Agenda, decisions and minutes

1.1   Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Joseph, Race, Ross and Laudat- Scott.

1.2   Cllrs Joseph, Ozsen and Ross joined the meeting virtually.

2.1  There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the previous meetings held on 13 December 2022 were agreed as a correct record of the meetings proceedings.

RESOLVED:

There are no official recommendations arising from this report. This report is for information purposes. Corporate Committee can note the content of this report and level and the scope of work being carried out to meet the requirements of the PSPO.

4.1   Gerry McCarthy, the Head of Community Safety, Enforcement and Business Regulation introduced the report. The visible street population had appeared to increase in the last three years and the service had many tools at its disposal to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB) including ASB warning, Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) and injunction. However, the service’s moderate approach had been to engage and offer support and use enforcement action as the last option. The statistics for anti-social behaviour in 2022 had been low.

4.2  In response to questions from members in relation to the report, the Head of Community Safety, Enforcement and Business Regulation responded as follows:

? Certain problematic locations such as Gillett Square and Stamford Hill had improved over the year but Gillett Square would continue to be an issue due to the access points and the pods in the square should improve the situation and additional Enforcement Officers in Dalston were on duty at night between Thursday and Sunday to deal with the ongoing issues. Statistics could be provided on the number of people officers had engaged with and notices issued. The Council also worked jointly with other services such as Public Health to provide support to street people including oral healthcare from the Colgate Bus etc;

? The Council provided support and assistance to vulnerable and street people with alcohol addiction and substance abuse issues to find accommodation and also referred them to external agencies such as Turning Point for addiction support. The service’s approach had been to provide assistance to street persons to get them off the streets;

? An Equality Impact Assessment would have been undertaken for the Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) report submitted to Cabinet, which was available on the Council’s website. It was confirmed that the demographic data would have been monitored and that this data would be available from the Street Population Co-ordinator;

ACTION 1:

The Head of Community Safety, Enforcement & Business Regulation:

1. To provide the statistics for the additional Enforcement Officers deployed in Dalston and the number of notices issued in the year.

2. To obtain from the Street Population Co-ordinator the demographic data monitored within the EIA and the number of referrals of vulnerable/street people with alcohol and drug addiction issues to external agencies such as Turning Point and Public Health and whether they had found accommodation.

? With regard to the support available for repeat offenders of ASB with mental health issues, this information was not held by the service but could be held by another service within the Council.

ACTION 2: Governance Officer to seek a response from the appropriate service area in respect of the mental health support for repeat offenders and respond directly to Cllr Turbet-Delof

?  In relation to the table at page 20 of the report, the work undertaken to tackle ASB was intelligence led and there were some incidents that could have been resolved under noise nuisance if it was not alcohol related ASB. An ASB warning could only be issued if the person was identifiable and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

RESOLVED:

There are no official recommendations arising from this report. This report is for information purposes and Corporate Committee can note the annual performance report for the service.

5.1  Gerry McCarthy, the Head of Community Safety, Enforcement and Business Regulation introduced the report setting out the annual performance report in relation to noise. Hackney continued to look at statutory noise nuisance and noise arising from anti-social behaviour together. It also provided an update on the volume of noise complaints, a breakdown of the individual types of noise within the services workload, including Temporary Event Notices (TENs), which continued to place significant demand on existing resources.

5.2   In response to questions from members in relation to the report, the Head of Community Safety, Enforcement and Business Regulation responded as follows:

 ?  With regard to noise nuisance during Covid-19, social landlords and landlords were responsible for flooring issues in residential blocks and the council had no powers to force residents to improve their floor sound installation;

?  Any noise nuisance arising from wooden floors in flats should be reported to the landlord and the terms would be in the tenancy agreement and noise nuisance from the power showers could be reported to the service;

?  In relation to construction related noise nuisance, any request for construction outside normal hours could be considered and permitted from Monday to Saturday from 08.00 to 18.00 hours, Saturday from 08.00 to 13.00 hour and no Sundays. If the developer were granted permission to do construction works beyond 18.00 hours the developer would be expected to inform residents. The Legal Officer added that the Council tried to give advance notice of any works that were required as an emergency;

?   With regard to the long-term noise issues from registered and unregistered schools in the north of borough, schools that were not under Hackney Council were defined as commercial premises and notices could be served. The Environmental Protection Officer could deal with the noise nuisance as the process was faster than challenging under planning rules. If the noise nuisance continued it could be reported to the Ward Environmental Protection Officer or Principal Enforcement Officer;

?  It was emphasised that residents needed to continue reporting ongoing noise nuisance on the reporting system and each complainant would be given a reference number. With regard to ongoing noise nuisance issues, an Enforcement Officer would make arrangements to visit the resident;

?  It was possible to report on the system nuisance arising from noise and smell such as bonfire smoke.;

?   If the noise nuisance was occurring during the out of hours service, officers could remain to investigate the complaint and get witness statements;

?   With regard to domestic noise and the fewer first response visits compared to the number of reports, this was not due to under reporting and residents could complain to their Ward Councillors;

?   In relation to the commercial noise nuisance, the reduction in complaints had been due to the measures implemented such as the night portal, engaging with venues owners and working jointly with the police;

?   The new system was expected to be functioning in the next 12 months. ? Licensees could apply for TENs to extend its ongoing operational hours and would need to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1   Members noted the Committee’s work programme and the inclusion of the Report of the Public Realm including policies for tables and chairs on pavements for June 2023

RESOLVED:

The draft work programme 2022/23 was noted subject to the inclusion of the

above report.

7.1   The Chair indicated that members would like an update on the Future workplace and ways of working at a future meeting.