Agenda item

Report of the Leader outlining activity of the Executive and updating on key activities as aligned to the priorities set out in the Corporate Plan.

The report of the Leader of the Council was submitted setting out the details of the business undertaken by the Executive.

 

The Leader and the Cabinet made statements and responded to questions.

 

The following questions were submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.1:-

 

1.  Refugees

 

Question from Councillor Bogle to Councillor Fitzhenry

 

Can the Leader clarify how Southampton City Council is preparing to support refugees from the Ukraine war?

 

Answer

 

Settled Community Support – Our stronger communities team are working with local groups and settled communities to support them, as well as working with the police to monitor and respond to fears about increasing hate crime, Our Future Communities group brings together many of our community, voluntary and faith sector organisations to support information sharing and as we move forward, this group will also support the city’s welcome for refugees who are housed under the sponsorship scheme announced by government last week.

 

Our education team is supporting the distribution of packs to schools to help them with the emotional welfare of children and reviewing school placement availability to be able to accommodate children swiftly when they arrive in the city.

 

An internal working group of officers from across the Council is meeting regularly and has extended this to key partners such as health and police. As far as we can, with limited information we are planning in partnership to support both host families and refugees to access the help they will need. We expect to have a role in ensuring the safeguarding of families who arrive, linking them to health and other agencies such as the DWP. We understand that we may also have a role in distributing the £350 per month payment that has been promised for host families, but the detail at the time of writing is very limited.

 

Donations for refugees – the Council opened up St Mary’s leisure centre to assist the Polish Social club manage their donations in the short term and have agreed with the owners of Toys R Us to undertake work to the site to allow the Polish Social Club to move their operation to this much larger more suitable site.

 

Refugee Support – the Government have announced two schemes and we await further detail on the sponsorship scheme to be able to plan effectively.

•  Ukraine Family Scheme - The Ukraine Family Scheme allows family members of British nationals, UK settled persons and certain others to come to or stay in the UK. Ukraine Scheme Guidance (publishing.service.gov.uk)

•  Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine  - This is for Ukrainian Nationals who do not have family in the UK. Homes for Ukraine – Homes for Ukraine – Local Sponsorship Scheme for Ukraine (campaign.gov.uk) and Homes for Ukraine scheme: frequently asked questions - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

2.  Police Numbers

 

Question from Councillor Shields to Councillor Vassiliou

 

What action has the Cabinet Member with responsibility for crime and city safety taken to ensure the 150 additional police officers for the city promised by the Police and Crime Commissioner last year are in place?

 

Answer

 

The Leader, Deputy Leader and I have met with the PCC on a number of occasions, both collectively and individually, to highlight the importance of getting more Police Officers in Southampton. At every opportunity we lobby her to ensure we get the highest numbers possible for our City and we will continue to do so.

 

I am pleased to see that Police numbers have already risen and new police stations are being provided for in the East and West of the City.

I have written to the PCC to clarify the latest position with respect to police numbers and the recruitment plan.

 

3.  Crime

 

Question from Councillor Shields to Councillor Vassiliou

 

Can the Cabinet Member with responsibility for crime and city safety advise what explanation has been received from the Police and Crime Commissioner as to why last year Freemantle Ward experienced the highest reported crime rate in the City outside of the two city centre wards of Bargate and Bevois? What action has he taken and what does he propose to do to address this?

 

Answer

 

In January 2022 the Safe City partnership provided the annual strategic assessment to the over view and scrutiny committee, and the Safe City Partnership Strategy is here today for Council endorsement. Within both of these reports it is acknowledged that reported crime in 2020/21 – the last set of data that is available – was significantly skewed by the changes to how our society operated and was policed, due to repeated coronavirus lockdowns as was discussed in some detail at the committee meeting in January.

I have had many discussions with the PCC about crime across Southampton and I am aware that issues such as increases in domestic abuse and domestic flagged crimes, up 35% in Freemantle, and hate crime reporting up 126% in Freemantle, these were also experienced elsewhere in the city, and therefore it is important to have a strategic as well as targeted response to enable change. And whilst at one level it is disappointing to see these increases, I am also encouraged that the victims of these crimes have felt able to come forward to report them as we want to enable the victims of hate crime and domestic abuse to feel safe and to access the support that is on offer, and both of these areas will continue to be features of our future Safe City work with the aim to make our city both objectively and subjectively safer.

4.  Outdoor Sports Centre

Question from Councillor Renyard to Councillor Hannides

Can the cabinet member confirm that safety concerns will be addressed in the redevelopment of the Outdoor Sports Centre?

 

Answer

 

The improvement plan for the Outdoor Sports Centre will lead to a significant increase in participation across the centre, both during the day and in the evenings. This increase in numbers across the site will result in an increased level of supervision not only by staff but also members of the public. There will also be an increase in lighting and the route to new car parking will be well lit. There is also an increase in the number of facilities, that will also be lit, generally lifting the lighting levels during opening hours. The design of the buildings has given consideration to guidance and advice available from Secure by Design. There is also CCTV on site.

The management contractor will be encouraged to continue to work in partnership with the police to seek to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.

5.  Rent Arrears

Question from Councillor Mitchell to Councillor Vassiliou

Does the Cabinet Member anticipate a potential uptick in housing rent arrears in the coming months?

Answer

In 2020 following the first lockdown, a decision was taken by the Council to pause all debt collection activity across the council, which unfortunately did result in an increase in rent arrears. I am pleased to say that housing rent arrears decreased between December 2021 and February 2022 and we now have several initiatives that are being put into place to continue this trend over the coming months. This includes offering another day for monthly direct debit payers, a campaign to increase payment by standing orders and assessing whether we can increase payments via APAs (alternative payment arrangements) and aligning resources within the team to create extra capacity to support tenants and negotiate sustainable payment plans to prevent future debt. Clearly the impact of rising costs for all will be kept under review, however, the decision to freeze council rents and service charges, will help mitigate this.

I am confident that with this range of initiatives in place we will continue to be able to support our residents to prioritise their rent payments in the coming months.

6.  Post 16 Education

Question from Councillor Paffey to Councillor J Baillie

Could the Cabinet Member please update Council on plans for the sustainability of post-16 education in the city?

Answer

The key factor impacting on the long term plans for post-16 education in Southampton is the report commissioned by the ESFA/DfE by Deloitte which has looked at a range of options including merging City College with one or more other FE institutions along with a rationalisation of sixth form college provision in the City. The report is seriously delayed, but is anticipated to be made public by Easter, although there is no guarantee of this. It is anticipated that any recommendations coming from the report will be fully funded, as currently two of the three colleges are in receipt of emergency government funding.

In the meantime, while the evidence for the report was being gathered, both Itchen and Richard Taunton Colleges have been inspected by Ofsted and graded as Good. This might have an impact on some of the recommendations in the report.

7.  Bedford Place

Question from Councillor Noon to Councillor Moulton

Following the considerable and wide support from residents in and around the Polygon area as well as the many visitors to Bedford Place, will the Cabinet member honour public opinion by including a question regarding pedestrianisation of Bedford Place in the upcoming public consultation about the future of this area?

Answer

The Administration are seeking consensus and common ground. The Bedford Place Working Group has worked hard to come forward with proposals which achieve broad support rather than divide opinion. The Bedford Place working group proposals have been unanimously put forward – representing residents, day time businesses and night time businesses. There is no consensus for closing Bedford Place to traffic. More than 50% of businesses object to it. The latest consultation run last summer was the same as the one run prior to May (the results of which have been sent to Cllr Noon) and broadly returned the same results from businesses but with a larger turn out. Whilst a minority of business favoured permanent closure of Bedford Place, the majority did not.

Representatives from residents of Canton Street do not support the closure of Bedford Place. Closure of Bedford Place (day time or evening) therefore will not form part of the proposals for consultation. Instead the proposals include measures to slow traffic, supporting the new 20mph limit, include greening, pavement widening and improvements to the public realm and additional space for outdoor dining. The proposals are to permanently pedestrianise Carlton Place and Lower Banister St, including a new square which might be used for small markets.

I think the proposals are superb and tremendously exciting. The Administration has made a substantial financial commitment of £1.2M in last month’s budget. Initial feedback I have received has been extremely supportive. I hope all councillors will back proposals which the community have brought forward and support the common ground consensus scheme which they have worked very hard to draw up.

8.  Devolution Deal

Question from Councillor Shields to Councillor Fitzhenry

When might the citizens of Southampton and elected members expect to be consulted on potentially far-reaching plans currently being drawn up by Hampshire County Council for a number of devolution ‘asks’ of Central Government as part of a Hampshire County Council-brokered pan Hampshire ‘county deal’?

 

Answer

The City Council has engaged positively with the process initiated by Hampshire County Council and was disappointed that the Government chose not to progress a devolution deal for our area as one of the first ‘county deals’. However, we remain positive about the potential of devolution to boost the city’s economy and expand local democratic control. While we do not think a Government devolution deal for Hampshire or the Solent is imminent, we continue to work with partners, including also Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, on ideas for a range of options and will back the best deal for Southampton. As there is currently no deal on the table for our area, a consultation with residents would be premature, but consultation is a core part of the devolution process and any deal and associated governance changes will be subject to a full public consultation in the city. Any deal will require to be approved by Full Council and therefore, when we have some indication from Government of what a deal for our area might look like, there will be a series of Member briefings prior to the Council vote. Our best estimate is that this is unlikely before early 2023. In the meantime, officers will periodically brief Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet on the latest discussions