Agenda item

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships is to bring to members’ attention an update of the work which the Communities Team is engaged in, based on priorities identified by the Community Committee. It also provides opportunities for further questioning, or to request a more detailed report on a particular issue.

(Report attached)

The report of the Head of Locality Partnerships provided the Community Committee with an update of the work in which the Communities Team is engaged in, based on priorities identified by the Community Committee.

The following matters were highlighted and discussed:

Queens Platinum Jubilee – Information was provided on planned celebrations and events, along with road closures and how to apply for funding to support events, including a poster at Appendix 1 to share.

Children and Families – The Youth Summit was planned for Autumn 2022, so that discussions would inform the budget spend for 2022/23. The report included a QR code to link to the YAF Consultation Survey to gather the views of and engage with young people prior to the Summit. A request to include the QR code on the Community Committee Facebook page was noted.

Health, Wellbeing & Adult Social Care – Councillor Jenkins updated the Committee on Leeds’ “Marmot City” status to tackle inequality, focussing on young/early years so that people get the best start through good health and a longer life; and also focussing on the elderly so that they can eat well, get health checks and access a GP. It was noted that the presentation on Domestic Violence and Abuse planned for this meeting would be presented to the June Committee.

Councillor Hussain raised his concerns over the impact of poor housing in both the private rented sector and social housing on the long-term health of tenants, particularly children. Councillor Jenkins reported on the intention to roll-out Selective Licensing across the city – to register landlords and ensure Decent Home standards. The Committee noted comments on the shortage of social housing, the impact of funding cuts on the ability of local authorities to undertake works to LA homes, and the impact of the rise in the cost of living on private tenants. The Committee requested a report on Selective Licensing be brought to a future meeting.

Employment, Skills & Welfare – Members noted an increase in the number of Universal Credit claimants to 9,773 (from 5,658) during the March 2020 to November 2021 period. Councillor Grahame thanked officers for the successful bid to the Leeds Community Foundation for funding for the “Developing You” programme – a learning disabilities pre-employment project.

Environment & Community Safety – The report contained current case statistics provided by the Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team (LASBT) and Serious and Acquisitive Crime Demand statistics submitted by West Yorkshire Police (WYP) for the three Inner East wards.

Sergeant Morrit discussed the comparative figures for each ward for the reporting periods of December 2021 – January 2022 and January 2022 – February 2022. Members noted the figures provided in the “Change column” required amendment. He reported the priorities for the three wards remain unchanged:

·  Burmantofts & Richmond Hill – disrupt young people’s involvement in knife crime and street gangs

·  Gipton & Harehills – improve community engagement, address street drinking and drug supply

·  Killingbeck & Seacroft – address youth anti-social behaviour/misuse of motorcycles and to reduce the level of hate-based crime. Councillor Jenkins reported that the use of Smart Water was being considered to combat motorcycle misuse.

The Committee welcomed the proposed restructure of community policing teams which would deploy each team to one of three specific areas, the teams would provide cross boundary support to calls for assistance. Members also noted that the Crime Prevention Officer for the area had now moved to Bradford, however the South and West CPO’s would provide cover.

In response to a comment from Councillor Dye regarding the lack of statistics on Domestic Violence and Abuse in the report, Sgt Morrit clarified that any report of DV to WYP was reported straight to the WYP specialist Domestic Abuse Team for action, so the statistics would not show through LASBAT or the local policing team statistics. Members were concerned the lack of figures may give the wrong impression as they were aware that over 200 cases per week enter the “Front Door” process. Discussions with the Corporate DV team were proposed to identify whether any information could be made available for future reports.

Stuart Brown, Cleaner Neighbourhoods Team provided the Committee with an overview of the top job requests by ward:

Dead Animals – 31. Stuart reported that staff were now trained to scan cats for their microchip so that owners can be identified and informed.

Dog fouling – in response to comments made during the Open Forum, Stuart reported 8 requests to deal with dog fouling in Killingbeck & Seacroft in the past three months and he offered t do a leaflet drop in the locality. Across the Inner East area, there had been a decrease in reports (636 2020/21 and 371 2021/22) 

Commercial waste – 22 issues across the area were reported (BRH – 10; G&H – 11; K&S – 1) and the team had successfully brought an enforcement case against one business which resulted in a fine and costs being awared.

Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) – With the introduction of the BRH PSPO, the team had changed, there were now 11 Enforcement Officers covering the three wards with Harehills having a new 5-day team which carries out additional duties such as litter picking or targeting a specific locality to provide education – such as the Dorsets area – and this approach will continue until the source of the issue in that locality is found. 

Stuart concluded the last quarter had been particularly busy as people returned to a more normal work routine. Additionally, as the team was now at 100% staffing and post-Covid Health & Safety risk assessments allowed the team to undertake more duties, a normal service would resume.

Members noted that the Team did take enforcement action against private addresses when provided with the necessary evidence. Stuart highlighted that it was particularly important that on finding a fly-tipping incident, people did not tamper with it or try to find evidence of an address in it, but reported it to eneaction@leeds.gov.uk as the appropriate email address to contact.

The Committee welcomed the updates provided.

RECOMMENDATION -

a)  To thank Stuart Brown and Sgt Morrit for their presentations.

b)  To note the contents of the update report and the Committee’s discussions.