BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL

HODGE HILL DISTRICT COMMITTEE 23 NOVEMBER 2017

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE DISTRICT COMMITTEE HELD ON THURSDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2017 AT 1400 HOURS IN COMMITTEE ROOM 2, COUNCIL HOUSE, VICTORIA SQUARE,

PRESENT : - Councillors Uzma Ahmed, John Cotton, Mohammed Aikhlaq, Mohammed Idrees, Majid Mahmood and Fiona Williams

ALSO PRESENT :-

Mike Davis - Hodge Hill/ District Head Danny Kilbride - Place Manager, /Hodge Hill Mushtaq Hussain - Place Manager, Jonathan Davies - Compass Support Mike Hinton - District Parks Manager Helen Bailey - Police David Bromley - West Midlands Fire Service Marie Reynolds - Legal and Democratic Services

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NOTICE OF RECORDING

434 The District Committee were advised that the meeting would be webcast for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s Internet site and members of the press/public may record and take photographs except where there were confidential or exempt items. ______

APOLOGIES

435 Apologies were submitted on behalf of Councillors Marje Bridle, Diane Donaldson, Ansar Ali Khan, Mariam Khan, Shafique Shah and Ian Ward for their inability to attend the meeting. ______

MINUTES

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Hodge Hill District Committee – 23 November 2017

436 That the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2017, having been circulated to Members were confirmed as a true and correct record. ______

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Camera located on the Corner of St Margaret’s Road Junction and Washwood Heath Road

437 Councillor Mahmood referred to the above-mentioned location and highlighted that rubbish was still being deposited there and although it was being removed fairly swiftly, there was an urgent need to find the offenders and for some firm action taken in addressing this issue.

Transit Site for Travellers – Recycling Site

438 Councillor Mahmood confirmed that the above-mentioned location was no longer to be considered as a transit site for travellers, highlighting that there were 2 sites within the city that could be used for this purpose.

Hodge Hill Ward Local Innovation Fund (LIF) Proposals

439 Councillor Mahmood confirmed that Hodge Hill Ward now had their proposals in place for the above-mentioned funding and at the next Ward meeting they would be discussing the applications. He anticipated that all applications would be processed within the time period.

Street Patrol – Park

440 Councillor Mahmood referred to the issue raised at the last meeting relating to sex workers located around Ward End Park, he confirmed that residents had formed a street patrol working in conjunction with the police. He stated that it had alleviated some activity however had witnessed a street worker on 2 separate occasions and therefore believed that they had now rearranged their hours of work. He suggested that it was something the police could look into.

Light made available to the community organisation

441 Councillor Mahmood requested to the police as to whether the light (which licensing enforcement officers used) could be made available to the community organisation that were carrying out street patrols within the ward. ______

PLACE MANAGERS’ UPDATE

442 Danny Kilbride provided a brief update. He reported on the new residents group located on Bromford Estate which comprised of 106 residents. Reference was made to the work undertaken by active residents around Ambridge House and the open green space.

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Danny referred to the work carried out by the Bromford shops which included raised beds and street lighting and the refurbishment work that would be carried out once the towers had been demolished.

Danny referred to Collingbourne Avenue and confirmed that all the properties had been refurbished since the fire. He highlighted that there were now less ‘grot spots’ in the ward although there was still issues with St Margaret’s Road and Washwood Heath Road and at the rear of the shops off Bromford Drive. He referred to the investigatory work and the need for more joined up working with other wards in tackling this issue.

He reported on the work carried out with regard to the public protection orders and the need for the signs to be put up and detailed the areas that they covered which included Ward End Park, and the shops located on Washwood Heath Road.

Councillor Mahmood thanked Danny for all his efforts and hard work in carrying out his role as a Place Manager

In response to comments from Councillor Aikhlaq relating to rubbish dumping in Leigh Road and Warren Road, Danny agreed to investigate.

Councillor Williams provided an update on the old DSS office highlighting that the lease on the property was not long enough for investment to be attractive. She stated that enforcement were at the moment progressing the matter. She stressed the importance of the building not to remain empty as it encouraged fly-tipping which Danny fully endorsed.

Danny referred to the consultation relating to the hard standing bin areas and fences on Hobmoor Road which he highlighted would help to tackle fly-tipping issues. He further referred to the residents meeting held at Blakeland Street which he highlighted was gathering momentum. He confirmed that there had been a number of issues discussed there which in turn would be resolved. He referred to the issue relating to sex workers on the corner of Coventry Road and Aubrey Road and detailed how this had been tackled. He highlighted that during the summer months they had worked with schools in undertaking litter picks which had resulted in a positive outcome.

Councillor Aikhlaq and the Chair thanked Danny for all his hard work.

Phil Grainger, Ward provided a written update which disclosed that Shard End Ward team had removed 95.10 tonnes of rubbish from housing land, including access ways and confused spaces. They had recycled 7 tonnes of wood chippings from green waste works and 6.5 tonnes of leaf mulch from green waste and leaf collections. They had also recycled one tonne of furniture that had been donated to the ‘Welcome Change’ charity.

It was reported that work had been undertaken utilising the Shard End Ward tipper, wood chipper and leaf collecting/mulching machine. It was noted that the work had been undertaken by the Neighbourhood Caretakers, Place team supported by elected members, partners and local residents.

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Councillor Cotton reported that Phil had now retired from the City Council after many years of service. He stated that Phil was very much a person of action who had worked closely with members and local resident groups. He concluded that Phil would be very much missed by all and on behalf of members and residents wished him every success in the future.

Mushtaq Hussain, Washwood Heath Ward reported on the work that had been undertaken. He stated that the environmental budget 2017/18 had been used to support the Cotterills Lane project which provided additional parking and ground works. He highlighted that there had been a substantial amount of work carried out on the Cottsmeadow Estate, adding that repair work had been undertaken on the bin shutes at Barn House with similar work to be carried out at Essington and Mill House.

He reported on the individual fire visits that had been undertaken and as a result of this they had located a number of abandoned properties. He further reported on the fly-tipping at Cottsmeadow Estate which was being progressed by waste enforcement and the amount of work undertaken by elected members and residents in educating local communities in getting rid of their household waste.

He confirmed that since the bin strike there tended to be more fly tipping in the ‘hot spot’ areas. He referred to the incidents of fly-tipping in Phillimore Road and the need to continue monitoring. He confirmed that they would continue to provide support in educating residents in the local area with regard to fly-tipping.

He confirmed that they had had some success with public space protection orders (PSPO’s) and that they were looking to extend them. He further confirmed that they would continue working with the police and referred to the several undercover operations that had been carried out involving the local community.

Councillor Idrees expressed thanks to the Alum Rock Community Forum for their assistance in patrolling Washwood Heath Road in tackling the issue relating to sex workers. He added that the sex workers had changed their working hours and were now operating later on in the day, and therefore, it was important that a permanent solution was needed to be found in resolving this issue. Further reference was made to the need for the cameras to be re-located in other areas of the ward to combat the fly-tipping.

In response to comments from Councillor Majid Mahmood, Mushtaq referred to 14- 21 Adderley Road which was owned by a private developer and was currently under construction providing retail properties. He confirmed that with regard to the Hal Hal Supermarket, now that the appropriate drainage work had been completed, the necessary works would continue in order to provide a car park.

With regard to Jephcott Road, Mushtaq confirmed that although a car park had been discussed with local residents and Alan Porter, District Engineer, the costing to provide car parking space was in the region of £70,000. He added however that this could be looked into again.

The Chairman concluded by thanking Danny and Mushtaq for attending the meeting and providing an update.

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EMERGING EAST BIRMINGHAM EMPLOYMENT BOARD AND YPP CONTRACT

443 Jonathan Davies, Head of Operations provided a brief update on the East Birmingham Employment and Skills Board.

He reported on how had approached the providers in taking the YPP Contract across the city with the four boards that covered East, West, North and South of the city. This replaced and brought together the original district and employment skills groups that covered Hodge Hill, and Yardley – (East side of the city).

He reported that discussions had been taken forward pertaining to the 4 boards covering the city which in turn they would be reporting up to the Birmingham and employment skills board who linked up to the Local Enterprise Partnership and Combined Authority.

He confirmed that there had been several initial meetings held in order to begin scoping out priorities across the area around employment and skills issues. He stated that there had been good attendance from a range of organisations and an elected member had attended one of the meetings as well as some colleagues from Birmingham City Council and the Department Work & Pensions. Identifications had been made across East regarding the assets in the communities, emerging opportunities and some of the challenges that needed to be overcome.

He referred to the list of priorities that had been identified which included young people as the key theme albeit not forgetting other members of the communities. He further referred to the holistic whole family approach to employment and skills and with schools in particular around transition and careers advice service, ensuring that local groups within neighbourhoods were harnessed. Employer engagement was one of the key areas discussed and ensuring there was community representation and community involvement in shaping the priorities for East.

He highlighted that there was a whole raft of discussion around health barriers particularly mental health and linking in with several pilot schemes, which were due to be commissioned in the near future from the combined authority. He reported that there was some local neighbourhood working with NEET young people in Washwood Heath and Shard End Wards and that it was important to undertake a steering role in that area of work.

He highlighted that they were currently in the process of refining those priorities and taking them forward. He further highlighted that they would be developing a number of key themes that the board would consider and mapping those out, using a logic model that sets out the rationale for the outcomes that were aiming to be achieved.

He stated that there was a real keen focus by all in ensuring that the clear outcomes and objections would be achieved within 12 months, adding that they would be able to track the objections and actively take forward.

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He referred to the next broader meeting which would be taking place whereupon all were welcome to attend. He stated that they would be presenting back on the refined thinking and looking to develop, and identify sub groups, that would take forward some pieces of work around specific themes.

He reported that there were several key actions that they were proposing to take forward and subsequently detailed some of the challenges in the East side they were having to encounter. He confirmed that they were aiming to schedule quarterly meetings of the board.

He referred to the 10 organisations from the third sector working together across East to deliver the YPP Programme. He confirmed that they had engaged in excess of 1000 young people and were moving well towards their engagement target. He referred to converting challenges into outcomes and referred to the changing picture over the last 3 months, with regard to getting young people into education, employment and training which was sustainable.

He referred to the work they were undertaking with the Careers Service in Washwood Heath Ward whereby they had identified 77 NEETS that were particularly challenging to engage and that they had been working out a programme in how best to engage with them. He highlighted that with regard to added value, there were 36 workers across the patch at the moment that were committed to a programme of training for staff that were working across organisations and really keen on the legacy of this programme that would finish in June 2018. He confirmed that they had been working on securing some funding to try and continue into the future and was conscious that there could be added value coming from the programme.

In response to comments from Councillor Idrees, Jonathan confirmed that what was required was a systemic change in not only in the way they worked with young people but also to deal with the challenges identified. He referred to the east board and travel being a significant challenge for young people. He confirmed that there had been a fantastic growth in the city centre but still there were communities within the city that were being left behind.

He referred to the commitment that had been made in moving forward with the Employment and Skills Board, which was the vehicle to take the learning from the work that was happening out in the patch from the ground, and feed that up through the structure previously outlined in order to make some changes.

Following comments from members, Jonathan confirmed that the contract that was being delivered was making good progress and stated that they were working with a range of training providers in assisting young people into employment.

The Chairman concluded by thanking Jonathan Davies for attending the meeting and presenting. ______

DE-SILTING OF WARD END PARK LAKE - UPDATE

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444 Mike Hinton, Parks Manager, reported that the work at the above-mentioned location would be carried out in 2 Phases.

He confirmed that Phase 1 had already been undertaken. The enabling works included; testing the silt and identifying the areas where the silt would be disposed of within the park.

Access to the Dolphin Centre would be maintained throughout the course of the works and the process going through now was to drain off the pool which should be by mid-January 2018. The work would be undertaken over 8 weeks. There was a second phase funding that had been applied for which was awaiting approval for early next year. Further de-silting and some bank work would be undertaken with that funding.

At this juncture, Councillor Mahmood thanked Mike for all his hard work in securing the funding.

The Chairman concluded by thanking Mike for attending the meeting and updating the committee. ______

WEST MIDLANDS POLICE - UPDATE

445 Helen Bailey, , reported that crime had been quite stable over the last few months. However there had been a slight increase in October. She confirmed that year to date crime was 7% up from this time last year adding that it was quite low compared to other neighbourhood districts.

She referred to the main priorities for eastside was to reduce violent crime, tackle serious and organised crime and to protect vulnerable children. She confirmed that the largest volume of crime at the moment on eastside was violent domestic crime which she highlighted was one of the main priorities that the police were tackling. She referred to the pilot in July that had been introduced to tackle this type of crime and that it had now been rolled out over the whole of the city. She confirmed that they had dedicated officers in place tackling this type of crime.

She stated that they had a new team whereby one of which was based in Hodge Hill that covered Shard End, Washwood Heath and Alum Rock wards. She further stated that they were based within Birmingham Children’s Services to improve the links between the police and Children’s Services, and to ensure that the root causes of violence, was tackled but also address all parties that were affected by domestic abuse.

She confirmed that District had formed part of Operation Your Bridge which was a force operation relating to some recent discharges of firearms with experienced officers that was running up until the end of December 2017. This had resulted in an increase of uniformed officers and fire armed officers within the area focusing mainly on the following areas; Overpool Estate, Alum Rock and Washwood Heath disrupting fire arm activity. She stated that it had involved several armed operations already whereupon some key individuals from the community had been involved in the planning of them.

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She referred to the recent series of incidents within Overpool Estate involving young people causing disorder and she confirmed that the police and Danny had flooded the area with activity not with just high visibility but also with civil orders. She stated that some significant arrests had been made and that they were working some key families in addressing issues.

She highlighted that 3 new members of staff had been recruited this week and were located in Hodge Hill, Washwood Heath and Shard End Wards. She added that there would be additional staff recruited in the new year. She further added that the new staff were still finding their feet and highlighted that one of their main focus was Ward End Park.

She confirmed that the PSPO’s had been expanded and the one pertaining to the Fox and Goose which covered the Shopping Centre should be signed off by Christmas.

She made reference to a family in the travelling community which was causing a problem and confirmed that she has a meeting with BCC on Monday. She confirmed that they were looking to extending the injunction across the city.

She concluded by thanking members of Washwood Heath, Bordesley Green Wards and the community for their support regarding vulnerable females.

In response to comments from Councillor Mahmood, Helen agreed that they needed to obtain vehicle registration plates in tackling the issue of sexual workers. She highlighted that it was important to make the areas less attractive to punters and was conscious of the help from the group of volunteers that were assisting at the moment. She added that it was important to try and encourage the volunteers to look at the punters that came into the area more so than the females. She added that they had managed to obtain a number of high visibility vests and dragon lamps.

Councillor Idrees thanked the police for undertaking some successful operations in combating drug dealing and crime. He added that it was most welcome to have an additional PCSO and would be reassuring for the community.

The Chairman concluded by thanking Helen Bailey for attending the meeting and reporting. ______

At this juncture, Councillor Idrees and Williams declared a non-pecuniary interest.

WEST MIDLANDS FIRE SERVICE - UPDATE

446 Dave Bromley, Station Commander, Ward End Fire Station provided an update.

He reported that the number of standard fires covered from April to November remained similar to the year before and that they continued to strive for a 5 minute attendance times for life one risk emergencies. They were currently under the 5 minute standard which was 4 min 27 seconds for Ward End Fire Station which was 17 seconds under the brigade.

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He reported that performance within the district arson continued to be a challenge. He stated there had been 46 vehicle fires , 87 rubbish fires and 9 dwelling fires and that they continued to work with the police and council departments by reporting void premises and fly tipping.

He confirmed that there had been 31 accidental fires in dwellings however there had been no fire deaths this year. He reported that they had attended 60 road accidents and there had been 8 reports of verbal abuse to crews at Ward End, and there had also been an issue of stones being thrown onto the cars from the disused building at rear of station, and also youths climbing onto the roof of the building.

He reported that they had undertaken 607 safe and well visits which comprised of 181 in Bordesley Green Ward, 309 in Hodge Hill Ward, 218 in Shard End Ward and 206 in Washwood Heath Ward. He highlighted that they were still keen to hear from agencies when working with vulunerable people. He stated that they were looking into at the moment creating a referral pathway with the slips, trips and falls team at Heartlands Hospital which should create some really good quality referrals for vulnerable people.

He reported that they had undertaken 2 multi-agency road operations with the police whereupon they were giving out advice to drivers with low level issues. He confirmed that the aim was to promote road safety, educate the motorist and enforce where necessary, reduce crime and anti-social behaviour and gather intelligence from the vehicle occupants in order to leave a positive footprint whilst providing reassurance to the public. He stated that approximately 80 vehicles had been stopped on the site and that only 13 left with no further action.

He reported that they were now going to commence training in Warstone Tower. He confirmed that they had served a prohibition notice on a flat in the premises of Alum Rock Road and that a notice had been served on the Adderley public house due to lack of alarms

In response to an enquiry from Councillor Idrees in relation to street patrols being supported, Dave suggested that he would speak to Luke at the station.

Councillor Williams referred to the exercise undertaken by the service in educating residents in protecting themselves and believed that it was very useful.

Dave stated that in south Birmingham they had just started a scheme with the city council where they were having surgeries in blocks of flats and that the fire service had been invited to attend an hour’s session. He stated that it may be coming to the north of the city and confirmed that he would discuss with the lead officer. He confirmed that he was happy to attend the community meetings talk to residents. He believed that every contact counts in trying to get to the most vulnerable.

The Chairman concluded by thanking Dave Bromley for attending the meeting and updating. ______

DATE OF NEXT HODGE HILL DISTRICT COMMITTEE MEETING

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447 The next meeting of the Hodge Hill District Committee will be held on Thursday, 18 January 2018 at 1400 hours in Committee Room 2, Council House. ______

AUTHORITY TO CHAIRMAN AND OFFICERS

448 RESOLVED :-

That in an urgent situation between meetings the Chair, jointly with the relevant Chief Officer, has authority to act on behalf of the Committee. ______

The meeting ended at 15:45 hours.

CHAIRMAN

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