Agenda and minutes

To issue a welcome to those present, and to confirm if there are any apologies for absence.

The Vice-Chair in the Chair welcomed those present to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillor Dawood and Councillor Joshi.

Members will be asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Members were asked to declare any interests they may have had in the business to be discussed.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting of the Culture and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Commission held on 8^th July 2024 have been circulated, and Members will be asked to confirm them as a correct record.

It was raised that there had been inaccuracies in minutes from 2023.  In the meetings of 16 August 2023 and 24 October 2023, Cllr Mohammed was not marked as present when he was.  This was noted by the Commission.

AGREED:

1)    That the minutes of the meeting of the Culture and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Commission held on 8 July 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

2)    That the minutes of the meetings on 16 August 2023 and 24 October 2023 approved by the Chair be amended in the above respect to correct an inaccuracy subsequently discovered.

The Chair is invited to make any announcements as they see fit. 

None.

Any questions, representations and statements of case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures will be reported.

The Monitoring Officer reported that none had been received.

Any petitions received in accordance with Council procedures will be reported.

The Monitoring Officer reported that none had been received.

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment submits a report updating the current position on the draft strategy and noting how it links to other major initiatives and emerging government policy.

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment submitted a report updating the current position on the draft strategy and noting how it links to other major initiatives and emerging government policy.

The Assistant City Mayor for Culture, Libraries and Community Centres introduced the item and noted that:

• Leicester had recently been identified as the fifth most creative city in the country.
• The city was strong on being enterprising in culture and creative industries.
• There was a good range of businesses and opportunities across the city.
• A growing number of organisations were receiving funding from Arts Council England.  Recently representatives from Arts Council England had been at events at libraries and museums in the city.  They were investing in the city as they knew it would pay dividends and they would get good value.  The Council and Arts Council England worked well in partnership.
• There was always more that could be done, and the strategy was not yet complete.  By bringing the strategy to scrutiny, the Commission could get a good feel for what was being done and they were given an opportunity for dialogue.

The Director of Tourism, Culture and Investment then presented the report. Key points highlighted included:

• This was a partnership initiative supported by Arts Council England and both the University of Leicester and DeMontfort University who had been involved and contributed financially. 
• The strategy was aimed to be complete in the coming months.
• The number of arts and cultural organisations supported by the Arts Council had tripled in the city in the last decade and they were now an important core revenue funder.
• This was the first time in nearly a decade that a strategy was developed with partners.
• Creative industries were growing at twice the pace of the rest of the UK economy over the last decade.
• The key target for the strategy was to grow employment by 25% by 2030 which equates to roughly 4,500 jobs.
• The strategy also aimed to create hooks which could be used to bring in investment from other partners.
• In Spring 2025, the government plan to release a programme called ‘Creative Clusters’ an opportunity for our area to bid, especially linking university research and development with creative industry growth.

The Commission was invited to ask questions and make comments and the officers and the Assistant City Mayor for Culture, Libraries and Community Centres to respond. Key points included:

• In regard to a point made about joining up the historical and artistic attractions in Leicester to help make it a destination, it was commented that Leicester was a compact city which made it easier to walk between the main attractions.  Work was being done by the Visit Leicester team to link the attractions.  Universities were being worked with in terms of scope to keep families who were visiting students longer.  The importance of having such information on what was available in the city was stressed.
• Further to this, information was available on the Visit Leicester website, containing itineraries for visiting the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

The Head of Safer Communities submits a presentation providing an overview of the structure of the combined Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour Team (known as CRASBU) and Housing Anti-Social Behaviour Team (Known as HASBO) within the Community Safety Service and illustrating the performance of the team and it focus areas.

The Head of Safer Communities submits a presentation providing an overview of the structure of the combined Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour Team (known as CRASBU) and Housing Anti-Social Behaviour Team (Known as HASBO) within the Community Safety Service and illustrating the performance of the team and it focus areas.

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care, Health and Community Safety introduced the item and noted that:

• Wider Community Safety issues could be brought to a later meeting of the Commission.
• The team were thanked for their work on the response.
• The service was trauma informed and solution focused, understanding that victims and perpetrators could interchange.
• It was considered as to how complex cases could move forward.

The Service Manager for Community Safety presented the report using the slides attached with the agenda. Additional points highlighted included:

• The data had been broken down to track requests for service coming into both CRASBU and HASBO it analyse their nature and to monitor disparities between the services.
• The highest number of calls in the last Quarter were for the Housing Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) team.
• It was explained that the 212 cases managed by the HASBO team were at the lower end of the scale, but the 55 managed but CRASBU were more complex and high-risk.
• A significant disparity between the service was noise complaints, making up 19% of HASBO’s cases and 9% for CRASBU.  These had been time consuming, and there were limited ways for Community Safety to address these cases.
• Similarly, there was a disparity in parking cases dealt with (2% for HASBO and 4% for CRASBU) and again Community Safety were limited in their ways to address this.
• Advice remained the most consistent disposal and the most widely used.
• Both teams dealt with ASB, but HASBO’s cases were more on the lower-level non-legal side and CRASBU were generally more complex high-risk side.  However, the sanctions used were largely similar, and whilst the work was different, the symptoms were broadly similar.
• ASB Case Reviews (Community Triggers) When an application was received, it was reviewed.  If the threshold was then met it was followed up.  Every investigative stage of the case was looked at.
• In terms of next steps:
  • There was a dedicated duty officer managing the ‘front door’ and signposting to most appropriate service and offering support.  This looked to signpost at the earliest opportunity.
  • There had been implementation of Cuckooing Protocol to ensure early identification of vulnerable tenants to aid support and deter perpetrators.  This would be launched across the city and would be shared across Leicestershire and Rutland.  This fed into Adult Social Care, especially in the case of tenants.  If there was a suspected Cuckooing case, it could be dealt with from a place of vulnerability rather than enforcement.
  • A trauma informed and solution focused approach to all our work that is of benefit to all involved and reduces demand on other services was being considered.
  • It was aimed to be more present within communities to ensure effective communication  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

Members of the Commission will be asked to consider the work programme and make suggestions for additional items as it considers necessary.

An update on HASBO and CRASBU would be brought to the Commission every 12 months.

Items on Shoplifting and City Centre On-Street issues would be brought to future meetings of the Commission.

The work programme was noted.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 18:45.