASB and suggested that private landlords should be included in any enquiry. Concerns were expressed that tenants evicted from social landlords for ASB were moving to private landlord accommodation and no action was taken on future ASB.
Other Members agreed that there was no doubt that ASB was a big issue and suggested that any future enquiry should include the police presenting reports depicting facts and figures and attend to answer Members’ queries. It was suggested that the BD2 and BD10 areas could be rated as number one for ASB due to amended ways of recording. Incidents in the Toller area were reported and it was explained that due to one very serious incident in the ward, which gained the area a high score in the points rating, had increased the rating of that ward greatly despite that being a single offence. Members were advised that a report was scheduled for the Safer Communities Work Plan Performance for presentation at the December meeting.
A proposal by the Chair that an enquiry should be district wide was supported although one Member advised focusing on four or five areas with specific issues as he believed that a district wide enquiry could dilute the issues.
An opposing view was provided by a Member suggesting that widening an enquiry could belittle the lived experiences of people in the BD2 and BD10 area. She felt that West Yorkshire Police being unable to view images from other systems was ridiculous; that the police had received funding for information technology to predict and prevent crime and that other authorities were doing much better on ASB issues. It was stressed that all people deserved a better response to the issues raised and that communities should not be pitted against each other.
Concerns were expressed that a recent television programme about the district had raised issues which were frightening. It was suggested that the reasons for that behaviour should be investigated and consideration given to what other authorities and agencies were undertaking in relation to ASB. An understanding of why people were dissatisfied and had lost faith in the police should be sought.
It was recommended that an enquiry should look at particular topics for example young people not in school.
The lack of guidance on Councillor Calls for Action nationally was also raised as a concern.
In response to suggestions by the Committee the Member who had raised the Call for Action explained that he was not against widening the geographical area of an enquiry.
He believed that the way the Council worked with West Yorkshire Police; Transport, Trading Standards, housing associations and other agencies all had a part to play in addressing the issues.
He questioned why there were empty properties or badly designed housing estates in the area. He suggested, for example, that solutions could be found to prevent quad bike riders using rat runs around the district.
It was explained that he had requested a meeting with the Mayor of West Yorkshire but had received only a cursory response. Despite him attending numerous multi-agency meetings and action days the problems persisted. He had hoped that a meeting with the Mayor, including the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Police and other agencies providing services in the area could address the issues still being experienced.
Members agreed that an enquiry be commenced and suggested that terms of reference for that enquiry should be the focus suggested by the Member requesting the enquiry as follows-
· How young people could be diverted away from the routes into ASB.
· How the Council and other authorities could better work together and support organisations and staff on the front line.
· What further preventative steps authorities could take to limit the opportunities for anti-social and criminal behaviour.
· Ensure that justice was done and seen to be done.
· Restore the faith of the 99% plus of residents that their neighbourhood is safe, friendly and calm.
Resolved –
The Committee agreed to undertake a review into anti-social behaviour, across the whole of the District.
(Mustansir Butt – 07582 101597)
