To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bhatti.

To receive declarations of interests from Members of the Panel in respect of

any item to be considered at the meeting.

No Declarations of Interest were received.

To appoint the vice chairman of the Panel.

Councillor Sharp proposed Councillor David Cannon as the Vice Chairman, this was seconded by Councillor Story.

RESOLVED: The Vice Chairman of Crime and Disorder Overview and Scrutiny Panel would be Councillor David Cannon for the rest of the Municipal Year.

To note the Part I minutes of the Crime & Disorder Overview & Scrutiny Panels held on the 6 September 2018.

The Part I minutes of the meeting held on the 6 September 2018 were agreed as a correct record after the following amendments:

·         Add Councillor Mills to the attendance list as she was present.

·         Councillor Werner questioned the one from last paragraph where he states that a Neighbourhood Action Group had recently been re-established in Windsor, he was referring to Pinkneys Green Neighbourhood Action Group, not Windsor.

ACTION: Clerk to check the recording and amend minutes as appropriate.

To consider the Cabinet report.

Andy Jeffs, Executive Director, went through the Budget Report and highlighted everything that was in the remit of the Crime and Disorder Overview and Scrutiny Panel, The Panel was asked to note the contents of the report and make recommendations to Cabinet.

Councillor Werner commented that he was pleased to see additional investment in CCTV but had hoped that additional cameras were going to be added at Oaken Grove. Councillor Werner also commented that the Manifesto pledge was to increase the number of community wardens from 18 to 36, which was not being delivered.

Andy Jeffs, Executive Director, informed the Panel that there were 25 community wardens in the 2019/20 Budget and this included wardens that would be concentrating on the night time economy and anti-social behaviour. Officers had discussed the current requirements with the then lead member and a smaller new team focussing on night time economy issues and anti-social behaviour was needed, and therefore, 36 community wardens were no longer required.

Other points discussed included the following:

·         The £15K from Ascot Racecourse and whether this had already been received. Andy Jeffs confirmed that this was just in the process of finalising.

·         There was £20K allocated for fly tipping in the Budget, was this amount sufficient. Andy Jeffs informed the Panel that these were additional funds to last year and CCTV had been installed in the most popular areas for fly-tipping. This was another further stage of work to further the initial work. The council were only responsible for council land. The private land owners were responsible for their own land and removal of any rubbish. South Bucks council had been very successful using spy cameras and giving out large fines to assist with the clearing. Fly-tipping had recently increased in the area, possibly as a result of the stringent conditions on the recycling sites. This was currently being looked at and the law could possibly change from it being a civil offence to a criminal offence. The local police had not seen an increase in reporting on fly-tipping. Andy Jeffs informed the Panel that officers had been liaising with South Bucks Council and this had assisted.

·         Andy Jeffs reported that between Sunday 10 February and Wednesday 13 February, there would be a switch over to digital cameras and the analogue cameras would be decommissioned. However, some areas still would require hard wired connection as the signal was not strong enough to send the images across.

·         Colin Hudson informed the Panel that there had been a number of successes in the area. There had been 100 arrests in the Thames Valley area, approximately 20 in RBWM for a variety of crimes. The Chairman informed the Panel that the new constable would be starting soon.

·         Pat McDonald informed the Panel that he had recently been working closely with Thames Valley Police and it had been a fantastic and highly positive experience.

·         Monday 16 April 2018.

The Chairman informed Members that the date of the next meeting was as follows:

16 April 2019 at 7pm