Agenda and minutes

Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires a record be kept of the Members present and that this record form part of the minutes of the meeting. Members who cannot attend a meeting should tender apologies to the Town Clerk.

Apologies were received from Councillor Bowater (substituted by Councillor Jones) and Councillor Yates (substituted by Councillor Palmer).

(a)       Under the Localism Act 2011 (sections 26-37 and Schedule 4) and in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, Members are required to declare any interests which are not currently entered in the Member’s Register of Interests or if he/she has not notified the Monitoring Officer of it.

(b)       Should any Member have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in an item on the agenda, the Member may not participate in consideration of that item unless a Dispensation has first been requested (in writing) and granted by the Council (see Dispensation Procedure).

Members were asked to declare any interests, including the nature of those interests, which they had in any of the items under consideration at this meeting. 

Councillor Dodwell declared a personal interest as a member of the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Panel and as a volunteer with the Street Watch initiative.

To receive questions and statements from members of the public in respect of any item of business included in the agenda, as provided for in Standing Order No.s 3 (e) (f) (g) and 3(h).

There were no questions from members of the public.

(a) To receive and approve as a correct record the minutes of the Community Safety Sub Committee meeting held on 17 October 2022 (attached), in accordance with Standing Order 12.

(b) To receive information updates on matters arising from the previous meeting (if appropriate).

(a)          The Sub-Committee received the draft minutes of the Community Safety Sub-Committee meeting held on 17 October 2022.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Community Safety Sub-Committee meeting held on 17 October 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed accordingly.

(b)          Updates from the previous minutes were received. 

Minute reference 122/CS (CCTV & Deployable Cameras):  a question was raised regarding CCTV cameras at the Linslade Community Garden and it was confirmed discussions would continue with volunteers, community police and Central Bedfordshire Council Engagement Officer, following the visit and report from the Design Out Crime Officer in autumn 2022.

Minute reference 123/CS (‘Watch’ Schemes Update): it was confirmed that work was still on going to re-start the Shop Watch group.

Minute reference 124/CS (Police Response): it was noted that as this matter had also been discussed by Council, the responses received would be taken back to the next Council meeting on 30 January 2023.

To receive a report from Groundwork on the six month youth club provision funded by the Council from May-October 2022.

The Sub-Committee received a brief verbal report from Groundwork on the additional weekly youth club session funded by the council for six months, originally intended to run May – October 2022 but now due to finish in February 2023. It was estimated that around 153 young people had been engaged, with sessions promoted via school assemblies and posters. Two  sessions had been held in the parks and the activities being run by TACTIC were also promoted to the young people. A full report would be provided on completion of the additional sessions.

A question was asked about capacity; the youth club could accommodate 36 young people per session based on 3 staff members being present.

A question was raised regarding the funding ending and would this cause hardship to the young people. Sub-Committee members expressed support for ensuring activities were available for young people, particularly if this also helped prevent or reduce antisocial behaviour. Bedfordshire Police officers present agreed there should be further conversations about provision and that clear aims and objectives be identified as well as looking at how to measure success and impact. It was agreed there should be joined up thinking between all agencies.

It was agreed that officers would undertake further work with partner agencies to determine possible uses of the community safety budget and proposals could either come back to the next sub-committee meeting or to a meeting of the Policy and Finance Committee.

Thanks were expressed to Mr Swain and Groundwork colleagues for their work on this project.

RESOLVED to note the report.

To receive an update report from Bedfordshire Police in respect of Operation Dodford, crime and antisocial behaviour for the period October-December 2022 (attached).

The Sub-Committee received a report on Operation Dodford activity, reported crimes and antisocial behaviour during the period October – December 2022.  Some concerns were raised regarding the amount of bike theft, incidents of anti-social behaviour, theft from motor vehicles and break-ins in the town.

The statistics provided were area-wide rather than specific to the parish. After discussion it was agreed that the Operation Dodford report should be revised to show figures for Leighton Buzzard in comparison to other towns.  Inspector Goldsmith agreed to take this forward for the next meeting.

Some concerns were expressed about the suitability of the Bossard House site as Wi-Fi was not available at present and it was not public facing.  It was hoped this could be improved to enable police staff to work from the site and for some form of public facing enquiry desk to be made available.   

RESOLVED to note the report.

To receive the CCTV monitoring reports from Central Bedfordshire Council for September - November 2022 (attached).

The Sub-Committee received reports of recorded CCTV incidents in Leighton Buzzard for September - November 2022. These reports were publicly available and published monthly on the Central Bedfordshire Council website but were based only on the information available to the local authority and not what might have subsequently happened in relation to captured incidents.

A question was raised whether CCTV was being installed to monitor the electric vehicle charging points being installed by Central Bedfordshire Council in the Baker Street and Mentmore Road car parks. It was understood there would not be additional CCTV.

RESOLVED to note the CCTV reports.

To receive a verbal update in respect of the “Watch” schemes within the Parish.

Street Watch patrols continued to take place on Tuesdays and Saturdays, with Speed Watch patrols taking place at least monthly. A Pub Watch meeting had taken place recently but no issues were highlighted. The Shop Watch group was being revived at present.

To receive the draft budget (attached) and consider recommendation/s to Policy & Finance Committee.

The Committee received and considered the draft Committee budget for 2023-2024. 

Following discussion, members of the sub-committee agreed the budget should remain at the same level of £40,000.   It was felt that any underspend following payment for additional policing activity through Operation Dodford could be used for other community safety schemes and initiatives.

RECOMMENDED to the Policy and Finance Committee to approve the proposed budget for the Community Safety Sub Committee for the financial year 2023-2024.

The Sub-Committee may consider it appropriate to consider the following resolution should they consider that any discussion would be prejudicial to the public interests:that, under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, the public be excluded on the grounds of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information. The public and press to withdraw from the meeting during consideration of detailed discussion regarding:  Operational Policing (if applicable)

Not applicable

Not applicable.